Melt her Frozen Heart (Complete One-Shot) (Patreon)

Ghorshore Bay was, as ever, an active hub for adventurers.  Whether they were fresh-faced greenhorns, eager for their first foray into the mysterious and dangerous world of dungeoneering, or instead tried and tested veterans who had more than their fair share of stories and achievements under their belt, Ghorshore was a welcome rest stop for one and all.  The taverns along the dock boasted of the finest ales, meads, brews, and beers of the entire countryside.  There was a brawling arena, which was often packed to the rafters, applicants trailing out of the gates for a chance to prove themselves as the toughest, the meanest, and the hardiest of fighters.  There were even a plethora of entertainment venues that catered to any and all appetites.  Whether it was for dancing, food, or other more carnal affairs, anyone could find their fancy here on the seaside.

Any craftsmen that plied their trade here were also guaranteed a consistent and loyal customer base.  Leather-workers, tailors, bowyers, and blacksmiths all boasted and touted the quality of their wares for any passerby to hear.  There was always a need for a sharpened blade, a freshly stitched tunic, or repairs of a suit of armor.  There were even some crafters who had personal hawkers who would loudly ply their vocal talents in attempting to advertise their employers' skills all across the wharf.

Some, however, relied only on the quality of their skills and hands.  These talented few needed only the rush of exhilaration upon being acknowledged far and wide as the best of their chosen fields.  To any visiting outsider or even the various locals, they appeared larger than life, gruff and taciturn to some while loud and gregarious to others.  They seemingly never wanted for good business, and the quality of their work did the talking for them.  But some never let loose their private ponderings or wants.

If only because to voice their innermost thoughts might, in their mind, be the height of embarrassment and shame.  So it was for Vhorosa Krish.

The twenty-year adventuring veteran had an illustrious and glorious reputation amongst her fellow crafters of Ghorshore Bay.  Vhorosa, or as she preferred to be called "Rosa" for her rosy-red scales,  was touted as among the most skilled armor-and-bladesmiths in the land.  Adventurers came from far and wide to beseech her to work on their gear or craft them something wondrous and new.  She used only the finest materials and never wanted for supply, having once even been sponsored by a king of a neighboring country.  Her connections to dozens of legendary heroes and heroines also lent credence to her resume, and if she ever put forth her writ in a competition or call for a skilled crafter, many of her trade would bow out from respect, as well as no desire to compete against such a master.

It was an honorable, impressive, and most laudable profession to have, especially after settling down from a career as a ferocious warrior-maiden in her youth.  Many of her old comrades often stopped by her shop when they were in the area to talk, and she counted her days amongst their various ranks as some of the best in her life.  But Rosa had a secret, a blazing, white-hot shame that she never told to anyone, even her closest of friends.  And what sort of private detail could cause her so much distress, reduce a confident and powerful woman to an awkward and pathetic mess?  It was actually quite simple.

Rosa was lonely.  True, a woman of her social standing could, most likely, have had her pick of any number of suitors.  She had, multiple times in the past, opened her front door to find gaggles of various, would-be partners ready and eager to swear themselves wholly to her.  Rosa was not just a great skill at shaping, reforging, and hammering metal, after all.  She was also, even as scarred and intimidating as she appeared, also a tremendous beauty: a robust, shapely, and powerful specimen of Dragonborn whose impressive stature towered over all but the most truly statuesque of others.

Even so, with all those hopefuls constantly hounding her, Rosa did not care for such aggressive seekers of her favor.  To hear her explain it: her only focus back then had been on the next battle, the next conquest, the next worthy foe whose defeat would bring yet more glory to the rosy-red scaled warrioress.  The reasoning for this was actually rather tragic and understandable, given that her prior relationship, with a fellow Adventurer no less, had ended in drama and heartbreak when his passions had strayed to another member of their party.  After bludgeoning him senseless and divorcing him on the spot, Rosa had sworn off all other working relationships, and soon after all romance in general.

Even after leaving behind her career of delving into dungeons, raiding castles, and plundering dragon hoards, her mind had not swayed in the interest of seeking another partner.  She had instead become set on becoming just as impressive of a crafter as she had been a warrior.  She used her connections to seek training underneath Dwarven, Elven, and even fellow Dragonborn masters of metalsmithing.  Her single-minded dedication had not had time for romance or matters of the heart.  Her only love anymore had been the forge, her only passion that of shaping metal with her hammer.

Now, however, a woman fully in her prime, and in her mind rapidly passing it, Rosa realized how much she had been missing out on by being so guarded and prudish.  She had, many times, pondered just going down to one of the local entertainment venues and slaking her hunger for companionship there, but it seemed so disingenuous and false.  Besides, what would it do to her reputation?  Then again, was it truly a crime to let others see her as vulnerable?  Needy?  A woman for Bahamut's sakes?  Yes.  Yes, it was.  For so much of her life, Rosa had depended on the honorable air she exuded to others.  Honor was everything to a Dragonborn, perceived or otherwise.  She couldn't just throw that all away for one warm evening in someone else's arms.

Could she, instead of such a pursuit, just have agreed to bed one of the many hopefuls that, even now to a woman of her age and no longer a sprightly fresh maiden, were eager to beat down her door with praise and declarations of their love?  Surely, that wouldn't be hard to do, and there had been any and all types who had come to her doorstep with ardor, with proclamations of passion, and bearing gifts from across the world.  She could easily find a respectable partner amongst that crowd.  But again, she found this distasteful.  She wanted something more than just accepting the least objectionable option.  Besides, all the macho warriors that most sought her hand reminded her too much of her previous marriage.

So, here she stewed.  Her scaly fist clenched the heavy-headed hammer as she brought it down, over and over, onto the glowing hot piece of metal that lay atop her anvil.  The song-like peal filled the air around her, allowing her to try and focus her mounting frustrations upon that single, cherry-red bar of iron.  Her arms shook with each and every blow, sending shockwaves through her powerful frame that drew the eye of the small crowd outside her fence.  This same fence separated her house and attached workshop from the thoroughfare of the market square.  Her shop was located on the outskirts of the area, not too far from any of her favorite drinking haunts, but far enough away that her distaste of large crowds was never that hard to remedy by escaping.

Clad in only the reinforced, wyrm-leather apron of her trade, she was otherwise unhindered by unnecessary attire, save for the chest wrappings barely visible underneath and the straps of a similar loincloth around her waist.  As a Dragonborn, she had little need for much clothing, especially here at home.  Her leathery, three-toed and taloned feet did not require shoes, and her scarred, scaly paws were naturally resistant to even the hottest of flames.  She proved this by often ignoring the tongs hanging at the side of her anvil, instead gripping the hot metal in her bare palm whenever she transferred it from the kiln, to the forge, or to the anvil.

Small murmurs of appreciation and amazement sprung up in the lull between her hammer strikes.  Bending at the waist, she inspected the bar of iron with a critical eye, checking for any and all imperfections or impurities in the ore.  She flicked her tendril-like hair back away from her face as she stood back up to her impressive height, golden horns scrapping the beams of her workshop ceiling.  The metal was strong.  She plucked it up as she usually did, twirling it one-handed, and doused it in a bucket of mixed Troll-fat and Wyvern-oil.  A cloud of ferocious steam erupted around her.  Scattered applause came from the onlookers and she rolled her eyes.  It wasn't all that impressive...

Lifting the now smoking bar of sword-shaped steel, she inspected it one more time, turning it and rotating it several times, then lightly bending it to test its flexibility.  She nodded.  It was a good sword blade.  She hung it from a set of clamps on the wall to finish cooling after wiping the excess oil from the metal and returned to her anvil.  She checked her list of commissions still left to do, then finally lifted her yellow eyes to gaze at her audience.  A growl threatened to bubble up from inside her to see the usuals still lingering.

"If you aren't here for actual blacksmith work," she snarled at them, "Get lost.  I'm not taking romantic overtures today."

Disappointed sighs sprang up from the crowd and a large number of them began to dejectedly trail away.  Only a few actual clients remained, looking thankful to no longer being surrounded on all sides by hopeful suitors.  She approached the first, a Dwarf, and he handed her his helmet without delay.  She inspected the deep dent smashed into the side.

"Giant?" she asked, glancing back down at the solid and squat warrior.  He had an impressively long beard, and he looked decently familiar.

"Wife," he grunted.  "Didn't compliment her stew enough to her liking."

Rosa laughed heartily.  "That would do it," she chuckled.  "I'll bang it back out.  Harkon, right?"  The Dwarf beamed up at her, revealing many missing teeth.  "Gretty always was a feisty one.  I suggest you go down to the dockside, get a flagon from Jester's, and maybe a necklace at the nearby jewelers.  Take her those and she should be happy."

"Many thanks, Krusher," he stated, bowing his polished dome of hairless skull at her, his beard almost brushing the ground.

The Dragonborn smith grunted.  "It's just Rosa.  Haven't been Krusher in years."  She turned, placed the helmet on her worktable, attached a small parchment writ, and then returned to the fence.  Harkon took a step to the side, allowing the next customer to come forward.  She inspected a torn chainmail shirt from a fresher-faced Human soldier.  "I'll need to replace these four links completely," she informed him.  "Should be done in half a day."  He nodded, and she folded the armor over her arm as easily as she might have a linen shirt.  "Next."

In short order, she had procured the tasks and commissions required of her, documented them in her ledger, and promised to have the work done by the afternoon.  None of it was strenuous, although that wasn't entirely a good thing.  Rosa needed something big to sink her teeth into.  It would have helped distract her from her inner grumbling.

As she worked, she couldn't help but notice a large number of couples traipsing up and down the thoroughfare.  Young, old, all of them seemed rapturously happy as they strode back and forth past her shop.  Some held hands, some linked arms, and others even had children with them.  She saw an adorable Halfling and Gnome couple swinging a diminutive babe by its arms, its giggles echoing around the square.  She gnashed her teeth and turned back to working on a warped spear-blade, putting all of her frustration into flattening the sharp triangle of steel back into its original shape.

"Same old Krusher," said a voice then, startling her out of her concentration.  "Don't you ever take a break, doll?"  She turned around, feeling snappish, to repimand the cheeky individual for daring to address her so casually.  Her eyes went wide.

"Lorana?" she asked, incredulously.

The pretty Elf bard beamed at her.  "Hello sweetheart, you miss me?"

Rosa laid the spear blade flat on the anvil to cool, slung the hammer in her apron, and then jumped over the fence post in a single bound, like a runner over a hurdle.  Her muscular, scaly arms went open wide and Lorana had only a second of brief alarm before she was swept up into them.  The two women laughed, their voices ringing around the wharf.

"What brings you back here, lovely?" Rosa inquired, finally putting one of her oldest friends back on her feet.  She crossed her arms over her chest, grinning down at the Elf.  She was at least two full heads taller than the Bard, and wider across the shoulder than two of her combined.

Smoothing her gorgeous golden hair back down, Lorana nonetheless returned the Dragonborn's smile with equal brilliance.  "Just passing through on a family errand," she explained, her starry eyes twinkling.  "After that, some old friends and I were meeting up this evening for a night of drinking.  I figured my oldest galpal would still be around so I wanted to drop by with an invite!"

Glancing back behind her at her workload, Rosa sighed.  "Full docket today," she stated.  "I'm not at the top of my form either so it's taking me longer than I'd like."

"There's a form of yours that's better than you are now?" teased Lorana, making her smile.  The Elf always had a way of cheering her up back in the old days.  Even with all the drama they had been involved with and gone through, Rosa couldn't help but adore her friend.  "I'm surprised with that small list that you aren't done already."

Wincing, Rosa scratched at the back of her scaly neck.  She had no response, since the truth was, even now, too embarrassing to admit.

Still, it was impossible to keep such things from Lorana.  She cocked her head to the side, long ears sticking up out of her thick curly locks.  "Something bothering you, dear?" she asked, voice already sounding as if she knew.

Rosa thought about denying it but she instead just shrugged.  "Maybe."

"Want to talk about it?"  Rosa wasn't sure, until Lorana continued by adding, "I'll can come in and make you some tea~?"  Her voice was sparkly and warm.  That idea made the smith perk up a bit.  Lorana's tea was something she dearly missed from their adventuring days.

Opening the gate to her workshop, Rosa stepped through and then waved her other burly arm invitingly.  Lorana skipped inside and she closed the door after her trailing coat.  In no time, they sat in front of her small kitchen stove, sipping on steaming cups of tea.  It was just as good as she remembered it, and she indulged in several on her own since the Elf always made a lot whenever it was just the two of them.

"All right," declared Lorana eventually, as they had so far passed the time just by talking about any number of casual things.  "So what's on your mind?"

Rosa looked down at her reflection in the auburn liquid.  Her weathered, scarred, and scaly face stared back at her morosely, casually distorted every now and then by her breath.  "I suppose I'm just...melancholic," she admitted.

"How so?" probed Lorana.

"I..." she started to say, then paused.  Why was it so hard to just open up, even to someone as close to her heart as Lorana?  She looked up into the Elf's dark eyes, remembering the many days around a campfire, sharing in the success of a hardwon battle, or commiserating together after a failed expedition.  Things were always brighter when she and Lorana got to be together like this.  She let out an exasperated groan and thudded her head against her table, careful not to knock over the tea.  "I'm lonely," she grumbled.

Lorana giggled.  Rosa lifted her head to glare reproachfully at her friend but the Elf seemed unperturbed.  "Sorry, Rosy," she chuckled.  "I'm not trying to seem like I'm making fun of you."  She set down her cup and placed her dainty hands atop her knees.  "Why are you lonely?"

Rosa thudded her head back down.  "Because I'm old."

"Rosy, you're not old."

"I'm almost 35," she growled.  "For Dragonborn, that's near Matronly.  I should be married, with a husband and little ones running around getting in trouble.  I'm a spinster, Lorana"

"Technically, you had a husband," observed Lorana, but she sounded like she was just talking to talk.  "Although, yes, Gresh was hardly an outstanding partner.  No one would ever have blamed you for divorcing him like you did."  She sighed then.  "I still feel guilty in my part of it."

Rosa sighed as well.  "It's not your fault that Mr. Holier-than-though fell under your charms and started to try and woo you while married to me.  And sure...maybe I overreacted."

"You hit him over the head with his own shield," commented Lorana, sipping at her tea.

"Ok, sure..."

"And a chair."

"Right but..."

"And then you threw him out of the camp into the river."

Rosa sighed and plopped her scaly chin down onto her crossed arms.  "I know..."

