A Drow's Dilemma Ep. 20: Selene

Ashyr was careful to keep any expression aside from neutrality off of her face. They still had to work to convince Selene that this hadn't been contrived by Caleldir. She couldn't just walk in and look like nothing had happened; she was supposed to be angry with him. Or at least not happy. Internally, she was glad that Caleldir was back beside her. "Yes." Ashyr agreed very quietly. She brought up a hand to lightly caress his side. His body blocked Selene from seeing that motion. "I suggest you grab the soap and start washing me." Because that would sell the whole contrition thing and not because she would very much enjoy it. Nope. Not ulterior motives there. She turned her face away from both of them to hide her grin.

Although he kept his face contrite and submissive, Caleldir could not keep the twinkle of amusement out of his eyes. "Of course, my lady." He said. He managed his tone so that to Selene, he sounded servile, but to Ashyr he had the same voice of cheerfully overblown gallantry as he usually did.

Selene had taken a bit longer to rinse off than necessary. Finally, though, she joined the other two in the pool. She still carried that distant stare of deep contemplation, but she did seem to notice Caleldir's apparent attitude adjustment with satisfaction. It grated Ashyr a little. The older cousin felt a very strange and confusing combination of emotions. For one, she hated the implication that she needed help managing Caleldir. At the same time, she felt indignant that anyone would ever think that Caleldir needed "managed." Ashyr's gaze threatened to match her cousin's contemplative stare.

Retrieving the soap, Caleldir briefly considered getting a washcloth as well, but decided that Ashyr would probably prefer the touch of his hands directly on her skin... and not because he would prefer to feel her skin directly. That was definitely the reason why. So he lathered up his hands and began to carefully wash her hair. As usual, he very much enjoyed playing with her hair; its pure white color was simply so beautiful and its silky texture so fun to run his fingers through. Once he finished with her head, He then moved down to spread the lily-scented soap across her back, his touch firm and efficient but still playful. From there, he hesitated for a moment, before he put one leg on each side of her and reached his arms around her to begin washing her front. If he spent a little more time on her breasts than was strictly necessary, well, that was probably her imagination.

Ashyr almost melted into Caleldir's touch. She let her eyes flutter closed and subtly leaned into his hands. This was nice. She should have made this suggestion a long time ago. Or at least had him do this before she got frisky the last time they were in the bathhouse. "I suppose I can forgive you now." She told him as if it was difficult to say such a thing. "I trust you'll behave better next time?" She asked.

Caleldir's eyes twinkled. "I will behave as you wish me to." He said, still trying to keep the amusement out of his voice. "Whether that be better or worse is up to you." As much as he liked Selene, he was glad to be back with the less psychotic cousin.

After Caleldir was done washing Ashyr's body, she quickly rinsed herself off in the water and took the soap from him. She then returned the favor in lingering, massaging motions. Ashyr wondered idly whether it was too late to have a little more fun. In the end she decided that yes, it was getting too late. They probably had quite a bit of traveling ahead of them. She had no idea where Caleldir's home was, meaning that their pace would have to be set by Caleldir and not her knowledge as a ranger. There would be other times for dalliance.

He enjoyed her massaging wash as much as she did his, but he less obviously displayed his pleasure. It would still have been obvious to Ashyr though, especially since his arousal had returned. Inconveniently though, as he agreed with Ashyr's unspoken decision that they really did need to get going soon.

As he was finishing up, Selene left the bathhouse. He gave her a small smile. "See you at the gates." He said. Standing up, he began to dry himself before putting back on his illusion of clothing. He experimentally touched the 'fabric,' nodding in satisfaction that the illusion extended far enough that it was indistinguishable from normal cloth. "I think that as long as the weather is not too cold, I will stick with magical clothing." He said to Ashyr. "Somehow, I am getting pretty good at it. I think that this type of magic is in my blood. Besides, it is convenient that I can make it look like whatever I want." He pursed his lips. "The lack of protection is troublesome though, but I cannot afford armor at the moment."

"We need to fix that eventually." Ashyr said on the subject of Caleldir's clothing. "I do have some coin - enough for a cloak, at least. I wasn't captured and stripped of my possessions."

"Ah, a cloak would be quite nice." Caleldir agreed. "The problem with illusory clothing is that it does not keep you all that warm."

She pulled her shirt over her head and stepped into her pants. "I don't have enough for armor either." A playful smirk danced across her mouth. "Maybe we can mug someone for theirs when we're on the road." She knew very well that he wouldn't like this idea, and he confirmed this with a disapproving frown. "We'll figure it out later. Let's go say goodbye to our human friend"

The two of them walked out into the bright morning. It made her wince in pain and squint a little. Ashyr never really got completely used to the sun. Bard jumped up happily when he saw her, and stuck by her heel for the rest of the time they were in the town.

Walking out into the morning light, Caleldir squinted as well until his eyes adjusted, giving Ashyr a thoughtful look once they did. Now that he thought of it, without the human in the party they could probably travel very well by night rather than day. He did not have anymore problem seeing in the dark than did the drow. Although, perhaps he should go over his mental library again. He was pretty sure that somewhere in the back of his mind he knew a ritual that he could talk Selene into doing that would allow the two drow to more easily endure the sunlight. That, or they could buy some darkened lenses. He said as much as they entered the alchemy shop. "Sadly, I believe that the nearest location that sells shaded eye glasses like that would be Port Afron. That is a place the I prefer not to return to without an army."

