Ignoring all the Signs

[Haze]

He'd missed this. Oh how he'd missed it. The closeness, the wanting, the returns of his affections. Every movement she made sent him deeper into a chaotic spiral of not thinking. Her little breaths, that laugh, her inability to answer his question - it was all he needed to hear.

"Not going to argue with you on that," He said,  dropping his hands from around her, and reaching for the hem of his shirt, all the while diving in for another kiss. It was semi-awkward, but he didn't feel like he could bear to be without her so close for more than a second. When he got the shirt up to his shoulders, he broke away, and flung it over his head and to the ground. His hands instantaneously went back to her, hungrily tugging on her own shirt. "It's only fair..." Dorian breathed for an instant, balling the fabric into his hands before tugging it up, and slipping his hands beneath.

The thrills that went through him for the feel of her warm skin were electrifying, and his fingers splayed against her around the small of her back. He groaned a little, something that sounded like 'why has it been so long?' before he buried his head into her neck, and began placing heavy kisses to her throat. He started moving unconsciously, walking her back towards the bed, while his greedy hands roamed, and even greedier lips grew fiercer against her neck and shoulders. He didn't think he could be gentle, not after all this time, anyway, as much as he knew she deserved his every tenderness.

He made a rough sound in the back of his throat, and pulled away with heavy eyes starting down at her. "I am never going two months without this, ever again."

[Juno]

She was all too keen to hold onto their contact and keep everything up. All those touches and kisses gave her such a thrill, such a rush, and she was more than happy to accommodate their awkward movements. After he'd gotten his shirt off she found her hands immediately going back to him. Even as he urged her to do the same, though, she ignored it long enough to run her hands around him, relishing in the feel of him there just so near and warm and exactly what she wanted.

It didn't take much more encouragement for her to remove the offending article, the only thing paining her in this being the fact that the act took precious time away from those kisses she delighted in so much. Once she was free of it, though, and had returned to him, she found she was all too eager right now to follow Dorian back. Her own hands stretched desperately around him, clinging to his shoulders, neck, waist, stomach, chest, anything she could to keep up the oddly pleasant melting in her core. Through the onslaught on her own throat and shoulders, butterfly kisses were all that pressed against his own skin at first; whatever could get through those little gasps for breath as she leaned her head against his own.

When he pulled away to speak was when she allowed herself to look up again, though a little laugh immediately rose in her throat when she realized the irony of it now when the darkness of yearning in his eyes reflected her own. "I don't think that would be good for either of us anymore," Dacia whispered.

Smirking with her giddiness, she brought a hand around again to push on his chest to try and get him to sit. She was quiet as she leaned in to be close again, bringing her lips to his for a moment before continuing down to leave another trail of kisses along his throat while murmuring, "I missed you."

[Haze]

Thank all the gods his mother had had the good sense to leave them alone. The scent of fresh bread baking was wafting in through the door, along with something tangy and full bodied. He guessed it was his mother's famous venison and tomato stew, and that it would almost be done. But while the hallways was silent, and Hediniah wasn't hollering for them to come to dinner, he was just going to enjoy his time lazing about in bed with his wife.

Dorian stretched out on the bed, an extraordinarily wide Cheshire cat  smile playing across his lips. He rolled over onto his side, propping his head up on one hand, fingers gripping into his hair as his other hand began a lazy trace of the body lying next to him. Feeling fully satiated (aside from the niggling little twinges of actual hunger), he was content just admiring her, brushing fingers across the smooth skin of her cheek, down along her neck, shoulders.

His fingers came to a slow halt as they skimmed over her chest, and a little frown creased the center of his brow. He hadn't noticed before - he'd been entirely too caught up in the act to take the time to really pay attention to the details of her body. He peered in a little closer, one hand stretching out over one breast, and then swapping to the other. He lifted the hand up in front of his face, stared into the center of his palm, and then put it firmly back against her warm skin with a puzzled little 'huh'.

"Since when did you get boobs?" He asked, raising an eyebrow and giving a gentle little squeeze to illustrate his point. "I am almost certain they weren't this big before."

