Tales of Alavern 04 (Non-Canon)

"Oh, I'm sure they're not arguing about anything. I'm more worried about intruding on a private family conversation more than anything. Jura is one of my oldest friends, after all. I wouldn't have ever even come close to my current position if she hadn't given me a chance while she was still wearing the crown." Megara stated, fixing the positioning of the bag slung over her shoulder.

"Gotcha." Cyrus replied softly, mulling over the new information about Jura in his head a moment. "So it's a fair guess that you're going back to your study now, right?"

"Indeed, and a correct guess as well." she said to him playfully. "We do still have a birthrate crisis to solve, after all."

"That we do." Cyrus answered, chuckling softly before taking a deep, steeling breath. "So...would it bother you if I came with you today? Worked on the whole...baby situation with you, now that I've got a couple people to watch over Brian for an extended period?"

"Oh..." she said, pausing and glancing over at Brianna who had gone to watch over Brian in his crib before continuing to speak in a low whisper, "Which baby situation, my king?"

"Whichever aspect of the baby situation you feel comfortable exploring with me." he replied just as quietly, gazing softly at her. His heart thudded a little harder in his chest as she took in his words and her eyes went wide. He knew she was fighting another blush from coming onto her face and wondered whether she was going to chicken out now that all of her flirtatious advances might actually yield results.

"I..I would like that. Very much." she answered shyly, gazing away from him and putting her attention back on the door. Cyrus watched as she cracked it open and peeked out, presumably to see if Naomi and her mother were still discussing whatever it was they needed privacy for. Without warning, Naomi suddenly swung the door open. Megara nearly fell forward, caught by both Naomi and Cyrus before she could embarrassingly tumble on her face.

"Careful, Megara. Mother would never let you live it down if you failed to go through a door on your own." Naomi teased, chuckling softly as she helped the Head Physic to her feet. "Not that she would learn about it anytime soon. She's gone home to my other mother for now, but promises to visit again soon."

"Poor timing, not clumsiness Naomi." Megara replied, smiling though slightly grumpy. "Now if you'll excuse us, the king and I are heading to my quarters to go over some research for a bit. I thank you and your lover for agreeing to watch over his son, so he has the time to spare to work with this on me."

"Wait, agreeing to what?!" Naomi shouted in surprise, looking towards Brianna who just shrugged and gave her a guilty smile.

"Thanks Naomi! You two are the best!" Cyrus said quickly, pushing Megara out of the room and fleeing with her as Naomi tried to shout after the both of them. Cyrus and Megara quickly rounded a corner, still able to hear Naomi pouting. Cyrus felt a little guilty about taking away some of the alone time she and Brianna had no doubt had planned, but the jovial mood and the fact Brianna had agreed had kept that guilt from really going anywhere.

"Shame on you, making a woman my age feel this young again, my king." Megara said, still laughing softly as she and Cyrus slowed their pace now that Naomi was out of sight. "Very scandalous indeed."

"You know I don't really care much for my reputation. I'll let my results speak for themselves. Besides, you're not that old. We've been over this." Cyrus replied, smirking and squeezing the woman in a very quick, one-armed hug.

"Yes yes." Megara answered, coughing her slight blush away. "We should keep an eye out for a servant, so they can spread the message that you'll be with me for a while working on our birthrate problem."

"And not to disturb us unless it's an emergency." he quickly added. "Considering all the harm that previous rumors have done, I doubt they'll think to question our need for privacy. Oh, there's somebody now. Just a second."

Megara nodded as he went off, continuing her path towards her quarters knowing that Cyrus would catch up in his own time. It wasn't like he wasn't familiar with the palace's layout anymore, and he already knew exactly where she was going. Back to her quarters, which her partly her office, partly the treatment area for her patients and partly her own private bedroom. She readjusted the bag slung over her shoulder as she tried to keep her mind off of what she now fully expected to happen once they both arrived there.