"And he deserved every single second of it," finished Lorana, making Rosa look back up at her in surprise.  The Elf winked.  "The man was a lech, Rosy.  There's no shame in ridding yourself of a philandering, self-superior, arse like him.  You're better off without him."

Rosa smiled at first, but it was quick to drop off her face.  "That doesn't change the fact that I miss being married."  She picked sullenly at a knot in the table surface with a blunt claw.  "I miss the intimacy, waking up with someone in my arms, having someone to grow old with."

"Then why not go courting again?" probed the Elf.

"At my age?"

"Rosy, you're not that old!  I'm 198, how do you think that makes me feel that you seem to think that 35 is cronish?"

"You're an Elf," commented Rosa with a dry tone.  "Your species doesn't reach maturity until after your seventh decade or so.  Aren't you not even given an adult name until your first century?"  Lorana nodded.  "Meanwhile, Dragonborn like me reach our actual adulthood by 15, rather than their early 20's like a Human.  I started adventuring at 16, and I got married a year later to Gresh."

"And two years later you were divorced," observed the Bard.  "It's been a long time, Rosy.  No one could possibly judge you for seeking another partner in all that time.  I've heard about the massive crowds around your doorstep.  You're practically the talk of the town.  Most eligible bachelorette, I've heard more than one person say.  They're practically beating down your door!"

Rosa sipped morosely at her tea, staying silent.

"Rosy..." signed Lorana.  "Are you really just looking to get married again?  Or are you also looking for something more...youthful?"

Her scaly face heated up and she looked away from her friend.  She just had to hit the nail on the head there, didn't she?

"Something more...passionate," continued the Elf, almost sounding amused.  "Amorous even."  Rosa's annoyed growl just made her giggle again.  "So essentially, sweetie, you're really just looking to get laid."

Rosa shot up, glaring at her friend.  "I am not!" she declared.  "I am looking for a husband!  I just...don't want to have every option be someone who reminds me of Gresh."

"Completely understandable," the Bard nodded sagely.  "But you are also wanting to relive the flame of when you were young.  All those passionate moments and naughty secrets between just the two of you.  I don't remember you ever really got to indulge in those with Gresh."

"No..." admitted the Dragonborn.  "With Gresh, sure, it was romantic, at first, but it was also all about work.  What monster we slew together, what treasure we looted, what our reputation did for the pair of us.  I was never just a woman with him.  Besides, he wasn't a hotheaded youth like me in those days.  He was the most experienced of our group and he was always so impressive...so valorous...the perfect husband and partner for a young Dragonborn seeking a glorious career of her own.  I fell for him hard and I thought the relationship we eventually had was just how it was supposed to be.  It's just that there was never any..."

"Spark?"

"Exactly!" snarled Rosa excitedly.  "I want heat, Lorana.  I throw myself into my work now, like I have the last decade, but it doesn't change the fact that I want to..."

"Fall in love," offered the Elf.  "Be something more than just a passionate night or a partnership of fairytale cliches?"  Rosa grunted and leaned back in her chair.  The wooden frame creaked.  "Well, I'm also sure that there are plenty of passionate young men who would happily take you up on that!  Having a wife like you would be the highlight of I don't know how many of them!"

Rosa let out a long, suffering sigh.  She stood, startling her companion.  "I'm sorry," she grumbled softly.  "It's stupid.  I'm sorry that I'm wasting your time, Lorana."  She drained her cup and went to the nearby bucket of gathered rainwater to wash it.  Her chest felt tight and her own self-frustration was causing her eyes to feel hot and uncomfortable.  She hated being this emotional anymore.

A gentle hand fell upon her shoulder then, and she turned to glance back at Lorana.  The Elf's expression was very kind and patient.  "Sweetie, you're my best friend," she stated.  "You could never waste my time.  Wanting something more out of life than a successful career and consistent work isn't stupid.  Is there any way I can help?"

Rosa looked away.  "No.  But thanks, Lorana."  She contemplated something and then stood, freshly washed cup in hand.  "But I'll happily take you up on that offer for drinks tonight if it's still open.  Maybe I could use an evening away from work, once I finish up what I have left for the afternoon."  She even managed a small grin.  "I'm a woman of my word, after all."

Lorana's face lit up and she beamed as brightly as the sun.  "Really?!  That would be great!"  She stood up, flinging herself into the Dragonborn's burly chest.  "I'll come to get you once the sun starts going down!"  The Bard glanced out of the window, then balked.  "Is that really the time already?"  She disengaged herself from Rosa and smoothed her hair and dress again.  "I have to run a quick errand.  My youngest brother just started his adventuring career and I promised to show him around the wharf."

Rosa arched an eyebrow.  "Your brother?  Which one is that then?  Arrothor?  Gilliard?"

"Eion," Lorana chuckled.  "I got to run, dear, but I promise to be back in a few hours.  We can even doll you up!"

Wincing, the Dragonborn laughed with her.  "I'm still washing the makeup out of my scales from the last time you did that."

The Elf pouted.  "That was almost twelve years ago!" she fumed cutely.  She sighed, rolled her eyes, and then grinned.  "Fine, but at least put on some actual clothes.  If you're serious about getting a real relationship, walking around half-naked in an apron covered in burn marks and oil stains isn't going to cut it."  Lorana turned and strode daintily out of the forge.  "See you soon!" she called.

Rosa turned and eyed herself in a small hanging pane of glass.  She looked down at her body, flexing her muscular frame, and grumbled.  "Sure..." she muttered.  She then slapped her cheeks roughly, forcing a smile onto her face.  "We are going to be positive," she told herself firmly, eyeing her reflection.  She stomped back outside and set to finishing her commissioned writs with a small fire in her step.

***

It was nearing evening when Rosa finally had finished the last repair job and was handing back a beautifully restored shield to a grateful Orc.  "Thanks!" he growled at her, admiring its newly polished and reinforced sheen.  He smashed his own face into the metal bosse, then inspected it once more.   "Stronger than ever!" he crowed, nose slightly flatter now.  "You do me a great honor, Vhorosa the Krusher!  What do I owe you?"

"Ten dragons," Rosa chuckled.  The Orc happily handed over the coins and then slung his shield over his shoulder as he stomped away.  She waved goodbye, then closed the door to her kiln, hung up her hammer, and went inside her house shop to try and clean herself up for when Lorana showed up.

She took a quick wash, scrubbing the grime and soot from her scales, then polished them with a brush until the rosy-red color shone more brightly, despite the multiple cracked edges.  She removed her chest wrap and loincloth, setting them aside to wash later and then crossed to her cupboard to retrieve a fresh pair.  As always, it took her a small bit to firmly tie the straps of her upper covering as it strained to contain what nature had given her.  Despite that Dragonborn were draconic in nature, she still boasted a truly impressive set of mammalian mammaries.

She was reminded of, a long time ago, when a cheeky and drunken Rogue had commented on them, remarking that while they were indeed voluptuous and lovely, that a reptile possessing them was a grand biological inaccuracy.  She had suitably clobbered him over the head after he had immediately then suggested they spend the night together so he could ascertain that they were real.

With her under-coverings now tied on, she opened her cupboard doors and retrieved her nicest workshirt, a sleeveless and slightly faded tunic to go over it, and a thick pair of loosely stiched-legged britches, to account for her large, taloned feet.  Now dressed, she tied a belt around her midriff and a holster across her shoulder so she could store a solid club for emergencies.  Ghorshore was mostly safe, but one could never be too careful.

As she tried to find ways to pass the time until Lorana returned, her yellow-eyed gaze swept across a large pile of cloth standing in the corner of her bedroom.  Feeling wistful, she crossed over and gently pulled the concealing, beeswax-treated tarp out of the way.  Even in the dying light of the setting sun that streamed in through her window, her old suit of burnished plate armor gleamed with a glow all on its own.  Even having gone so long without being worn, she still felt that tingle of melancholy as she rubbed a scaly palm over one of the pauldrons and up to the horned helmet.  Behind the wrack, the handle of her huge hammer could be seen, as well as the curved swell of her shield.  It was almost as nostalgic a feeling as seeing Lorana again.  With a sigh, she covered the armor back up.  That was a life well behind her now.

A knock at her door caught her attention, stirring her from her reverie.  Opening it, a happy grin spread across her jaws.  Lorana was once again standing there, now dressed in a much finer evening dress.  Her weapons were no longer present, although Rosa did see the hilt of a dagger she had made for the Bard sticking up out of one boot.  The two women embraced again, the Elf commenting on her outfit with a smile, and then together they headed into the wharf proper, Rosa only pausing to lock up behind her.

The walk was mostly uneventful, she and Lorana sharing sparkling conversations about the most inconsequential but also most meaningful of things.  It felt nice to have someone to just talk to about the past.  They arrived at a very popular tavern, the Sotted Cyclops, and, upon entering the swinging doors, made their way immediately towards a table set in the back.  As she wasn't familiar with Lorana's companions, for the most part, the Bard handled introductions.  Hands were shaken, jokes were made, and Rosa settled in for an evening finally away from her episodes of lonely drinking and quiet sullenness.

A good two hours must have passed that way.  She had downed at least three full-sized ales and was beginning to feel giggly for the first time in years.  All of Lorana's friends were friendly, women one and all save for a single member.  The group consisted of an Elf Rogue, a pair of Gnome sisters who were traveling potion-makers, and even a Goliath Barbarian who was the same age as Rosa, who had insisted on an arm-wrestling match which ended in a draw. The only male, an extremely animated Catfolk Monk, liked to perform handstands while chugging his beer upside down.  It was all good fun.  That is, until another group entered the bar.

Still chuckling at the latest comedy routine being acted out by the Gnomes, Rosa heard a deep voice call out, "Barkeep!  Your finest table for road-weary adventurers!"  The Dragonborn froze, mug still lifted to her lips.

"Certainly sir Paladin!" cried the jovial barkeep, shockingly a loquacious and well-spoken Ogre by the name of Noss Sodimm.  "I shall attempt to find you one if you will pardon me for a moment."

"Hark, but there is no need!" cried the man.  "I see a group of some of my old companions!  Come friends, let us go see them!"  Rosa's knuckles clenched harder around the handle of her stein as the crowds made way for the latest group to enter the establishment.  There were hails of acknowledgment and cries of adulation for who they were.  To each and every one, the knight at their head would raise a hand and answer back with, "And honor to you and yours as well!"

Rosa cast an eye towards Lorana imploringly, her stomach already beginning to sink as the group got closer and closer.  The Bard was much drunker than she was, and hadn't caught on yet.  By the time that she was just ready to find any excuse to get up and leave, it was too late.

"Hail, friends both old and new!" declared Gresh as the Half-Orc finally arrived at their table with his companions in tow.  His beaming smile was all teeth, his handsome face covered in attractive scars.  He'd shaved off his chin-beard since all those years ago, but he still looked as lively as he always had.  His braided ponytail reached all the way to his shoulders now.  He cast a cheeky, gregarious eye across them all.  "Lorana the lovely," he jested, winking at the bleary-eyed Bard.  "Already deep in your cups, I see?"

"Gresh?" she asked, blinking rapidly.  "I didn't know you were in town."  She traded a look with Gresh's companions, a Human, a Wood Elf, a Dwarf, and a wild-haired Halfling.  All of them were smiling and seemed to share in their leader's energy, Paladins one and all.

"Just arrived!" boomed the Paladin, armor clattering.  "My cohorts and I were seeking an evening of libations and celebration for our achievements in the mines south of here.  We're still missing our most junior member, he was supposed to meet us here.  While we wait, however, why don't we make introductions?!  Who else do we have here?"  He cast an eye across the other occupants of the table.  "Ladies," he chortled.  "Ms. Utrott!" he declared, reaching across to shake the Barbarian's hand.  "And who else now..." he paused as his eyes fell upon the sunken-shouldered Rosa.  His overly friendly smile faltered, eyes going wide, and he noticeably swallowed.  "V-Vhorosa!" he said, stumbling slightly over her name.  "How...how fortuitous!  How have you been, dear?!"

Taking a deep breath, the Dragonborn drew herself back up to her full height, meeting her ex-husband's gaze impassively.  "Ol-Gresh," she responded, voice low and professional.  "You are looking well."

Gresh winced to hear her address him by his full name.  He tried to recover, grinning widely again, but there was a noticeable air of awkwardness now.  "Oh come now," he tried to counter her with.  "Surely we aren't confined to social politeness.  It's been a long time!  It's nice to see you again, Rosa."

By now, even the most oblivious of the large group had picked up on the icy air that was forming around the pair.  Rosa lifted her mug to her lips, taking a deep breath.  "You too, Ol-Gresh," she returned glibly.  Noticing the guilty look on Lorana's face, the Dragonborn sighed.  She didn't want to cause a scene for her friend.  She took a deep breath and forced a smile onto her muzzle.  "Your hair is longer now."  It was awkward but at least she was trying, right?

He glanced back at it before nodding.  "Indeed it is," he stated, also sounding unsure.  "Umm...how goes the...uhh...forging?"

Rosa shrugged and took another drink.  It was all she could do to contain her simmering mood now.  What had been a fine evening had quickly started to sour.  "Consistent."

"Y-yes, of course, it would be."  He grinned, trying to get her to return the look but it would have been easier to force such a smile onto an actual boulder.  He awkwardly reached behind him and produced his shield off his back.  "I...still have this.  From when you made it for me."  He tried to return to his cheeky smile.  "Still has the dent too!"  He ran a hand across a noticeable indentation in the polished metal.  "Pretty sure my skull does too."

"You always were a hardy one," she curtly responded.  "Your ability to bounce back was probably your most admirable quality."

The entire group died down to complete silence after that.  The men standing behind Gresh shuffled their feet, and the women all contemplated their drinks for a lack of knowing what to do in this situation.  Unable to seemingly take it any longer, Kalla Utrott the Goliath spoke up.  "I'm...sorry but is there something going on here?" she asked, her husky voice slightly slurred.

Gresh winced, seeming to try and find a way to explain the situation without making himself look like what he was.  "Well, err...you see, everyone," he took a deep breath and pasted on a haughty beam.  "Lady Vhorosa and I used to be part of an Adventuring company together, some ten years ago, with the fair Lorana as well!  We have quite a history together."

"History," scoffed Rosa, drawing everyone's attention.  "Is that what you call it?"  Her voice was angrier than she had intended to let it become.  "Call it what it was, Ol-Gresh.  Or should I?"

Lorana looked at Rosa, eyes wide and worried.  Gresh similarly looked conflicted and as if he wished he were anywhere else right then.  The table and surrounding patrons all kept glancing between the two of them repeatedly.

