Leaving Oberon

[Kysis]

Kysis wondered what she was thinking about, but the question distracted him.  It took a moment for him to consider.  Kysis had always just said \'Marcos and mother\' to them, and Rico always said \'Marcos and Lady Dinaris\'.  He would rather play things safe, though.  Those two could hold a grudge for eternity if they set their mind to it.

"With them both I would address them by the Dinaris name.  Marcos will probably request being spoken to more casually, but mother... Lady Dinaris.  Smiling and nodding to whatever she says is a good solution, too."  Kysis grinned a little at that.  He could remember many a long lecture where smiling and nodding had saved him from a lot worse punishment.  It was just frightening how she always seemed to know if he did something wrong, no matter how obscure it might have been, or how careful he had been to not get caught.

Things were different now, thankfully.  When he turned sixteen, Arna had loosened up a lot, not scolding just disapproving.  Now that he was the Lord Liari....  He still felt a little bitter over the long hours of study she forced him through constantly during his youth.  Kysis might have gotten the military planning lectures he had wanted so badly if she had not been so strict.

The past was the past, though. "Marcos tries being friendly regardless of his personal opinion of a person.... which could be good, could be bad.  Either way, he will not be an enemy to us."

[Existentially Odd]

Lam\'s eyebrows lifted in surprise and she took a few mouthsful of food before she had a comment to that bit of information.  Kysis\' father sounded like a tiger lurking in the underbrush, showing his friendly tiger smile to most but waiting to strike the moment one\'s back was turned.

Someone so manipulative would likely be even more devious than the Lady Dinaris - even if Kysis said they\'d always get his smiling face - and she was beginning to fret that she\'d not get anything right with either of his parents.  Meeting them was going to be like negotiating a field of nettles with no footwear on; one slip and she was likely to be sliced to ribbons.

"Okay," she said softly, her questions quelled for the time being.  "Lord and Lady Dinaris it is - until instructed otherwise."  She was pushing her food around more than eating it now, finding she was surprisingly full (either that or she was losing her appetite, thanks to the conversation).  Feeling him looking at her, she glanced over and mustered a smile.  "I think I\'m tired," she sighed, by way of explaining her fluctuating mood.  "I\'m ready to go up to our room whenever you are."

For some reason, thinking of pushing the beds together - and of having that conversation with Kysis now, when she\'d likely have to convince him why it was a good thing to be close enough to touch one another - made her even more tired.  She didn\'t think she\'d broach it after all; flopping into any bed would do, even if she felt weird being a small distance away from Kysis.

[Kysis]

Tired.  Kysis nodded, taking what he decided would be the last bite of his food that night, taking a sip of his nearly gone drink to accompany it.  Frankish food had never sat well with him... well, the few other times he had been there.  Kysis never experimented with staying for extending time in areas they traded with.  Oberon was the longest he had been anywhere beside Kreos.

And that was the other issue he had to discuss in Kreos.

"Yes, we should get to our room.  It is a bit late...  Sorry.  I just thought you might appreciate a bed over the ground since this was so near..."

He had pushed them to go a bit further than usual, a bit later.  It was just hitting him that it might have been a bad idea.  There was still a ways to go until they reached Kreos, and northern Greece was riddled with mountains and thin, winding passes.  He did not want them to arrive utterly exhausted and sick of travel.

Perhaps it was a little further than they should go on their first trip together.

Kysis pushed back the sudden gush of doubts, making sure to smile, at least for Lam\'s sake.  He did not give a damn what the present Franks thought of him.  He felt a little better about it all when they were at the room.  The beds were two feet apart, further than they had been from one another in sleep for a while.  It was probably for the best, Kysis decided.

"The room is not that bad."  It was simple, which was fine.  Kysis liked simple rooms with simple beds and simple decorations.  Places that were gaudy made him uncomfortable.  The money could have been put to better uses, at least in his opinion.

[Existentially Odd]

Lam had agreed with Kysis\' previous statement - murmuring this as they headed away from the table together - and she agreed with this one, too.  "It\'s fine," she said through a yawn.  "Beds are a bit far apart but we\'ll live, I guess," she told him with a wry laugh, checking that the door was locked and walking up to embrace him where he stood.

She would strip (of all but undergarments) in a moment; for now she just wanted to hold him a little.  She did kick her shoes off, then spread her feet so that she was shorter than him and able to rest her head on his shoulder, nuzzling his throat sleepily.  "I love you," she mumbled, liking the feel of his skin against her lips as she kissed it, "I\'m glad I\'m here with you."  She gave his waist an extra squeeze, adoring his solidity and dependability.  She may have been fairly exhausted tonight, and nervous about meeting his parents, but she was still glad she was there.

[Kysis]

She really did seem tired, Kysis glad the settlement had been no further away.  It would have been better if it was closer, but... either way, they were fed and had a room.  It would be strange sleeping on such a narrow bed again, even though it had not been that long (their camping thus far did not count, since they were always so close together, and the near ground negated any notion of a bed).  He was anticipating sleeping well.

Blinking a few times to ward off any surprise, Kysis wrapped one arm around Lam\'s face, the other caressing over her head and down her hair.  It was supposed to be a calming motion.  Kysis bit softly at his lip, the words spoken still new, the slightest stinging of pink touching his cheeks.

