Starbloom

Log Info

• Title: Starbloom
• Emitter: Aryia
• Characters: Aryia, Venom
• Place: Fernwood Pub, Aryia's Rented Room
• Time: November 7th, 2021
• Summary: Aryia and Venom stagger back to their packed and ready to move room and patch themselves up. Sharing some worries about the other during their excursion and set ambush for the Black Rose, they assuage the other, and patch up the mul'neissa that took the brunt of the beating. A testing of native languages is shared with gentle words, and they formulate plans for the eve.

Fernwood Pub, Aryia's Rented Room. Night. After fighting the Black Rose.

It's dead of night. It's quiet. Past midnight. The room is silent. The clothes are packed away. Books and writing utensils in small crates. The bed is simply made.

The door clicks unlocked, and creaks open. Aryia enters, one pant leg ruined and torn, patched hastily from the trek back. She throws herself into a chair, softly groaning as she lets her bandaged arms dangle freely. "...ffff....ck...."

Predictably silent in most respects as they're 'in the field' as she would say, Venom follows almost on Aryia's heels.

As the Mul'niessa settles into her chosen seat, the veiled one turns to secure the door before the typical post-privacy fussing begins.

Likewise looking a little worse the wear for the the experience, as her facial shrouds are tucked into the haversack under her poncho, she steps closer, eyes full of concern and she reaches out for her cheek, "Are... are you alright....?" she asks softly.

Aryia lets her key to the packed room fall to the ground with a soft clatter, her exhausted from having to haul the cart back. Caked in sweat, blood, dried mud, her head lulls into into the outstretched hand. She rests her eyes.

"Fine. Tired..." she let's that sign drag down her chest, stopping before it hits the wound on her hip. "You?" <Handspeech>

The unveiled Acanian cradles the cheek in the curl of her palm for some seconds before taking a knee, holding her eyes, "I'm alright... I'm worried about you. Seeing you fighting... her... I was..."

The look on Venom's face falters, remnants of earlier concerns sparkling in her eyes, "... afraid for you..."

It's then, with some care, and a subtle ripple of resolve as she suppresses whatever complaints her bruises make from her face as she sheds her upper harness and haversack.

Aryia revels in the touch for the time it is there, the glowing gaze she holds reflecting the dark pools. The concern is met with a flicker of a light smile, and her turning her head slightly to kiss the hand on her cheek. "I was afraid for me too. But, yet again, you saved me.." she motions slowly, grunting silently as she sits up straighter. "We should... fix ourselves up. Seyardu's healing is fantastic, but still salve and succor is needed." <Handpseech>

Venom shivers slightly at the kiss to her hand, a curious bewilderment touching her expression for a few moments before she gives an almost bashful smile in reply.

Her eyes sink to watch the flickering gestures of Aryia's speech, and she rises as the Mul'niessa sits forward, offering her support. She leans in to gently kiss the crown of the elf's head, then, "Agreed... where would you like to begin, North Star?" <Tradespeak, with a little Sildanyari at the end>

Aryia's smile solidifies a bit more as she gets a reaction out of that. She reaches for the support, huffing once more in soreness as she gets up to her feet and plops herself onto the cleared table.

She answers that question with action, her unbuckling her enchanted green jacket and tossing it into the chair before shamelessly stripping her shirt to get to a wound on her flank. On one side was the spider bite from before, healed over, and the other was another bite, this of the 'swiftclaw' with a lot of brusing and punctures around that side of her trunk. "... damn that... looks gnarly..." she idly comments, her bandaged arm from the lance lame on the hand signs. <Handspeech>

The human does her best to ease Aryia from chair to table with care, taking a survey of the injuries as they're exposed for the removal of Aryia's vestments. More stories to tell, and she looks her... her lover, over, feeling a rekindled twist of guilt as her eyes align on the spider bite...

A time when she had NOT been able to help her.

When she'd been too weak to override her body's succumbing to the blighted auras at work.

When she'd been unable to do anything but LET Aryia get hurt.

She swallows, willing her mind back from that rabbit hole, to wonder aloud, "Does it tingle, or anything odd...?"

