Archives: The Golden Egg
Chapter 23: Talen and Naclia: Evening at the Inn
After crossing the darkened village to the old inn, the trio stepped inside quietly. The mage who tended to the place, which was more of a barracks for the mages than an actual inn, had prepared supper for them. Aiden seemed to realize Naclia and Talen’s desire for privacy and decided to take his supper to his room before he went to bed. The rooms were double-bedded, and it was probably expected that Talen would share a room with Aiden again, as well would Naclia and Eliamn share a room. Wil and Kima had taken up a room together, while of course, Rylan rested in the stables. However, it remained to be seen just where Talen and Naclia would end up. Despite how forward she was with Talen, even Naclia didn’t know just how far this night would go.
After Aiden abandoned them, Naclia decided to eat her supper in the old common room, which seemed to have become more of a study than a dinning room for the mages. They were alone here; after their dinner was served up on one of the tables as Naclia requested, their host had retired elsewhere, leaving them alone with their meals, a bottle of a house wine, and the only light being the crackling hearth that burned low.
The elven ranger shrugged off her cloak and hung it on a hook in the hallway leading into the common room where the coats and cloaks of several other residents hung, then she headed over to the table next to the fire where their host had set the two plates. Lightly, she stepped across the floor--people were sleeping here, after all, and she took caution not to be a rude guest and wake anyone--then slipped into a seat at the table. The meal was vegetarian; it seemed that their experiences with elves taught them that much. Hungrily, she dug in, but tried to maintain a semblance of manners lest she disgust her eating partner.
Talen smiled as he watched her dig into her meal. After all that they had done today, he figured she might have been hungry. He dug into his own meal, a mixture of vegetables and the wine that was laid out before him. He was giving her vegetarian type of meal a try, which to his taste wasn’t too bad. His gaze turning up and looking at her as he ate, curious on how she had felt after that all had occurred between the two of them earlier.
Naclia focused only on eating for now, and not until every morsel on her plate was gobbled up did the elf lean back, sigh contently, and look at Talen. She gave her belly a pat, and though she had cleaned her plate, her trim figure didn’t reveal the fullness she felt. “Ahh... it’s been too long since I ate last,” she commented, then picked up her goblet of wine and took a sip.
Giving a soft chuckle as he set his fork aside after finishing most of his meal, Talen leaned back in his seat as well and he watched her as she patted her belly. “So I’ve noticed. I haven’t seen anyone go after a meal like that in a long time,” he said happily, picking up his goblet and taking a bigger sip.
Naclia blushed slightly in embarrassment and laughed softly. “I suppose it’s not very ‘elf-like’, or even ‘lady-like’ of me, is it?” she replied. Leaning forward, she rested her elbows on the table. “I don’t think we’ve had this much time to ourselves,” she mused, then a thought occurred to her; “Or have we really had any time to ourselves since we met?”
Talen smiled at her blushing. “Well, even if it isn’t ladylike, there’s still not a problem with it at all,” he said softly, then blushed a bit himself at her noting of their time together. “Hmm... to be truthful, I don’t believe we have had any time to ourselves lately, though we have not had much time to ourselves since we met,” he said, nodding to her.
Naclia gave a soft chuckle. Realizing that she hadn’t bothered to remove her gloves, she sat back again and stripped them off her arms from the bicep down. Once she got them off, she set them on the table and gave a soft sigh. “We haven’t had enough time to relax either, I suppose. The whole journey since we got caught up with the egg business has kept us so busy. It’s good to have just a little while to finally do something else,” she commented. Leaning forward again, a mischievous smirk appeared on her lips. “So, when you kissed me last night... were you dreaming about me?” she asked, batting her eyes coyly.
“Ah... umm....” he said, stumbling over his own words. He didn’t know if she would recall that or not, since it was such a brief moment. “I will not lie, I was...” he said shifting a bit in nervousness.
Naclia blushed lightly, but she was flattered this time. Her sky-blue eyes drifted down to the table, too overwhelmed by giddiness to look him in the eyes. “I’m glad you dreamt it, then,” she replied, still avoiding his gaze, though there was a smile on her lips that she couldn’t hold back.
“As am I, Naclia...” he spoke in return to her. He had the same kind of smile on his lips. “But...I cannot help but speak my curiosity, what....what did you think... of the kiss?” he asked with a high tone of nervousness in his voice.
Naclia glanced up at him again. He sounded unsure of himself, so she wanted to give him confidence. “It was... a pleasant surprise,” she replied. Her eyes drifted down again and she ran her finger around the rim of her metal goblet. “And if you hadn’t done it, I suppose you might not have had the confidence to do it again, consciously.” She smiled fondly to herself, recalling their kiss in the stables.
“Ahh, yes, that is true,” he replied. He lifted his goblet to take another drink before setting it down upon the table. “But I am glad that we’re able to spend some time together now, it feels nice,” he said looking across the table to her.
“Mmhmm...” Naclia replied, then finished off her wine. The conversation lulled awkwardly, and the elf was at a loss for what to say. Staring off into the waning fire, she thought and thought on what she could do or say, but if something wasn’t done fast, she would likely just go to bed...
Talen nodded, taking a gulp of the last of his wine. The conversation indeed waned down in comparison to earlier, he still felt that ping of nervousness down inside of him, had he been so bold to ask the question of her opinion of his kiss to her on both occasions. Though deep down inside, he longed to feel that again, a moment of closeness between the two of them. He felt a bit of that boldness that he did back at the stables again, yet he wasn’t sure if he should act on it like before, though her reaction before seemed favorable. “If I may be so bold...may I...ask something?” he asked, a tone of nervousness fluent in his voice.