The admission was still very new.

"I love you too." Kysis rested his cheek against the top of his head, closing his eyes.  He did appreciate being taller than her now and then, even if it was not often. "And I\'m very glad you wanted to come with me.  I hope.... I hope my parents do not ruin this for us.  I think they will understand."

He did not just want them to understand.  He needed them to understand.  With finally coming to terms with the issue of Rico, facing any sort of rejection from his family could be disastrous.

[Existentially Odd]

She leaned back to smile up at him, reaching around and pulling her hair out of its constraining bun and finger combing it while she spoke.  "Personally, I think they\'ll question your sanity for desiring someone so much older and in such an unusual job, but that\'s just me.  Thankfully, I have the advantage of being female, so I guess I won\'t cause too much embarrassment on that front, but I\'m a risky proposal, all things considered," she laughed, tiredness making her tongue loose enough to express her true, self-doubting thoughts in an unflattering way.

"Oh!  And I\'m not just interested in getting my hands on your money or your estate or your... army," she giggled, flapping a hand negligently.  "I guess that works in my favour too so... yeah, I reckon they\'ll understand," she nodded, smiling blearily up at him.  "And either way, we\'ll be there soon enough, which will be a relief because all this worry can be sorted one way or the other, then we can start enjoying our trip properly."

Her speech concluded, she pulled her upper garments off in one smooth manoeuvre, unconcerned about baring her breasts to him when he\'d seen them plenty - and in brighter light than what their badly-oiled lantern threw.  As she did so, she stepped back towards the bed she\'d nominated earlier and started toeing her boots off, dropping her shirt and undeshirt messily on the floor near her bag, preferring to deal with it in the morning.

[Kysis]

"I have no army-- wait a moment!  Advantage of being female!?  Are you-- they don\'t-- I\'m not--" Kysis let out a frustrated sigh, having made himself more flustered than the initial comment had.  He took a deep breath, exhaling as slowly as possible while shaking out his hands.  He had not even noticed she was missing any clothing.

Closing his eyes for a moment, Kysis forced the rest of that sudden frustration to the back of his mind.  With that cleared (for now) he approached the bed that Lam did not claim, removing his own shirt and stretching his arms and chest as he did so.  Sitting for so many long hours on a horse made him tense.  It had to be done, though.  Once they were out of the cool Frankish forest, the ride would not be quite as pleasant.  There would be less and less shade, more stretched out fields, and then all of the barren passes, dusty and hot.

At least after that there would be home.  Kreos was nice, even if he joked it was a speck of dust, nothing much to pay attention to.  For once concentrating on Kreos gave him a little more peace of mind, Kysis sitting on the edge of his bed to start loosening the laces of his boots.  He had one off quickly, though the other one knotted itself over somehow, Kysis pulling a dagger out of its hidden sheath inside his boot in order to pick at the strings and get them loose.

[Existentially Odd]

She watched him with a single lifted eyebrow, wondering if he would spit anything intelligent out, instead of just bluster... but apparently not.  Watching him stretch attractively and then sit to pick at his boot lace with a dagger, she wondered if that meant she\'d won that arguent or lost it.  Come to think of it, it hadn\'t even been an argument - just an assertion by her on her view of things.  He likely wanted to reply that he wasn\'t viewed as interested in men by his family, but hadn\'t he told her that the affair with Rico had gone public so as to prevent the wedding to Helen?

Deciding she might well be muddled, Lam smiled tiredly as she checked that all her female accroutrements were secured firmly enough to last the night, the leather waistband holding the leather strap and rangs in place between her thighs yanked a little, for good measure.  With a final sigh and re-tie of her calf-length underwear, she sighed, stretched and shuffled over to give Kysis a goodnight kiss and hug, enjoying the feel of his bare skin against hers as she leaned down over him, draping herself about his shoulders.

"Want me to extinguish the lantern?" she murmured against his ear, kissing the lobe sluggishly.  She found she was so tired that he was comfortable, enough to sleep on - even in a mostly-standing position.  She imagined he felt like she did though, and figured she might as well turn out the light, since she was standing and he could just fall back into his bed.

[Kysis]

"I can get it." Kysis forced a smile, returning the hug he was given.  He could feel how tired she was, resting against him like that.  It had been a long day.  Perhaps he was pushing them too hard.  His want to see home again (and get the whole matter with his parents done and over with) was driving him on like a mad banshee.  That just would not do.

"Sorry.  I\'ll... I\'ll explain in the morning, so everything is a bit less awkward when we do arrive."

Finishing untying his boot and flicking the things off, Kysis stood, slowly as to readjust Lam as he did so.  Lately he had been having inclinations to be as sweet and careful and kind as he could about everything.  Inclination had to be the wrong word.  Either way, Kysis lead Lam back to her bed, not too far away, trying to understand that she had a lot more reason to be tired than he.

In the morning they could start off again.  He was looking forward to that.  Once they were out of Frankish territory they would be back in Greece again.  A bit of excitement jumping up in him again, a little thrill.  He took a deep breath, calming it quickly.  In the morning that excitement would be better expressed.  If he let himself succumb to it, he would never get to sleep and muse on all night about something they would get to faster if he had slept.