The rest of the injuries that the North Star held were two more bites on her right leg from the same beast, as well as another stab on her left hip on the front. The mute watches where the other's eye go, a hand reaching out to gently ruffle V's hair reassuringly. Back to the present, she looks down at the punctures, face twitching some as she thinks about it. "Aside from it still hurting some, not really. Seyardu's healing does a good job of keeping it from getting infected. Still, can't be too sure. Need to clean it off and all that..." <Handspeech>

There is a little nod to that, and Venom finds a little smile touching her lips again.

She wonders over the materials they'll need for the foreseeable future while this mends up, then gingerly reaches out to examine Aryia's arm, "Do you want me to draw a bath?"

Aryia blinks at the suggestion, her holding out the arm for inspection. Looks like her bicep got a lovely lance shoved into it. Healed up for the most part, just tied off with the remaining scraps of her pant leg. A playful smile crests her face. "That does sound nice. Though, perhaps later when we get things tended and what not."

She looks to Venom, her face softening. "... when I saw you pop out, I just... I just couldn't let them turn and get to you," she elaborates slowly. "Fuck, V, it felt like I was burning..." <Handspeech>

Venom gently feels around the wound with, making sure nothing untoward was seeping from the injury or whatnot.

There is a thoughtful expression on her face at first, thought it softens to a little smile again on the response.

With a little nod, she replies, "I.. felt the same. I hoped my first shot would've been more effective, though in hindsight, why it wasn't makes sense."

Aryia's face twitches some at the light prodding. Nothing unwarranted comes through, thankfully. Just pink, freshly healed over wounds that would need time to settle into their light grey scarring that would soon join the menagerie that littered her body. She glances down to her ruined pants, and gives a light sigh, her shimmying out of those as well. Those were beyond repair at this point...

A warmth suffuses Aryia's visage at the similar feeling, her giving a small nod as well. "Yes. I struck it hard at first, right after I jumped off the cliff to-" pause. A sheepish look. "-... to hit it. Um. The rider didn't attack me, was flailing around."

Her gaze rests somewhere in the space in the middle of the room. She sits there, mostly bare, reflecting on the day at hand. Then a chuckle bubbles forth. Which morphs into a giggle. Then evolves into a fit of snickering. She leans forward, resting her head on V's shoulder as she frame shakes from laughing. "Holy fuck I can't believe we pulled that off!" she exclaims we her free hand. <Handspeech>

Venom has a mild sort of reproachful look at the 'jumped off the cliff' part, but it relents swiftly, and she nods, "It seemed to work... have you been having an easier time with that..." for lack of a better term, "Magic, honey?" she asks gently.

She helps Aryia out of her ravaged garments, oblivious to the Mul'niessa's musings on their state of ruin. THere are less dignified ways to ruin one's pants in battle, but this one, at least held some manner of pride.

She seems momentarily jarred out of whatever introspection she was easing into by the erosion into laughter, and she gives a wry smile and shrug as she replies, "We're a team." in a rather 'but of course' sort of tone before she turns her head to kiss her cheek.

Aryia gives a chuckling nod at the notion, her smile broadening at the peck on the cheek. "And what a fucking good team we are!" she beams, pulling back some. Gingerly, she crosses her injured leg over the other one, her reaching over to fish out one of the various scraps of cloth laying around and pulling a waterskin out of her pack. Dousing it, she starts to wipe off her leg. Her free hand speaks. "Yes, I'm getting better at it. Haven't crashed into anything in a while. It always feels weird to do. But... uh, I didn't use it during that. I just jumped off." Foot, meet mouth. "B-But my boots keep me from breaking me legs!" she adds quickly!

Fanning her face to rid the fluster, she leans back some, a hint of a coy look on her face. The mute opens her arms some, then flexes them, showing off the entire display of scars from head to toe without an ounce of self-consciousness. "I wonder how much I look like B-E-R-K-L-I-T-T-A with all the these~?" Berklitta. The female warrior protagonist in Throes. <Handspeech>

Venom smiles, feeling Aryia's frame subtly shift with her movements, and so she draws back to watch her signs. She fetches another length of cloth to prep, readying it for another spot of injury. She frowns a little as someone savors the unique taste of 'whoops' and sighs before she forces herself to let it go.

