Chords and Caravans [Open]

[Anonymous]

Clavott lowered his hand from his lips and shoved it gently into his pocket. He paused- squinted his eyes as if to see a far-off thought- and then shook his head.

"I.. had a father. That one I know. A couple fathers. And lots of brothers and sisters." He hesitated before adding, "But no mothers."

He sighed and looked up, towards the heavens and the diamonds that littered the sky like pebbles in a river. "Does everyone have them? I don't think I ever had one. According to father, I just 'popped into the world'."

Clavott turned to Nika and smiled quite cheerfully. "Maybe I can meet your mother sometime. Maybe I can get one?" He chuckled. "What's a mother for?"

[Anonymous]

Nika nearly choked on laughter. "First," she started trying not to be condesending, "if my mother ever saw me again she would kill me. Even though I wish to see her again. Second a mother is needed for you to exist, so your fathers could exist, so your brothers and sisters could exist."

She paused not wanting to overwhelm him. "The mother can mean many different things. It can mean an older woman who teaches you things and takes care of you. But at the same time it means the woman you--what did you call it--'popped into the world' from. It sounds silly and I'm probably not the person to explain this."

Her blinking had slowed and it was hard for her to explain without drifting off.

"What did this father teach you anyway? It seems that he kept you in the dark with most things. Did he teach you anything about women?" She wasn't meaning to direct the conversation back to him but she was afraid at some point her words would slur into each other.

[Anonymous]

"Well, he taught me many things." He took a moment to recollect them. "Things such as.. trading. Well, he was a merchant. He taught me how to ride a horse.. he tried to teach me how to use a sword, which I failed miserably at." Clavott frowned, realizing suddenly. "He.. didn't really teach me about women. There were only the girls that traveled with our group, but we never played with them or anything."

A broad smile spread on his lips, revealing a row of neat teeth. "My father only told us one thing, that I remember exactly: 'Don't talk with a woman unless you know she'll put out.' Whatever that means."

He turned to Nika, and noticing her expression, blushed faintly. "Oh.. I'm sorry. I don't know what I'm talking about. Is this embarrassing?" He leaned away from her slightly, feeling as though she knew something much more than he did.

[Anonymous]

Nika felt her face redden. It was easy to talk to someone about this when they knew what they were talking about. She had bet a man out of 30 gold coins on who could pick up a woman first. Even though she never swung that way it was 30 coins and Hex was only thirteen. She swallowed not knowing how to use this new information. Should she scare Clavott with the explanation of "putting out" as sex?

Why was this so difficult? She had taught Hex about women hadn't she? But at least Hex knew enough about women to understand what they did with men behind closed doors.

"Your father's right. You should never talk to a woman unless she puts out. Every woman will put out if you wait long enough," she was in a strange half-sleep, half-aroused state of mind. All she could think was that the relationship was going to be strained if the boy knew nothing about any of what was natural for a man to do.

"Have you ever been alone and had this urge to—" she caught herself. Clavott did not need that embarrassment even though masturbation was completely normal.

[Anonymous]

Clavott blinked at her for a moment, not seeming to connect the dots, and then followed with a long, "Oooh!"

He suddenly stopped walking and dropped his hands from Nika's. He turned to her, completely serious, before clenching his fists, bending his elbows, and pulling off the most graceful and smooth pelvic thrust ever.

"Is that what you're talking about? ..I walked in on one of my brothers and a girl doing it in the caravan we share once when I was eighteen. The next day he explained it to me. He seemed surprised that my father never told me." Clavott stuffed both his hands back in his pockets, seeming completely at ease. "A couple days later the same girl asked me if I wanted to try it- but my brother had given her a black eye somehow, and I figured I'd better not."

Clavott tilted his head gazing innocently at Nika. "I'm still human- well, I think I'm human, anyway- I do know some things. I've just.. never known a woman well enough to want to do these things to her." He shuffled his feet. "Not.. until recently, anyway.."

[Anonymous]

Nika didn't know if she should laugh or cry. She was blushing, she knew that: a deep red that nearly matched the raspberry of her hair. He understood enough. Enough to get him in trouble and enough to make her feel suddenly young again; when thrusting one's self in the dark on a dock just was for fun and not sick perversion.

She was going to say something sweet, seductive, and a little mature even for Clavott's new found mind but instead her fatigue came back in a whorl wind of sarcasm. "I highly doubt you would give me a black eye."

[Anonymous]

Clavott's golden eyes brightened at her comment. Not just because it meant she probably felt the same way, but because she was right. "I couldn't if I tried," he said, recalling an incident where he had actually tried to punch someone at their request. Long story short, the man had a sudden change of heart, ducked, and Clavott was left with a heavily bruised hand.

He took a small step closer to Nika, feeling as though maybe, he wasn't startling her too much. Was all of this things a mother should have taught him, or a father? Not that he could imagine his father taking time to sit him down and discuss all of this business.