Fire building in her chest, Rosa lifted her mug and quaffed the remaining few gulps all at once.  She smacked it solidly down onto the table, face a mask of chilly amusement.  "Oh surely, you aren't embarrassed, Ser Ol-Gresh the Gracious?" she taunted.  "Our marriage ended ten years ago.  Such a happy union it was too."  She laughed, voice booming around the tavern.  Multiple eyes cast in her direction.  She stared Gresh down harshly, making the large Half-Orc seemingly shrink in his armor.  A hand touched Rosa's burly arm and she cast a withering eye towards her side, barely able to contain her irritation.  Lorana stared at her, face still flushed with drink but also with worry.  Rosa wanted at first to continue, but that look in her best friend's eyes convinced her not to.  "Apologies," she stated, looking back up at her ex.  "I've drank a bit too much this evening and need to go out to clear my head."

The entire table made room for her and she quickly crossed the packed common room and out of the Cyclops' doors.  The cool evening air hit her face and she realized that small lines of acid had been creeping down her cheeks.  She growled harshly, dabbing at the trails of wetness with her paw and taking deep breaths to calm herself.  The sounds of the tavern had picked back up after a few seconds following her exit.

"Damn him..." she muttered.  She plopped herself down on the landing of the tavern, away from the doors, and rubbed at her scaly brow.  The doors clattered behind her and a gentle hand touched her shoulder.  She knew who it was without needing to turn around.  "I'm fine, Lorana," she growled.

With a rustle of her dress, the Elf Bard sat down beside her.  "I didn't know he would show up," she said quickly, looking up at her imploringly.  "I'm so, so sorry."

"Lorana," grunted Rosa, reaching up and gripping the Elf's slender, dainty hand in her huge paw.  "I'm fine.  I'm not mad."

"Really?" questioned the Elf.  "Because you look like you were about to beat him over the head again if he said one wrong word."

"Just because I wanted to doesn't mean I would have."

"Rosy..."

She hung her head.  "Ok, yes, that was absolutely awful.  The last person I wanted to see tonight was him.  The gods have a seriously demented sense of humor to have planned that."

Lorana mirrored her, leaning her face against one of Rosa's arms.  "I'm sorry..." she muttered.  "I wish I had realized sooner; I would have tried to get you out of there.  That was the last thing you needed."  She looked up at Rosa again.  "Do you want to talk about it?"  She shook her head.  "Do you want to go get drinks together, just the two of us?"  She shook her head again.  "Okay..."  Lorana sighed.  "Are you going to go home then?"

"It would probably be for the best.  I'll just take a mead for the road.  Maybe two..."  She made to stand up, but Lorana put her hand on the broad, scaly shoulder.  She cast a curious eye up at her friend.

"Please, let me," she said then hurried back inside.  Vhorosa shrugged and settled herself down to wait.  Multiple people trailed past her, entering and exiting the tavern, but she gave them no mind, and even with her size it was easy to overlook her for where she was sitting.  The sounds from inside never died down much, often the occupants breaking into song.  A while later, Lorana still had not returned.  Just when Rosa had decided to just get up and go check, however, the Bard came half-stumbling out.  She had a sheepish smile on her face as she handed the Dragonborn a pair of capped mugs.  "Sorry, I got caught up with someone," she explained.  "My brother's here!"

Ordinarily, Vhorosa would have been at least a little interested in that kind of information.  She had been to Lorana's family house a few times over the years and met most of the Bard's extended family.  They had all been very energetic characters, like their sister, from what she remembered.

"Did you want to come say hi before you left?" Lorana asked hopefully, but sounding as if she already knew the answer.

At any other time, she might have stuck around to at least say hello, but she wasn't in the mood tonight.  "No thanks, but let him know I said hi if you want.  I doubt he remembers me, whichever one he is."

Lorana chuckled.  "I think you'd be surprised," she stated mysteriously, but she nodded.  "Can I come visit you tomorrow at your shop?"

Rosa paused and glanced down at her friend.  She smiled.  "Sure.  I always have time for you, Lorana.  I'll close up the shop for the day and we can go shopping or something.  I know how much you loved doing that back in the good old days."

She beamed up at her and she gave her a warm hug.  "Try and have a good night then, Rosy," the Elf said, then turned and went back into the tavern.

Rosa's smile faded as she saw the doors swing closed behind the Bard's trailing dress hem, and she turned sullenly to begin making her way back home.  The walk didn't take her too long, and she had finished one drink already by the time she arrived.  She fumbled with her key, unlocking the door but only after what felt like a solid five minutes of struggling.  She dropped it just as the door swung open and she cursed softly, bending down to retrieve it.

"Excuse me?" asked a voice abruptly from behind her.

Rosa whirled around, still bent over, mugs clasped in one paw and the other still reaching for the errant bronze key on the floor of her front porch.  A young man stood just behind her fenced-off front lawn, looking awkward and unsure.  She huffed, not feeling in the mood for late-night calls, and retrieved her key.  "We're closed," she retorted.

"Oh...right..." the man muttered, sounding sheepish.  "I...didn't mean to bother you.  I was just...err..."

She sighed, rolling her eyes and straightening back up to her full, imposing height.  She turned slowly back around to look back at him properly.  "Look, kid, either spit it out or come back tomorrow.  I'm not having a good evening and I'm in no mood for stumbling greenhorns wanting armor advice."  The young man looked down, shuffling his feet, one hand scratching at his thick head of golden hair.  A pair of long ears poked through that mane.  Her yellow eyes furrowed.  "Wait...don't I know you?"

He looked up again, face brightening up a small bit.  "Y-yes you do, ma'am," he stated.  He bowed at the waist, despite that, from this far away, he looked ridiculous doing so.  "Eion Moondown, of the Tieroch Moondown's."  His eyes were a brilliant, starry black, his handsome yet youthful features almost seeming to absorb a bit of the moonlight.

Rosa's eyes went wide.  "Eion?" she asked, actually cracking a smile.  "Little Eion?"  The man frowned immediately, some of his hair falling down over his face.  It served to make him look even younger than he already did.  "It is you!" she proclaimed, a jovial smile showing all of her sharp teeth.  "What are you doing here?"

"Well...I was..." he started to say, then took a deep breath and clenched one hand against his chest, repeating some kind of mantra underneath his breath.  She recognized the Initiate's Oath of Courage from the way his hand was positioned.  "I heard from my sister back in the town that you had just left, and I didn't want to miss saying hello in person!" he stated happily, once he had calmed himself.  He took a step forward, almost leaning against the gated fence.  "It's been such a long time that I was sure you wouldn't remember me."

She chortled.  "How could I forget the stumbling teenager Elf who was constantly tripping over himself whenever I came to the Moondown Manor to visit?" she teased.  "Finally get your feet firmly under you?"  He nodded, face only slightly flustered.  "And a Paladin now!" she crowed.  She crossed her arms, mugs still clenched in one paw.  "My, my, don't you look impressive."  She managed a teasing wink.

He cast an eye down himself, grinning sheepishly.  His half-plate armor was brightly polished but looked slightly ill-fitted to him.  He had a basket-hilted longsword at his waist and a shield on his back.  "Thank you," he chuckled nervously.  "It's a recent commission.  I got my gear from our party leader, but it wasn't sized for an Elf.  Our last adventure was rather difficult, learning to adjust to it while on the job."

A sinking suspicion began to build in her mind and Rosa grumbled a bit under her breath.  "Who is your party leader, may I ask?"

"Ol-Gresh the Gracious," he stated.  He jumped at an exasperated growl that she let loose.  "I'm sorry?" he asked, as if he were worried he had insulted her.

"No, no it's...just..." she started to say, rubbing at her muzzle with her unencumbered paw.  "Gresh and I just aren't on amicable terms."

"Sister Lorana said as much," Eion stated awkwardly.  "I'm sorry, should I not have brought him up?"

"Probably not," she snorted.  "I'm not fond of my ex-husband."

Eion's large, doe-like eyes went wide.  "You and the Captain were married?"

"Captain," scoffed Rosa, small, harmless sparks actually leaving her nose.  "Yes, we were.  Not anymore.  I don't want to demean your blossoming career, but you could do a lot better with another company."  She immediately bit her tongue.  "My apologies, I...shouldn't have said that.  I've drank a lot tonight."

Eion shook his head quickly.  "I didn't mind, ma'am," he said, managing a grin.  "W-well, I won't keep you, it was just really nice to see you again."  He turned to go, face strangely looking redder than it should have in the moonlight.

Vhorosa sighed.  "Hold on," she growled.  "It's...nice to see you again too."  Eion cast an eye back at her, grinning a bit more and looking pleased.  "But please don't call me Ma'am," she requested when he turned back around to face her.  "It makes me feel older than I already am."

His eyebrows furrowed in confusion.  "I...certainly did not mean any offense," he mumbled.  "I more meant it as a term of respect.  My whole family knows of your skill and strength.  Lorana always talked about you with such high regard.  You're...sort of the reason why I wanted to become a warrior, rather than attending a Bard's college like she and Gilliard did, or training under a Ranger like Arrothor."

Rosa blinked in surprise.  "That's...very flattering, Eion," she chuckled.  She cast a critical eye up and down the young Elf and then grinned.  "Well, come on in then," she stated, gesturing with her head.  At Eion's cluelessly surprised expression, she winked.  "I can't have you following around after Ol-Gresh the Obstinent with gear that doesn't properly protect yourself.  I'd never be able to sleep at night knowing Lorana's baby brother got himself killed because his Captain couldn't take the time to make sure his armor was properly fitted to him."

Eion's eyes went wide again and he hurriedly undid the latch of the gate and closed it behind himself as he hurried after her.  "T-thank you very much!" the Paladin Initiate cried.  He followed after her, letting her shut the door after herself.  He looked around the interior of her house with reverence, a silly grin pasted on his face before his eyes met hers and he quickly ducked his head, face flushing red again.

For some reason, that made Vhorosa chuckle.  "Still such a twitchy little thing, aren't you?" she teased.

He tensed, finally seemed to calm himself slightly once more and he looked back up into her eyes.  He swelled his shoulders back, drawing himself up to try and portray the gallant Knightly image he was attempting to personify.  It didn't work, but it was adorable anyway.  "I'm not little," he grumbled sternly.

Rolling her eyes, Rosa, having since placed the mugs down on a table, crossed her arms and lumbered forwards a step to loom directly over the Elf.  He quickly deflated as he was forced to look up at her at such a severe angle.  Much like his sister, she towered over the Elf by at least a good foot and a half, if not more, and even in his armor, she was wider across the shoulder than he could ever have hoped to be.

"Eion, sweetie, everyone is little compared to me," she bluntly stated but spared his wilting ego by winking again.  "So.  Let's get to making sure that gear fits properly."  As she procured a chair for him to sit down in, she turned back around and saw, to her surprise, that his eyes had wandered from her scaly face down across the swells of her chest.  His expression looked absolutely dumbfounded as if he hadn't realized their size until he was this close up.  Ordinarily, men ogling her made her rather annoyed, but for some reason Eion doing it was rather amusing.  She cleared her throat, making his eyes flick back up to hers.  She chuffed down at him.  "Those fit just fine, little Eion," she teased.

The Elf's face went bright red and he hurriedly averted his gaze.  "Sorry, Miss Rosa," he stated quickly and took the seat when she proffered it to him.  At her behest, he started undoing the straps of the breastplate he wore, or at least as much of them as he could reach.  She assisted him on the ones out of his grasp, and soon after placed the metal cuirass on her table.  She inspected the leather straps with a critical eye.

"This is an old set," she observed.  "Sturdy and strong, but definitely not sized to someone of your stature."  She glanced back at him once, observing his lean, athletic torso.  He had decently broad shoulders, long arms, and his tightly-fitting aketon was made of interwoven sections of Feyweave.  They conformed to his body rather than hanging from it, meaning that at least those wouldn't restrict him.  "Take off the vambraces too," she instructed, and he did so, baring his forearms.  She inspected those too, then had him remove the faulds around his waist.  Every piece of armor that he removed just showed her more and more of his athletic, toned, and rather trim form.

In the end, Eion sat, awkwardly, in the chair, now wearing just the Feyweave under-armor, which more looked like a sea-green and dark-blue suit of oversized leaves that clung to him.  His feet and hands were the only parts of him uncovered, left bare.  She alternated inspecting his armor and casting an eye up and down him every so often.  For his part, the Elf just sat perfectly still underneath her introspective eye.  He must have imagined her doing mental calculations, estimating how best to size his unwieldy armor to his less than warrioresque frame.

Inside of Rosa's mind, however, her thoughts were far-flung from such simple professionalism.  Her eyes kept returning to gaze at the Elf Paladin as if he were a piece of meat.  Every time she caught herself leering, she tore her eyes away and returned to working, tightening, and replacing pieces of his straps.  'Down girl!' she snarled internally at herself.  'You knew this boy when he was still an awkward Elf teenager!  He's the youngest brother of your best friend.  Just because you're hard up doesn't mean you get to leer at him like a Barghest at a flock of sheep.'

She tried to simply focus on his armor, but it was pointless.  Not only was she distracted, but this suit of armor was not at all sized for Eion.  She grumbled at how Gresh could have been so unprofessional and lazy in assigning the gear to an Initiate like this.  Badly-fitted armor was less protection and more hindrance to rookies, and could easily get one killed.  How could the Paladin be so irresponsible, especially with a junior member actually being the younger sibling of one of his oldest companions?  She began to growl as she bent down, reattaching the greaves to Eion's legs, as at least these had just needed tighter straps to better secure them.

Eion noticeably jumped as she leaned down in front of him, obviously startled by her growls.  "Is...everything all right, Ms. Vhorosa?" he asked nervously.

Her eyes swept up his body to meet his face.  With him sitting down and her kneeling in front of him, he was actually at eye level with her now, if not slightly taller.  She realized what she had been doing and took a deep breath to calm herself.  "It's...nothing you did, Eion," she reassured him.  She returned to securely attaching his leg armor.

"If...it isn't too presumptuous," Eion said a moment later, sounding hestiant.  "Can I ask you a personal question?"

"Sure," she grunted, finally happy with one strap and raising herself up to secure the one above it.  "Ask away."

"Why...did you break up with the Captain?"

She fixed him with a stern eye, then took another breath and sighed.  "Things just didn't work out," she tried to say, but what came out was, "He tried to woo your sister while married to me."  She felt more than saw him bristle and she blinked.  His scent had spiked up slightly.  Her nose had always been extra sensitive, which helped in her work, and she could tell that Eion was abruptly furious.  She glanced up at him, arching a scaly brow.

