A New Beginning

[BadInfluence]

The hospital was always busy, didn’t matter if it was in the summer or the winter, there were always people to be tended. Elderly with seasonal colds or slow healing cuts or bruises due to age, mothers gifting birth, younger children with the common injuries of youth… They also didn’t just tend their own elven kind, but they also dealt with Fey, Pixies, gnomes and just about every other kind of humanoid that could come through the gates on their way home or out to start an adventure. The oddest one yet was a snow troll who had lumbered in with a thorn in his foot and had left a basket of small dead mammals for payment… That had been… Interesting. At least the ones that could be cooked were used in soups and stews for those working in the fields and the elderly who’s family couldn’t always tend to them on a daily basis… The others… Well those had been up to her to dispose of. Needless to say for a few days there were some very fat happy cats in the area that were good for nothing more than lounging in the sun since their food had been caught and killed for them for a minute. The weather was warm and she felt prickles under her starched linen nurses uniform, well no, that was over-glorified… It was simply an assistants uniform, a volunteer suit that showed she was just around to help, and didn’t really hold two pins worth of importance in a place like this. She was, essentially, the gofer. Not that she minded, not really, it felt like she was a touch more useful this way. She just only wished for what ever reason they stopped giving her swing shift. She had to work during the hottest hours of the day and it always left her feeling waspish and irritable. She didn’t mean to snap at people but sometimes it bubbled so close to the surface it just… slipped out… Nothing outrageously cruel, and never towards a patient, usually just towards the nurses who seemed to love making her their personal scape goat and indentured servant. Honestly, it was hard not to get a little sassy when they’re sending you across town on your own lunch break to get them a couple of sweet treats from the bakery, expecting you to somehow eat your own lunch and take your break while carrying back two boxes of confectionaries. At least her stinging nature only came out in the form of very dry humor, one of the dwarves who had caught her in action had laughed and said she could dry leather with how bad she was, but he didn’t blame her for it. Though after being caught she did learn to bite her tongue just a LITTLE bit harder. Today Ellen and Luna were both out which left her day blissfully open and stress free, easily gliding through her work day with the comfortable and familiar tasks before taking her lunch in her favorite little spot, a garden in the center of the hospital that was used by patients seeking a little time with nature between either treatments or before they left. The tree in the center was an everbloom, somehow managing to grow flowers year round but also bear fruit, and curiously different sections of the tree grew different kinds of fruit. Everything from muscadeen grapes to big juicy cherries, apples and pears, plums and peaches… Anything a body could want to nibble on… Who had made it, no one really remembered, but it was a definite boon in the middle of winter! She took off her low slung shoes and her stockings, rolling them down into a neat pile in her shoes before she began to scale the tree like she was born in one, her bag slung over her shoulder as she made her way to the miniature melon section today. She began to pack away the watermelons and honeydews, the cantaloupes as well, fully intending to make a melon soup for dinner tonight when she got home. For lunch though? She set her bag to hang off a branch and ate her lemon and lavender biscuits with some white tea while enjoying the coolness of the shade and watching the sun overhead. When she was done she reached into her bag to pull out a melodica, a sort of miniature piano with a reed and hose attached so that when one blows into it, the sound can be heard. Hers was longer than most, almost a full keyboard and the sound was cleaner than a human made melodica, less reedy and more melodic… She began to play A Morning of the Slag Ravine, a human song true enough, but it was more than a little pretty to her and easy to play on the melodica. Plus someone had told her once if she played it right, a whole flock of white doves would fly out over the sky and send wishes to people. Was it true? She had no idea, but she would play to find out, and who knows? Someday? It might just happen. Until then though, she’d sit on her branch her ling legs swinging in the breeze, a smile on her face around the reed with rosy cheeks and bright brown eyes. Long blond hair tangling in the flowers as the wind blew, something to fix later of course, but in the moment she was lost to the music and wanted nothing more than that.

[Deleted]

..it wasn't a terribly busy time of year.. though the weather was shifting.. the cooler months were approaching and that generally meant that the cases of injury and illness went up..substantially. Normally this Hospital had no real trouble getting all manner of races through quite quickly, they were extremely well organised, their systems were finely tuned but it appeared tiny little cracks were starting to form..just here and there.. and whilst on a day to day basis they didn't really seem to make much difference, as they started to add up.. well it turned from a mere nuisance to something a lot more..dangerous.


Some of the senior Doctors were getting on in their years, getting closer to their twilight/retirement years.. whilst sure they were still highly skilled it meant their practices were mostly out of date, at times they could be seen as being a little.. out of touch. And the majority refused to retrain.. set in their ways.. the old ways.. On this particular day 2 Senior doctors were about to be dismissed. Given the options to leave of their own choice, it was hard and those that had to pass on the information struggled with it immensely. Some of these Doctors were practically part of the furniture, they'd been there since the very beginning.


A meeting had been called for all attending nurses, all staff regardless of status, to report to the lecture hall in the early afternoon. Theories on what this meeting was about ran wild, gossip was bouncing off the walls. Were people getting fired? was the Hospital closing down? slowly the nurses, the administration, the cleaners, a couple of doctors and managers would all be settling in.. the actual Hospital would run just fine on skeleton staff for the moment. Now if Rose were a little switched on.. she might be wondering why it was So so quiet out there in the gardens.. why there were no nurses dotted here and there.. why there were none taking a cigarette break.. and why everything just seemed so still.. for sure she may have just been a striper.. but she was still a member of staff and therefore hopefully would have been told about the meeting. (that is of course if those not so nice female staff members she had to deal with had passed on the message) If not though.. one plump little dwarf striper.. lets call her Bett ..perhaps one she had worked with on occasion in the evenings would more or less dart through the garden.. huffing and puffing to make sure she got to the meeting on time.. calling out to you up there in the tree.. that is if you could hear it over the music you were sweetly playing to yourself


'Oi! you comin' to the meeting? I fink it's already begun'


Before she darted off through the doubled doors there.. watching as they swung out wildly behind her.. indeed the meeting was in its final preparations.. a few more staff members were piling into the lecture hall. Overhead lights were on.. plenty of chatter.. the volume growing louder as more staff settled in.. before someone a lot higher up cleared his throat.. Valdaglerion the head of the hospital.. the managing director.. the head honcho if you were moved to stand before the lecturn ..tapping it with his pen as everyone there slowly settled down and either sat.. or stood quietly.. eyes settling upon the tall slim gent.. he had a shock of silver hair.. glasses that sat low upon the end of his nose.. stunning blue eyes.. he was older yes.. but still had many.. many years in him before he would even consider his retirement.