Aryia knows her body, and her equipment in ways Venom doesn't, and she is forced to take things on faith.

The boots sound useful though, definitely something to upgrade with.

Ah, yes.

Berklitta....

Her muse for that... awkward moment in days of the recent past.

V's cheeks color some, and she gives a little fidget, then, "I'll have to count them and go back to read her description again." she suggests.

Aryia catches that little frown, her looking a little guilty, but not apologizing for it. It was necessary. She holds out a leg for V to wrap up with the strip of cloth; the one that was chomped on twice and wrangled with for some time.

Now that reaction was what she was looking for, her grinning wider. "I don't think you'd get very far in counting, night blossom." She winks.

Fuck, why was she in such great mood?! Was it being so comfortable with someone she cared about? Was it that a plan they've been working on for so long goes off well? Was it her own developments, learning about herself? Uncovering bits of her past? Is this what it meant to feel alive?

A huff. A stupid grin. Shining eyes. Hissed words spill from her lips, too far to hear the sub-intonations, but enough syllables present to make out: "F-ck, - l-v- y-." <Handspeech>

Venom cocks her head a little at the challenge to her counting ability, though a somewhat shrewd glimmer touches her eye as part of her suspects Aryia is playing with her.

Her hands busy themselves with binding another of her love's wounds, making sure it's properly dressed, even if the rest of her is more au natural, and she turns a fond smile up her way.

She leans in, resting her weight on her palms against the endge of the table, head listing to one side as her eyes half lid, "I love you, my North Star, and I want to keep you happy..." and then.... a tender kiss. <Sildanyari>

GAME: Aryia rolls linguistics: (14)+3: 17 

Aryia's smirks, it growing as Venom catch's on. Oh yes. The mute was absolutely being playful. She says nothing more after the little declaration, letting her leg get bandaged up and binded after she had wiped it clean.

There's a shift. V's over the pugilist, weight on the table. Her face grows absolutely scarlet. Her lips part some as twin torches blink owlishly. Reap what you sow and all that. Though, her surpise melts into warmth at the words, her feeling that fuzziness again that soothed the wounds and woes. Readily, she return the tender kiss, holding it for an extended, lingering time.

She pulls away for breath, only to slide to the side to whisper softly.... crap, what was it again? A second or two of an awkward pause, then, "You are radiant to watch, and your existence is more entrancing than deciphering the most difficult of... equations." Eh, close enough. <Kulthian>

GAME: Venom rolls charisma: (10): 10

Venom delights in the simple... direct honesty of their contact, sounding a soft note between their lips before the kiss ultimately relents, then, she swallows in the wake of the elmaid's words, parsing the full dynamics of her invocative formulae and her dark eyes seek those of Aryia. She moistens her lips, eyes at once coquettish and demure, a rose band bright from cheekbone to cheekbone, then, she breathes, her voice quavering at first, and tries to evoke the sort of poetry she's only recently been giving any scrutiny, "You, most dear, are the warm glow in the night, the star to which the flower's petals must open." <sildanyari>

Twin torches, bright against the onyx, both to their namesakes, find the seeking eyes. Them just as bright as the very star that anchors all. Was that.. yes! She didn't screw up the pronunciation! Successful!

Then there's the mixed emotion in those eyes. Aryia blinks, the crimson that was slowly abating now crawling back, tinging the tips of her ears the same hue.

Her lips waver into a grin, both ears flicking twice. Such poetry seemed to have landed its mark. She reaches out, putting a hand over Venom's. There's a... brisk whisper. We'll call it that. "I'll take that bath now. You better be in it."

Success in all it's forms...

Though some bring new flame to the ember of humanity within the conditioned mind of Venom, a flare that sets her engines racing with triumph and possibility.

Heartened that her poetry didn't go awry, and... feeling something undefined in hearing the endearments in what is, for her, a primary language, broadens her smile to beaming.

She swallows again as the hand covers hers.... and the formula for the evening is laid out, and her hands set to work on unveiling her half of the equation...

-End Scene-