Ayuen

The Cleaned Fillet, Tinkersong

[https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/926707024362885130/1045841100604186624/Ayuen-WayX.png]

Ayuen art by Ina Koffen, @Ina_Koffen on Twitter

The sounds of animals lurking in the night had already begun to take over those of the day when Rove finally spoke. Ayuen was still sitting next to him, eyes closed as she listened to her breathing. When he stirred, she opened her eyes, sighing softly.

“It’s getting late,” Rove said softly as he got on his feet. “Both of us could use some re-…”

Before he could finish his sentence and walk away from the bed, Ayuen grabbed his arm to prevent him from leaving.

“You can sleep here if you want?” She said softly, eyes looking up at Rove’s surprised expression. Her clothing had gotten a bit dishevelled, allowing Rove a pretty good look into what lurked below her clothing. Ayuen didn’t mind or care. The Herhor’s face flushed red, his eyes darting all over the place, unsure where to look.

“Well… Uhm…”

Ayuen’s lips curled up into a warm smile when she saw him doubt like that. Her resolve got stronger, determination steady in her soul. Somehow, the moment of vulnerability was endearing to her, bolstering her confidence. He could be vulnerable when with her. She found that she didn’t mind.

“Please?”

The moment that Rove gave up on finding a way out was evident. After a couple of seconds, his eyes stopped darting around, settling on her face. His chin dipped in a minute nod, his cheeks flushed with a red glow.

“Alright, if you insist.” He sat back down beside her. “To be entirely honest with you, I think I would like that as well.”

She chuckled lightly at the cute comment, her cheeks starting to flush red as well. The Pyrn poet scooted closer to him in response. Her mind wandered to the conversation that she had had with Tira and Trïeste at the campfire. About her potential relationship with Rove. She had protested heavily at the time, but she knew it was what she wanted. They’d been through the worst Lugon had to offer together. Facing the dizzying odds against them and somehow came out on top. Why wouldn’t she be allowed to draw some comfort from his presence? Why shouldn’t she allow him to draw comfort from her?

And besides, he wasn’t in her service anymore. No contracts to hold him back. She wanted him.

“Say, Rove…” Ayuen hesitated a little bit, but she forced herself to go on, looking the Herhor straight in the eyes. Rove looked back at her, hands starting to relax from clutching the hem of his shirt.

“What d-… Why did you follow me towards the Dawn of Life after Tinkersong?”

Curses! A more straightforward question had lain on her tongue, but her mouth had disobeyed her orders and blurted out another question. Nevertheless, it was a question that wasn’t too far from what she wanted to know.

Curious and with her heart throbbing in her throat, she looked at Rove expectantly. With the two of them alone inside her room, she could take her time reading his reactions and expressions. Giving him her full attention as she looked into his eyes with an intensity that smouldered from within.

The answer was clear as day. As soon as she asked the question, his eyes darted away from her, his hands fiddling. The little calm he’d gotten back a bit earlier had been pushed back again. After a moment or two, he sighed and wiped his forehead with the back of his hand before answering.

“You know why, Ayuen. Those golden hands that you owe me. I need to get paid. Otherwise, our contract isn’t fulfilled. You know that I highly value my contracts.”

There was something to his voice, a quiver at the beginning, the tone a little higher than his usual voice. A hesitation. Ayuen just looked at him with a knowing smile, pressing closer to him to make him squirm a little. Certainly, money may have played a small role, but not as big a role as he wanted her to believe.

Hope and desire started to bloom inside of her like a budding rose. She realized she’d been yearning for someone to latch onto. Someone to share her thoughts and moments with, to confide in. Rove breathed in deeply, looking into her eyes as she looked right through his paper-thin facade.

There was no harm in having some fun, right? With the atmosphere getting more comfortable and heated, she sat back a little, snuffling on the bed. She lay on her side with her wings fanned out, accentuating her figure. With a little sneaky flick of her finger, she slid one part of her nightgown down her shoulders, revealing her supple shoulders and the top of her right breast. She looked at Rove, staring at him with a knowing smile playing on her lips.

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The effect was immediate and intensely cute. Rove’s cheeks coloured even more crimson and he nervously shifted his weight. She figured he had to at least have some experience with women, so there should be another reason that he was nervous around her. Her curiosity and need compelled her to continue, the poet getting more steadfast by the second.

“Highly value your contracts? You could’ve gotten the money from me another way and you know it. A letter of commendation, a written promise for more payment. Yet, you didn’t ask for those. Insisted on following me. It makes a girl wonder, you know?”

“Ehm… eehh… You’re imagining things, Ayuen.” He retorted weakly, followed by a chuckle. She tilted her head at him, one wing slowly and possessively sliding around him while she sat up again to lie against his body.

“What do you think of me?” She followed up her previous question, ignoring Rove’s would-be retort. “Not as a client I mean, but as a person, a woman.”