His face, to her shock, was a mask of indignance and anger.  At first, she suspected that he was about to deny what she had said.  Instead, he blurted out, "That...cad!"  His voice was tight and thready.  "How dare he?!  That is...that's..."  He glared ferociously.  "That's inexcusable.  If I had been there, I would have challenged him to a duel for daring to insult a woman's honor like that!"

For some reason, the vehemence of his reaction made her sit back and stare at the Elf in surprise.  Then, slowly, a grin spread across her face.  She leaned back more and laughed, the happy sound filling the room.  "W-well, if it helps," she snorted, trying to contain her mirth.  "I kicked his ass and your sister laid plenty of potent spells on him as punishment.  She could barely believe his audacity.  I felt bad for her, I really did, but I don't think she came out of it worse for wear."

"I wasn't talking about her, Ms. Rosa," he stated very bluntly.  Her laughter cut off and she stared at the young Paladin.  His gaze was firmly fixed on her.  His cheeks were flushed but his expression was completely serious.  "I can't believe any man would dishonor you in such a way.  I always thought he was a bit...bold...but that is the height of indecency and foolishness.  A woman like you deserves to be treated with the utmost respect, love, and decency possible.  If it had been me, I'd never have stopped treating you exactly as you deserved, till the day I died."

Her face abruptly felt hot and she couldn't help but look away from him, chortling softly from awkwardness.  It felt...nice to have someone talk about her so.  "Well...thanks Eion," she grunted a moment later, scratching at her scales.  "That's very flattering to hear.  Makes an old lady feel young again, if only for a second."

She noticed that he flinched at what she said.  "I'm...I'm sorry, I shouldn't have been so...forward," he mumbled sheepishly.  He hung his head.

"No, no," she hurriedly said, lifting her scaly paws up to placate him.  "I didn't mind it, Eion, really it was very nice to hear someone speak so...passionately about me like that."  She tried to give him an encouraging grin but he seemed despondent again.  She chuckled, unable to help herself.  He looked just like he used to back then.  Her big paw lifted and ruffled his hair.  It was soft, extremely soft, and thick.  "You're an extremely sweet young man," she rumbled softly.  "You're going to make some maiden very happy someday."

She stood, crossing to the table again and fetching the next piece of his armor.  Her stomach was strangely light and fluttery for some reason, and she had a silly smile threatening to crease her muzzle.

As she worked, she spoke over her shoulder back at him.  "So, tell me," she teased.  "Now that you're a fully Initiated Paladin, I bet you have the pick of the crop of all the other lovely girls your age, all clawing for you to take their favor at the Tourneys.  Any one of them specifically catch your eye?"

"Just...one," he admitted, sounding flustered.  "But I have no idea how to talk to her or approach her."

She nodded.  She imagined him trying to woo a girl like he was now.  Elf or not, Eion didn't, to her knowledge, have much experience with women other than his sister and mother.  "Maybe I can help with that too," she stated, turning back around and kneeling down again to strap on his other greave as well.  "What's something you've always wanted to say to her?  Paladin Initiates are schooled in poetry, aren't they?"

He nodded numbly.  "I was never very good at it," he admitted.  "But...there was something I did always want to tell her.  I was just never brave enough to do so."

She grinned.  It may have been a foolish dream, but she indulged just a bit, lingering on the straps and making sure they were fit just right to his calf muscle.  "Why not pretend on me?" she asked.  "As long as the drastic differences aren't too distracting.  What with me being a middle-aged woman now and probably not what most young Gallants go jousting and touting their lances for."

He chuckled softly at that with her.  "If...it's really okay to," he ventured, and when she nodded, humming softly as she worked, he took a deep breath and started with, "You are...beautiful."  He paused then.

"Not bad," she commented.  "But most wooing should include a strong image or reference to something, as long as it's not overdone or crass.  Weigh her against something that makes you think of her.  What is she beautiful like?"

He hesitated, seeming deep in thought.  "You are beautiful like...a raging bonfire," he stated.  Their eyes met and he grinned sheepishly.

She paused, nibbling on her bottom lip and looking off to the side, expression contemplative.  "Not terrible," she relented.  "But most girls won't get the reference.  Try something like 'My passion for you burns hotter than a Solarion Angel's flames.  Your beauty would entrance even the most frigid of hearts, melting them away like winter's frost beneath the bright sun.'  A girl may know it's all trite, but being spoken to is very encouraging and makes them go all giggly."

Eion nodded seriously.  She finished attaching the greaves and reached back for the refitted faulds, which would no longer hang so baggily down around his waist and thighs.  The suit of half-plate wouldn't completely cover his whole body, but now that it lent him the advantage of his natural dexterity, he would be much safer.  He flinched when she reached around his hips to secure it tightly.  "Could...I also tell her that I've thought of her for a long time like that?"

"Yearned," corrected Rosa.  "Or pined.  Yearned is better though."

"I've...yearned for you for a long time?"

"Ages," again Rosa corrected.  "My heart has yearned for you for what seems ages.  The fates seem cruel and unkind but for their allowing me to view your face for so long, even if only before now it was seemingly to torment my waking dreams."

Eion stared at her in shock.  "Wow, that's...really...really good," he admitted.  "You really know your poetry."

She shrugged.  "I was never a knight, at least no ordained one, but all warriors benefit from learning a bit of the romantical tongue.  It's all based on Draconic after all, and being a Dragonborn means that the old speech is part of my heritage.  We take our courting very seriously."  Their eyes met and she grinned, flashing her teeth.  She patted his thigh with a large palm.  "Keep that kind of detail you want to tell her in mind.  Now you tell me something."

He blanched.  "Tell you something?" he asked, looking alarmed.

She nodded.  "Yes.  Imagine I'm her.  You've said all that wonderfully romantic stuff to get her attention.  Now reel her in.  Don't just describe vague ideas and concepts.  Really latch onto some detail about her that you adore, find yourself thinking of constantly.  Eyes are popular, sometimes noses, or the way she smiles.  Let it be something she may be self-conscious about because then you can turn it back around and have it be something about her that's always made you adore her more."

Eion pondered that for a moment, crossing his arms and looking deep in thought.  His eyes brightened like the starry sky outside and he met hers once again.  "Your...hands," he started off.  She arched an eyebrow.  "They're...strong, but worn, from the years you've held up the world, seemingly entirely on your shoulders and always alone.  You make others yearn to have that kind of strength, that stoic calm that you always exuded.  With one hand, you keep your loved ones safe, and with the other, you strike out to define who you are, unafraid seemingly of anyone or anything.  But those hands, those beautiful hands, are also gentle and kind.  They show that kindness in those soft touches, the way you grip a quill, the way you write your name or lift a cup.  I cannot imagine a day when I have not gazed at those hands, wondering their texture and yearning to hold them in mine.  They are the most beautiful hands in the world, a single part of the woman I've loved from afar for so long."

There was a long silence.  Vhorosa stared up into Eion's bright eyes without blinking for felt like an entire age.  Finally, something shifted, one of them inhaled or one of the straps of his gear creaked, and the spell was broken.  She tore her eyes away from him, her scaly cheeks burning somehow.  "Y-yeah," she grunted, chest tight and her heart hammering for some reason like a drum.  "That'd...that would about do it."  She cleared her throat and she stood up quickly, turning away from him to inspect the remaining pieces of his armor if only to get her raging emotions under control.

She heard Eion give out a defeated-sounding sigh.  "I'm...not so sure," he relented.  "There's no reason even with all those words that she would ever agree to my courting."

She glanced back over her shoulder, eyes smoldering only a tiny bit.  "Only the most colossally idiotic woman would ever be able to refute such heartfelt words like that.  Combine that with what I told you, and you'll at least get a date out of it.  After that, just use that signature charm of yours, a little bit of confidence, and you'll have the woman of your dreams in no time."

"You really think so?" he asked imploringly.

She grunted, flashing him a toothy grin.  "I'm dead sure.  As long as the words come from you, and your heart is behind them, she'll fall for you. Guaranteed."  She turned back to look at what she was working on.  She sighed.  What she wouldn't have given for someone to talk to her like that back then...  Behind her, she heard Eion's half-armored frame shifting, straps, and plates clattering a bit, as he was probably seeing how well they moved with him now.  She turned back around, breastplate in hand.  "Now, this is probably the hardest piece to make fit, but if you leave it with me, I can easily see about~"  Her words cut off in a strangled croak as she saw Eion kneeling in front of her.  His face was flushed but determined, one hand leaning atop his knee, and the other firmly pressed to his chest.

"Vhorosa," he said, voice serious and grim.

There was a long pause and Rosa stared down at him, completely unsure what was happening.  "...Eion?" she returned, voice cracking from sheer awkwardness.

"You are a picture of radiance," he began.  "Your beauty would dwarf that of a thousand sunrises and sunsets.  My passion for you burns like the white-hot flames of a Dragon's breath, brighter than the light of the Sun-God himself.  I have yearned for you since I was very young, always seeking your eye but too nervous and unsure as to how to win it.  I am no great hero or accomplished and acclaimed knight, but in my heart, I know that no one else could come close to my fervent passion for you.  Your hands...They are~"

"Eion, stop!" she snarled, eyes as wide as they ever had been and her normally gruff, confident voice shrill and razor-thin.  "W-what in Bahamut's name are you doing?!"

His confidence faltered slightly and he looked up at her, confused and vulnerable.  "I...I thought that..."

Her jaw fell open and the Dragonborn woman stared down at the Elf in shock.  This could not be real.  She tried to muster up a chuckle, to see if he would join her, that this had all been a joke.  It died on her tongue at the bright gleam of pure honesty and reverent hope shining from those glittering, starry-sky orbs.  Her chest began to expand and contract faster and faster, her breath becoming shallow, and her claws slowly began to sink into the polished steel of the breastplate, threatening to dent it beneath the strength of her grip.

"What on this Material Plane is the meaning of this?" she demanded.  Her teeth were bared, her eyes slit like a cat's, and a fire building up in her chest.  "This is not funny, Eion!  Saying this kind of stuff to a woman as a joke is the absolute height of insulting!"  Tears blazed in the corners of her eyes and she glared down at the shocked-faced Paladin, as angry as she had ever been in her entire life.

"But...but it's not...I would never..." he stammered.  He still had not moved from his kneeling position.

She threw her hands out wide, letting go of the breastplate and sending it clattering to the ground.  "Then why on this earth would you say those things to me?!" she thundered, voice echoing around the interior of the house shop.  Acid burned down her scaly cheeks and she wanted to seize the Elf by his shirt and haul him up to her eye-level.  The only reason she did not do so was that, despite how furious she was, that she didn't want to hurt him.  "What possible reason could you have for saying those...words to me like that?  For leading me on?"

Eion stood very slowly, his expression hurt, confused, and something else that she couldn't explain.  "Ms. Rosa..." he started to say, voice hesitant.  She snarled, cutting him off and he flinched at first.  He took a deep breath, clenched one hand against his side, and mouthed something for a long second before he reopened his eyes and fixed them squarely on hers.  "I did not mean to lead you on," he stated flatly.  "I would never want to hurt someone who means so much to me, not for any reason."

"Then why~?" she started to demand, but, to her utter shock, he lifted a hand, this time cutting her off.

"Because I meant them," he declared.  All the fire inside of her went out instantly and she stared down at him.  He advanced a step.  "Because I've meant them for years.  Every time I saw you, it was like the very first time.  Every time I saw you, every time I stumbled over myself trying to think of how to talk to you, to impress you, was all to try and make you see that a foolish, naive, and ignorant young Elf was so utterly and completely in love with you."

She was dumbstruck.  No words existed that could have come from her at that instant.

Eion kept talking.  His face was as serious as any man's had ever been.  He slowly kneeled in front of her again, resuming his position from before.  "Your hands..." he started again.  "They are so strong and wonderful, bearing the weight of the world upon themselves and never letting anyone see how heavy that weight is.  Those hands have inspired me all my life, making me yearn to one day grow strong enough to take the weight off of them, even if only by a little bit.  To lift that weight from your shoulders, to hold those hands in mine, those beautiful, strong, gentle, rough, kind hands, is all that I've ever wanted."

Rosa's face burned, and if it was possible for a Dragonborn to blush, she would have been as brightly flushed as Eion was.

He kept speaking.  "I know I am not a true Paladin like Captain Gresh is, but I will be.  I will do anything in this world to be worthy of you, to even once hear you say my name with the same adoration with which I say yours.  Your name is the most beautiful name in the whole world, Lady Vhorosa Krish.  I love you."

Wetness spilled out over Rosa's cheeks in a wave.  She blinked, but the tears would not cease.  She lifted a scaly paw to her face, feeling the seemingly never-ending flow just coursing over her scales and across her fingers and knuckles.  She wiped at them over and over but they just wouldn't stop.  Her bottom jaw quivered and her whole body was as tight as taut wire.  "Eion..." she breathed, the only word she could possibly muster at that moment.

He looked up at her in concern, standing hurriedly and reaching up to help wipe at her outpouring of emotion.  "Oh Gods," he murmured.  "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to make you cry!"  He almost started to sound panicked.  "Please, please stop crying, Rosa.  I never meant to upset you!"  His own eyes looked ready to burst with tears as well.

Her paws lifted and clasped his hands to her scaly face, halting him.  His hands froze against her cheeks and they stared into one another's eyes deeply.  A smile slowly broke through the eternal winter of her closed-off heart.  Summer rays of sunshine melted the ice inside of her, and she sniffed heavily.  "I'm...not upset..." she murmured.  "I could never be upset...to hear that someone...feels that way about me."  Her large paws slowly folded in around his slender fingers, clasping them against her.  She hesitantly rubbed her cheek against one of them and then continued to do so, growing more confident and finding that she loved the way it felt for him to touch her.

Eion looked relieved and he resumed slowly stroking her scales on his own, using his thumb to trace her jawline and cheekbones beneath the thick, rough-patterned skin.  "I would never want to hurt you," he breathed up at her.  "I would want to see you smile every day, for the rest of your life.  That's all I've ever wanted.  You've always been so strong...but I know that was because you were hurting on the inside so much.  I only wish I'd known the truth sooner about Cap...about Gresh, so that I could have told you how I felt, to at least try and be there for you.  Sister Lorana always talked about how much she worried for you.  I just never figured...you would accept my words because I wasn't as...impressive as him.  I became a Paladin like him to hopefully one day earn your favor, to even see for myself just one smile like you would give a husband lucky enough to call you his own."