"Thankyou all for coming here this afternoon, I appreciate that you could take a bit of time out, I know all to well that you all have jobs to do, that you could be doing. Or even still those that have come in on their days off. It is noted, I assure you. Everyone in this room is important, we are all links in a much longer chain.. and we are all only as strong as the next link, if one of us stumbles we all must band together.. to keep strong.. to help.. to aid.. to succeed. Now I am sure you have noticed we are ..well a touch understaffed on the senior Doctors side of things.. We have had some pretty darn wonderful Doctors on our books over the years and its rather unfortunate that as with all good things, that it must come to and end. Two of our Seniors are retiring today.. Dr Thalion and Dr Voronwë. This has not been a sudden decision, its something that the management have had on their minds for quite a few months now. Unfortunatly however securing their replacements has been rather difficult. There is word on the wind tat I am sure you have also heard.. of a war on the horizon.. a great lot of Hospitals around us are holding stead fast onto their staff for this reason.. No one else is willing to enter into a share arrangement at this time, and as much as we would love to keep these two doctors on, it is simply not possible. For the sake of our patient family and for the Doctors themselves, the work-life balance must be upheld, it is time for them to go an be with their family for the remainder of their twilight years.


So I come to the reason I have called you all here. Thankyou for your patience. We still have some very very good Doctors on staff, Dr Rincavornon, Dr Faelon and Dr Anikin.


-he would motion behind him where two of the three were currently standing, his brow rising when he noticed that Dr Anikin was indeed absent from this meeting-


We all sat down and have discussed a way to combat this.. issue.. which in truth is one that will be ongoing.. not just something that has to be corrected in the short term. We need more Doctors. And this is where you lovely people come in. We are looking for anyone that is interested in stepping up to gain qualifications, to be educated, both in theory and practise.. hands on and heads in books to become the next round of Doctors here at Silen Caelora Hospital. It wont be easy, it wont be all smooth sailing .. it will involve late nights, stress, odd hours that might not suit. It will however be extremely rewarding.. You will be paid well, you will be settled in very comfortable accommodations for the duration of your studies and you will be looked after.


-One of the other staff members moved down to place leaflets, booklets and folders down onto the table directly in front of the lecturn-


"All the information you require is in these papers, it goes over what you will be learning, how you will learn it. What is required of you. What we need from you. What we can offer you. Now normally this would be costly, but if you chose to do this through this hospital the costs involved are all covered. And you will be personally tutored by our Doctors here. Depending on how many of you step up to the cause. it could come back to one on one, it could be in small groups. If there are any questions at all.. come ask the Doctors whilst they are here.. Otherwise management can be contacted at any time."


-Jacob would finally make his way into the lecture hall from the back, his hair a touch on the disheveled side, his glasses low there upon the tip of his nose.. brows furrowed as he made his way through the crowded group that had settled nearer the lecturn, those taking folders and papers.. he nodded to the manager.. offering an 'Im sorry' mouthed though not spoken.. he would offer his appologies later when things werent quite so hectic.. he moved to stand there beside the other two.. straightening his jacket.. sliding his glasses back up as he held his clipboard there to his chest.. his eyes.. that blue and green wandered over the bodies within the hall.. people watching as it were.. just curious to see whom would step up to the cause.. he glanced toward the manager there.. lingering a moment before he himself moved toward the lecturn.. he cleared his throat-


'I've seen a lot of you around, here and there.. Had the pleasure of working with most of you in some capacity. This is a serious issue we face.. I don't like to sugar coat it.. We need you. But.. we only need you if you are going to be dedicated. This is going to be hard.. it's going to require willpower, it's going to require pure grit.. Stress on the mind.. the heart.. the body. Whilst you are in training your life as you know it will be pushed back, it will be on the back burner. You will practically breathe this Hospital for a good year. You will get dirty, you will get blood on your hands.. on your clothes.. up your nose.. it will assault every single sense you have. You will feel the rawness of pure loss.. when its not even someone you know. You will learn how to steel yourself.. in the face of families that have to face hardships that you are trying so hard not to put them through. You will see failure and defeat.. and you will pick yourself back up again.. and again.. and again.. But.. even after all the bad stuff.. You will also be the one who helps, the one who saves the day.. the one who saves a life.. I dont know.. I'd rather look back on my life and say I honestly cant believe I did that, rather than I wish I did'..


-he tapped his pen to the lecturn before he stepped back.. his hand reaching back to rub against the back of his neck.. exhaling long and deeply.. there was chatter in the room once more.. some wandered back out.. to the general average joe this was a no-brainer.. the answer was a resounding Nope.. it was too hard.. too much work.. they were content with their lives the way they were.. this was a Huge change.. all the doctors knew that all to well.. It had practically consumed the better part of their lives.. but they needed help.. and this was the best way .. at least for the moment..

[BadInfluence]

She lived a somewhat slower life than others. Not that she was lazy but she simply wasn’t the kind to rush, so the activity at the hospital to her always seemed a little hectic, fast paced and chaotic. Normally she worked at the tea house just up the street a bit, she liked to mix the herbs and separate them out into their little tins or cheese cloth bags, the smells were so soothing she often found herself easily lulled into a trance while she worked. The hospital was the exact opposite, it smelled like antiseptic and blood, not exactly something she’d easily find herself all wrapped up in. So if she didn’t like it, why did she do it? Guilt? Remorse? Pride? Ego?... Lots of reasons to drive someone to try to do a less than ideal volunteer work. Hers was a little different. It wasn’t motivated in a negative or shameful way, more so she just felt like she should do something to give back, especially when so many had given to her. She was an orphan, either by choice or by war, who knew? She hadn’t even been dropped off at the door like others had, heck no, she was found ala water way. Yep. Someone heard her screaming her infant head off in the river banks and came out to find her. She’d been caught on a cluster of wild roses, hence her name, and taken to the proper placed. She’d been sick, or so she was told, and it took her a long time to get better. Once she did though they often wondered if she was a little off, if her time in the water might have changed her in some way, they all seemed to think she was a little touched. Fact was she just wasn’t all that sociable. She liked to watch people, she liked her books and her quiet time, and because she just wasn’t like everyone else they figured she was a bit loopy. Any wonder she wasn’t eager to mingle with people? But the hospital was a way for her to try and change that. She’d been alone too long, watched the others at the orphanage get adopted out, but she always stayed behind. Pretty enough as a child too it was sure, she was never picked because she was so quietly anti-social, she didn’t play games or try to appear likeable. In the end she grew up in that orphanage until she was old enough to leave on her own, getting a job at a tea shop and a small little place in one of the ah…. Quieter places… Ok it was so far from quiet… It was a basement room under a whore house. Still, it was cheap and no one bugged her, so it suited her fine. Once again it just reinforced people’s idea that she was a bit off… And just like always, she really didn’t care. She did what she wanted to, and what she wanted to do right now was the hospital work, because she wanted to give back to the community who had paid to raise her through donations and the like to the orphanage she was raised at.



