Dragon (S)Layers Ch. 35

Chapter 11: What Shouldn't be Said

Tessarie wrung her hands warily as she watched the kobold and human's hands. They held their touch for several moments before Keiter finally eased back, clasping both of his little claws around Leslie's hand in a show of friendship. The older woman ran her thumb across the back of that top hand, maybe memorizing the features of it, since she couldn't see she seemed to spend a great deal of time touching things. Tess could only guess at that point but she was fairly sure they'd formed some kind of bond in that moment so she didn't dare interrupt.

Leslie was fairly plain looking by human standards of beauty- which themselves were hugely out of place compared to reality in Tess's eyes- but she had a certain charm to her that Tess found herself drawn to. She wasn't 'old' but she was definitely mature, easing her way into her forties with little to show of it. The anger and pity in her voice was masked by a snarky wit that'd found a way to tickle Tess's curiosity as to who this person was and who she had been before she lost her sight, but even without it. . . She was alluring in some nonspecific way. Her brown locks framed gracefully aging features and the slight roundness to her cheeks hinted at some kind of eastern heritage that always seemed exotic to Tess, but the way her mouth formed words was by far her most attractive feature to the young elf.

The woman had a way of forming her 'o's that pouted her lower lip just slightly more than the top one and gave her a vaguely teasing expression most of the time; add those nuanced features to an appreciable bust, feminine tummy and the 'just right' curve of her hips and Tess was left to wonder how she'd not found a husband yet. That was what humans went for, wasn't it? They seemed to fall over themselves with Sarah or that low lands girl, Felicia. . . How was Leslie any different?

Maybe she didn't want that. Or maybe she was entranced by women instead. The thought sent a shiver through Tess's back- would she be offended if Tess asked? The elf gnawed her lower lip as she watched the two lapse into another awkward silence. "M- Miss?"

Leslie looked to her with closed eyes, "Hm?"

"W- Would you um, I mean, can you-"

"Words are like chocolate sometimes, they're bitter as hell until you sweeten them with some sugar and then you wind up with something you want to gorge yourself with." She lofted a brow and cant her head slightly in a theatrical show of thinking. "Come to think of it, they're like booze too."

Tess tried to smile, "Except alcohol can lead to morning afters with regrets, right?"

"Yeah, so like I said; they're very similar!"

Keiter scoffed lightly, Leslie grinned.

Tess couldn't help but smile at that. "If I can say, I don't think you're the type who. . . drinks too much."

"I suppose not. Drinking's kind of boring when there's no one to drink with." Leslie scooted the kobold out of the way gently so she could kick her feet out. She smoothed the pleats of her long skirt by reflex but her demeanor was somehow more casual than it had been earlier. "But what about you, Copper Tongue? You don't seem a stranger to the drink yourself-"

"Um. That depends, are we talking about alcohol or just talking?"

"I've never been one to let a metaphor die gracefully; torture that thing until it screams, I say." She flashed a smile that lit up the room.

Tess fidgeted under the woman's attention and she drew in a breath, a blush warmed her flawless features as she mustered her courage. "Would you like to dance?"

Keiter and Leslie both looked to her oddly and the elf shrunk away, blushing deeper. Her skin bristled with a touch of defensive magic as she backed away- Keiter was beside her with his hand on her knee and a slightly worried expression. He tried to be reassuring but the elf was too quick: she jumped up and away.

"S- Sorry, that was a dumb-"

"Now hold on," Leslie leaned forward. "You're going to make an offer like that and try to back out? Oh no, I might be human but I've heard stories!" She braced her hand on the arm of the couch and started to rise with a soft groan. "I know the secrets of fey dancing, for I am well traveled and not at all a shut in." She launched her hand with a playful grin. "Besides!" She added. "If you two are going to be leaving first thing, I'm sure as hell going to take the opportunity to do something I've always wanted to try." In that moment Tess imagined how she must have looked when she was younger, happier.

Tess took her hand gingerly, unsure what she'd attempt with the woman. "I- I don't understand-" Before she could even attempt to utter another word Leslie brought her in close, chest to chest and led her through a few slow steps; side to side and around a tiny circle. Tess caught up swiftly and began to sing a soft tune to match the woman's pace and before she realized it she was losing herself in the ease with which Leslie moved- her song came more naturally and even Keiter joined in with a clapping beat.