His shoulders slouched in defeat, knowing that in his inexperience, this night was probably out of his hands. He gave in. "Well, then. What do we do now?"

[Anonymous]

Nika took a step forward, laying her head on his shoulder, one arm draping across his shoulder. With her free hand she traced her finger tips across his collar bone. She was in a thoughtful state of mind: wonder what they could do but at the same time realizing she was too tired to try.

She could wait until tomorrow. Say that she loved him over and over in every creative way she could think of. That would be fun; entertaining and she would gladly do it forever.

She brought her lips up to his ear, kissing just below where the lobe connected to the face. She took in a deep breath in taking every one of his smells and committed them to memory. When she exhaled she moaned: a mix of fatigue and longing.

"I'll think of something tomorrow. You get to decide tonight." Her voice was sweet, slightly slurred—like she was drunk off his presence. She kissed his neck once again before laying her head back down on his shoulder; continuing with her tracing of his collar bone.

[Anonymous]

Clavott felt a warm rush of excitement and admiration pump throughout his body, giving him short bursts energy which then quickly faded. He felt a definite longing, and could tell Nika was the same, from the way she continued to explore his body, adding a delicate, but firm kiss here and there. He wouldn't mind her going further, he thought- but his body dragged, and the world was too dim and weary to brighten with whatever thrill he could manage. He was about to whisper something sweet and romantic into her ear as her finger slid along his collar bone, but before he could, a deep, throaty yawn escaped his lips.

"I'm really tired," he said quite convincingly. He pulled a hand from his pocket and wrapped it around her waist to claim her as his own. "If you don't mind, we could go to bed.. And do more tomorrow?" Clavott brushed the hair away from her face and kissed her forehead sweetly, hoping the idea didn't bother her.

Not only was he feeling slow and tired, but he didn't want the spell to break; to have experienced everything tonight and left nothing for the next day, so that when he awoke, she wouldn't have grown bored of him and left. If she was so dreadfully tired as well, then they wouldn't exactly have much time to do anything, would they? Pondering this, he lowered his hand to around her waist again, dragging his palm over her long hair and enjoying the texture while remembering how it had draped so nicely over him on the dock.

The inn was very close, and from this distance, he could tell that it was clearing out. Some men stumbled through the door, clearly drunk, while lights flashed above the stairway as people walked by to their comfortable and solitary rooms. "Maybe I'll see you in the morning? ..Unless.." He looked downward, unsure to ask if they might simply share a bed tonight. He enjoyed the warmth of her body now as she draped herself over him, and hoped she might stay so close throughout the night. But, following their conversation, he felt unaware of what was proper to ask and what wasn't.

[Anonymous]

"'Unless' what?" she whispered enjoying his arms around her waist. She was not following well being this tired. When she finally realized what he meant her body stiffened from embarrassment. She should have guess. She was secretly thinking the same thing earlier.

She relaxed lifting her head from his shoulder, kissed his cheek, and smiled.

"Like I said you get to decide tonight," she said kissing him once more. She glanced at the stairway and yawned.

[Anonymous]

Clavott grinned happily and nodded. "Okay." With his arm around her waist, he steered Nika into the warm glow of the inn. A warm rush of air greeted his face, drying his eyes and blowing his hair back with little force. After blinking a few times and rubbing his eye with a fist, he dragged his heavy feet across the room.

It was nearly empty, bearing host to only a bartender and a group of hushed men in one corner, seeming depressed and dazed. He frowned upon seeing them, feeling their misery- but as Nika moved close beside him, the misery vanished as soon as it had come. He glanced down at her and smiled, before pulling himself and her wearily up the stairway.

The inn seemed much larger from inside, for on the second floor, a wide hall with high-ceilings passed far off into the distance. Wooden oak doors hugged the walls on either side as the pair walked down, breaking the sound of silence with the padding of shoes. He felt glad when his room was only three doors down, and turned to his right to face it.

Pulling a small and dull key from his pocket, Clavott twisted the lock open without removing his arm from Nika, and pushed the door inward. The room was comfortably small, bearing only a bed, a nightstand, a slightly scratched dresser, and what might have been a closet door. He leaned in the doorframe away from Nika, looking at her quizically, as though wondering what she might do next.

Then, after a pause, he smiled sheepishly and turned a soft pink. He wasn't used to calling the shots. "I've decided; I don't want you to leave tonight."

[Anonymous]

((I am soooo sorry I haven't been on and posted in a while. I have been so busy. But I will post now. ))

Nika smiled, pulling back to Clavott her lips dancing across his neck to his ear. "You are very good at making decisions," she whispered kissing his earlobe. A jolt went through her tired body giving her a light new life that fizzled out moments later. She was tired but she tried not to look like it.

She walked over to the bed, sat down, and looked at Clavott. "Now what is your next decision?"