Of course, none of that was on her mind as she ate her biscuits and tea, settling in to enjoy her break with her melodica and let the world float by for a minute. Lunch, if she was able to sneak away, was one of those quiet happy moments for her. It was time to just be her and she could relax, do whatever she wanted, no one to poke or prod her… Plus the Everbloom was a virtual vegetarian buffet and since meat was often too expensive for her she leaned more towards the growing things anyways, and the melons were ripe so naturally she packed away quite a few. She was day dreaming about the tasty dinner she would make at home when Bett came bowling through the door and she stopped, putting her melodica away and gave her the full attention she apparently needed, hearing about the meeting… And figures Luna and Ellen wouldn’t tell her a damn thing, but she didn’t blame them, people don’t like what they don’t understand right? Or maybe she was just being rather calm and introspective because she had a yummy lunch and was in a good mood? Cooling off a few degrees helps a good deal.



“I’ll be right down, thanks for telling me Bett, I owe you an almond cookie or something.”


It took her a few seconds to untangle her hair and sling the bag over her shoulder again, shimming down the tree like a squirrel before dusting off and putting her stockings back on along with her shoes, a quick braid to her hair had her looked presentable again and on her way. She arrived with the last few, standing in the back where she wouldn’t easily be seen or noticed, just quietly blending in with the shadows as she listened to the news. War wasn’t new… There had been the end of a war when she was found, and she was pretty sure a smaller one when she was in her middling time when she was ‘changing’, so to her it was pretty wash-rinse-repeat. Humans were pretty bad for it, they were greedy and wanted more than what they had, and weren’t afraid to kill someone else to get it. How sad was that? Greed was a nasty thing… Still, they had some redeeming qualities in there, a few here and there around the world… Probably the only reason other races hadn’t wiped them out entirely at this point… Her brain circled back to point while Valdaglerion continued talking, easily recalling everything he had said even as her mind wandered a touch, wondering if those Doctors had even wanted to retire… Chances were they totally weren’t, no one wants to give up that cushy pay, especially when they’re old and feeling like they’ll be over looked in their senior years. It was more likely they knew flat out they were becoming obsolete, a worn down cog in the system that made everything else jump and jar, a piece needing to be replaced. She didn’t feel too bad for them though, honestly they lived a good long life, and they could always offer to teach or do house visits. They just weren’t the right fit for a big hospital anymore. It was up to them how they saw it though. She heard the new role call for the Doctors to take their place and a small frown marred her forehead when she saw one of the new people hadn’t arrived. Sure… Cause you know… THAT’S promising… At least the old ones arrived on time… Well the missing Doctor dropped a couple pegs in her estimation, though really, as a stripper her opinion meant a total grand lot of… Nada. The other two who WERE there though she made a note of but dismissed them in general as being too high on the food chain to need or notice her, so her world wasn’t changing all that much. She’d still have to deal with the doctor chasing nurses like Luna and Ellen, watching them pant after any single Doctor in the building made her wrinkle her nose, she couldn’t understand the appeal of wanting to buy a whole pig for only a little sausage… Ha! Blame the brothel for that one. Sometimes living in a house of sin has it’s perks… Like being totally jaded and disenchanted by the male sex in general.



Speaking of… She realized she saw Luna ahead of her, but she wasn’t sure if Ellen was beside her or not, she could only tell Ellen because of her ever expanding rump… She was pretty sure what ever magical cream she was applying to it was slightly dysfunctional because it left her a little lop sided… Besides, who wants a butt THAT big? Looked like a couple of pigs fighting over a macaroon under her too tight dress in her estimation… And, of course, lady lumpy butt was sitting there virtually panting over the new arrivals. She couldn’t resist the eye roll at just how typical that was and how, once again, she wondered why some people even chose this area to work if they were only interested in what they could catch… And since it was a hospital? Sounded like a damn dangerous place to go fishing in her mind. Though her thoughts scattered suddenly and violently when they mentioned needing doctors… The offer to train them, for free, here in the hospital… Paid training… Did she like working here enough to want to even think about messing around with it full time? Not if she had to get stuck with the Luna of the astronomical ass and Ellen the evil bridge troll… She groaned internally and let out a slight sigh, tugging on the end of her hair in thought, a rather bad tell but who was she to really mind? She was weighing the pros and cons of it, after all she couldn’t work in the teahouse forever, and she was far from the mindset of finding a husband to provide for her. She would eventually grow old and she’d have to find a place to settle down, and the teashop for all she enjoyed working there, wasn’t exactly paying enough for retirement funds. True she could find another job at some point but even so it would still be the same thing… This was a career opportunity though… Something she could take care of herself on… An honorable thing to do too, one that could help her give back to the community in an even greater way than she had been before, and if she became a doctor… She’d be no one’s run around anymore… Ok so there were some perks to it… But drawbacks too… Things she thought over when the missing Dr. Anikin decided the place was finally worthy of his notice… And he looked like he lost a fight with a Lorax to boot… That or he was out there snogging on someone before realizing he had more important things to do than to try and count someone else’s teeth with his tongue…



