A New Adventure

[DragonSong]

"Off with you, then," River laughed, still a bit red. "Enjoy the sights—but remember you promised some bedtime stories, Uncle Thrax. Better be back in time to make good on that."

Hana chuckled as they were shooed from the room. She seemed...thoughtful, though, her smile softening to a considering sort of expression as they were shown to the side door of the house where Sky would meet them.

[MadEmperor]

Thrax smirked back at her as he walked beside her. "That's not a face that says, 'Hot tub! Yeah!'"

"Cause it should be."

His face, meanwhile, said, 'Hot tub sex! Woo!'

[DragonSong]

She laughed a bit at his expression—because gods, he really was too easy to read, sometimes—before her own face sobered again.

"Yeah, actually I was just...thinking." She paused just before they reached the door, taking his wrist gently to stop him with her. "Thrax, how...how do gnolls...kiss?"

Her cheeks had a hint of color as she asked the question, and she couldn't seem to make herself meet his eyes properly. "I just...being here, seeing how—how easy they all are with each other, I just can't help thinking... I mean I've thought it before, but I'm usually...distracted. And then I forget to ask."

She huffed and glanced up at him sidelong. "Just, y'know... I really like the way we do things, Thrax, but I don't want you to feel like—I mean I don't want you to have to...always be the one adjusting. To meet me. I can...do that for you. If you want."

Gods. She hated emotions and sincerity. If the mountain opened up and swallowed her, that would have been okay.

[MadEmperor]

That... was just about the last thing he expected her to ask. And after all his years among people so different from himself, it took him a moment to even recall how his kind showed romantic affection. Other than just straight-up getting busy, that is.

"I, err, well... there's usually a lot of nuzzling, licking, and..." He looked a bit uncomfortable. "Biting."

"I didn't bring it up because, honestly, I've been among humans so long that their squeamishness about that kind of stuff has rubbed off on me."

[DragonSong]

"Oh, right. Okay."

She shifted her weight between her feet awkwardly, still not quite looking at him. "Well, I just--I mean, if we're ever being...too human for you, or whatever, just...I wouldn't mind--fucking hells."

She dragged her hands down her face with a quiet groan that morphed into a nervous laugh. "You know what I'm trying to say, yeah? Am I making any sense here?"

[MadEmperor]

Thrax chuckled softly, despite the seriousness of the moment. "I know what you mean."

More awkwardly, he explained, "I just don't want to, yanno, hurt you. Gnoll-style affection can get pretty... intense."

"Like, we don't just get scars from fighting. That kind of instense."

[DragonSong]

Whooooo boy. Well, this was...a conversation.

Quite pink in the cheeks, Hana mumbled, "I uhhh...I heal fast..." Realizing that wasn't exactly clear, she sighed and added quickly, "If that was...something you wanted to do...I'd be into it. Like, not just humoring you, actually into it."

She cleared her throat, then shook her head briskly. "Right! Okay! That was fun, glad we had this talk! Ready to go?"

[MadEmperor]

"Yes! Hot spring!" Thrax proclaimed, uncharacteristically embarrassed by the turn their conversation had taken. Opening the door, they stepped out to meet Sky.


Thrax leaned against the edge of the hot spring with a sigh, pulling her against his side. His wet fur was oddly comforting against her bare skin. "Well, that was sure something."

Let's just say... they tried love bites. It had mixed results, as he had been thrust out into human society before he had found a mate.

[DragonSong]

"Mmm." She cuddled into his side, enjoying his body heat in combination with the warmth of the water around them. "Something about sums it up," she chuckled lightly. She was going to have some interesting hickeys.

Luckily they were in places that she wasn't worried about any of the Longfang pack spotting and subsequently teasing.

"...Y'know I love you, right?" She didn't look at him as she said it, tracing one fingertip in absent shapes over the surface of the water in front of her. "Just...you. You being you, whatever that means."

She huffed and turned her face into his shoulder with an irritated groan. "I'm not making any sense."

[MadEmperor]

"No, no, I get it. I... feel the same way." He tenderly brushed some wet hair from her cheek. "I love you in whatever form you take, because you're always you. Beautiful, tricky, enchanting you."

"And I wouldn't have it any other way."

[DragonSong]

She smiled at that, though she didn't lift her face from where she'd hidden it against his shoulder for a few more moments.

"Uhhhg, I swear this place is contagious," she finally laughed, tipping her head back to smile at him through her blush. "It's all those sappy wolves. And, well, dragon. Gooeyness is catching."