Time seemed to blur as she lost herself in the song and in Leslie's movements: they flowed smoothly from one dance to the next once they found their rhythm and Tess only became aware of the change when she found herself adjusting her tone subconsciously to match the new flavor she was being shown. Leslie's range of expression with her body was an endless source of fascination to the little elf. As they wound down the end of a dance Leslie started to pull back but Tess held her close and looked up, whispering so only they could hear. "Maybe you should come with us."

Leslie balked, "You're too cute, you know that?" A blush warmed her cheeks. "Well, I think so anyway. . . You sound cute, but you could be a bridge troll for all I know."

"Oh, right."

"She is cute." Keiter said helpfully. "Very elf. . . ish? Elfin? She has very elf-like features."

Leslie bit her lower lip, she reached up. "Ah, can I?" Her hands came up to Tess's shoulders and it became clear what she intended to do.

"Oh, oh- will that help?" Without thinking about it Tess took the woman's hands and cupped them to her cheeks. She was trembling slightly as her hands followed the lines of Tess's sharp cheeks, under her eyes and, without so much as a hint she knew where to aim, Leslie tapped her nose perfectly.

"Mmm. . . You really are cute." Her blush deepened a little. "C- Can I touch your ears?"

Tess swallowed, "S- Sure. Just be careful, they're sensitive."

To say Leslie was gentle would have been an understatement; her fingers barely caressed the skin around her neck, up her throat and then up the back of her ear to the very tip. Once found, she brushed the sensitive spot with her forefinger and thumb, causing the girl to suck in a breath. It wasn't the only reaction, though. . . Tess's body arched to meet the attention and she felt a familiar ache hanging between her legs start to harden. She turned her blue eyes up to Leslie, watching the woman through her own bangs as she continued her exploration.

Something about it was intentional.

It didn't occur to the young elf until she felt Leslie's fingertips trace new lines down the backs of her ears and her hands came to cup her cheeks. By that point she was trembling in the older human's hands with a mix of arousal and fear muddying her thoughts. By the gods Leslie was beautiful. . . She almost uttered the words but when her cock caught in the hem of her skirt the elf pulled back suddenly so she didn't scare the human.

Apparently it had the opposite effect, though. Leslie drew her hands back as if she'd been burnt. "I'm sorry- I- I didn't mean to scare you. I. . ." She blushed a bit deeper. "I've never met a real elf." She glanced at where Keiter had been earlier. "No kobolds either, I'm afraid."

"N- No, it's okay." Tess said weakly as she tried to adjust her dress, to tuck her fully erect cock under the belt so it wouldn't be obvious. She adjusted herself a few times, turning away from the others in the room. How did men deal with this nonsense?

"Not many do," Keiter said lightly. "Not those they don't want to kill anyway." After a few moments he leaned forward turning his head up to her. "If you would like, I would not turn away your touch either."

"My touch, huh? It's how I 'see', kind of. . ."

"I don't think anyone with a pulse could turn down a touch. Even more those who could see would never not want to gaze upon you. If I may say, you are one of the world's quiet wonders."

Leslie chortled. "Hoooo boy, try that on many farm hands, do you?"

Keiter stared at her blankly. After a moment he remembered, "I don't understand."

"That's the second cheesiest thing I've heard all night."

Tess swallowed. "That doesn't mean its not true." She licked her lips and took a chance. "If I could paint, I would beg you to let me paint you. . ."

"One can only wonder what you'd paint me with." Leslie worked her way over to the couch by memory and sat down beside Keiter, though her attention was directed at Tess. "What color is your hair?"

"U- Um, blonde?"

"Don't sound so sure. Come on, what color is it really?"

"A really pale blonde. Like sunshine before a storm. . ."

"Poetic," She said off handedly as she looked to Keiter. She dampened her lips. "Now, don't freak out if I stab you in the eye or something, it's not on purpose." Despite those words her touch was every bit as careful and curious as she had been with Tess; she caressed his muzzle from the tip to the sides of his skull and then over his head to his neck, exploring every inch of his fine dusty colored scales. She eventually leaned forward into his space, almost nose to muzzle, and sniffed. "You smell like booze," she stated casually.