She shuddered a bit there, still so thankful she had never had a kiss, the whole thing looked immeasurably disgusting to her and she couldn’t imagine the appeal. Course that drifted into the background when Dr. Anikin started to talk and she just stood completely still and listened… Well he made a damn good point… He didn’t sugar coat any of it, but did he have to pour so much vinegar in the pot? She almost felt like she had sucked down a auditorial bottle of pickle juice… Yeah it was gonna be ugly… But there were upsides too… All he did was talk about the downside and sure enough it had the effect she figured it would, when the call went out, over 90% of the people there went haha, nope! Luna was too content being a title chaser and trying to get any poor well off sod to marry her and her titanic bottom, and Ellen was the same, though people like Bett… They were good… Not EVERYONE sucked… Just… You know… Most of them. She remained standing where she was, watching people turn around and file out, not out of personal greed but… People were scared of change, human or otherwise, and change is something you have to embrace for it to work. Too many people were wanted nothing more than their cozy lives, even if a war came and they were all up to their elbows in lost limbs and dying bodies, they weren’t the kind to regret it. They made their choice… And in the end? That was up to them, and them alone, and she didn’t blame them for leaving. They had options, opportunity, they had a life that gave them the wants and needs to stay where they were.



She didn’t.



What did she have waiting for her? A small cot with a very popular girl in the room over her, with the stink of sex cigarettes and perfume pouring down through the wooden slats, the occasional whiskey shower when someone got too drunk and dropped a bottle… A teashop that while it made her happy, didn’t exactly give her a way to provide for herself out of the most basic of basic needs… This was a chance to change her life for the better… She couldn’t really think of a reason not to do it. So what if she had blood up her nose? She’d had a poor lady with loose bowls bend over in front of her a cough and give her a shower of… Well… You can imagine the rest… If she could survive THAT sort of horror? The rest would be ok… Besides, she was alright with long hours and hard work, so long as she had a little time for herself in some trees she would be perfectly ok… So while most and many filed out, she moved forward from the back, invisible among the taller people due to her short stature. She topped out at five feet on a good day but she didn’t care, just meant she needed half of anything other people needed to live on, so she could live on a shoe string budget while others would probably starve. She didn’t appear until about half way across, this short blond hair and brown eyed wood elf with soft white skin and freckles across her nose, looking like a little cherub in her volunteer gown and the little white cap that never seemed to sit quite straight on her head. She reached forward for the information, picking up each booklet carefully and reading through them, making sure there wasn’t some sort of crazy clause or trick or something… What? Ellen was evil for a reason… She made sure there was nothing in there that could land her in hot water if, say, she found she couldn’t hang on through the program after all. She didn’t want to get stuck with a bill she could never pay off if she found she didn’t pass muster after all.




“Are there any holidays or days off? Such as the festivals in Arvandor for us trainees? Or are we under 24/7 training where personal time is limited to breaks?”




Was it greedy? Not really… She liked the festivals, they were a lot of fun and the food, of the food was sooooooo good. Plus she got to get dressed up and she kind of liked that too. She also wanted to know if she could still do her work at the tea shop, not for money but because it was so relaxing, and she had a feeling she might need that a whole lot with what was probably to come… So there she stood, waiting, books in her hands and ready to sign the contract with what she hoped wasn’t a devil in disguise.

[Deleted]

.. the head honcho had done his best to inform everyone about the changes that were about to happen within the Hospital itself..they needed Doctors.. sure they had 3 now.. instead of 5. But 3 would only really hold them over when things were relativity quiet. If there was to be anything grand occur.. War, Disease.. anything.. they would be under the pump and lives would be put at severe risk. And then the Doctors themselves.. they had to take breaks or accidents would naturally happen. So without a contingency plan.. without the surrounding hospitals able to offer aid.. this appeared to be the best and only real option. Offering full time paid training positions to current members of staff. Jacob was running late.. terribly so which was a touch out of character for him, though he had his reasons at the time all of this was unbeknown to the manager.. or the other two who were waiting there upon the stage.. the paperwork was placed down upon the tables.. a little more explaining.. before Jacob would step up and give his little speel.. it was mainly negative.. and whilst he knew it was paramount that they got the doctors.. he also wanted to be realistic.. it was not for the faint hearted.. it was not for those who weren'tsure.. You had to really want it.. or you would inevitably fail..he noticed the visible winces of those within the crowd when he mentioned blood.. when he mentioned death.. the stress.. all of it.. and his heart sank a little deeper in his chest.. maybe this group was not right for this job.. he stepped back and exhaled a little.. the Doctor beside him lent across and whispered something in his ear.. namely that he looked like he had been dragged through a bush backwards.. his brows furrowed and he reached up to drag his fingers through his hair.. drawing it back into a semi respectable position.. straightening his vest.. his tie before he would turn his attention back to the group that had settled around the table.. his gaze.. those duo coloured orbs regarded each one.. mainly women.. he knew that it was going to end up being that way.. most of the men were off training.. he rolled his neck.. moving down those few steps toward the table as he offered a polite smile to those that were reading up on the information packages.. he placed his clipboard down and slid his hands half into his pockets.. his thumbs remaining out.. The group dwindled down to 10 people.. 10 willing students.. he rubbed his lips together absently.. just looking upon them.. there was this Luna.. and Ellen.. there was a much shorter dwarven lass that looked like she could take more than a good few hits before she even moved a quarter inch.. there was a couple of others.. and then.. her.. the petite blonde.. he was sure he'd seen her.. dotted here and there.. though not enough to have caught her name.. a striper no less.. this would be big jump..but she looked like a determined type of woman.. and he knew.. if anyone was to succeed.. they had to have pure determination.. grit.. strength and a high amount of tolerance for the utter bullshit that came along with the job.. Ellen and Luna came over to him first.. more or less circling him as if he were their prey.. which in some sense.. he probably was.. they giggled and fawned.. their hands upon him.. the crook of his elbow.. to straighten his shirt collar though it didn't require it.. his brows furrowed.. he didn't look too terribly comfortable.. reaching across he took them both by their hands.. removing them from his person.. -


Ladies.. I do believe Dr Rincavornon has two places on his team, I am quite certain you both would fit in just perfectly there



