Two's Company

MadEmperor · December 04, 2023, 11:59:47 AM

Thrax shuddered. "Storm, they were creepy, weren't they? Kids should not be that well-behaved."

"Little boys should be all scraped knees and missing teeth of their own doing. Hells, girls too, if your from a race like mine."

Could that be when he lost his fang?

DragonSong · December 04, 2023, 12:19:43 PM

"Or girls too in general, if they bloody well feel like it," Hana said pointedly, eyebrow arched. She nudged her shoulder against his arm lightly. "Although missing teeth might be a bit extreme for most folks--not everyone could keep up with you," she chuckled.

MadEmperor · December 04, 2023, 01:03:04 PM

"Baby teeth!" he laughed.

"Okay, not in my case, but I wasn't a little kid when I lost it. So it totally doesn't count." The gnoll smirked, showing off the empty spot where a fang should be.

DragonSong · December 04, 2023, 01:47:34 PM

"Well how old were you then?" Hana asked, cocking her head and flicking one ear. "You've never actually told me what happened."

MadEmperor · December 04, 2023, 03:01:51 PM

Thrax hesitated for a second before answering. "It was my first relationship after everything that happened with my clan. I didn't have any idea how to treat a woman who wasn't a gnoll—and I barely knew that."

Growing embarrassed, he continued, "I didn't mean to, but I gave her the wrong idea about what it was between us. When I tried to end it, her orcish temper took over and she went after me with a mace. If I had been any slower, I'd have lost more than a tooth."

DragonSong · December 04, 2023, 05:07:23 PM

"A mace," Hana repeated incredulously. "Fucking hells, Thrax, did she think you'd proposed?"

MadEmperor · December 05, 2023, 09:22:12 AM

Thrax looked at her sheepishly and gave a nervous chuckle. "Apparently, in her culture, if you challenge a woman's betrothed to a fight and win... you become their betrothed."

"I didn't know! I just thought the guy was a jerk!" he protested.

DragonSong · December 05, 2023, 12:18:16 PM

Hana groaned dramatically and flopped back over the bunk--well, as much as she could, at least. "Alright, what are the chances that I'm going to be challenged by your slighted ex?" she asked the ceiling dryly.

MadEmperor · December 05, 2023, 01:09:53 PM

"You should be fine as long as we stay away from Muwatsli. Sailing past it should be fine," Thrax answered hopefully. "They're fisherfolk, but they don't sail out far."

He rubbed his neck sheepishly. "And, well... Gracia knows about her, so we're safe."

DragonSong · December 05, 2023, 03:08:55 PM

"She does, does she?" Hana rolled onto her side, propping herself up on one elbow, and tipped her head with a curious flick of her left ear. "Just how close were you two, anyway?"

MadEmperor · December 05, 2023, 03:46:36 PM

Thrax leaned back, looking up at the ceiling wistfully. "For a brief but beautiful moment, I could see myself as a brave and bold man of the sea, by her side through thick and thin."

He gave her a crooked smile. "But then the reality of ocean life and the pull of life as a traveling bard hit hard. We both agreed the life of a sailor would never make me happy, so we ended it before either of us got attached."

DragonSong · December 05, 2023, 05:01:18 PM

"Mmm." She scooched over to give him more room. "Not to mention you get seasick."

She smiled a bit and patted his arm before she sat up. "Well, no one could say you don't give it your all—whatever you're doing," she chuckled.

MadEmperor · December 06, 2023, 08:42:41 AM

Thrax smirked playfully. "Does that go on the list of things you love about me? I think that should go on the list of things you love about me."

When you were the weakest in your village, you had to give everything your all if you wanted to prove you were a valuable member of the clan. He had been fortunate to have his mental talents noticed by the Stormsinger. From that day on, he wasn't bullied as a weakling but respected as the future spiritual leader of the clan. But he never stopped giving things his all. He might complain, but he didn't quit.

DragonSong · December 06, 2023, 09:27:03 AM

She laughed and shoved at his shoulder lightly, before sliding her hand up to the back of his neck and drawing him in to kiss the tip of his nose.

"It's flexible," she teased dryly. "Some days it is, some days it's on the list of things Thrax does that will probably get him killed and therefore cause me great anxiety."

She kissed him again quickly, then settled back with a small smile. "Well, I feel like I owe you a story now--not sure I have anything quite as bombastic, though."

MadEmperor · December 06, 2023, 12:18:47 PM

"That's okay, as long as it's just as embarrassing." He smirked teasingly, but in all truth, he always wanted to know more about her.

He kissed the top of her head. "But I'll settle for anything I don't already know."

DragonSong · December 06, 2023, 02:52:32 PM

She chuckled quietly and snuggled in a little closer when he kissed her head. "Mmmm, I dunno about embarrassing exactly, but definitely weird--I never told you how I got my third tail, did I?"

MadEmperor · December 06, 2023, 04:15:11 PM

Thrax put an arm around her and held her close. "No, you have not shared your experiences getting tail," he quipped with an amused grin.

DragonSong · December 06, 2023, 06:01:57 PM

"Well, that'[s a bald-faced lie," Hana laughed. "I at least told you about the half-mer girl."

She flicked her tails back and forth over the bunk behind her, trying to think of where to start. "Well...apparently, most of my kind are born with two or three. Just, y'know, by virtue of being what we are. They are." She shrugged. "Of course, I had a human dad, so I just had the one. Don't actually remember getting the second--Tobin said I was about four when he found me, and I already had two then, but when I saw those images of what happened to my family I just had the one..."

She trailed off, the implication settling a tad uncomfortably beneath her breastbone; kitsune "earned" their tails with growth in power or character--it was not out of the realm of possibility that the living through the trauma of her family's deaths was what had given her the second tail.

She gave herself a little shake and moved on quickly. "Anyway. Well, I was about...seventeen, I think? Still living with Tobin, but getting ready to head out on my own, and I had a sort of a thing going on with a boy in the city."

MadEmperor · December 07, 2023, 08:58:36 AM

"Ooo, a city boy, lah dee da," he teased.

"When you say weird, do you mean funny weird or 'what in the hells just happened' weird?"

DragonSong · December 07, 2023, 09:52:52 AM

"Maybe a bit of both," Hana laughed. "See, his parents didn't exactly approve of me. So this one evening, they were supposed to be out, and we were, ah...fooling around." She cleared her throat. "But! His mum gets home early, and we both panicked, and I just sorta...threw up an illusion without really thinking about it."

She shrugged. "Turns out I made myself invisible--but not him. And I sorta, ah...bailed out the window. And left him to explain." She winced sheepishly. "Not my most gallant move, but hey! Apparently invisibility is a pretty advanced trick. When it wore off, I had a whole new tail."