Megara wondered if she was truly ready for Cyrus to actually follow through with what he had said earlier. The flirting with him and promises to seduce him had been like a fun game, sprinkled with the truth that she would happily lay with him if it meant that she could be a mother at long last. Her thoughts about that had always been more about the baby in her arms after it had been born, and not necessarily about the act of procreation itself. Sure, she had discussed sex with Cyrus more than enough times to know what it would entail but knowledge and experience were often incredibly different.

"Woah, slow down there Megara!" Cyrus' voice suddenly broke into her thoughts as she felt his arm placed on her shoulder. Her pace was slowed to almost a stop as she turn in surprise towards him, finally realizing now just how heavy she was breathing. "Did you remember something urgent or did you just start moving on autopilot again?"

Megara held up a finger, trying to catch her breath now that the momentum of charging forward in her racing thoughts. Of course he knew her well enough that he would notice that habit, she thought. Her curiosity about him and his biology, then his world, and finally his son meant that they had spent hours together nearly every single day since he had arrived. It made perfect sense that the two of them had grown so close to one another.

"I recall you telling me that autopilot is slang on your word for your body moving on its own while your mind otherwise occupied, so yes. I was moving on autopilot. Thank you for slowing me down, I might have bumped into somebody." Megara said to him after her breathing had calmed.

"What are friends for?" he asked playfully, grinning widely at her. "So what was buzzing so loudly in your mind you tried to make the trip to your room a marathon?"

"I...will tell you in my quarters. Rumors and all." she replied, looking around to see if anyone was around to pay them mind. Not that it mattered much. With the quick pace she had taken and Cyrus moving to catch her, they were already in the hallway that led straight to said quarters. The door stood at the very end of it, the simple but fine wood of it seeming almost forbidden to her now. Beyond that door was possibility, after all.

The possibility of perhaps being rejected, of being told the offer was a joke. The possibility that it wasn't. That the door might shut and the two of them would find themselves wrapped together in passion. Would a man's beastly nature reveal itself then, when she had offered herself so willingly to him? No, she doubted that he would do so. Cyrus was simply not the type. The biggest obstacle now was nerves. Her hand shook slightly as they stopped in front of her door, and she grabbed the handle. Megara had not felt this close to passion in so long. Her studies had consumed her far too much to even consider taking a lover for more than a night. Yet now here she was, with her heart pounding like a drum and sweat forming on her palm.

Shame on him for making a woman her age feel so young again.

Chapter 7

Megara closed the door softly behind herself and Cyrus, the two of them now completely alone and isolated in her quarters. She took a moment to hang her back up, taking the notes and writing tools she had brought with her and placing them upon her writing table. There was no point in removing anything else, after all she would likely be using the baby things she kept in there again at some point today.

"Are you okay?" Cyrus asked. Megara turned to face him and saw the same nervousness that was assaulting her entire body clearly etched on his face as well. He was a silly man, to feel nervous considering it was, unlike her, decidedly not his first time laying with someone of the opposite sex.

"Are you?" she replied, looking at him with slight confusion. "You seem far more nervous than I expected you to."

"I could say the same, Meg." he responded playfully, before his face turned far more serious. "You know that we don't have to do anything you're not completely comfortable with, right? This is a pretty big decision for a lot of reasons. If you're just doing this because you feel you need to follow up on all the teasing..."

There it was. Exactly what she figured he would do. Calm her, reassure her, but not try to influence her decision one way or the other. He was leaving it completely her decision what happened from this point forth. Whether she was to become the second woman in the history of the Alavern isles who had lain with a man, or if they would just discuss the pool and some possible experiments. She couldn't help the smile it put on her face.

"As fun as your reactions used to be, it wasn't teasing and you know it." Megara said softly to him, walking over and placing a hand gently on his chest. "Admittedly I feel unprepared, but that is mostly because I didn't expect you to actually agree to lay with me. After all, I am much older than you..."