-he motioned over to the rather handsome looking gentleman leaning rather casually against the lectern.. Dr Rincavornon's hair was richly black.. his eyes were dark.. he was tall and looked incredibly strong.. there was no rings upon his fingers.. he watched then as the girls jaws just about collided with the carpeted floor before they toddled off.. or more likely floated across to flirt with the tall dark and handsome sort.. he cleared his throat when he was given room to breathe finally.. turning his attention back to the group.. watching as they started to split into smaller factions.. Bett turned to him.. pointing out a few paragraphs on the paperwork.. stealing his attention for the moment.. he nodded.. moving to perch upon the edge of the table so he wasn't towering over her.. it wasn't that he was tall.. she was just rather short indeed.. he laughed a little.. the sound rang out quite smooth.. his smile easily spread across his youthful features with the ghosted hints of dimples appearing upon his cheeks.. in truth he looked far to young to be a senior doctor..but he clearly had the authority and the knowledge.. perhaps he was just.. one of those smart ..bright types.. he continued to talk and explain things with Bett there.. the two of them getting along well enough.. he seemed more approachable than the other two.. Dr Rincavornon was enjoying being flirted with.. it was clear that was his currency, to their left Dr Faelon had a group of academics surrounding him.. he was strict.. you could just feel it flowing off him.. he would take no nonsense.. in fact one of the women that had approached him for advice had left the room in tears.. as for Jacob.. no he was just.. like a regular guy.. with a title.. he heard her question before he looked up.. nodding his head to Bett there before he would glance up to you.. offering a nod of his head-



That's a tough one.. There are of course holiday and days off.. we can't expect you to be here 24 hours a day 7 days a week.. its just not practical.. We will want almost the world of you.. we will expect a lot.. but.. for the sake of your mental health.. you will be given the appropriate time off.



-his arms rose as he crossed them there about his chest.. his shirt having been buttoned up to settle nearer to his elbows.. the cuffs tightly secured.. the hint of ink there.. upon his forearms.. a story to be told perhaps.. -



Stress and learning often go hand in hand.. its bound to happen.. but if you don't get the time to release it.. you will for lack of a better term just explode.. and you will be utterly useless to me then. So yes.. especially for the festivals in Arvandor.. I attend those myself.. Wouldn't be setting a good example if I said those who trained under me couldn't



-he trailed off as the girlish giggles and laughter continued and got louder behind him.. Ellen and Luna really.. really laying it on quite thick.. he heard Dr Faelon scoff at the idea of holidays.. of days off.. before Dr Rincavornon laughed and piped up suddenly.


"Oh hush Henry, I can't believe you're still cranky that Jacob got ahead of you on the boards and in the testing.. he won fair and square.. "


Dr Rincavornon shook his head.. wandering across to pat Jacob on the shoulder there.. telling him to ignore the know it all academic square.. that Henry just needed a good fuck to snap him out of his poor mood.. before he laughed heartily once more and lead his band of new recruits out of the lecture hall.. Luna, Ellen and a third bubbly blonde all seemed to more or less float along behind him.. oh it was clear as day what was going on there.. he'd be surprised if any of them lasted the night, let along the week.. Dr Faelon just about went white when he heard the remark of him just needing a good fuck.. he huffed loudly and just about snapped his pencil in half.. sending his crew.. tall, lanky, glasses, hair back up in tight buns.. you know the look.. they more or less marched out.. leaving Jacob, you and Bett.. he laughed just a little.. though it was more under his breath than anything else.. bowing his head-


Ignore it all please, its off colour banter.. They are both extremely talented doctors.. just, we are all very different.

-his hand rose as he slid his glasses down from his face.. rubbing a little against the bridge of his nose-..


I wont lie to you ladies.. and I really dont mean to be negative.. but it is hard work.. long hours.. if you really think you are up to it.. I'd be more than honoured to have you on my team..


-he slid his glasses down into his top pocket there before he turned to look up at them both..


It is preferred that you reside in the accommodation we chose.. its close to the hospital.. and close to your tutors.. since the hours draw quite late we find its safer this way. There is no having to walk home in the wee hours of the morning.. there's no real safety risk this way.


-he held his hands up-


not to say you both couldn't handle yourselves if you were thrown into a not so savoury position, it's just how we do things here. Its a large property, to the left of the Hospital. you may have noticed it. Kind of looks like a manor house. It's where we all stay when we are on duty. Close enough that if we have split shifts it means we can sleep a lot more soundly and comfortably than on a hospital stretcher. And it means we can be on call and return at a moments notice.


You will of course be paid extremely well, and the tutoring wont come out of the money you will receive during your training. I can't give you a time frame until I can actually see what level of education you both have, what your learning potential is and so on if you get my drift. I don't doubt you are smart ladies, but we are realistic.. and we all learn at different levels. Some are more hands on, some are more bookish, we just need to figure out which categories you fit into.


If you find it is not for you.. say.. a week in.. a month in.. maybe a bit longer.. that's fine, you need but let me know. Id rather you told me than forced yourself to continue in a position that you will just not fit in. It's not easy, and you really have to put your whole self in.. its either all of you.. or none. You of course will be able to step back down into your previous position no questions asked. But the chance will not come again after that.


-he paused. sliding his hands back down into his pockets as he moved to stand-


Id love to give you plenty of time to mull it over, to make your decision.. but we kind of need to get started soon. So I can give you tonight to decide. You can come to me tomorrow with your answer.. If you have any questions at all though I am available here.. now.. or I will be around the hospital and in the quarters next door for the next few days. I can take you through it if you're wanting. Entirely up to you both..

[BadInfluence]

The fact of the matter was that at some point, people really do get old, and need to retire. Turnover rates for doctors are rare though, not because they don’t age or are in better health than most, it’s more so because it’s a terribly hard field to get into. Most who are born with that caring spirit? Become nurses or the like so they can still care for people but aren’t exactly stuck in the hellish carnage mill that becoming a doctor throws you into. It wasn’t even that people were lazy… Ok… No… Most people were flat out lazy but there wasn’t anything wrong with that, it was just part of being a person, and she always respected those facets. She just didn’t have to like them was all… Either way though a lot of this was going to be coming out in the mix, a lot of people were going to be thinking about themselves first, and maybe… That was the mistake of the hospital? Not everyone is born wanting a grand purpose… Even with a highly paid position, free training and free room and board, a lot of people aren’t going to bite at it. No matter how tempting the bait is, too many people could still clearly see the hook on the line, and naturally avoided it with all due haste. Self-preservation was still strong in all species and that sadly, was really working against this plan right now, which to say the least was a little sad… She knew if push came to shove this place might just buckle under the strain, even an ass can only take so much per load, and it’d fall flat on its face faster than a castle of playing cards. Even so she listened to everything said, keeping her thoughts to herself as she always did, choosing to act only after everything had been said and done first. She didn’t hold out many cards for right now, the fact one of the new doctors was missing or running late, and the other two looked like complete polar opposites? Made her more than a bit leery to even poke at this nest with a stick… One seemed so tightly wound that he probably had no patience and would snap… The other appeared to live off of praise and worship like some modern day Dionysus or Narcissus… Neither of which suited her style of temperament very much… If this was all they offered she would leave, not because she didn’t want the job, but more so you can’t expect a proper education if you can’t find yourself relating well to your teachers.