"I used to have some goggles that had darkened lenses. In the end, I lost them. Didn't much like them anyway. It sort of felt like it made me fight worse." Ashyr told him. "And they looked awful on me." She grinned at that. Ashyr was mostly joking about the last bit. For a drow, she wasn't all that worried about her appearance. Of course, compared to the average human, that still made her quite vain.

Carlotta's lab door was open when Ashyr walked up to it. The place was a bit of a mess, and filled with shelves upon shelves of strange things in jars and various tools of Carlotta's trade. The small woman was leaned over her table to grind up some thing or another with her mortar and pestle. She looked up when she saw her friends enter. Her face grew slightly pink when she remembered what they were doing the last time they saw each other. Otherwise, she looked happy to see them. "You guys headed out?" She asked. She smiled a little sadly at them. Would she see them again? "There are some potions for you over on that table. They're all labeled." She put down her project to point out which table she meant. Then she stood and almost nervously brushed off the front of her stained apron.

He smiled brilliantly at Carlotta. "We are indeed, and we thank you very kindly for you alchemical gifts." He looked over her stocks. "If you wish, I can give you some old recipes in exchange. Some of them may be outdated, but I am sure you find others quite useful, if only as alternates. If you will loan me some paper, I will be happy to give those to you.

Carlotta hadn't expected anything in return for her potions. Really, she was just doing a favor for some friends. She lit up when Cal offered to share with her some recipes that he knew. "Yeah, I have paper around here somewhere." She searched around a bit, which made the room that much messier. In sort order, she produced a sheet of paper than was only slightly crinkled. She handed it and a stick of charcoal to Caleldir.

While Caleldir wrote down the recipes, Ashyr captured the small redhead in a friendly embrace. The drow then kissed the other woman soundly. It was the sort of kiss that left Ashyr breathless and Carlotta breathless and giggling. Both had satisfied smirks on their faces after. "Goodbye, Lotta." The drow said fondly.

"And this final recipe converts an oak tree into an ice tree. It will then grow ice cubes that will not melt in the summer until they are picked." Caleldir handed the sheet to Carlotta. He took her hand and gave it a small kiss. "Farewell, my lady. If I am in the area again, I will definitely bid you hello. Farewell! And may your business prosper."

"I'm going to see about that cloak for you and get the rest of my stuff." Ashyr announced after she quickly grabbed the potions and put them in her pockets. "I'll meet you at the gate, Cal."

He nodded at Ashyr. "Thank you for your help. For my part I will see about packing up the rest of the bear jerky. Because that is what we have for supplies." He gave her a wave. "Meet you at the gate." And then he was alone to sort out his side of things.

The last thing on Caleldir's to-do list was simple enough: retrieve the last of his and his traveling companions' things from the inn. And say goodbye to his friends there. With that in mind, he made his way through the common area of the inn and upstairs. When he had almost arrived at the room he had shared with the two drow, he stopped for a moment. That was an odd... Oh. Sounds of a female moaning, a male groaning, and a bouncing mattress from the room next to his? He blushed a bit. So loud in an inn! Some people...

No, had less than zero room to judge. Anyway, with one last cry, the sounds of sexual intercourse vanished. Caleldir ducked into his room to finish packing.

As he stepped out of his room, the door next to his also opened.

"Oh!" Said the surprised bartender after she almost bumped into the pretty male she had seen in passing around the town. In her surprise, the door she had exited was left to swing open. It revealed a room with bed sheets flung haphazardly around the place. Aside from those, however, the room was completely empty. "A good morning to you!" She said with a self-satisfied smirk and a flirtatious wink. "Going somewhere?" The pale elf-like human asked as she ran tidying fingers through her slightly mussed voluminous crimson-red hair.

Caleldir blinked. But... the noise... her room was empty? He shook his head. "I am leaving the town with my compatriots, miss." He said gallantly. "How about you?" Well, that was a silly question. She would be off to work now. Or... or something.

"You know, since you mention it, I am going somewhere! My time as a bartender here is about to end." She responded with a friendly smile. "Though I almost find myself wishing I could go with you and your drow. I imagine you have all kinds of... adventures." Her smile turned suggestive, and her words were accompanied by a casual brush of her hand against his arm.

"We probably will." Caleldir agreed, stepping away from the overly touchy elven woman. "Very dangerous adventures. But I am afraid we are not looking for anyone else at this time. I am not sure 'my drow' would like it." Well, Ashyr would like a light-elf this pretty to flirt with, but Selene struck him as not being one to get along with her race's ancestral enemies.

The crimson-haired woman grinned toothily. "Ah, I would not be able to go along with you even if I had an invitation." And there was an excitement in her eyes that told of very exciting things in her near future. "One day, though... Well, I have a feeling that we will meet again." With that, she blew him a kiss and walked off.

Caleldir watched her stride off with a slightly puzzled look. There was something about that elf... He shrugged. Eh, no matter. He hurried on to his meeting with Ashyr and Selene.