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Leo

Leo waited for Elaria outside of the guild after saying farewell to the sensual selarin rep. His partner wanted to talk to Kessa about something in private and seemed particularly intense about it. He left without asking what, which may or may not have been motivated by his awkwardness at being involved with one and unable to keep his eyes off the other.

Eventually the boredom got to him and he broke into thought after about half an hour of mindless waiting, surprised to find out that even playing with tiny fireballs quickly wears itself thin after a while. ‘I wonder what she's talking about… Hopefully not about my endurance, I've pretty much forbid her from discussing it with anyone after Allis's reaction. Although I might have made Kessa the exception if she didn't already know… Still, I may be able to go for quite a while, but death by a snoo snoo zerg is… Actually…’ His train of thought was interrupted by Elaria exiting the guild.

Both of them started heading for the blacksmith and carpenters to pick up his orders, but he noticed that Elaria was suddenly acting a bit more reserved. He assumed it was because of whatever she spoke to Kessa about, so he didn't want to pry because she specifically didn't want him there for the conversation.

‘Maybe it really wasn't okay for me to have stared so much? She did say something about being aggressive in holding her position...’

...

At the carpenter he picked up two bags of fifty wooden tiles, one was full of one inch tiles, and the other was two. The tiles were for him to better workshop enchantments by modulating the runes, so he didn't have to keep making and dispersing them on a single surface.

‘Ah modulation, the foundation of peak efficiency… And laziness.’ He thought with a bit of amusement while putting the small bags into his satchel.

The carpenter also pulled out a mildly ornate staff that was five feet long with the top half of an owl carved into the head, and He couldn't help the wide smile he wore upon seeing his new staff.

‘May not be one hundred percent accurate, but I might as well commit to the bit with the role I'm most likely going to take up.’ He thought as they left the carpenter and headed for the blacksmith that was just a short walk away.

“That's a nice looking staff, are you gonna enchant it?” Elaria inquired interestedly, speaking up for the first time since leaving the guild, though he noticed her tone was softer than usual.

He shrugged and gave the intricate wooden accessory a twirl. “I don't know… Some utility maybe? I don't really need a staff, but I figured that if I'm holding one, then any one who wants to force some fun out of me will have second thoughts about attempting it. So it's mostly for show.”

“Huh, good idea. Though it will draw some more attention from onlookers.” She remarked softly with a furrowed brow.

Leo raised an eyebrow and wanted to ask her what was obviously bothering her, but a gut feeling told him that it might be a conversation best held in a more private setting.

“Let it. At this point I'd rather have people know that I'm a mage up front. With their reputation, I don't think anyone will go out of their way to be social with me unless they want something. So it's just another level of deterrent.” He was indifferent, even though she was probably right.

‘A mage is already sort of a rare sight, so a male mage would turn some heads. Add those two with the fact that arch mages are used by royalty, and it might cause me some serious headaches down the road. Then there's being a summon as well...’

He signaled to the head smith for his order, and the dwarf went a little wide-eyed at the staff before he sent his apprentices to fetch them.

The items were carted out a few moments later. A metal box about a foot in dimensions with a thin lid covered in holes, for a magical steamer. Two six inch iron grill plates, for a magical panini press. A toaster casing, for ‘magical’ toast. A one inch/two foot long metal pipe, to create a prototype for a magical weapon.

‘And a lightweight dagger, for my own added protection.’

He smiled as he equipped the dagger, not sure if he'd ever use it, but it was nice to have nonetheless. “Thanks, and here's a coin for your troubles.” He tossed the smith a gold coin.

The smith's jaw dropped. “I-wait, what?”

Elaria looked confused as well at his massively generous tip. “Um… Leo, I'm with the dwarf on this. Why?”

“Elaria, I'm starting to make more money than I literally know what to do with. I'm not gonna sit on it like some cheap hoarder, and a little goodwill can go a long way.” He explained with a casual shrug of the shoulders, because money truly was no object for him now, which was kind of surreal considering his previous life back on earth.

The smith crossed his arms. “Is yer staff just for show? Because yah sound noting like a mage…” He questioned critically and eyed him suspiciously, lending credence to him being a rare sight.

He smirked and gestured his staff toward the items. “Float.” A moment later all of his purchases started floating toward him.

The smith arched a brow. “By my fokin beard, the north must train’em differently then.”

The way too spot on accent drew a frown across his face. ‘Alright, I need to confirm something…’ He asked the smith to say a few things before taking off his translation necklace.