When the late flyer did come in, she noticed he was a bit younger, maybe a little older than her at top end. Unlike anyone else might think though, she actually thought it was pretty impressive, to have that sort of drive and determination. It also shamed her a little because she had been so content to just float on by for the most part… A jellyfish on the current… It also made her wonder… What in the heck happened in his life to spark that sort of determination at such a young age? You don’t just bonk your head playing catch the vine and suddenly realize oh! I want to abandon all hope and become a doctor! You might after maybe five bonks, but then at that point? Might as well give up the game because you’re coordination is seriously lacking. No there was something behind this young doctor, something seriously strong and maybe even a little insane, but it also peaked her interest. What was his story? It made her want to peel back his layers like pages in a book and see just what might be written there. Unfortunately, he was neither a book, nor anything else she could take apart to figure out. He was a person and if you tried to peel them, gross stuff happened, and she was perfectly ok with not getting into that thank you! No his secrets were safe inside him and where they were probably remain, if only because she really was pretty anti-social for one, and two she respected peoples privacies a little too much to go probing at personal things.



The group had begun to dwindle after that speech about the true nit and grit of being a doctor, and while true you don’t join the field for shits and giggles, it doesn’t exactly hurt to pad a few areas… Even women use a little padding in the t and a area. Still, padding wouldn’t have done much, even if he had made it seem like some grand dream the class would have dropped out the first week anyways… At least this way he was nipping a lot of turn over in the bud, plus saving a good deal of money too since those who left would still be pocketing play money anyways, which was really the only sort of practical thing to do. Dr. Anakin had done it right, he had laid it out in black and white and if anyone didn’t like the colors? Well they were free to leave, and leave they did, which left only a couple of hands worth of people left…Her, Bett, Luna and Ellen… A couple of other people from wings she wasn’t allowed to go into, places like lab work or infectious diseases… No where she was all eager to get into anyways. Though she was surprised a bit to see more women than men, sure women were typically more of the care giver types, but they weren’t the sort to kill themselves over this sort of a position. The reason why became apparent soon enough and that same small frown between her brows became apparent when she saw the way they seemed to sort of just bee line of the new doctor. True a few drifted over to the others, but her worst enemies were going to the one doctor she thought might actually be a good fit for her, which honestly had her bout ready to spit a nail or two… Instead she spit something else entirely. She was walking to Dr. Anikin when they saw her and basically tried to bowl her over, looking accidental of course, they always made it look so innocent. She took the jarring without moving much more than an inch before she said quite casually to Dr. Anikin, loud enough for Luna and Ellen to hear, hell probably enough for most but she was in a prickly mood again.



“Don’t pay them much mind, they’re just a couple of globular fruits who don’t realize not even man is a tree for them to try and hang their rotund asses on… Oh… Did I say Ass? I meant Mass… Whoops.”



She heard the instant hiss and the sting as Luna pinched the hell out of her arm out of anyone’s eye sight but she just took it with a smile and ignored the pain, looking up at Luna quite innocently, batting her big brown eyes.



“By the way, you might want to even out the cream your putting on your round rump there Luna, he’s a Doctor so he’s going to notice your lop sided back lumps a lot faster than the others… Just you know… A word of friendly advice…”



She jerked her arm out of Luna’s grip and idly rubbed the quick forming bruise before she made her way to the table to pick up her own pamphlet and reading it over, looking for any sneak clauses or tricks in the wording that might get her in a tight fix, not that the hospital was untrustworthy just not everyone in it was… Ellen had taught her real fast to read everything in triplicate before even saying yes to a dang thing. While she read, the world began to pick it’s sides in her mind, and it was obvious that like was going with like… The girls with Rincavornor's good looks were the type to flirt and try to use ah… Extra curricular… Activities to make up for short comings… Others were more the type who just enjoyed a pretty face but might turn out to be good doctors in the end, that is, if the teacher wasn’t the kind to seduce and then reduce if you get the meaning. The other one flat out made her feel like someone had just dumped her in cement, those that went to him she knew were personal by the letter type people, who took what was written as gospel and spirits help you if you try to do something off the beaten path. She would either drive him nuts or he would break her, either way she was far from interested in either him, or the suave want to be don juan. Dr. Anikin seriously was the one type of person she was at least semi-hopeful that he could match her, otherwise even her willpower wasn’t going to be enough to do this, no amount of internal strength could make you learn something from someone who just couldn’t get your frequency. Besides… He kind of already had her hopes in a way, especially with how he handled Bett, reacted and interacted with her. Bett was pretty awesome, they weren’t friends, she personally didn’t have any but… Bett was the closest to an associate that she had, and actually liked her for the most part, so there was that candle in the dark there… While she looked over the books she listened to them talk and almost swallowed her tongue when he laughed and she saw the flash of his dimples… What the fuck? Doctors actually did that sort of stuff? Every one she had ever met looked like he pissed apple cider vinegar. He caught her off guard and she watched him closely for some minutes, trying to decide just what he was, like a foreign species in the rainforest… She couldn’t really get a read on him off the bat but she had time to watch him surely, taking the time to ask her question about the days off, feeling the disgust off of the one doctor and her ears flicked… It must be getting too hot again, her temper was starting to get shorter and she was getting a little too sensitive, making her feel like a prickly pear all over again. She pushed it down and instead focused on what Dr. Anikin was saying, a sudden and wry little half smile lit her features for a moment and he might be able to tell she wasn’t quite what she seemed on the surface either.