"Meg..." he started, opening his mouth quickly then closing it again and looking away. He gently placed his hand over hers and gripped it tightly, taking a deep breath before he felt he could look at her again. "Everyone on this island is older than me. At least in terms of years lived..."

"What do you mean? You and Naomi are clearly around the same age. I thought you were perhaps slightly older than her, though that could be a misconception because of your body being different." Megara replied, looking down at their interlocked hands.

"I'm 29." he said, watching as her eyes went wide in shock. "When you explained to me how long the Verni tend to live, it was...shocking to me. The people in my world almost never even make it to 100. I guess you all just age slower than I do...than Brian will..."

"If this is some kind of prank..." Megara warned, disbelieving of the horrible truth he had laid down before her.

"No, Meg. It's not a prank. Chances are I'm going to die in around 60 years, and that's if I manage to die of old age. In 60 years, you'll only have just started being considered truly old by Verni standards. Naomi and Brianna will still be decently young, Brian will have been out of the prime of his life for probably 15 or so years unless the pool decided to have him age as the Verni do but I kind of doubt it." Cyrus explained to her, watching as the disbelief on her face melted into a sad acceptance.

The two of them stood there in silence, a single hand each clasped firmly together as the atmosphere weighed them both down. This was a circumstance that neither one of them had considered back when the biggest concern was merely keeping the peace but now that she knew, a lot of Cyrus' attitudes certainly made more sense to her. What good would worrying about an age difference do when there was also a significant difference in lifespan?

Megara leaned forward slightly, catching him completely off guard by kissing him. Their lips pressed together softly, she squeezed his hand and waited for him to respond one way or another. She knew that in the worst case, he would simply push her away and tell her that she had gone too far but she didn't want that anymore. No, as much as she knew it would disgust her foremothers she now wanted this man. If he was to grow old so quickly, to have so much less time among them all than she had though, then there was simply no point in holding back.

"Take me...as your... lover." Megara said between panted breath as she pulled away from Cyrus.

"Wait, what?!" he cried, trying to pull back but Megara wrapped her arm around his waist and pulled him close until their bodies crushed against one another. She may not be a warrior, but she was still Verni and she could be just as stubborn as any soldier when she had a goal she wanted to accomplish.

"I was contented with being your friend and perhaps just conceiving a child with you because I had thought that you would outlive me no matter what. But since you have shared this harsh truth with me, I realize there is no reason to try and hold back or to settle for less. I care for you, Cyrus. More than I have cared for anyone in a long, long time. And I care greatly for your son, as you know..."

"Megara..." he tried to interrupt, but was hushed by another quick kiss.

"No, Cyrus. No arguments, no trying to tear down what may or may not be with arguments of reason or society's expectations of us. Just feelings... Our feelings...my feelings. Please..." Megara said softly, closing her eyes and pressing her lips firmly to his. She had not expected a great many things about Cyrus when she had first heard of him coming to the island. She had not expected him to be so meek when not directly confronted, she had not expected him to have a thirst for knowledge that sometimes rivaled her own, she had not expected him to be so sweet and loving when she first saw him come to grips with his newfound parenthood... but more than anything else she had not expected when she kissed him for Cyrus to cup her cheek gently and return her kiss with passion.

Pressed together so intimately, everything just melted away for the both of them. Just as Megara had wanted, there was no age gap, no difference in status or culture, no worries about who would say what or what they might do about it. There was only the two of them, the heat of their bodies and the burning heat slowly rising between them. Megara moaned ever so quietly into his mouth, her fingers gliding smoothly up his back before roughly gripping his hair.

Cyrus pulled the both of the apart far earlier than she wanted, the both of them panting heavily as she kept her fingers firmly tugging on his hair. She was ready to demand why he had stopped so quickly when he was obviously enjoying it just as much as she was, but didn't get the chance. Cyrus let go of her hand and cheek, wrapped his arms around her waist, pulled her back close and rested his forehead against hers. Both of their breath was heavy with want of both air and each other, so neither chose to speak for a few moments more.