[Juno]

She was just basking now, and only barely managing to keep herself awake with a small smile playing at the corners of her mouth. Intermittently she would open and close her eyes in that slow pseudo-blinking style, but they focused on the ceiling and nothing else. She was aware of the touches trailing along her and the wonderful smells of cooking food filling the air, but all she did was stare and wonder about how they could possibly make a smooth exit at this point.

It was Dorian's odd movements that finally caught her attention, though, with him looking so incredulously at his hand. Following its movements with a raised brow, though, she didn't have a clue what he was thinking until he finally spoke up. She was quite sure she could have gone without hearing it anyway, though. "'This big'?" she asked slowly with a blank expression as she tried to figure out what he'd actually meant by that when she'd only been minimally aware of the change anyway.

Was he trying to hint that something was wrong? Did he even think something was wrong in the first place? Did he hate it? Did he like it? "I didn't think anything was different..., but maybe I'm finally holding onto some weight," she suggested with a shrug as she stretched out her limbs and angled her head toward the door where the smells of food were still coming from.

[Haze]

"They're definitely bigger," Dorian frowned to her slow response, but he was immediately skeptical to her reasoning. "Maybe," he returned slowly, still not letting go even as she moved and shifted. He eyed her a little more closely with a little bit of shock as the thoughts from earlier, that she seemed to be less angular than normal was confirmed. But they hadn't even been eating incredibly well on their way back through La'marri and to Ketra. There was no way for her to be putting weight on that made sense - he himself was looking slightly gaunt and decidedly hungry.

"I'm not complaining though," he added hastily, not wanting her to start questioning her ... desirability... after he had finally secured a tenuous hold on that part of their relationship all over again. He leaned across to kiss her cheek, and took a moment to breath in the scent of her skin, before letting his hand relax and hug around her waist. He dropped his head down onto her shoulder, and gave a heavy sigh. "You are hungry though, aren't you? I can hear you thinking about food from here. You want to get up?"

[Juno]

He wasn't very good at hiding the fact he was staring, but she didn't mind. What he was observing, though, she was oblivious to right now. By his assurances, it seemed he didn't mind the fact that she was filling out. Though, she wasn't really noticing much of this in herself with how gradual it had been. Really, the only thing that stood out to her as being out of the ordinary was her ravenous hunger that Dorian seemed so keen on pointing out all the time.

Even with all the sweet cuddling and kisses in the moment, the slightest twitch of a frown at the remembrance of his earlier comments was there as she pondered the seriousness of his questions. "That isn't fair, I'm almost always hungry," Dacia teased, reaching over to ruffle his hair a bit before moving to sit up.

"Yeah... Food...sounds good. Really good, actually. What do you think she's made with such short notice?" she wondered with a bit of guilt. There was no way she was going to be picky, though, especially with food prepared by someone else.

"Do you think she'll be...alright now? Will she still want to...talk, you think?" she asked, cringing a bit at the idea of her still being so off. "Or am I just thinking too much into it?"

[Haze]

Dorian took his time in sitting up, not really wanting to let go. He only hoped that breaking the physical contact wouldn't put an end to the re-found closeness. After a moment of watching her though, he decided that that wouldn't be a problem. He couldn't take his eyes off of her.

Raking his hand through his hair, he sniffed in the air again. "Smells like stew - and don't worry - Ma always cooks more than is needed. Most nights she takes food round to the old widowers, or round to the children on the streets." The thoughts made him smile. How many times had his table been filled with strangers? More than he could count.

He sat up then, and wrapped an arm around her middle, planting a kiss to her shoulder, before swinging his legs off the bed. "Ma'll be fine, don't worry," he assured her as he got up and started rounding up the clothes off the floor. "I'm sure she was just surprised. I'll apologise properly, at dinner. You know I don't think I've ever-" He stopped, his attention being caught by a crunching sound underfoot. He'd been kicking a pile of his mother's clothes into the corner, and now he stooped and fished around in the clothes for the sound.

It was a letter, on fresh paper, but creased and re-creased. Dorian frowned, turning the paper over in his hands. It would be wrong to read it, wouldn't it? In fact, he knew it would be, but there was something odd niggling in the back of his mind about how he'd just found this item. His eyes scanned the top. Dearest Niah, it started. So, it was to his mother then, and it was signed Affectionately, Coldarian. The frown on his face deepened, and he quickly turned around to check Dacia, as if needing to see if he had been caught out snooping.