“Technically you could, doctors are always on call, they get no guaranteed days off… If the curriculum or head orchestrator decided to remove any time off, he’d be well within his scope of training, given he could easily say it was in preparation for the future job course.”



She was right but she wasn’t trying to be a smart ass, not really, she just blurted it out like most of the things she ended up saying when she did speak.



“It is however appealing and gracious to be given these times to ourselves. You can’t build pressure without a release valve or the whole thing, as you said, explodes. Are these days off something we schedule ourselves, such as allotted vacation time or the time, where we can take a day when we need it? Or will it be more in the vein of educational purposes which give the traditional weekend off and of course major holidays such as the festivals?”



While she asked this she rummaged around in her bag, having to pull out a melon or two and hold them in her arms before she found was she was looking for, a pre-moistened bit of cloth. She had a few in a sealed bag for sanitation purposes, sometimes you get food on you, sometimes it’s a wad of paint from the children’s wing… Either way she didn’t stop to wash every time, so these were like her little on the go things, and they were a life and time saver. She walked over to him and held it out, she didn’t say anything, but pointed to the ink marks on his arms. Something that could easily help remove the evidence and help him put himself in a little bit better shape. Not that she personally minded the ink stains, but others might see it as unprofessional, and he was a little too young to be flying the fuck you flag in public just yet… When Rincavornon pipped up suddenly that frown on her brow instantly deepened and her brown eyes narrowed a touch, obvious displeased at the show, her ears flicking madly under her hair as a sort of tell tale sign she was about to say something really… Really bad…



“At least he cares about something other than what can be found while entertaining the horizontal tango, Dr. Rincavornon, now I believe your mirror is calling you there Narcissus. Take your group and move along now, I’m sure there’s a lot of dark corners and janitor closets just waiting for your attentions ah, classes…”



Yep. She did it. She snapped. You don’t publicly mock or ridicule someone just to make yourself look better. That was just one of those unpardonable sins to her that literally got her hotter under the collar than a volcano about to burst. She stood there, whopping four foot eleven, bristling like a cat and ready to go to battle. She let out a sort of cross between a hiss and a sound of disgust as the Doctor walked by, refusing to breathe any of his air, like it was some type of contamination she might catch. The other Doctor left moments later and still she stood there, ears flicking and arms crossed over her shoulder, tapping her foot rapidly as if to try and dispel the energy she had all bottled up and not enough space for it to go. Sure, she knew she made some enemies in the fan girl group over there but she literally did not give two fucks about it, she wasn’t here to be popular. If she was going to do this, she was going to need to do it alone, and have enough strength in her own back to carry her through it. Friends would just be a weakness, a drawback, a cost she couldn’t afford. Associates sure, she could talk to people, but she’d not let alone in close enough to disrupt her goal.



“You have different, and then you just have an egotistical little bag of no good like that jerkball. I feel bad for him in a way, it has to suck to be lacking something so fundamental inside yourself that you have to live off of praise and humiliating others, it’s going to suck hard for him in later life when those pretty looks fail and he’s stuck alone and with a worthless interior.”



She paced around a bit as she tried to burn off the energy while Dr. Anikin talked, and yes she did listen the whole time, she still wanted to kick pretty boy right in the tenders… Not even that she was fond of the other guy, deep down he put her off and she knew they wouldn’t mix, but there was never a reason to be that sort of an asshole to another person. It was, in her mind, totally unpardonable.



“If it was easy the doctors in the world wouldn’t be nearly as good. Easy doesn’t make good anything… Well except for sugar biscuits…”



Yep… Side tracked by food as she dug in her bag for another one of those lemon and lavender cookies, popping it between her lips as she continued to pace, slowly nibbling it as she let it work it’s way through her… Just slowly calming her down until her ears stopped twitching and she could stand still again. She knew of the place he was talking about, it was one of the biggest houses she had ever seen, and was pretty intimidated by it. How could she not be? It looked like some prince and princess lived in there for a holiday home and she always felt a little uncomfortable around it, like it always whispered to her that she didn’t belong, which as odd as it was… Suited her. It helps not to build castles in the sky, means there’s no fall to earth when things go bust. She did like the way he offered choices in learning though, she couldn’t say she was one way or the other, sometimes it was both and she was pretty flexible either way. Still, some things she did need to learn hands on, to root the action in her brain. Others books were more than fine, she soaked it up like a sponge, could retain a lot of knowledge without too much effort. It was also nice to know that, if things didn’t work out, she had an option to leave without paying back anything. The pay she earned while training was hers, so she had something to live on while she sorted out what to do from there, but the idea of backing out… Kind of left her a little sour. She was too determined, too dead set on this, and once she decided she wanted to do something she was going to do it. End of story. So far? She had decided about 80/20 that she wanted to do this, to have a chance to better her life and make something of herself other than a tea shop girl and a candy striper, to actually make a career and be able to take care of herself without needing anyone else for the rest of her life… In the end what’s the worst that could honestly happen? Sure, there would be moments that hurt, but what could hurt worse than being passed over for adoption year after year because no one understood you? Being told you were touched in the head? Water logged? Part fish? She’d been teased a bit now and then, and gods knew Luna and Ellen lived to torment her, so she was no stranger to much… In the end, she was grateful to them for all the crap, it meant it made this all that much easier. Her only concern was if she could honestly show an aptitude for it… She caught on fast to what she did have to do, she could read a chart properly the first day there without any training, and she was a whiz with prescriptions and knowing what someone needed… She had already handled urin, feces, vomit and just about any other bodily fluid… She had even held the hand of two senior patients that had been on their way to death. She knew the whole process really well in fact, as morbid as that might be, it didn’t shake her… The one thing that freaked her out? Babies. Little, fragile wee things, shooting out of vaginas like big fleshy melons… It wasn’t after she had an issue with the little things, not even close, it was just birth. Like… The entire act of going into labor to squeezing out a miniature clone… She freaked out. So long as she didn’t have to do that… She’d be ok… Or she thought so.



“I don’t need the time. I’m good about making up my mind and sticking to a course. You have a need that needs to be filled, and I have a working body that can step into the role with the proper training, I don’t see a need to dawdle. Please, don’t take this as if I need time to think it over or am rushing into it, I am just the type of person that makes solid snap judgments. My only questions are if I can move in tonight, and what sort of books should I start reading?”