She reached up to place a hand on his cheek and tilted his head down to her so she could kiss the tip of his nose. "...But thank you."

Sky had said she would leave them to their own devices until mid afternoon, when she would either return to fetch them or send another member of the pack to do it. Sighing, Hana glanced at the angle of the sunlight and lamented, "We should probably get dressed. Someone will be along to fetch us soon enough."

[MadEmperor]

"Boooo! Do we really have to..." Thrax pouted dramatically, not moving from his spot.

But, after a moment, he sighed and started climbing out. "I was thinking that after this, whenever that is, we try to find an adventurer job somewhere. Like, Essyrn maybe; the heat sucks, but there's always treasure somewhere."

[DragonSong]

Already groaning at the thought of the heat, Hana pouted at him as she started to drag her clothes back on. "Yeah, I guess you've got a point," she admitted sourly. "and, honestly, I've never actually been--guess I can't classify myself a true wanderer if I don't see the place at least once."

She pursed her lips in thought and tipped her head from side to side. "Mmmm. There's almost always archeological expeditions heading out into the desert. We could probably check in with some of the universities in Arca or Selevea on our way south..."

A thought abruptly occurred to her, and she hesitated a moment before added cautiously, "And, uh...I actually haven't...been home in a while. To visit Tobin, I mean. Bet he'd be willing to put us up for a night or two while we poke around."

[MadEmperor]

He looked over to her with a smiling smirk. "Why, Hana, are you asking me to meet your not-quite-dad?"

"Because I'd love to." He grinned.

Face falling a little, he asked, "Do you.. think he'll really be okay with you bringing home a Gnoll? I mean I'm great, but my kind isn't always welcome."

[DragonSong]

Thankfully, the steam rising from the hot springs helped camouflage her renewed blush somewhat, but she still stuck her tongue out at him petulantly.

When he sobered though, she did too. "Hey." Half-dressed, she shuffled forward to take his hand. "Tobin's an odd duck," she said with a little half-smile. "He found some weird fox-kid in the woods and decided, oh well, should probably raise the thing. He's more open-minded than most, which can be saying something in Serendipity." She squeezed his hand gently. "...I wouldn't suggest it if I didn't think it'd be okay. He'll probably be surprised, but he won't be a dick to you."

[MadEmperor]

Thrax returned the gentle squeeze, the pads of his hands soft from the hot water. "Yeah... You're probably right. I'm worrying for nothing."

He smirked. "Because, like I said, I'm great."

"We're great." He punctuated the statement with a small, sweet kiss/lick.

[DragonSong]

She chuckled and returned the kiss with an affectionate nuzzle to his cheek. "We are," she agreed firmly.

"And anyone who disagrees can get fucked."


"I've got your toes! I've got your toes!"

Hana stared with a combination of affection and befuddled awe as her friend bent over her infant son and babbled inanely at him. She shook her head and sipped at a cup of tea--typical fare in the Longfang house, apparently--before looking to Thrax and whispering, "Do babies rot your brain?"

"I can hear you," River said in the same sweet, lilting tone without looking up from Hau. The baby was clearly deeply entertained by his mother's sing-song babbling, as he was grinning and reaching up to tug on her hair.

[MadEmperor]

"The question still stands!" Thrax grinned with impish glee. "And the answer is yes!"

He laughed boisterously. "Because love, of course, makes fools of us all!"

Kahroan smirked. "The bard does have a point."

[DragonSong]

"I'll make a note of it on the calendar," River replied dryly. "We should celebrate each year the day that Thrax had a point."

"Hey," Hana protested with a severe frown. "That's my beau you're talking about--" She devolved into giggles, shaking her head. "Damn, almost kept it straight."

Hau babbled happily and Hana nodded at him. "Exactly, kid."

"Here." Chuckling, River stood with her son and crossed to Hana's chair. "Hold him a minute, would you? I need to feed Mahina, I can hear her starting to fuss."

"W-w-wait a second--!" All playfulness drained from her expression as River slipped the tiny shifter into her arms. She held the baby like he might explode, staring at him with very wide eyes. "Wh-why can't his dad take him?!"

"Because Kah has been on baby duty for three months, and my siblings are still out," River called over her shoulder as she went to gather Mahina from her cradle. "You can handle it for five minutes."

[MadEmperor]

Thrax was just as nervous about it and he wasn't even holding the th--the kid. He watched the baby with trepidation, as if he might bite. Though, in his defense, gnoll babies did bite.

"Uhh... hey there, kiddo. I'm your Uncle Thrax," he said with gentle hesitation, reaching out to give Hau's nose a boop.