The Green and The Green (Dragonsong!) [m]

[DaGlobster]

She sat down next to him, and he finally acknowledged her, giving her a welcoming smile.

"Hello, Fiala," he said, and he held out the wooden bowl full of nuts and seeds.

"Where I come from, it's custom to share your camp with visitors. Please, make yourself comfortable. I have food and drink," he said, and he turned to face her more.

"The woods here are beautiful."

[DragonSong]

Fiala leaned in to sniff at the bowl before cautiously selecting a single nut and crunching it between her teeth.

"They are," she agreed softly, looking up at the treetops above them. "Is it at all like your home, this place?"

[DaGlobster]

Motark seemed to brighten when she accepted the food, and he laid the bowl down between them, grabbing one for himself.

"No, not as many trees. Our people make homes and tents out of them, and sometimes we need to clear space to grow food," Motark said.

"And everywhere, there's people. I don't know if you live with any others of your kind, but in the village there's always someone there..."

He trailed off, then resumed.

"I have to take care of them all. I'm their chief."

[DragonSong]

Her eyes seemed to soften as she listened to him, letting her head tilt to the side and propping her chin in her palm.

"That sounds...interesting," she mused.

Truthfully, it sounded fascinating. And strangely wonderful. Her life had always been so solitary, she couldn't even imagine what he was describing.

"Is it difficult? Being responsible for so many of your kin?"

[DaGlobster]

"It is, but not for the reasons you'd think," Motark said, smiling a little more to himself.

"Sometimes, times are hard. But sometimes, they couldn't be better. But everyone always has expectations of you, and everything they cherish hinges on you to hold it all together," he said, and he took a drink from his water skin.

"Do you want anything to drink? I have a spare waterskin, and also some travelling brew."

[DragonSong]

She shook her head when offered water, though her ears actually perked up at the second offer. Curiously, she leaned toward him and asked, "What is...travelling brew?"

[DaGlobster]

"It's a drink the herbalists in town make. Potato brew with some water and honey to make it sweet," he said, and he leaned over a bit, stretching to get his bag and pull it out.

"It's good like water, but if you drink enough of it it gets you feeling nice and good," he said, procuring the corked gourd that served as the bottle.

"I take mine a little strong, so it'll be an interesting taste at least."

[DragonSong]

Fiala leaned forward to sniff at the gourd, then jerked back again, crinkling her nose. It smelled strong!

"Alright, but why is it traveling?" she demanded. "Does it travel? Do you only drink it while traveling? What happens if you drink it out-of-travel?"

[DaGlobster]

At her demanding tone, he held it closer to himself and grinned just a little wider. It was time to play some games of his own.

"It's called travelling brew because it's a good drink to have when you're travelling," he said, and then took a swig of it himself.

"It's delicious," he added.

[DragonSong]

Fiala licked her lips and tilted her head the other way curiously. "What does it taste of?"

She didn't want to try some. No, definitely not.

...She was pretty sure.

[DaGlobster]

"Well, I won't lie it has a strong taste on the tongue," Motark said.

"But it's only for a moment, because after that it's sweet and smooth and leaves you nice and warm," he said, putting a hand on his stomach as he leaned more against the fur-covered log.

[DragonSong]

"Mmm." Fiala simply watched him, her eyes almost animalistic in the dimming light. "Does all mortal food taste that way?"

[DaGlobster]

"No, we make food all kinds of ways," he said, turning his head to look at her, and then noting that she was just... watching him. Out here, cloak-less and in the gentle firelight, he was fully on display for her to curiously look at. He was all power, even when at rest.


"And there's mortal food I hate and mortal food I love," Motark said, looking to her eyes and finding himself a little speechless at the alien, yet curious nature of her.

[DragonSong]

"Hm."

Her ears flickered, and she considered for a moment offering to take him somewhere that he might taste fruits of the Faerie Realm. But no. No, that was a bad idea--her people's food had an ill effect on mortals, she'd been told.

Well...it might be interesting, but then if he became reliant on faerie fruit he'd never leave the Glade again, and that was ultimately a much less entertaining endeavor. She wanted an excuse to explore, not to be trapped right back where she'd started!

Suddenly getting to her feet, Fiala picked her way daintily around the campfire, exploring what exactly his camp entailed. She poked her head into the tent curiously, then skittered back with a soft nose of distress as the cloth snagged at her antlers.

[DaGlobster]

She'd hear Motark chuckle at that. He had nothing much in his camp. The large tent with a comfortable looking bedroll made of fur and cloth, his pack leaning against the log, and the campfire. His weapons sat inside the tent. A bag of throwing spears and his ancestral axe.

"Careful, it's not made for someone with antlers," he said.

[DragonSong]

"Yes, I discovered that," the young woman noted wryly, shaking her head as she skipped back from the tent and glowered at it as though it had personally insulted her.

Glancing back to Motark, she asked, almost offended, "Do none of your people have antlers?"

[DaGlobster]

"Nope. Most have hair, I don't even have that," he said, and he passed a hand over his bald head. He had no hair anywhere at all, actually.

"But all Orcs have tusks", he said, tapping his chin. He had a pretty impressive set, and they could probably do serious damage to something if he chose to bite.

"If the tent's got you in a sour mood, try this," he said, and he offered her the travelling brew.

[DragonSong]

Fiala "hmm"ed quietly and moved to kneel in front of him, taking the offered flask. She didn't drink anything though, instead leaning closer to peer at his tusks.

After a moment, she laid the flask to the side and reached up to pull his lower lip down slightly, evidently entirely unaware that her actions might be seen as rude. "Do you have two sets? Or just the one?"

With most animals she'd met who'd had tusks, they either had a larger top or bottom set, with smaller, almost canine-esque teeth opposite.

[DaGlobster]

She was tugging his lip down before he could object, so he just looked at her, perhaps a little bewildered, hands still, shoulders just a little tense. She was suddenly very close to him and he wasn't sure how he felt about it.

"Just the one," he said, letting her have her curiosity. She'd be able to see that he had a set of omnivorous teeth like humans, but with a higher ratio of sharper, carnivore teeth than normal.

[DragonSong]

"Ah." She sat back, tilting her head back and forth as she released his lip. "Interesting."

Her tongue flicked over her own teeth, tracing the subtle points of her canines. In a lot of ways she could find similarities between herself and the orc-- beneath the obvious differences, of course.

She seemed to be settling back, giving him some space. But then she was rocking up onto her knees and leaning over Motark again, examining his smooth scalp. "Do you not have hair intentionally?" she asked. "Or do you just shed it all?"