[Juno]

Yet more confirmation of his mother's generosity helped to ease her nerves a little; the woman had been so nice on their last visit so it was all she could hope with how little experience she'd had with her that it was honest and not just a face she'd put up. With Dorian's assurances she could let it go for now and followed his lead to get up and start picking up her things.

In this Dacia was very quiet. She was beginning to realize things really were different. Her body naked as she went around getting her clothes together, she noticed when her elbow brushed her ribcage that, well, she wasn't as boney. More aware of herself now even pulling on her pants her hips didn't feel as sharp and prominent. Furrowing her brow at this, she was careful not to just stare at herself and instead continued to pull on her shirt with her back turned to Dorian.

She hadn't noticed he'd stopped talking, but now she was too focused on acting...normal. Padding over to her bag, she stared at the gemstone as she combed her fingers through her hair and secured it loosely with a tie she'd found in her pocket. Grimacing, Dacia finally picked it up and chucked it back where it belonged. The onslaught of a roaring voice she'd expected didn't come, though, so she turned to eyeing Dorian's one on the dresser before she tilted her head to eye him. That was when she finally noticed that he had been saying something.

Grabbing up the stone, she took the necessary steps to stand behind him with just a couple of paces between them and leaned her head to try and look around him as she held it out to him. "Um, sorry, what were you saying? And...did you want this back?" she ended with a knowing chuckle.

[Haze]

"Ah, what?" Dorian turned and hid the letter behind his back. He was frantically trying to work out how he was going to get dressed, still standing starkers in all his glory, and his eyes darted down to his clothes that he'd dropped as soon as he found the letter. He probably looked like cornered animal. He looked to the gem being held out to him, and to the floor again. "Just ... hold it for me for a moment, will you?"

He quickly moved around her, being super careful to keep the letter from Dacia's eyes, and swooping down to pick up his clothes. With clothes in one hand, and the other still behind his back, he moved slowly backwards, until his legs bumped against the edge of the bed. He shoved the letter under the pillow, and pulled on his clothes with as much haste as possible.

Clearing his throat, he stepped forwards and took the gem from Dacia. "Uh ... thanks," He said, shoving it into his pocket as the snarky tones of Clarity filled his mind.

~*What are you doing, snooping round in your mama's things? *~

I wasn't snooping. I just ... found it.

~*Yeah, but you ain't putting it back, either, are you?*~ She was right. With the letter under the pillow, he was intending on getting it and stuffing it in his pocket as soon as possible. He looked just a little guilty. "Right ... clothes on, got the bear in my head - guess I'm ready as I'll ever be. Lets go eat, yeah?"

[Juno]

Raising a brow for his not taking it back right away, Dacia shrugged and straightened back up. The faint rustling noise was not lost on her, but she couldn't see anything in plain sight out of the ordinary, with the way he was acting..., except the way he was acting. While he certainly wasn't the most graceful, bumping into furniture wasn't really characteristic of him either.

All she heard in her mind as he finished getting ready was snickering from Constance on the other side of the house, but the bear offered no help at all, and she was almost certain right then and there that she was hiding something from her. What's funny?

~Oh, nothing,~ was the only answer she got and it set her off to be quite grumpy with her. In her eyes, she was just being uncooperative, which was true, but it was definitely going to buy Dorian some time.

Finally looking over at him again and then glancing between him and the door, Dacia watched his hands as he took the gem back. It didn't look like he'd been holding anything; had she been mistaken? She didn't think it was logical to worry over, though, they definitely had far more important matters at hand with Hediniah, dinner, and the bears for her to be spending time wondering if she might have missed something.

"Yeah... Let's get going," she agreed. Right now her stomach was ruling, but she vowed to keep her eyes peeled for anything else suspicious. After a moment's hesitation she finally turned and headed for the door. All the while, she kept making little sideways glances at the spot Dorian had been standing before, not knowing that what she was looking for had already been moved.

Upon opening the door and stepping out the smells of dinner flooded her nose now that the barrier of the wall had been removed. Humming in satisfaction, Dacia moved along on her way to the kitchen with the hope that making herself useful would hurry things along. "Ma Elderrose?" she called, "Can I help with anything? Set the table, maybe?"