"And you like ham, cabbage and water." The kobold retorted. "Even if you appear an angel."

They stayed like that for a moment longer, neither withdrawing as if they might miss something, but then Keiter surprised her by tapping her nose. She drew back with a chuckle and reclaimed her relaxed spot on the couch, she braced her forearm against it and seemed to take several moments to regard her guests. "I really don't know what to make of you two."

"Oh, neither do we." Tess said quickly before Keiter could speak. "Humans say elves are crazy, but I'm fairly sane? Sarah- she's half human and elven- though, is crazy."

"She isn't crazy," Keiter said rather firmly. "But I think she likes people to think it so they don't expect much from her. . . People often underestimate her."

After a moment Tess worked up the courage to take a spot on the couch, to Leslie she said, "I think you two would get along well- you're really alike."

"Mmm? How so?"

"You're both intelligent and beautiful and horribly underestimated-"

"And blind?"

Tess frowned at that.

"In some ways," Keiter said softly. "But unlike you, she is exceptionally silly." He considered something for a moment and then quietly touched her shoulder, then her arm. He eased into her space and wrapped his arms around her as best he could. Leslie returned the gesture after a moment and even if she didn't say anything, Tess could sense the shift in her posture and warmth. It wasn't the desperate cling of someone trying to feel something for the first time- or even for the last- but it was acceptance. The blossoming of a strange friendship with unlikely people and, in Tess's mind, the continuation of Isira's peace message and Keiter's own.

She smiled to herself at that.

"Sarah's family was taken from her long before she met me by forces beyond any of us. . . She hides from-"

"Shh," Leslie put her finger to his lips. "I don't- I get it. I-" her shoulders sagged. "What'd she do?"

He glanced at Tess briefly. "She tried to kill herself. . . The gods took mercy on her and she was gifted her Second Chance as a cleric. A very tragic story that had a happy ending-"

"She did?" Tess blinked. "But she's. . . I mean, she's Sarah. Why would she do that?"

"Giving up is easy when you feel powerless; you can't fight a dragon." He sighed softly. "Any more than you can bring back the dead, yes? But she did something strange!" He looked to Leslie, his voice trilling slightly in some mockery of excitement. "She did something, though. Something maybe you can think about.

"She was given a Second Chance and she spent time healing, she explored her new faith and took it on herself to change her life. She finished little projects to bring herself back to 'thinking clearly' and then she finished a large one." He nodded resolutely as if it would answer everything.

Leslie's brow knitted. "So- She killed herself, was brought back to life by her god and then did arts and crafts? No offense, but that's. . . Aren't gods supposed to demand a service or something?"

"Oh, I've failed in the telling! She rebuilt her confidence and relearned her skills, then used her new tools to confront the dragon head on."

"Yeah, right."

"She did!" The kobold looked to Tess. "The coins, do you have one?"

"Ahm- Sure." Tess fished one out of her purse and handed it over. She waited while Leslie ran her fingers over its engravings; the outer rim was a curling serpentine dragon wrapped around a screaming elven woman in the center. The blind woman's brow furrowed even tighter.

"What's that feeling? It's like. . . Hot. Kind of?"

Tess and Keiter looked at one another. They'd both been carrying the coin around so long the extra sensory feeling of the coins inherent magic had become a dull tickle on their senses but to someone who'd only felt it for the first time, the warmth was a definite sign of dangerous, angry magic. But to a mundane person they would just be tacky gold coins.

"You- can feel that?" They said in unison.

"You can't?"

"Yes! But we're both magically active! Maybe you've a connection to magic too," Keiter said lightly.

"Just hope it isn't like mine." Tess muttered as she shifted her weight to ease the pressure from her still painfully hard erection. She accepted the coin back when Leslie offered it.

"So go on, what happened next?"

Keiter smiled a little proudly. "She went to his island- I think- and promised him something, enough to convince him to give her enough gold to buy a kingdom of her own."

"You're high."

"Very sober, in fact! But it was her way of fighting back, she spread the coin around- she gave me some to fund a museum and shelter for homeless people in Sorash. It's because of her there is a temple of Isira in the city in the first place." He took her hands gently and clasped them together. "Her methods are flawed, she's not going to live to her potential, but she's chosen that. Just as she chose to pick herself up."

"I-" She was silenced by a finger to her lips.