Rosa clenched her eyes tight and she released his hands to instead reach out and grip his own cheeks, mirroring how he held onto hers.  Taking a deep, shuddering breath, the Dragonborn smith then let it out, entire body shaking.  "Thank you..." she whispered.  They opened their eyes in unison and he met her gaze questioningly, even as they kept studying one another's features.  "But you're an idiot."  He blinked and she began to chuckle.  "Would I have loved this kind of romance when I was younger?  Of course.  Gresh kind of failed in this department, rather badly. But you undermine your own value, a value I always saw but never appreciated, before tonight.  You're an idiot if you think Gresh ever held a candle to how romantic, sweet, and brave you are, and I'm as stupid as they come for not seeing what was right in front of me all these years."

The young Elf beamed, and it was as bright, as beautiful, and warm as any that his sister had even done.  In fact, it far outshone them for brilliance.  She doubted she had ever seen someone happier than him in her life.  For once, she knew what that felt like too.  She leaned her head down and planted her broad, scaly forehead against his own.  She inhaled again, drinking deeply of his scent.

His arms slowly lowered and wound around her, or at least as much of her as he could reach.  Even with how long his arms were, his fingers just barely met around her bulky hips.  She grinned and leaned slightly back from him.  Now that the shock and emotions had died down slightly, and she was allowing herself to enjoy her newfound and frantically surging heart's flame, she began to notice just how handsome Eion was.  She'd always written off his features as boyish and gracefully soft, but there were distinctly strong lines to his face, and his body was surprisingly solid underneath her paws as she returned the embrace, holding him lightly against her.

"Little Eion..." she murmured, making him lift his eyes to match hers once again.  She beamed even more at his slightly huffy expression.  "My little Eion."  That immediately wiped the annoyance from his face, causing him to once again slightly devolve into a flustered mess.  Still, her phrasing of that term had caused a goofy grin to spread across his lips.  It was too adorable really.  "And you're really okay with being with such a more...mature woman?" she asked.

Eion furrowed his brow.  "I...admit I'm not as knowledgable about Dragonborn as most, but may I ask...just how old are you Ms..." he cut himself off at her playful but firm growl.  "Rosa?"

"I'll be 35 in Human years this winter," she admitted.  "Yes, I am not exactly as fresh and flowering as I could be."

Eion actually chuckled.  "I'll be 102 in Human reckoning as of next summer."

Attempting to do the math, Rosa shrugged.  "So you're about twenty in Elf terms."  Eion nodded.  "Little Eion..." she teased again, and he frowned.  She dispelled his budding annoyance by abruptly and firmly shoving him back and away from her, back onto the chair he had been sitting in.  He started to rise, looking confused, but she planted her paws on either side of his face, pinning him in place with her gaze alone.  He froze like a sparrow in front of a serpent and she grinned, teeth flashing.  "My little Eion..." she drawled out again.  She pondered the phrase.  "I rather like it."

The Elf grinned, even though he still looked slightly nervous.  "Does this mean I get to call you...my Rosa?"

She cupped his chin firmly between two scaly fingers.  "After tonight...yes.  For now, though, you'll permit a frustrated woman indulging a bit."

"I-indulging?" asked Eion, sounding equal parts exhilarated and worried.

"Indeed," she chortled in a hissing tone of voice.  "A little Elf just wandered into my lair, professed his love to me, and now I'm going to explore what all the Gods have so kindly lain at my feet."  She stood back up, fixing him in place once again with just a look, and then began to undo the ties of her tunic.  Eion stared up at her in fascination as each and every strand of string that loosened only exposed more and more of the work shirt she wore underneath.  Off came the tunic, falling to the floor with a gentle rustle, and then she set to work on removing the straps of her shoulder holster, as well as the belt around her midriff.  The heavily buckled pair of leather cords joined the tunic on the ground, and finally, she lifted her clawed hands, grabbing firm holds of her shirt, and pulled that up over her horned, tendril-haired head as well.

The reveal of her now barely contained chest had exactly the reaction she had been hoping for.  If she thought that he had been staring before, when only bare glimpses of her prodigious, voluptuousness had been visible, his eyes practically seemed to bulge out of his head at their proportions now.  She grinned, letting him admire and stare like a starving man gazing at a feast lain out before him, before she leaned in towards him again.  The motion set all sorts of physics to run wild before his eyes, and she couldn't help but giggle as she watched his eyes follow every single swaying motion of her feminine assets.  She touched his chin lightly with a claw and he jerked his eyes back up to hers.

"With me so far?" she asked, teasingly leaning more forward and running her jaw against the side of his face.  "Or is it a bit too much?" she whispered directly into his long, sharp-tipped ear.  Before he could even answer, her paw gripped the back of his head and she shoved his face directly into her softly-scaled cleavage.  His whole body went stiff and a muffled groan escaped him, although it was barely audible given where his mouth was currently buried.  He jerked only slightly in her grasp and she held him there, indulging only slightly in her more dominant side before she leaned back and released him.  The flushed-faced Elf sagged back with an audible gasp for air, his blonde hair now much more disheveled.  "Still with me?" she asked, and he nodded mutely, still panting for breath.

Once he seemed to have calmed down, she tilted his head up to look her in the eyes again.  Her expression softened only somewhat and he seemed to notice that, as his eyes became a touch clearer and more focused again.  "You've given me the greatest gift I could ever ask of anyone," she stated firmly.  He tried to respond but she placed a finger against his lips.  "You've said enough, Eion.  Now I want to say my piece."  He nodded and she moved her finger, replacing it with her mouth slowly pressing against his.  They both inhaled sharply.  His hands lifted, worming themselves into taking firm grips upon her shoulder and cheek, while her own paws firmly steadied herself on the back of the chair on either side of his head.  It was gentle and hesitant at first, but slowly and surely they gained more confidence.  His lips were so soft and smooth against her more firm and rough ones, but he seemed to be enjoying their first kiss as much as she was.

She slowly worked on deepening it.  Now their mouths moved in mostly unison, matching speeds and pressures, almost as if they were trying to inhale or devour one another.  Then she got a bit more adventurous and slid her long tongue out from her mouth and gently pushing its way into his to grapple with his much softer one.  He inhaled sharply and returned the tongue-kiss, their two slick limbs wrestling like pythons for dominance.  While she knew that ultimately she might be the more dominant of the pair of them, he more than made up for it with exuberance to replace skill, and passion to take the place of experience.  She even started to get a little lightheaded after a while, and eventually, she had to lean back, tongue sliding from between his lips.  He made a soft sound as she finally broke the kiss and both of them stared hard into one another's eyes, panting softly.

"Wow..." Eion muttered, licking his slightly swollen lips.  She bit her own at how cute he looked, and she almost felt a little bad for how playful she had been getting.  She'd been more than happy to nibble, much more than she thought she would or that he would have been able to withstand.  A different smell came to her then and she slowly grinned wider as another idea came to her mind.  He seemed to catch her lascivious look and he furrowed his eyebrows, almost as if he were worried about what she could be pondering.  "Rosa?" he asked.

One of her paws gently played along his jawline, teasing and tickling it with her claw tips, making him wriggle and let out soft and pleased sounds.  His eyes drifted closed, only to fly open again as she abruptly planted that same paw against his chest, pinning him in place with but one arm.  And then she began to sink, slowly, teasingly, back down onto her knees.  Her other paw deftly worked the straps to his faulds and then his greaves, and in no time he was once again just in the pattered Feyweave under-armor that conformed to his slender but toned body.  Her eyes lowered slowly from his flustered face, fastening onto a certain part of him with an eager curiosity.

"What's down here, I wonder?" she growled, sliding a claw tip along his waistline until it caught at a hidden seam and began to lift it open, exposing a slowly expanding view of pale skin underneath.  "Covered up by all that armor..."  She settled down fully onto her scaly knees, sliding her upper paw down to join the other as she very firmly, but slowly, began to peel his hips out of the strange material.   The more she exposed, the more excited she became, until, with a surge of excited masculinity, the prize she had been searching for revealed itself.  It more or less sprung up from its confinement as soon as she had finished extricating it, and her eyes went wide.  He looked down at her worriedly for her reaction.  Her mouth went dry and her whole body abruptly thrummed.  "I take it back..." she murmured, almost sounding dazed.

"T-take what back?" asked Eion, breath hitching up into exhilaration, terror, and uncertainty.

She looked back up into his eyes, face still shocked, and then returned her gaze back to what she had been inspecting.  "I take back ever, even once, calling you...Little Eion!"  Her face split in a ferocious grin and her pupils completely expanded to their brims, studying every detail of the mighty limb in front of her.  "Gods above and below...especially below!" she breathed, leaning from side to side as she inspected it all over.  "How on this earth did you manage to smuggle this around?!"

He blinked in surprise down at her seemingly shocked reaction.  "I...always thought it was just...average," he stated lamely.

She fixed him with a look.  "If this is average, every other male I've ever met is woefully under-classed.  I..."  she bit her lip in a surge of indecision.  A goofy grin spread across her mouth then and she actually chuckled, muffling it with one paw.  "This is a total first for me!"

"Is that a good thing?" questioned Eion, who by now had to be feeling incredibly awkward, virtually naked with his elfhood standing proudly in front of his new lover, whose reaction was not entirely confidence-boosting.

She cleared her throat after taking in a few deep breaths, unfortunately also getting heady whiffs of what was in front of her, which did not make it any easier to concentrate.  "Let me first ask you this in order to answer you," she announced.  "Is me, being as big as I am, a problem for you?"

"Of course not!" he declared, then seemed to shrink as she grinned.  "I...I always kind of...liked that you were so big compared to an Elf.  It made it..."

"Better?" she teased.  "Hotter?"  He nodded.  "Well then," she stated, "To answer your question, if me being big all over is a good thing to you, then you...are a very good thing to me..."  Her eyes narrowed back to slits and she shook her head, making her tendrils lay completely out of her way.  "If you need something to hold onto," she warned him, one paw taking a grip of the chair leg in front of her, and the other sliding up along his thigh.  "Just don't pull too hard on my horns."

"Hold onto~?" Eion started to ask, but his voice quickly climbed into a fevered sound of utter surprise as she used her other paw to abruptly grab a hold of him and open her fanged jaws wide before diving down and beginning her feast.  His back bucked, as did his hips, and almost immediately she felt one of his hands take a tight grip on one of her golden, spiraled, and back-sweeping horns.  She hummed around the hefty shape now filling her mouth, which nearly had him trying to surge up from his chair yet again.  She chuckled, voice much more muffled now, and then, once he had calmed down and was just content to sit there in front of her, making soft, whining sounds of pleasure, she began to move.

She started slow, keeping her gums wrapped up and over her sharp teeth, and thus also adding to the delicious friction she was sure he was experiencing.  Her head would bob up and down, traveling perhaps halfway along the shaft each time before reversing direction.  Her eyes rolled back up into her draconic skull and she soon released her hold on his lower portion to instead lay the palm across his lap.  She basked in his warm, soft skin as she feasted, continuing her occasional humming whenever she took him as deep as she could.  Even as big as she was, it wasn't easy to take all of him at once, and she had to find a happy medium of depth so that she wasn't choking herself.  Even so, she could tell from Eion's reactions that he was definitely enjoying himself.

The sounds he made were pure and wonderful, and every time she found a new one, she delighted even more.  She alternated speeds now, sometimes speeding up, other times going very slow and deliberate.  She even let him dictate it at times, using her horn as a handle to determine how deep, fast, and rough she went.  To her delight, the Elf actually had her going much more intense than she had originally planned for fear of over-stimulating or even hurting him.  As a reward for his bravery and insistent pace, she indulged him completely, only occasionally taking back control when she either needed to slack off for air or to really give him a thorough workover.

Eventually, her throat beginning to become sore, he seemed to be hitting his breaking point as well.  His breath was becoming more frantic, his sounds more erratic and needy, and when she opened her eyes to glance up at him, his face was screwed up from the constant stimulation.  It almost looked painful, but she could tell he was enjoying it, or more rather loving what she was doing.  She knew what was coming due to her experience and she popped her mouth at long last back off of him, taking in a surge of air to replace the lack of it in her lungs.  Eion let out a groan of protest and relief all at once, opening his own clenched-shut eyes to stare down at her in flustered confusion.

"Why...did you...stop?" he asked, sounding thoroughly emotional.

She grinned and slid up a bit more along him, until, with an insistent plop, she pressed her hot, softly-scaled chest against his lap.  His shaft blazed against her, the smell of his near climax making her head swim.  "I just wanted to give you a nice place to...mark as your own," she explained.  She began to grind her chest against him, swaying her breasts from side to side at first and then up and down, to mirror the movements of her mouth just a second ago.  Immediately, Eion began to respond, gritting his teeth and gripping the sides of the chair in white-knuckled grasps.  She chuckled in her raspy, dragonish voice and licked her lips.  His aftertaste was heady and wonderful.

"Give me your hands..." she told him, and he did so immediately.  She massaged his tense digits at first, calming and soothing them, and then, very purposefully, she folded her own palms against his knuckles and pushed his hands into her chest.  He stared down at the doughy flesh as it conformed to the rigid shape currently trapped between both of her much softer and pliant ones.  Once her chest had a firm grasp upon him, she released his hands and lifted her arms, sandwiching her chest in between her forearms to help with the tightness.  "There now, nice and snug," she declared with a raspy chuckle.  "I can't even see it anymore."  She slid down along his lap and giggled at his reaction.  "There it is, just barely anyway," she teased.  He made a whimpering sound.  "Am I being too rough?" she asked.  He shook his head rapidly, hair flapping.  "Good boy..." she murmured.  "Then you can take over from here.  Just use them as much as you need.  I'm not worried about the mess."

His eyes flew open again and he stared down at her like she was some kind of scaly goddess.  "I...love you..." he murmured.

She grinned, flashing teeth.  "For whole new reasons now, it would seem," she commented then threw her head back and laughed as his hips started to move all on their own seemingly.  "So energetic, Not-so-Little Eion!" she crowed.  "Careful you don't wear yourself out."  She gleefully settled back, allowing him to use her chest to hump into as much as he wanted, occasionally extending her long tongue to flick across what little of him emerged from her mountainous mammary's hold on his prolific phallus.

It didn't take long for Eion to nearly bend over double over her shoulder, still frantically moving his hips before he let out a final, shuddering cry and pushed in as deeply as he could into her firm hold upon him.  A second later, hot, wet heat plastered her chest, making her actually give a shocked chirping growl before the scent and temperature of it set her mind to swimming pleasantly.  He clung to her, shuddering hard for several long seconds before he collapsed back into the chair, panting with his whole body.

She panted as well, looking down at the mess he had made.  Her humming chuckle made him eventually sit up and look at what he had done.  His eyes went wide and he blushed hard.  "Oh...Gods I'm so sorry," he started to say, looking sheepish.