Pressed up against him, it did not escape Ayuen’s notice that his breath began to quicken, and his skin began to heat up. Her wing curved around his entire right side now, basically preventing any sort of escape for the time being. He glanced towards the wing and back to her face. She just smiled at him, patiently waiting for an answer.

“Well, I…” The gears were almost actually visible at the speed they turned in his head.

“Rove,” She began, placing a hand on his cheek. “Just the truth. Either answer is alright with me, as long as you’re honest about it. Just know that I... want you.”

Rove’s mouth opened and closed like a fish out on dry land, gulping hard and nodding. The Herhor took a deep breath, laying his hand on top of hers. Her reassurance made him find some determination as well.

“Right. You’re right. You deserve an answer. In the beginning, when we first met, I did not feel for you. Much of the contrary, I thought you were nosy, overconfident and rude. But when you started to open up to me, and to the rest, that changed. The things we’ve been through, helping each other. Fighting for each other. I’ve been mulling it over. The last week or so when we were staying in Tinkersong and travelling towards the Spring.”

His eyes wandered towards her body, the man smiling and shaking his head.

“Not to mention that you’re one of the most pretty women I’ve seen in a long while.” He chuckled, his eyes twinkling with amusement while his nervousness slowly left him. “Remember the time you undressed on the bank of the Clasp River? After we escaped from Prado? Let's just say I’ve given the memory a special place in my head.”

That made Ayuen blush heavily, clearing her throat.

“Well, it couldn’t be helped back then. I mean, our lives were at stake. You understand that I didn’t strip for your amusement, right?” She playfully glared at him, one corner of her lips still curled up to betray her intent.

He returned the gesture by sniggering loudly, his shoulders shaking gently. She tightened her grasp on him as they talked.

“Sure. Still, it did take me a good second to get my brain back in line again.”

She joined in with his mirth with a chuckle of her own, drawing back for a second or so to playfully punch him in the shoulder before leaning in again.

“Well, good thing you’re such a ‘disciplined’ man then,” Ayuen responded, putting a purring emphasis on the ‘disciplined’ part of the sentence.

In response, Rove puffed out his chest, raising his chin high in a mockery of righteous heroes in the stories of old.

“Well, I keep my mind under strict guard. I have a reputation to uphold, to help the people that buy my services!”

“Did you need to keep it guarded at the river?” She asked playfully, yet a little bit curious at the same time.

“Well… No. That was a sight I wanted to engrave in my memory. No guard needed there.”

“Hhhmmm. Sooo…” Ayuen leaned in closer, her lips a few centimetres away from his ear.

“Were you satisfied with what you saw?” She slowly whispered in his ear, her voice carrying a promise of more to come as she put her hand on his upper leg. To her amusement, she could practically see the steam coming out of Rove’s ears as he took a deep shuddering breath before answering.

“It was a sight for sore eyes. A balm to the soul.” She felt her cheeks burn and imagined that she matched Rove in redness at this point. But she had decided she wanted Rove to stay tonight. And she wanted him to do more than just stay. She wanted to claim him, and him to claim her.

“Don’t you want to see more?” She pressured, still whispering in that same tone.

“Well, I th-…” At that point, she was done. With a hand, she turned his head towards hers, interrupting him mid-sentence with a passionate kiss on the lips. Her eyes closed as she hummed happily. Rove’s muscles stiffened at the unexpected move, his words changing into a surprised mumble instead. She leaned onto him with all her weight, moving her other wing to affectionately wrap around him as well. With the suddenness of her advance, he couldn’t hold himself and her upright. As she pushed a little, they both fell onto the pillows and blankets, Ayuen not allowing the kiss to break. She felt Rove relax, his arms finally wrapping around her as his lips softened and he returned the kiss properly. They spend a good minute like this, just enjoying the feeling of the other. Eventually, Ayuen slowly and reluctantly broke off the kiss with a soft sigh. Her doubts were gone completely after they had locked lips. The nagging voice in the back of her head had been reduced to less than a fly buzzing on the other side of the room. With a soft smile, she looked down at the man under her, and him returning that same smile to her.

“You talk too much, you lovely idiot.” She scolded him with an alluring smile. “Now, let me ask you… One... Last...” She paused for effect, looking at the man laying beneath her in her embrace. Right there, she decided that she needed this. The culmination of all the looks they’d given each other, everything they had gone through together. She softly kissed him on his nose and cheeks, Rove humming softly every time she did so.

“Time… Do you want to see more?”

"Yes.” He whispered without hesitation that time, the word seemingly hanging in the air. He even possessively hugged her body more tightly against his, as if to accentuate his answer. Ayuen’s heart jumped with joy, her eyes flicking with something way more intimate than simple affection.

And with a warm smile and a mischievous chuckle, Ayuen kissed him passionately on the lips again, descending on him as a predator on her prey. This was going to be a warmer night than she would have thought, after all.

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Kiss Picture by BarbaraALane, Pixabay License