"Dating me is going to come with a lot of problems, you know." he finally said when he felt he could speak without panting. "You'll have to take on the prejudice I'm going to face, the challenges that will come with trying to figure out how to live a life here....Naomi." Cyrus had said the previous queen's name playfully, smiling like an imp.

"I already deal with that quite a bit just being your friend." she responded just as playfully, "Becoming your lover means involving myself in it all a little more deeply, but it also means I get to reap all the benefits. Having a choice in whether or not I go to bed alone from now on springs to mind, just to start." Megara chuckled, making Cyrus smile before he kissed her head. Megara pulled her head slightly away, letting herself look into Cyrus' blue eyes as her own violet eyes began to sparkle with lust. "And speaking of going to bed..."

"Yes, yes, I know. I promised you, and since you're clearly quite comfortable with actually fucking me..." he said, kissing her lips ever-so-softly, "Lead the way, Megara." His whispered last words sent a wonderful shiver down her spine that spread throughout her entire body and left her head light for a faint moment. Megara finally let go of her grip on his hair and pulled away, grabbing his hands and leading him through her chambers.

She felt so warm and wonderful, despite the butterflies in her stomach trying so desperately in vain to try and unnerve her out of her conviction. She was sure she had to have felt this way at some point before, but for the life of her she just couldn't bring any memories of this feeling to mind. Walking backwards gave her the chance to admire the way that Cyrus's clothes accentuated his body subtly. He had never changed out of the black pajamas that had been made for him that first day he had arrived this morning, having been so preoccupied.

His shirt clung to his chest, flapping ever so slightly as it got lower due to his reduced belly. Having had his life threatened multiple times since arriving had pushed him to train his body harder, slimming him despite his body not changing much otherwise. She knew from personal exams that he was much firmer than he appeared to be, with his muscle tone barely visible outside of his upper arms. His pants were much looser around his entire lower body, though she certainly saw the slight bulge where his groin was. It occurred to her in that moment that she was finally going to see how his penis looked while erect, moments before she would experience first-hand what it would feel like to be penetrated by it.

Cyrus's own thoughts were in much the same vein, staring at the woman who leading him back towards her own bed with a practiced mastery that didn't require her to look away from him. Unlike most of the Verni he had met, Megara preferred not to have her belly exposed to the open air. She wore her usual light blue dress, indicative of her position as a palace worker, with the decorative purple sash around her waist that marked her as the Head Physic. Like all Verni, she wore no bra as the concept didn't exist. Her breasts instead kept from sagging by use of the typical cloth tying the Verni did to their upper garments that left her aroused nipples very visible against the fabric. Her dress stopped just above her ankles, showing that she chose to go as barefoot as most of the palace workers and he did.

"Still risking cuts to keep the hair around your groin trimmed?" she asked, mostly to break the silence as they passed through her patient treatment room and towards the unassuming door that marked the room where she kept her private bed.

"Like I said, it makes keeping clean easier. Smells tend to stay trapped in hair..."

"Yes yes, and you had Brianna show you how to do it safely since you no longer have access to the means you are used to. I suppose trying to talk sexually with someone I'm so used to speaking scientifically with was poorly thought out." she grumbled, opening the door behind her without needing to look and stopping in front of it.

"You just need a little practice For example..." Cyrus teased, grinning at her and pulling close once again to whisper in her ear. "I can't wait to run my fingers through what's left down there. Raking and twirling it gently with my nails, just to tease you while your body begs me to touch just a little bit lower..." Megara shivered against him at his words, her knees wanting to give out on her.

She quickly dragged him into her room, decorated only with her small bed, the small desk she kept her personal effects, the wardrobe she kept her clothes, and some simple drapes to block the light out of the room's only window. Her entire body ached with want, but she still had enough sense to nudge the door shut with her foot on the off chance somebody actually came in because of an emergency before she pressed her lips to his again and let her hands explore his body freely.