The smith smiled before saying. “Rug ish ka dull's nad ishk”

Leo raised an eyebrow, much to the dwarf's amusement. ‘That's definitely not english, and sounds nowhere close to the original accent. So it's adding the accent because of my perception from media back home. Wait, does that make me or the necklace racist…’ He put back on the necklace, somewhat unnerved by the prospect.

“Anyway, thanks for the merchandise.”

The smith smiled. “You are very much welcome. Please come back again for any more work that you need done.” He responded with not a trace of the accent being present.

It was an effort to suppress an irritated eye twitch. ‘I'm blaming the necklace…’

He gestured to the remaining items for them to organize into a neat floating stack, and the pair departed from the blacksmith after some polite farewells.

They headed back to the inn, his stack of purchased goods floating close behind when he noticed the feeling of more eyes on him than usual, but these appeared more weary than lustful. He was unsure how to feel about the shift in perception, but at least this confirmed that people wouldn't mess with him any time soon.

...

Leo had a silent dinner with his unusually reserved green scaled lover when they finally arrived at the inn, before they both headed down to their room to turn in for the night. He was sure that she would pull him into the bed the second he entered the room, but she didn't. They even took separate turns in the shower before crawling into bed together, Elaria remaining silent the entire time.

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He figured that now was the time to ask. “Elaria, is something bothering you?”

She shifted in bed to position herself closer to him. “Can you just hold me for a moment?”

The warm blooded human obliged, snaking his arms around her stomach from behind to become the big spoon of his cool bodied little spoon.

The quiet selarin felt tense for a moment, but gradually relaxed as the silence continued to set in.

“Elaria?” He asked again after hearing her begin to softly cry.

“I- I'm sorry…”

He was confused, very worried, but mostly confused. “For what?”

She tensed up again before speaking. “I didn't know how much you cared…” It sounded like she had to force the words out.

The undiscerning man scoffed playfully, trying to lighten the mood. “I wouldn't be holding you like this if I didn't care.”

“No! It's not the- it's- I-” She broke into an incoherent stuttering that was mixed in with her light crying.

He immediately started consoling her, realizing that this might be way more serious than he initially thought. “Shh, just take a moment to think.” He ran his hand across her soft scaled stomach in reassuring motions.

She spoke once more in a shaky voice after a few more minutes of silence. “It wasn't love, what I felt toward you in the beginning. Hell, it wasn't anything close to that for the past few days…” He felt her start to tremble, like she was expecting some kind of rebuke.

Judgment was the last thing on his mind, so he held her tighter, doing his best to show that he wasn't going to. “I'm still here, so go on and let out all you want to say, I'll listen.” He said with as much sincerity as he could express, even though the L word was sorta being dropped in a way that made him very confused.

He could feel her attempting to continue a few times before she actually managed to start up again. “I- What I did with you is what I thought was love, or at least something resembling it. But I now know for sure it's not… I didn't actually feel the way you felt, much less the way you cared for another person… I was just convincing myself that what I felt was affection, but it wasn't even that. I was just attaching myself to you and…” She paused and curled slightly in his arms, which only made him curl himself to keep closely pressed against her.

“The only other person that I would come close to the care that you could share with a complete stranger, might be my sister. I grew up in a family that was cruel, manipulative and devoid of that kind of love. It was all about blood, everything for the family, the family above all. Some of us enjoyed each other's company, but we never had the kind of connection that was deeper than just being related… And what we did…what I did…”

Shocked, he could feel her begin to shake, but this didn't feel like sorrow. ‘Jesus she’s terrified.’

He held her tighter, trying to pull her away from whatever she was starting to recall. “It's alright, I'm here. You're safe.” He reassured, now piecing together a more clearer picture on her emotional state, though something still felt off and very wrong about this whole not knowing what love is thing.

Elaria snapped out of the moment of fear, taking another minute to collect herself before continuing. “After seeing how you acted towards Slessi, and my talk with Kessa, I realized that I never acted even close to that with you, it was all sexual… And I-I just acted like it was all a fantasy, like I was going to get my happy ending. Fuck, I believed I deserved it… But after today I can't help but hate myself for going on like this... For just using you-” She started to fully break down, sobbing heavily into a balled up part of the bed sheet.