"Sweetie, this was my idea," she cut him off, deliberately lifting her paws and playing with the connecting strands across her chest before sampling a single string of it that had sailed up from its bosom prison to plaster her muzzle.  She grinned at the flavor, but especially at his reaction to seeing her do what she just had.  "And I most certainly am not sorry at all."

Eion's face, if possible, went even redder, and he looked away from her sheepishly before he made himself meet her eyes again.  He looked...guilty almost.  She cocked her head to the side and he relented.  "It...feels selfish to be the only one who got to...physically enjoy that."  He raised his eyebrows, hoping that she understood what he meant.

She did, and her gaze turned smoldering and hot once more.  "Can you go again?" she asked pointedly.  "That was an awful lot.  It's fine if you don't have the endurance for it."

He seemed to try and sit up a bit more firmly but his legs and arms shuddered noticeably.  She didn't blame him.  "I may not be the strongest Initiate, but I was given specific praise by my Chaplain for my willpower and fortitude."

She chuckled hoarsely before clearing her throat.  "Well then!" she announced and struggled up to her full height again.  Her legs only shook slightly from being bent over so long.  She loomed over him once again, and his immediate physical reaction set her worries aside firmly.  "Can you walk?" she asked.  He immediately tried to rise but again faltered only slightly to get his feet underneath him.  "No worries," she stated and then bent down and plucked him up, bridal style, before carrying him to her bedroom at the very rear of her home.  He yelped at first when she so easily hefted him into the air, and the sullen glare he fixed on her just made her laugh heartily.  Before he could even voice an objection to being carried in such a feminine manner, she was dropping him once again, this time letting him land flat on his back atop her oak-framed, floor-level bed.

He struggled up to his elbows, glaring up at her but only until he saw her undoing the straps to both her chest wrapping and her loincloth.  His face went suitably red and eager yet again as she stood before him then, completely nude.  She cocked a fist on her hip, grinning down at her little Elven lover.  "Gods..." she heard him murmur.  "You are so beautiful..."

She rolled her eyes playfully.  "Enough poetry, Elf boy," she growled.  "Get out of those clothes.  I'd hate to rip such delicate materials."  He immediately began moving to do so and she helped him, removing his leggings while he worked on his torso covering.  In no time at all, both of them were completely bare.  Sliding up into her bed to join him, Rosa lay beside Eion, letting her gaze travel up and down his hairless, long-limbed, and athletically toned body.  His skin was pale like alabaster, and running her scaly palm along his midriff confirmed how smooth and supple it was.  She grinned and took great pleasure in running her tongue all across his upper body and down across his naval.  She let him explore her body as well, his graceful fingers not leaving a single inch of her muscular, amazonian frame untouched or untested.

Patience, however, was not one of Vhorosa's talents, and when his hands got especially explorative, and she quickly rolled up onto her knees and moved to straddle him in a single movement.  She gripped the headboard of her bed as she towered over him, and she took a certain and incredible satisfaction in watching her little, well-endowed Elf shrink a bit into the thick blankets.  "Afraid?" she rumbled down at him.  He shook his head at first, but then, a second later, relented with a slight nod, although his eyes sparkled.  "Good..." she hissed softly.  "I like it when my mate is only a little afraid of me...but you should know that you never need to be."  She leaned slowly back down until her paws were balanced on either side of his head.  One lifted, stroking his cheek and combing through his long, blonde hair.  "I will never hurt you, so long as you are mine, and I'll never allow anyone to hurt you.  Ever."

"As I will never hurt, or allow hurt to come to you," he declared softly up at her as well.  "I will be wholly, completely, and only ever yours, for as long as you want me."

Soft tears built up in the corners of her eyes and Rosa leaned down to press her forehead once again against his.  "Careful, little Elf," she breathed.  "Because that could be for a very, very long time."  Sitting back up straight, the Dragonborn steadied her position above Eion.  "Are you ready then?"

The Elf nodded, worming his fingers up over her hips, hands shaking only slightly.  They took a deep breath in unison.  Using one paw, she lined him up properly and hesitated above him, maintaining eye contact with her lover.  And then, inhaling sharply, she began to push.  To say that it was something wholly new to even her was an understatement.

The stretch, glorious.  The sensations, breathtaking.  She tried to savor it all, to stretch it out and not indulge in too much too fast, but in no time at all, she felt her thighs connect directly with his hips.  Breath exploded from her in a snarling gasp as he flared inside of her and her whole body trembled, from horned head to taloned, three-toed feet.  She clenched hard almost without meaning to, eliciting a similar exhalation from Eion.  She reached up and wormed a clawed hand back through her tendrils, giving out a shaky breath as she settled fully atop the Paladin beneath her.

"Bahamut's...flame..." she whispered.  Another flare made her stiffen again and she had to bite down hard on her bottom lip to resist letting out a less than dominant sound.  She cast her glazed eyes down to her lover, who similarly seemed paralyzed by the exploding overflow of sensations and textures suddenly being shared between them.  "Are you...all right?" she panted.  "I'm not too heavy...am I?"

For his part, Eion simply grunted.  His fingers had a near death-grip on her hips, almost as if half trying to pull her up off of him as well as keep her firmly locked on top.  He shook his head, hair laying all about his face.  He grimaced and let out a similar noise to the one she had been trying to hold back as they shared another surge of both swelling and clenching muscles.  "I'm okay," he panted.  "You feel...amazing."

"That's my line," she growled.  She adjusted her stance, forcing her to rise slightly up along his considerable length before she shoved herself back down fully onto it, reaffirming the nearly too-full feeling that she was quickly becoming addicted to.  She let out a thrumming snarl, teeth bared and her eyes going completely round once again despite that she wasn't directly looking at anything.  She was too absorbed in the most intense mating she had ever been a part of in her life, and they hadn't even really started moving yet.  On that note, she finally tried to refocus her mental processes and she looked her lover in the face again.  "I'm going to start now," she warned him.  "Once I do, I don't think I can stop."

Despite trying to appear as confident and macho as he could under the circumstances, she distinctly heard a slight whimper escape Eion as he tried to ready himself.  "If I die," he breathed, only sounding as if he were half-joking.  "At least it'll be the happiest I've ever been."

Her heart melted a bit more than it already had and she settled herself up more above him.  Her clawed hands took a solid grip on the headboard and she intentionally let him notice the talons there digging soft furrows into the wood.  "I love you too, Eion," she murmured, and then she set her teeth and began to ride.  If she had thought just mounting him had been intense, it did not compare to the actual experience of mating with her newly discovered lover for the first time.  She tried to formulate words to describe it to herself, so that the overflow of sensations, experiences and nearly debilitating levels of pleasure she was experiencing didn't completely fry her rational brain.  She was failing rather badly at the moment.

Someone hearing what was occurring from the outside without context might have easily assumed that some poor soul was being viciously mauled by a huge animal.  Eion didn't help much in that image, as he had little to no control in determining her speed, roughness, or how forcefully his hips were nearly being bounced up off the bed every time she moved.  The carnal sounds of their mating were especially vivid, filling the entire room with their overly aroused states.  Vhorosa had no concept of time at this point: everything was heat, passion, movement, feeling, and texture.  Everything she thought she knew about sex was being blown out of the window as forcefully as an indoor hurricane.

She barely even registered Eion tapping wildly on her hip until she felt him reaching up and somehow hauling her upper body down towards his.  She blinked, panting and snarling out of instinct to have her fun disturbed, and then came back to sentience to notice his beaming if flushed face.  "A-are you...okay?" she forced herself to ask.  He nodded.  She allowed a feral edge to enter her expression, which just made him seem to thrill even more as pleasure and fear combined into a rush of adrenaline that produced yet another wonderful pulse inside.  "Then why in the Nine Hells are you stopping me?" she demanded.

"I-I was...wondering...if I could...switch with you?" he asked, sounding completely breathless.

"Why?" she taunted, licking her lips and flashing her fangs very openly.  "Worried I'll break your hips?"

He nodded.  "Sort of, yes," he actually laughed, although his throat sounded ragged.  From the volume of the sounds he had been making, she wasn't surprised.

She panted, slowing her pace slightly so that while she kept up her rhythm, she was able to think more clearly.  "How?" she asked.  "And hurry.  Take too long and I'm going back to what I was doing."

Grunting at her insistent bouncing, Eion tapped her hip.  "Let me...up on top."

Giving out a snarl, Rosa did as he asked, despite how much she desperately did not want to.  For his credit, he bounced up as fast as he could as she flipped onto her back.  She spread her legs for him, a position that most Mammal species enjoyed, but instead, he had her slightly arch herself onto her hip, now straddling one of her thighs, and lifting the other one up over his shoulder to grip with both hands.  He slid back inside of her to the hilt easily and her claws gouged holes in her sheets from the sensation of an entirely different position now pushing his girth into previously unexplored regions that hadn't been possible in the previous one.  It wasn't better, just different and equally pleasurable.

"Good?" he asked, sounding half breathless before he started moving all on his own.

"S-s-so...good..." she grunted out beneath him, arching her back and flexing her muscles along her lower body to help keep her leg elevated and her interior folds nice and tight for him.  They mated like that for a while, perhaps not as long as they had in the first, but she found she rather enjoyed this one.  It let her look up and see him fully, while also giving him the feeling of being able to determine depth, speed, and how rough he could go.  He did not disappoint on any of those counts, his eyes locked on various parts of her anatomy that only seemed to encourage him to work even harder.

From there, they progressed to her kneeling in front of him and him forced to stand to reach.  Even so, they found great enjoyment in that position as well, a more natural one for Rosa's species, although sadly Eion didn't have the claws that usually helped for leverage, nor the height that would assist in angles.  He made up for that with a seemingly bottomless pool of energy and dedication, and Rosa had no complaints.  They tried any and all kinds of experimentation, using the walls of the bedroom, letting him stand on the bed above her while she bent over in front of it, even one where she actually hoisted him up completely in her arms, his legs hanging over her forearms, aiming him carefully, and just bounced him in her powerful grasp with him unable to do anything but hang there.

Eventually, it had to end.  Once again flat on his back, Eion, pinned beneath her, wrapped his arms tight around her waist and buried his face up between her chest, panting as he had before when she had played with him.  Knowing what those sounds meant, Vhorosa redoubled her efforts, moving with all the speed and accuracy that she could muster while also trying to make sure she didn't smother her small boyfriend.  That was when she realized something, as he seemed to finally be tipping over the precipice of no return.  She hadn't really been able to acknowledge it before when he had been between her breasts, but if she had thought he possessed a considerable girth just being erect, it had nothing on the monster that swelled inside of her in preparation for climax.  Her eyes went wide as the snug, stretched feeling was pushed to its utmost limits and she let loose a savage snarl as she bore down, slamming to the hilt as the first pulse hit her.

They rode it out together, coming at the same time and holding onto one another like the other was a lifeline in the middle of a stormtossed sea.  It just seemed to stretch on and on, endlessly, all while battering their fatigued, drained bodies with wave after wave of sensations that rocked them to their core.  As it finally began to die down, they both sagged, chest heaving for breath, onto the sweat-stained blankets of her bed.  There was no concept of time for how long they lay there, still joined together.  Her heart hammered inside of her chest like a thousand war drums and her blood virtually surged with inner flame.  She felt him struggling weakly beneath her and she forced herself up, allowing him to breathe.

"Sorry...sorry..." she panted, similarly struggling to rein in her lungs to working at normal capacity again.  Her throat was parched and painful.  She was abruptly and wholly happy, more than she had ever been for any other reason before, that she had no close neighbors.  She looked down at him worriedly.  "Are you okay...darling?"

Eion didn't seem able to respond.  His chest was heaving up and down, his arms hanging out flat to the sides, and his head angled back as he sucked in lungfuls of air.  He seemed completely out of it.  Realizing that sitting atop of him still was most likely doing him no favors, the Dragonborn forced herself to dismount from atop of him.  The slide of only just then deflating elven flesh produced a whining cry as heat surged from her messily and she collapsed to the bed, keeping her legs clamped shut to avoid further embarrassment, as well as to savor the warm, full feeling she still had going.  She curled up next to Eion, slowly stroking his pale chest, often leaning over to press loving kisses against his cheek.

Still, he had not responded, although his breathing was slowly evening out.  She painfully propped herself up, her nether regions feeling flushed, heated, and raw.  "Eion?" she asked, tapping his chest.  "Are you okay?"

At her firm shaking and tapping, the Elf finally stirred.  He lifted his head only by a fraction, blinking as if coming out of a daze.  He looked over toward her and grinned in exhaustion.  "Ten out of ten..." he gasped, voice similarly as rough sounding as hers was.  "Would do again."

"Again?!" she croaked.  "Do you have a death wish?"  Even she wasn't sure she could go for another round.

He blinked at her reaction, then his eyes went wide.  Hazed as they were, he seemed to grasp what he had said.  "Oh Gods no," he rasped.  "Please not again, not right now.  I want to live long enough marry you."

She had started to laugh when he first spoke, but at that, her breath caught and she stared down at him in shock.  "Marry?" she asked, voice soft and incredulous.  Was he being serious?

Eion blinked, seeming surprised at her.  "Well...of course," he stated.  "I love you.  I want to be able to call you mine, forever, and to be similarly yours.  Is...that okay?"

She couldn't help but guffaw.  It hurt, but it was a good hurt.  "It's...just shocking," she snorted, then covered her mouth, mortified that such a sound had escaped her lips.  "Do you really mean it?"

He grinned, slowly rolling onto his side as much as he could.  His hips had noticeable bruising on them, as well as several raw spots on his chest, arms, and shoulders, accompanied by the occassional scratch mark from her claws.  He winced at every single movement of his legs.  "I do," he murmured.  "Did...I ask wrong?"

"Have to ask to be able to ask wrong," she sniffed, pretending to sound haughty despite how hoarse she was.  "It wouldn't hurt your chances, admittedly, if you did ask instead of just declaring it."

"I'm sorry," he said, and he sounded genuinely remorseful.  "Vhorosa, will you do me the honor of~"  She cut him off, scooting closer and enveloping his mouth in a kiss.  They rolled slowly onto his back again, although they both hissed and quickly ceased moving.  "I guess...that's a yes...?" he grunted up at her.

"Nine Hells, yes," she growled down at him.  She adjusted her position and curled up against him, scaly bulk almost half atop of him and her head laying gently on his chest.  She was careful with her horns while doing so, to make sure she didn't accidentally stab him.  Her paw sought out his hand and she gripped it with ferociously overjoyed strength.  "So many times, yes."