"She didn't have anyone in her life to guide her from the darkness. . . I don't think you do either, but I would like to ask you to open your heart to one. To hear Isira. She would not want to see you suffer and I promise you She would love to meet you."

Leslie pouted her lips, turning her head slightly to regard Tess. "Sure you two aren't lovers?"

"Uh- Yeah."

"So you won't be offended if I tell him he's being obnoxious?"

"N- Nope."

"You're being obnoxious, Keiter."

"You knew this the moment you let us in!" He said lightly. "But even if she is not one of the faithful, I think even Tessarie would agree; friends such as my goddess will help you! She has helped Sarah make better choices through me and in return, asks nothing I am not prepared to give anyway."

Leslie glanced to the side. "What if I don't have anything to give?"

"You've given us both smiles. You have smiled. Why should that not be enough? A laugh in a quiet room can make things brighter even when no candles are around, and She has never turned her back on someone- even in our darkest moments She is willing to hear us. There is always time to start a second chance-"

"And you don't have to kill yourself to get it." Tess said warily. "Please don't."

Leslie scoffed. "Yeah, suicide isn't in my nature. . . But-" She pinched her tongue between her lips. "I'll- I'll think about it, okay?"

Keiter wrapped his hands around hers and gently kissed the tops of them. "You honor me more than I deserve."

The older woman blushed and for just a split second Tess could see something else in her expression, she bit into her lower lip with a sharp breath. Her blush deepened the longer he held his lips to her hand and eventually she cleared her throat. "I'll think about it. . ." she whispered.

Stillness filled the room as the three of them tried to piece out where things were meant to go from there. In any other situation, Tess was sure they might have had something interesting to say- maybe they'd talk about their lives or something- but it seemed that quiet was going to become a recurring thing. . .

That was until Tess saw Leslie take Keiter into her arms and hug him again, murmuring a 'thank you' into his ear. The kobold returned the gesture with a smile and a hug of his own, and to Tess's surprise, he kissed her.

Even more surprising was that Leslie responded.

The bronze skinned elf stared in awed fascination as the kiss stretched from a peck on the lips to a full throaty indulgence that left Leslie cupping his muzzle, pushing forward into it, taking the lead and commanding his full attention. She pressed her chest to his, drawing the cleric that much closer to her warmth, reveling in the touch so long absent from her life. Leslie wrapped her hands around his lower back as if he might fade away at a moment's notice, sealing her intentions and wishes with a soft sigh.

It was getting harder and harder to see Keiter as a simple kobold the longer the two explored one another's presence; Tess had seen plenty of humanoid clerics preaching this and that, but something about the way the Keiter carried himself made her wonder. . . .it made her wish they'd been half the priests he was.

This woman wasn't clinging to him in desperation, she was welcoming someone new into her life and maybe- Tess hoped- she was going to find some peace in whatever she decided to do with that new faith. For the elf, though, there was only a vague sense of shame as she watched, wondering just how much farther they'd take things. Keiter pulled back just slightly but Leslie refused to let him go, she continued their kiss with short breaths swelling her chest like the pattering of Tess's heart.

It was horribly wrong but gods she couldn't look away. Humans often called older women of their own species 'cougars' and maybe she was coming to understand why; Leslie wasn't aggressive, but she was clearly in control of what she wanted and her willingness to pursue it made her all the more alluring and dangerous. . . Had she been hunting for someone to cuddle with when she sat at their table?

More to the point, did Tess want to complain about it?

She didn't, she decided as she watched Keiter take the older woman's jaw and turn his head slightly, opening his mouth a little bit. Leslie took a sharp breath in and a brief flash of surprise swept over her features before she grew more apprehensive, uncertain. All the while the Isiran cleric on her lap continued to stroke her cheek and jaw, running the backs of his clawed fingers to cup her skull. With a tenderness Tess had never known he kissed her deeply and the human blushed even more, panting now until she couldn't take any more and finally broke their oral gymnastics.

"W- W-" Leslie panted. "Ohhh boy. . ."

Keiter didn't let go, kissing her forehead lightly. "Too much?"

"I-" Her blush deepened so much that her entire face and neck was a deep brick red. She looked away but she didn't release her grip on the little cleric. After a second she laid her chin against his shoulder and murmured something meant for them.