Loss for words was the best way to describe his own initial feelings while he processed the situation. ‘I knew the relationship was way too fast to be normal even for this world, and that she was very eager for sex, but I chalked it up to the fucked ratio and a fair amount of culture shock. Man I suck at this... I've only ever had a few flings, and never been in anything close to resembling something long term. Hell, the last physical experience I had back on earth was at a party, which ended with an unfortunate blowjob and a permanent apprehension to anything alcoholic, and that was years ago.’

The pain in his chest began to grow as he made out the occasional muffled I'm sorry from the woman in his arms still crying into the sheets.

‘I may be a dense piece of shit when it comes to relationships, but I'd be damned if I'm the reason for the anguish of someone who doesn't deserve it, and especially if that someone is Elaria. Fuck, I'm no different. I was using her to some extent in the beginning too, but now...’ His thoughts trailed off, and he committed himself to his feelings.

The determined man spun her around and hugged her tightly against his chest. “What about now?” He asked and received a confused what in response.

He tilted his head down to look at her. “What do you feel about me now, do you believe that you love me?”

She held closely to his chest. “I- I don't know…” Her answer was uncertain, but that was an encouraging sign.

He pulled back a bit. “Well, how would you feel if I left you and never came back?” The hypothetical question seemed to almost send her into a panic.

He brought her in again to calm her down. “If Elaria! If. But please, describe what you just felt.” It was strange to have to explain a pretty common emotion, surprised that she couldn't differentiate it from basic compassion.

The frantic selarin calmed down, but held onto him with a tighter grip. “I felt like something in me was about to break, I don't know what… Or a piece of me was starting to rip away…”

His heart started to ache, and wanted to apologize for making her feel that way, but he continued with his momentum. “And how would you feel if I stayed with you forever?”

The way she physically relaxed spoke volumes. “Warm, happy, like I feel lighter.” She answered, her voice noticeably more steady.

It was clear that she might not fully love him, but it appeared that her feelings were definitely heading there, and all she really needed was to better understand them. “Then what happened up till now shouldn't matter, since you care about me now.”

His reassurance had the opposite effect, as she tensed again. “But I used you, I can't just forgive myself for that.”

“Elaria, you've cried your eyes out because of it, and you've felt like shit for not believing that you could ever be able to return my feelings. That's more than enough proof of your feelings for me. So please, for me, at least try to forgive yourself, because I already do.” He told her honestly.

Elaria slowly pushed away from Leo's tight embrace, and looked into his eyes. Her face looked a mess of tears, but in her eyes was something new, something genuine. She leaned in and kissed him, but this wasn't one of her usual kisses. There was no tongue, no escalation, no need for the physical. Only a pair of lips pressed together in a desire to just share the moment of simple, pure affection for one another.

When they broke apart they took a few silent moments to stare into each other's eyes.

She moved closer to him and leaned her head against his chest. “I still don't know if I truly love you, or if I will ever know. But…I would like to try.”

Feeling more at ease he closed his eyes. “And I'll be right there with you…” He said while running his hand across her back.

Now she felt even more relaxed than she was at the beginning of the conversation, and they just held each other for a while, seemingly content to let the moment of intimacy stretch on forever.

Eventually she shifted around a bit and interrupted the moment to say something. “By the way, I have a bit of a confession to make. My name isn't Elaria, I changed it to hide from my family and be able to socialize with other people. My family is…infamous in Selaria.” She explained with a deep shame and a little fear mixed in.

He continued to run a hand across her back, more reflexive than intentional. “It's alright. I've seen, heard and read some of the worst things that my race has ever done. And the one lesson it's taught me is that you can't let the past define you, only learn from it to better yourself now, so you can be proud of yourself later… That and I know nearly nothing about this world.” He finished the last part with a grin.

Something about her giggle made his face hurt with how deeply he smiled. “My real name is Tessari Venomara Scarlet… And my family…”

He could feel her start to shake. “Isn't here, and doesn't matter.” He remarked as he tilted her head up to face his.

The scales on her face scrunched up in a wince as she avoided direct eye contact, causing him to wonder what was so bad about her familial situation. “But I don't want to hide anything… Especially…” She trailed off and her shaking increased.

As curious as he was, this was certainly not the time for that talk. “Elaria, I don't care what your family is or did, so we don't need to have that conversation right now if you're not feeling up for it. I'm not planning on going anywhere without you anytime soon, so just promise me that you'll open up to me about it when you're ready.” He pulled her back into his embrace, which thankfully calmed her once more.

“I...Thank you… And... When we're alone like this, can you call me Tessari?” She asked a bit sheepishly.

“Alright, Tessari.”

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