She heard Eion give out an emotional sniff and something wet splashed against her tendril hair.  She sighed happily and just hugged him tighter.

They lay like that for a long time.  "Sorry about your hips," she whispered a while later, both of them having been happy enough to lay there and just watch the stars through her bedroom window while they snuggled, using only body heat to keep one another warm.

"Worth it," he whispered back.  "But I may need a healer in the morning."

"Then a healer in the morning you'll get," she promised.  She yawned and he did as well.  "Sleep, my love," she murmured, lifting herself up and giving him the gentlest kiss they'd yet shared.  "Sleep."  She did not have to tell him again.  His eyes closed and her beloved Elf lolled his head, immediately and completely fast asleep.  She wrapped him in her arms and snuggled in deep into her blankets.  So this was what falling in love truly felt like...

***

Vhorosa was busy at work in her kitchen when she heard Eion finally beginning to stir.  Morning was firmly upon them, at least by a few hours.  For the first time in years, the Dragonborn had kept the "closed" sign turned around in the window, and actually slept through the sunrise instead of getting up to start her day.  Her first clue that her fiance Elf was awakening was his rather loud and painful grunts as he no doubt was awakening to find his body barely wanting to move.  She chuckled.

"Good morning!" she called down the hall to him.  "Are you hungry?"

"Starving..." she heard him call weakly.  "How are you able to move?  I can barely even feel my legs right now."

"I suppose I'm just that much stronger than you," she teased, feeling younger than she had in decades.  She made the finishing touches to the plate of food she had prepared for him, hoisted the plate in her paws, and swayed her way back to the bedroom.  As she entered, she saw that Eion had somehow propped himself up on the pillows.  He was still nude, but his lower body was covered in a blanket.  She beamed at him, similarly clad in nothing.  She was too happy and too sore to want to imagine actually putting on anything.  "Well hello, handsome," she joked.  "You seem to have woken up in my bed.  There are taxes for that sort of thing you know."

"Just put it on my tab.  I'll be good for it at a later date," he grunted at her.  His eyes went wide as he saw the plate of food she had made.  "Is that for me...?" he asked, sounding emotional.

"Well, of course.  A wife should always cook for her husband," she jested, winking one yellow eye down at him and sliding the platter of waffles, fresh fruit, and milk with honey onto his covered lap.  "Especially when said husband made his wife feel like a woman again for the first time in over twelve years."

Eion eagerly plucked up the utensils that she had brought for him, but then looked up at her in concern.  At her curious expression, cocking her head to the side, he lowered the fork and knife as if feeling guilty.  "Aren't you going to eat?" he asked.

Her smile doubled from what it had been.  "I already ate, sweetie."  She leaned over the platter and pressed a scaly kiss against his brow.  "That is all for you.  No meat, like I know you like."

He stared at her incredulously.  "You remembered that?" he asked, his voice soft.

Rosa grinned, nuzzling her nose against his.  "Of course.  A lot of Elves don't eat meat, isn't that right?"  He nodded and she kissed him again.  "You eat."  She stroked his hair as he indulged and dug into her home-cooked meal.  A knock at the door startled her and she rose.  "I wonder who that is..." she murmured.  She lifted a scaly paw, forstalling Eion from trying to get up.  "No, Eion, you eat," she insisted.  "Just stay quiet for now until I find out who's at the door."

Standing from the bed, Rosa begrudgingly threw on an admittedly deep-cut shirt and an easy to get into skirt, some of the only feminine things she still owned.  Once she was properly dressed, forgoing the undergarments for sake of time, she crossed to the front door and opened it.  The morning sun was already bright and shining, Ghorshore was busy as it ever was this early.  Standing there on her front porch, beaming up at her, was Lorana.

"Good morning beautiful!" she glowed.  She lifted a flagon of something that smelled like berries.  "I brought you a fresh mug of the coldest and freshest fruit wine to start your day off!"  The Elf looked radiant as ever, not even bothered at all by the amount of mead she had consumed the night previous.  Any other person might have still been bedridden for the hangover that would have brought on, but Lorana, like her brother, was tougher than she looked.  "Don't you look positively glowing this morning, might I ask?" she declared, eyes wide at Vhorosa's attire.

The Dragonborn stared down at her best friend in equal parts panic, shock, and confusion.  "Lorana!" she said, voice strained.  "I...didn't expect you so early this morning!"

"Well, of course, I wanted to come early," she announced cheerily.  "You mentioned wanting to spend the day together, and what kind of...best...friend..." the Elf trailed off, suddenly peering up at the now furiously sweating Dragonborn more closely.  "Wait..."  Her eyes suddenly went wide.  "That's your sex shirt!  Oh, Gods above, you actually got laid last night?!" she demanded, voice high-pitched and excited.  "Who was it?!  Do I know them?  Do you work with them?  Are they a client?"  Her eyebrows wiggled.  "Were they a...late-night customer?"

Rosa slapped her palm over her face, wanting to die of embarrassment.  She knew for certain that she could not allow Lorana to know who was in her bedroom.  "I...don't have a sex shirt," she tried to lie.

Lorana scoffed.  "Rosy, I lived and worked with you for years.  Every time you got some action, you wore exactly that shirt the next day.  It was like a ritual!  So tell me, who's the guy?  Girl?  Guy and girl?"  Her excited chatter had nearby birds twittering at the volume.  "Come on, woman, I have to know!"

"I'd...really rather not talk about it..." she tried to placate the Elf, but realized that this had been exactly the wrong thing to say.

"Ooooh," tittered Lorana.  "So it's someone I know!  Oh, that is so juicy, you absolute beast of a woman you!  Can I guess?  I wanna guess.  I'm gonna guess it."  The Bard pondered for a minute.  "Is it...that handsome Human salesmen at the weapon store?"  She didn't even pause before she rejected the idea completely.  "What about the flower saleswoman at the other side of the docks?  No, she doesn't come this far into the side of town.  How about that Elf guy, the dockmaster, he's got sort of a gangly charm to him?"  Noticing Rosa's flinch, Lorana fixated further.  "So he's an Elf!  Interesting, very interesting!"

"Lorana!" growled Rosa, face blushing hard and dearly wishing to stop this conversation before it escalated.  "Look it's...yes okay you know them.  But I really, really do not want to talk about it right now.  It's still...awkward."

Again, this had been the wrong thing to say.  Lorana was many wonderful things, but unfortunately, she was also a gossip and matchmaker by force of habit and a genuine skill at it.  "So they're not only someone I know, but they're also still here..." drawled the Bard with a lascivious grin.  "You sly woman you, worked them over so hard they couldn't stumble home...  Wait...it's not...Gresh...is it?"  She looked faintly sick at that suggestion.

"NO!" snapped Vhorosa before she could stop herself.

Nodding firmly, Lorana just kept going.  "Well let's see, they would have to had met up with you by the time you got home because I know from experience that you don't really open your door after it's locked and shut for the night.  That's from hearing about your previous customers.  That means they had to have been close enough to catch you on the way back to your house.  If I know them that means it had to be someone from the tavern last night because I don't know many people here, and only the ones I came with last night...so that would mean...hmmm"  She trailed off, tapping her chin.  She went on like that for several, agonizing seconds before, to Rosa's relief she just sighed.  "I give up."  She blew a strand of her golden hair out of her face in annoyance.  "I'm usually so good at this stuff.  Oh well.  If you need some more time with your lover, just come meet me in town and we can go shopping like we planned.  There is the cutest tailor store nearby with some outfits I'd love to see you wear."

"Sounds good..." sighed Rosa in gracious relief to every single God she knew of.

Lorana turned to go, then stopped right before she got to the fence.  She whirled back around, face bright and happy again.  "Oh, by the way, did Eion stop by?  He heard that you were leaving before he had gotten there and he was just so upseeeeeeeeeeeeet..."  her voice trailed off into a stunned, monotonous noise.  Her eyes went wide, her mouth dropped open, and she almost seemed to completely tune out of reality as that last word just kept droning on and on.  To Rosa's horror, she saw that realization had dawned.

Putting her paws up quickly, Rosa tried to placate the wide-eyed Elven woman.  "Now, Lorana, I can explain," she started to say.

Lorana's mouth clamped itself shut and she took a deep breath, blinking rapidly.  She held up a hand, forestalling any further words or offers for explanations.  She walked forwards again until she was once again standing in front of the Dragonborn smith, who, if her species could sweat, would have stained her shirt completely through by this point.  "Rosy," Lorana said, voice as tight, tense, and curt as the blade of a knife.  "Did Eion stop by here last night?"

"Y-yes..." stammered Rosa nervously.  "But before you say anything else, let me~"

Again, the hand went up.  "Did you invite him inside?"

"Yes, but if you would let me just say something..."

Again, the hand cut her off mid-sentence.  The air felt physically colder for some reason.  "Rosy.  Did you.  Have sex.  With my little brother?"  The way that Lorana was looking at and talking to her was worse than anything she had ever experienced in her life.  It was absolutely flat, with no emotion at all.  She had never felt more in danger before ever.

Rosa clamped her mouth shut.  There was no point in lying.  She just nodded.

Lorana nodded as well.  She pursed her lips.  "You were upset," she announced.  "At Gresh."  She nodded.  "You were possibly unaware that Eion had just signed on to work underneath Gresh as an Initiate Paladin."  Again, she nodded.  "Rosy, I want you to be completely honest with me.  If you lie, you and I will no longer be friends.  I will do everything within my power to hurt you as Gresh hurt you when he tried to sleep with me.  Do you understand?"

Ordinarily, Vhorosa did not respond well to threats.  Even when she was in the wrong, being threatened always put her on the defensive.  Right now, however, there was no defense.  There was only the truth.  "Yes," she responded curtly.

"Did you have sex with my little brother to get back somehow at your ex-husband?" demanded Lorana very softly.

At that accusation, Rosa actually growled.  "No!"

"But you did sleep with him."

"Yes."

"And he's still here."

"...Yes."

"He's alive?"

Rosa rolled her eyes.  "Yes!"

Lorana took another deep breath, nodded, and turned to go.

Blinking in surprise, the Dragonborn started after her.  "Lorana, hold on."

"I'm not talking to you," was all she would say.

"Why?" Rosa demanded, bolting around in front of her and barring the gate shut.

Blocked from exiting the property, Lorana fixed her best friend with a deadly cold gaze.  "Why?  You, the Krusher, ask me why I'm upset with you for sleeping with my little brother when he had just started off on his own adventuring career, yes, underneath your slime of an ex-husband, but still a known and respected Paladin?  Why am I upset that you went around behind my back and used my brother like a physical vent for all your frustrations, none of which I've ever doubted you for before in the past?  I thought you were looking for something serious, not some lovestruck boy who has been utterly infatuated with you since the two of you first met!"

Rosa let her friend unload on her in silence.  When Lorana stopped for breath, it was now her turn to hold up a paw, halting any further outpouring of vitriol.  "Yes.  I slept with your brother.  No, it was not meant, ever, to endanger his career, which I am fully aware he only took because of his infatuation with me."  Lorana raised an eyebrow and Rosa added.  "He told me himself.  Last night.  When he stopped by to say hello and I insisted he come inside to let me work on his badly fitted armor.  I didn't want him to get hurt wearing it out on a mission.  He asked me for romantic advice on how to talk to a woman he liked.  I gave him pointers and he used them to confess.  He said he loved me.  I realized that I deeply cared about him too, just as much."

Lorana's icy gaze suddenly fell off at that and she just stared up at the Dragonborn.  Rosa's face heated up again and she fidgeted in place, which just made Lorana begin to now gape at her even more.

"We...spent the night together.  I realized how much I had been missing out on, and with the best guy I've ever known.  He...asked me to marry him, Lorana."

The Elf's jaw fell even more open.  "He did?!" she croaked.  "W-w-w-what did you say?!"

Rosa grinned, still blushing.  "I said...yes.  I love him, Lorana.  I didn't even know I did but I do.  I...made him breakfast.  He's still inside the house."  She cleared her throat and looked straight into her friend's eyes.  "I'm very sorry if you feel like I went around behind your back, but it wasn't planned, and it wasn't for the reason you're worried about.  You have my Dragon's Oath on that.  I love your brother.  Yes, he's a bit young, but he knows what he wants and I know what I want.  I'd still like your blessing, as my best friend.  And...hopefully...sister?"  She tried a weak smile.

Lorana's bottom lip began to tremble and her big doe-eyes started to fill with tears.  "You...really mean all of that?" she asked, voice shuddering.  "You really love him?"  Rosa nodded.  "And...you still want...my blessing?"  Rosa nodded again.  "And now...you're going to be my sister?"

"If you'll have me as one," Rosa started to say but was suddenly tackled and nearly knocked off her feet by a flying Elf Bard.

"OF COURSE I WANT YOU AS MY SISTER!" screeched Lorana.  She hung onto the blacksmith Dragonborn's shoulders as she openly sobbed into her burly flank.  "I'm so happy right now!" she shrieked for all the world to hear.  "My brother and my best friend are getting married!"

"Lorana, calm down!" demanded Rosa, her frilled ears ringing.  She saw that people were eyeing them oddly for the disturbance and she was quick to hoist Lorana completely off the ground and carry her sobbing frame inside.  She set her down and shut the door behind them.  "There, now please stop screaming and crying!" she begged the hysterical Elf.

Lorana whirled around and sprinted down the hall to the bedroom.  Rosa sighed, rolling her eyes, then started as he heard a heavy grunt and exclamation of "Lorana, what the~!"  Followed by a loud thump.  "You absolute psycho, get off of me!  I'm not dressed!"

Rosa hurried down the hall and poked her head into the room.  Lorana, face an absolute mess of tear stains and running makeup, was trying to drag a sheet over her now floored little brother who had been knocked seemingly out of the bed and was now trying to cover up his still naked body.  His legs still looked a mass of dark bruises from what Rosa could see of them.

Lorana noticed them too.  She turned an eye up toward the Dragonborn, looking shocked.  "When I asked if he was alive," she protested, still half sobbing, "I also meant was he able to walk?!  Gods above, Rosy, were you trying to cripple my baby brother?  He looks like you dragged him through the desert!"

"Hey now," protested Eion hotly at his older sibling.  "Don't be getting onto her like that, I asked for it for the most part."

"You asked her to beat you near half to death with her thighs?" demanded Lorana snippily.  Her annoyance and worry soon gave way again and she once more flung herself around her brother's shoulders, wailing anew.  "I'm so happy!" she bawled, rubbing her face against Eion's.  "I'm so proud of yoooou!"