Naclia turned her attention back to Talen with a raised eyebrow. She was quite eager to hear what he had to say. “Of course,” she replied, trying to contain the excitement at what his question could be.
Talen smiled nervously as her attention turned back to him, her curious expression bringing a ping of nervousness to him again. “Well, it may be a bit forward, but... I was wondering, if you would mind... if I were given the honor of kissing you again,” he said with an obvious sign of blush across his face.
Naclia stared blankly at the knight, rather dumbfounded with the extent to which he took his chivalry, especially considering how he had kissed her earlier without the pretense. Then, the elf started to laugh, and with a mischievous spark in her eye, she planted her hands on the table and pulled herself on top of it on her hands and knees. As it was a short table, she didn’t have to crawl, and she carefully placed her hands and knees around the plates.
Then, grabbing the front of Talen’s breastplate, she pulled him forward and leaned in for a kiss. “Oh, shut up and kiss me you fool,” she whispered sultrily, then pressed her lips to his finally.
Talen felt somewhat worried at her laugh, he figured it might not have welcomed a favorable reaction, but he felt that there was something between them that needed to be shown. Eyes widening at her sudden movement onto the table and over to him, he gasped lightly as he felt her lips press against his, slowly closing his eyes and returning it, his hand reaching up to touch her cheek.
Naclia pressed on, taking the kiss to a more passionate level. He amused her with the way his chivalry and desires conflicted in him. The hand holding his breastplate rose up to his cheek as well. She slid down off the table, her lips only parting from his momentarily as she moved to sit on his lap, straddling him as she hooked the heels of her boots on the rungs of the chair. She kissed him again, picking up where she left off.
Talen felt goosebumps going down his back as he felt her hand touch his cheek, panting slightly for that small moment their lips parted, as she straddled his lap he pressed into the kiss as well as she did, one hand still on her cheek while the other went around her waist, hand pressing against her back, moving her closer to him, once done his hand roamed her back, caressing gently. His body so tightly pressed against hers he felt desires rise, but he wasn’t to move on them without her approval.
Naclia continued to kiss Talen, and as she felt him pull her close against his armor, she began to roll her hips slowly, almost unnoticeably. It was to tease him, to push the limits of his propriety. It was like an experiment with him. Just how far would he be willing to go, how far could he push his morals and chivalry until he threw caution to the wind and followed his desires?
Unfortunately, she realized, she had little time to continue the experiment. Their mission was of greater importance than her lust and curiosity. As she continued to kiss him, her tongue absently tangling with his, their lips parting and joining again, her thoughts churned to more serious topics. Here she was, playing this game, while Eliamn worked the night away. Tomorrow, it seemed that they would have the information they needed and they would set out on the road to the Mur-Cavendrel manor. There would be more moments to steal along the way, but Naclia couldn’t help but feel guilty for her indulgence. Eliamn would undoubtedly be exhausted tomorrow, and Naclia couldn’t bear to let the rest of the shamanist abilities to fall on Aiden’s shoulders.
The elf pulled back from Talen, resting her arms over his shoulders while she still sat on his lap. She gave a sigh as she looked down at his breastplate. “We should go to bed,” she said, defeat in her tone. “Tomorrow will be a busy day, and Eliamn will probably be exhausted. We can’t further compromise the others, and if we keep this up, we might be just as tired as her tomorrow.” Though she didn’t put much thought into the meaning behind her words, her interest for further intimacy was made quite obvious.
Talen panted, his body already showing signs of the result of their actions; her advancements that she made from their kiss, the grinding against each other, the actions of her tongue with his, all made his body feel like it was aflame, yet she pulled away. His eyes partially lidded. “You have a point, and I would think Eliamn to be very tired considering how much research she is doing. Maybe it is the best choice,” he said happily to her. Just the fact that she showed that much interest and how far they had went this night made him happy.
Naclia stared at Talen for a moment, hoping there was more than him agreeing with her. With a sigh, she set her feet back on the floor and swung her leg off of him, standing back up beside him. “Alright, so we’d better get to bed then,” she said, trying to mask the disappointment in her voice. She set the rules, and he never seemed to break them unless she pushed him. The elf picked up her gloves from the table and went to fetch her cloak to take back up to her room.
Talen watched her as she hastily moved to get her gloves and her cloak, and as she left he quickly stood and moved to catch up behind her. A spark had been ignited inside of him with the advancements she had made towards him, he had to return it and go past what rules he had set for himself. As she neared the stairs, he reached forward, taking her hand in his. “Wait...” he said sternly.
Naclia repressed the urge to smirk at him breaking out of his shell, and she tried to maintain an expression of cold disappointment. “Oh? What is it?” she asked Talen, keeping her voice devoid of emotion, though within she wanted to cackle with glee at her success in bending him to her will.
With a soft tug, he turned her towards him, his hand moving to wrap around her and pull her close against him, shifting his position with her back to the wall. He smiled at her before leaning in and pressing his lips to hers passionately, much the same as she did to him.
Naclia didn’t resist and returned his kiss. Her body pressed against his armor, wishing that it wasn’t in the way. After a long, passionate moment between the two and their locked lips, Naclia gently pulled away, taking his hand in hers and pulling him upstairs. Talen showed signs of blush across his cheeks after their passionate moment, looking to her as she took his hand and pulled him upstairs, curious on what was intended.