[Haze]

There was clear relief on Dorian's face as soon as Dacia made for the door. He hung behind for a second, and darted back to the bed, fetching the letter as soon as his wife was headed down the hallway. There was a clear Tsk, tsk, sound in his head, which he scowled to, as he hastily folded up the paper and pushed it deep into his pocket.

Following up behind Dacia, he stood in the doorway as he watched Hediniah turn to greet her new daughter-in-law. The was a knowing look on her finely wrinkled features, which she quickly covered with a bright smile. Replacing the lid of the big cooking pot she was standing over, Hediniah shook her head. "No, my darling, everything is ready," she made a sweeping gesture to the already laid table, "I was just waiting for the two of you to get settled."

Dorian was quick to hide a blush at the way his mother's eyes rested on him, and he stepped forward to embrace her. "Ma, I really am sorry about before. I should have been more... tactful."

"Dorian, you have never been anything remotely close to tactful," Hediniah admonished, "but you're forgiven. I do expect you to tell me the whole story though." Dorian nodded, and kissed her cheek, before letting go and making a gesture to Dacia to sit. He took the bowls set at the side of the cooking fire, and carefully ladled in the steaming stew, taking extra care to make sure that there was plenty in Dacia's bowl.

Placing them down on the table, he sat then, with his mother at his left hand side. "So, Ma," he started slowly, trying to sound casual, "what's been happening since we left?" Hediniah gave him a slow look, before busying herself with her food. "Nothing out of the ordinary, son. Vaun's come to say hello a few times, asking after you. I didn't know you were still friends?"

Not really the answer he was looking for, Dorian shrugged. "Once a brother, always a brother," he said, remembering the phrase used among the men in his battalion. "We ran into him in La'marri. Did he tell you I might have a semi-permanent job, here?"

"No?"

He looked across to Dacia, as if to get permission to carry on with the story. He was hesitant. "We haven't decided on anything solid yet, but we were thinking that we might stay here for a while. Would that... would that be okay with you, Ma? If we stayed with you?"

The pleasure on Hediniah's face was obvious, and she nodded emphatically until the spoonful of food she'd placed in her mouth was swallowed. "Of course! Of course, I wouldn't have it any other way." She beamed, and then directed her attention to Dacia. "Now, my sweet girl, why don't you tell me the story - we both know how Dorian loves to embellish - did he get down on one knee? Were you married in a church? Who was there?"

[Juno]

"Ah," was all Dacia could find to say as she looked out at the table. A flush of pink rose to her face at the idea of Hediniah waiting for them and also that she wouldn't be able to divert attention away from herself now. Watching the exchange between mother and son at least made it easier for her to step aside and make her way toward the table. At Dorian's gesture she finally sat, but it was not without much fidgeting and wringing of her hands at how vulnerable to questioning she was now.

While they talked she busied herself with eating the stew set before her, ladling spoonful after spoonful to both occupy herself and try to keep her thoughts fairly settled. At the mentioning of Dorian's offer to return to the army, though, she perked up to hear what they had to say about it. That Hediniah seemed so eager to welcome them into her home was still very comforting, at least for Dacia since it was technically still Dorian's home, too. When the questions turned to her, though, she did her best to keep her mouth full of stew...until she realized she'd run out. The subject was something she'd dreaded having to discuss with his mother, but it was necessary and at least she could be honest with her.

Setting her spoon aside and licking her lips, Dacia raised her gaze to glance between them for a moment as she reflected on the questions again. "Well, we were stopping over in La'marri for a rest and one night he just...put the ring on my finger while I was asleep," she began sheepishly.

"I...wasn't very happy about that and he ended up running off, probably because he saw how upset I was..., but he did end up coming back to ask me properly. And when we married... Well, nobody was there. It was just us and the bears in the woods," she finished with a shrug as she realized how odd a couple they might look for all of this now.
"I didn't really want anything big for us, we aren't very...prominent or important people so I didn't really see the point," Dacia tried to clarify as she rested her eyes on Hediniah.

"No need to make a fuss, right?" she tried with a suddenly wary smile that was still quite sheepish for her bluntness with her mother-in-law while not knowing her thoughts and still having no idea if she was actually pleased with their union given her earlier reaction.