"I could do with you being a little less proud of me!" snarled the younger Elf, trying to push her off of him.  He cast an imploring eye up to Rosa.  The Dragonborn was leaning against the doorway, unable to stop herself from grinning.  "Can you please get her off of me?  I can barely move by myself!"

"What, and break up this adorably display of sisterly love?" she commented playfully.

"SISTER!" wailed Lorana and she abruptly leaped back to her feet and once again rushed her taller, bigger friend.  It took a solid ten minutes to calm Lorana down, and only after she had been given a strong drink and a chair to sit in while Rosa talked her through the events of last night, minus the intimate carnal details.  "That all sounds so wonderfully romantic..." she sighed, still hiccuping into her drink.  "But...Eion, what are you going to do about Gresh?"

"I didn't intend on still being sworn to him," stated the Elf flatly.  "Hearing how he treated you and Vhorosa, not to mention failing to even being told by him about his involvement in those events has shaken my belief that he is a Paladin I need to model myself after.  I'll probably settle here with Vhorosa for a while."  He paused then and cast an eye over towards his newly engaged Dragonborn.  "If...that's all right?"

She beamed, still standing against the doorway.  "This is your home now, for as long as you want it to be.  You can take local jobs if you're serious about still training as a Paladin, I have some contacts I do smithing for that you can train with, and you won't need to worry about lodging or money, since I make enough from my commissions.  Lorana, you're obviously free to visit anytime."

Both Elves beamed and she rolled her eyes again, trying to dispel the heat in her cheeks at how they were both looking at her.  It was far too adorable.  They sat and talked for a bit longer before Lorana, actually a trained healer, began tending to her brother's "injuries".  While she was not a trained cleric, her magic did the trick and Eion was soon able to get up and dress while the two women gave him some privacy.

"So what do you intend to do?" asked Lorana, training her big doe eyes on the Dragonborn woman.  At her curious look, the Elf explained.  "About Eion, and the marriage thing, and Gresh obviously going to be an issue since Eion is supposed to be serving underneath him as an Initiate."

Rosa pondered that but eventually just shrugged.  "I'll stand by Eion no matter what he decides.  I know I can find him much better examples of Paladinhood to serve underneath if he still wants to be an adventurer, and I'll be waiting at home for him, as his wife,  everytime he comes back from an assignment.  He'll have the best gear I can make for him, properly sized and fitted, good weapons, and plenty of connections for contracts."  She found herself smiling, a look that Lorana was mirroring.  "I'm...not worried at all, Lorana," she admitted.  "Your brother is smart, charming, maybe a bit clumsy, and could be more confident, but those are all things that he can build upon at the same time."

The Elf hummed and she giggled, wiping at her makeup-smeared cheeks.  "I have to admit, Rosy, that this was always how I hoped things would turn out.  Knowing how much my brother adored you for all these years, and now seeing you two happily together...it's more than I ever hoped for.  I'm really proud of you, Rosy."

Chuckling, Vhorosa hugged the small Elf woman with one arm.  "I appreciate that and also your endless support during all this time.  I intend to be the best scaly-sister ever."  At Lorana's big eyes starting to threaten to overflow again, the Dragonborn hasily added, "Please don't start crying again!"

There was a lot of sniffling before Lorana succeeded in tamping down her tears, and by then, Eion had rejoined them, limping only slightly but beaming over at the pair of women.  "You two make up?" he asked hopefully, to which they both nodded.  "Excellent...then, if it isn't too much trouble, Rosa, could you help me on a personal errand?"

Arching a ridged eyebrow, she nodded immediately.  "Of course."

"I want to return this armor to Sir Gresh.  He lent it to me for the expeditions while underneath his patronage and I don't feel right keeping it if I'm not going to train under him."  He did look sheepish after saying that, giving Vhorosa a guilty smile.  "That...might mean I'll need to...have you make me another one.  I promise, I'll work it off however you want me to."

Rosa couldn't stop herself from chuckling.  "I think we will find some sort of compromise, my resilient little Elf."

Lorana pulled a face.  "I take it all back, this is awful.  I do not want to hear about you two's crazy dragon-elf sexual escapades."  She abruptly clapped her hands over her eyes in dramatic fashion.  "Oh god!  I don't want to picture it but now I can't stop seeing the things you two have probably done!"  She let out a strangled sound that was most closely approximated to a strangled chicken.  "Find me a Mindflayer, I need a mind wipe."

They all began to laugh, heartily and heavily.  It was a good day.  Not long after they had all stopped joking around, Rosa and Eion gathered up his gear into a pack and made their way back into town, heading for the inn where the Elf claimed that Gresh and his fellow Initiates would be lodging.  Instead of his over-sized armor, Rosa and insisted that he take a temproary suit of chainmail and spare pieces of gear that she had stockpiled for individual sales or replacement orders.  He looked much less heavily encumbered now, but at least the sword and shield were his.

They made only one stop on the way there, a local clergy house for a local Nature Goddess, Melora, of whom Eion shared a Patron Domain and Oath to.  Several Clerics and priests greeted them warmly, and after asking for a senior Paladin of whom Rosa was a preferred crafter for, they were escorted to her office.  they knocked on the door to the chamber, and were told, "Enter," by a lyrical yet impressively deep voice.

The doors opened at a single touch and both of them strode inside.  The Paladin, a tall Firbolg woman in green-tinted armor that had roots and vines naturally growing from underneath the plates and forming her underarmor and bindings, looked up at them.  Her deep-set eyes brightened and she smiled.  "Ms. Vhorosa!" she exclaimed, setting aside her quill.  "To what do I owe this unexpected pleasure?"

"Lady Perrian," growled Rosa respectfully.  She nudged Eion with a clawed hand, her other one toting the chest that contained his borrowed gear from Gresh.  "Allow me to introduce Paladin Initiate Eion Moondown, of the Tieroch Moondown clan.  You may have heard of his father, Tieroch Maldune Moondown, Knight of Selune?"  At her nod, her fiance took a step forward and bowed deeply.

"Indeed, I know of Sir Maldune very well," Perrian Boughmark declared.  "A pleasure, young Elf.  Are you a friend of my good cohort, lady Vhorosa Krish?"

"Yes, ma'am," he answered, only a bit awkwardly.  "A-actually, Lady Rosa is...well..."

The Dragonborn laid a hand over his shoulder.  "Eion and I are recently engaged, as of last night.  I wanted to ask of you a favor, given our history together, Lady Perrian."

The Firbolg Paladin's eyes went wide and she looked between the two of them several times.  "I...admit this is very surprising but joyous news," she commented after she had managed to process it.  "I am overjoyed for the both of you.  Of course, ask me anything.  My congratulations are in order for your impending nuptuals!"

"Would you do him the honor of taking him as an Initiate of your church?" asked Rosa.  "He is currently obligated to a less than favorable other Senior Paladin, from whom we would hope you might alleviate and Ordain him, allowing him to swear himself instead underneath your own ranks.  I also believe that, not only for personal reasons, that he would do better here, at a Church of a Patron God closest to his own."

Again, the woman's eyes wet wide and she looked more directly at Eion.  He drew himself up as much as he could, hand on the handle of his basket-hilted longsword, and standing at attention.  "Is...there an issue with his current Senior Paladin?" she asked cautiously.  "This is not a normally common matter and should be handled with care."

"There is, Ma'am," stated Eion this time.  "I find it unacceptable, given the recent truths I have discovered about his less-than-noble nature on a personal matter very dear to me, to remain sworn to Sir Ol-Gresh the Gratious' service.  However, rather than form a public inquiry and risk damaging his actual reputation as a Paladin, I would be most relieved if it could be handled privately."  Rosa was proud of him for stating it so eloquently.

Perrian pursed her fingers and lips in contemplation.  "That is...tactful but no less potentially risky for your social standing.  Have you been ordained by his Order as of yet?"

"No, Ma'am.  His Order is that of the God Helm, and his Oath made to the White Knights of Devotion, while mine is to the lady Selune, and my oath to the Green Knights of the Ancients.  I was accepted into his cadre based only on my relationship to my sister, Lorana Moondown, as she was a previous adventuring companion of Sir Ol-Gresh."

Lady Perrian relaxed at that.  "Very well.  Given my history with your fiance, the exemplary work and aide she has given unto my Order in the past, and your very tactful and persuasive request, I will accept you as part of my Church.  I will ask you to come here in two night's hence, as that is the earliest Ordaining of new Initiates currently scheduled to align with the new moon.  I will see that you are given a psalm book to study, and you can give me your pledge in one week's time."

Both of them bowed deeply to the Senior Paladin of the Green Way.  "You have my sincerest gratitude," stated Eion, trying hard to contain his joy at the ease of this process.

"And you have my profound congratulations and best wishes for your upcoming wedding.  May I ask if I could procure an invitation?"  Perrian's eyes were warm and motherly.

Rosa winked at the woman.  "I'll make sure you get one.  Thank you, Perrian."

They all shared a salute and the pair of them turned to go.  "One more thing," the Firbolg called, causing them to halt.  "You will have your own gear?" she asked.

"Yes, he will," stated Rosa matter-of-factly.  Eion gave her a look of surprise which melted into grateful fondness, which she returned.

"Very well, I have no further objections," Perrian called and waved goodbye to them.  They exited the church and made their way officially into the center of Ghorshore's town central.

Upon arriving at the inn the Elf had mentioned earlier, they asked for Gresh's room, whereupon Eion turned to look up at his fiance.

"I think it's best if I go to speak with him alone.  If you're there...I may get confrontational," he stated.  He took a deep breath and held his hands out for the box she was carrying.

Rosa smiled warmly.  "I'm very proud of you, little Eion."  He scowled only a little bit at her but then glanced up the stairs, looking nervous.  She touched his cheek, recalling his attention to her.  "Just remember one thing.  You may not be as big, or as impressive as he is yet, but you will be someday.  And you're big where it counts, in all the best of ways.  Which is more than I can say for him."

Eion furrowed his brows in confusion at that last statement, but when she grinned and clenched her thumb claw inbetween her fore and middle finger, wiggling it pointedly, his eyes went wide.  He bit back a snort of laughter.  "R-really?" he asked, sounding as if he couldn't believe it.  "The Captain?"

She chuckled more.  "Let's just say this."  She held her paws up, a set distance from one another.  "Two hands on his great sword, one hand on the one that counts."  She winked.  "Just keep that in mind. And if you start to lose your confidence, just remember this one more thing."  She leaned in close to him and whispered into his ear.  "He never could have compared to you from last night.  Casts all his Smite spells right off the bat.  And I was never a short campaign kind of girl..."  She kissed him one more time and watched him turn to go, a ridiculously pleased, if flustered smile plastered on his face.

She settled herself down in the common room to wait for him to return, ordering herself a beer while she did.  She had only drank about half of it when she heard a pair of armor-plated feet tromping down the stairs.  She sat up a bit in interest.  Sure enough, Eion was the first one down, looking unhappy but firm.  Right behind him trailed a bewildered and cross-looking Gresh.

"Hold on a minute lad," the Half-Orc grunted, struggling to keep up somehow with the long-legged and much more agile smaller Paladin.  "Aren't you going to explain yourself more than simply sating you've found another Senior Paladin to swear your Oaths to?  I pulled a lot of strings to get you into my cadre, and I have a right to know..."  He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw her sitting there.  "Rosa?" he asked, looking ever more confused.

Eion crossed right over to her.  He wasn't carrying the box of plating anymore.  He pivoted to face his senior, standing at attention but with a grim expression on his face.  "I don't really think there is more to say, Sir Gresh," he stated flatly.  "My service to Lady Perrian Boughmark will, in my opinion, do me a greater service and keep me closer to my intended Oaths to my family Goddess.  I appreciate all you've done for me, but I think this is for the best."  He stuck his hand out to the Half-Orc.

Gresh blinked in shock down atthe shorter Elf, and then he cast a wary, if also suspicious eye towards her as well, as she had stood to loom right behind her fiance.  "Far be it from me to besmirch and doubt the word of an Initiate," he growled, "But any would take note of the convenience of him arriving at this conclusion of both thought and contract while in your company, Lady Vhorosa the Krusher.  A less tactful mind than mine would wonder if you might have said something to encourage or inspire this sudden trail of thought."

Vhorosa met his eyes evenly, placing a hand on the Elf's armored shoulder and squeezing very softly.  "The truth," was all she said to him.  "The only thing I told to him was the truth.  He came to this decision on his own.  I understand that to a Paladin, the integrity of your word is everything you hold dear.  Or would you like to refute it, and explain in your own words the circumstances surrounding you, myself, and his sister, Lorana Moondown?"

Gresh's face flushed bright red and he scowled even more darkly.  "A breech of contract and fealty over a personal matter is highly frowned upon, you should be aware of," he growled, almost making it sound like a threat.  "There are consequences amongst our ranks for such actions."

"You can take it up with Lady Perrian Boughmark if you believe it to be of such a sordid or questionable nature," countered Eion curtly.  "I appreciate all you have done to get me to where I am, but this is where I think it is best we part ways, Sir Ol-Gresh.  Can we part in friendship?"  He still had his hand held out.

Knowing that the entire common room had their eyes on him, the Half-Orc grumbled but took the younger man's hand in a brief squeeze before letting go.  "May Helm keep you," he muttered.

"And may Selune light your way," responded Eion dutifully.  He lowered his hand as well and looked up at Rosa.

She took the hint and gave him a warm, gentle, fang-toothed smile.  Gresh noticed this right away, his eyes going wide and his jaw falling open.  She took no small sense of personal satisfaction by bending down and kissing Eion right on the lips, in front of everyone.  Whispers and gasps of surprise filled the common room of the inn.  "Please excuse us," she stated to the room at large, but especially Gresh.  My fiance and I are going to go celebrate his recent acceptance into the knightly order of the Green Way, and acquire a suit of armor that actually fits him."  She reached down and took Eion's hand.  the pair of them turned to go.

Whispers sprung up all around them as they walked out of the inn, and eyes peered through the glass windows after the pair as they strode unhurriedly down the square and back towards the direction of her house.  The Elf's hand was warm in her paw and the sun had never felt warmer, brighter, or more wonderful in her life.

"I...hope that such a public announcement doesn't do your reputation any harm," Eion muttered gently as they walked.  "I've heard how popular you are among the single crowd of Ghorshore."

She met his eyes, smiling more than she ever had before.  "What do I need for reputation?" she asked.  "I have you.  You gave me me something that I can only ever strive to give back, and I intend to do so for the rest of my days."

"What's that?" he asked, smiling, although he seemed to already guess what it was by how he led onto her hand all the more firmly.

"You."

THE END