[Deleted]

..overall it wasn't a resounding success but it wasn't a complete failure either.. they had settled on around 9 ..well it was 10 until Dr Straight-and-narrow had one running off in tears..he genuinely felt sorry for the young woman.. and would in his spare time.. (ha! spare time).. go and seek her out.. perhaps she had just chosen porley and if this was something she was interested in she could jump onto his team.. whilst he was stern he was not harsh. Luna and Ellen had made their first choice.. getting rather handsy with himself before he made his own personal choice and he guided them over to Dr Handsome-and-Suave.. it seemed like the right fit.. he was no fool.. he knew how some doctors worked.. The three of them there showed right to the core that there were completely different methods. and then of course morals would come into play. he exhaled a little.. relieved when the two bubbly bit bottomed girls floated away.. catching onto her comment there about them being globular fruits and the sharp little crack of wit there ..it caused the corners of his lips to twitch and curl as if he was going to sort a smile.. or even a grin before he quashed it and performed a rather pathetic excuse of a cough to cover it.. Ohhh he had an inkling on this one now.. this petite little one was sassy.. sharp witted.. perhaps not one to be walked over.. all traits that were not necessarily bad.. but we needed to work on the tact perhaps.. and the timing.. lest she ruffle the wrong feathers..he noted that for something to perhaps chat with her about.. later.. she had a lot of potential.. and he liked that.. a lot.. quite possibly.. if he was a good judge of character.. out of everyone else in the room.. she was holding the most determination..the most raw want.. he was pleased it appeared she was going to settle onto his little team.



He turned his attention back to Bett there.. they had a chat over a few things that were in the literature.. even making sure to perch himself upon the corner of the desk.. so he wasn't towering over her.. he sat at around 6ft.. no more.. no less.. which made him the shortest of the three doctors.. but in comparison to Bett and Rose.. he was tall.. he let out a puff of laughter at something Bett had said.. the smile.. the ghost like flash of dimples there..just showing a touch of his own personality.. even if it was fleeting.. he didn't look up when she had words with Luna.. though he heard it.. the sharpened points of his ears twitched a touch as they more or less poked out from the top of his semi tossled richly coloured locks.. her comments loud as they were in an extremley echoing area caused the two doctors to activley look up.. to check out this backside display.. tilting their heads.. Dr Faelon visibly winced.. oh yes.. poor Lunas ass was lopsided.. and a little on the lumpy bumpy side.. one of Henrys specialties was plastic surgery and the sheer look of that rear end made him jerk back a touch.. Dr Rincavornon also had a good look.. rubbing his chin.. though of course he was more so checking out the area.. not the job she had done on trying to plump it up.. Oh if the world could have opened up an swallowed Luna whole she would have graciously accepted it.. she so wanted to bite back at you.. she so wanted to say something sharp and painful.. but she just drew back into herself and made sure to turn around so her back end was facing the corner.. her cheeks were flaming.. and the fact that just about the whole room had their eyes upon her was making her eyes water just a touch.. he never looked up.. he kept his attention soley on Bett.. pointing out clauses and teaching descriptions on the paperwork.. making sure the woman understood what she was getting herself into.. he seemed to get along quite well with Bett.. the interactions between the pair were easy going.. Bett was having a right laugh at his explanations for certain things.. She had approached him then offering him a predampened cloth.. his brow rose.. arching there a little.. a slight flash of confusion settled aross his youthful features a moment before he noticed she was offering it to cover the ink on his arms.. from a distance it may well have looked like he had inded had a tossle with an ink well.. but upon closer inspection they were simply an array of tattoos upon his otherwise pale skin.. he nodded his thanks.. sliding the cloth over the edge of where the ink was beginning to show itself from under his long white sleeve.. though of course the wipe did nothing.. it would be the light bristle of magic that would cause the image to slowly fade.. glamour.. if she was wise on it.. he undid the cuffs upon his shirt then.. and let them roll back down to his wrists.. tightening them back up.. before he heard the comments between the two Doctors.. Dr Rincavornon prodding at Henry about him having taken a more prominant spot and that being the reason Dr Faelon was being so curt and grumpy.. that and that the older more strict doctor apparently just needed a good fuck to snap him out of it.. he dragged his tongue across his teeth.. ignoring the banter.. it really wasn't the place.. not with potential new recruits here.. someone could have easily gotten offended or worse.. they could have had a mass walk out and they would be right back at square one all over again.. he nodded his head when Dr Rincavornon went to leave the building.. though everything seemed to stop.. to pause.. to freeze when she jumped into the conversation.. berating Dr Rincavornon's choice of words and his seemingly promiscuous lifestyle.. mmm this one was plucky and was going to ruffle feathers there was no doubt in his mind. He turned his head to glance toward the good Doctor.. watching Rincavornon bristle a little..before commenting that Jacob better keep that one on a short leash.. and that she best be reminded that.. to get through in the end all recruits must have a sit in with each Senior doctor for a passing grade.. to obtain their licence.. he more or less huffed then and walked out.. the bombshells floating along behind him.. noses up in the air.. he himself cleared his throat.. the Academics wandered out soon after.. talking amongst themselves.. eager and wanting to learn like yesterday.. though he knew deep down.. at least 2 of the four Dr Faelon has taken on wouldn't last the week....when the room was left to the three of them he let out a somewhat exasperated puff of air..turning to her then.. her earlier query on holidays.. and the clarification of them had been circling his mind-


We take it on a more case by case basis.. I mean there are keyed in holidays.. a lot of the Arvandorian celebrations for example are set in stone on the elvish calendar.. and generally yes.. you will be able to attend.. but you are correct that once we get into the nitty gritty of it all.. you will be forever on call.. Though.. in the beginning.. for the first full moon year it will be myself and the other 2 Seniors that will be called upon at a moments notice.. you will be on occasion required to attend.. to aid.. to help or simply to observe depending on the circumstances.. I want you to be as hands on as is physically possible.. These holidays are a real stickler with you I can tell, are there certain celebrations you simply must attend? is this a blood line thing.. a family thing? lets get all that out in the open now so we know what we are dealing with.. yes this is tight and full on.. but we have a bit of room to move.. we can be flexible. Are we talking simply Arvandorian? Perhaps Menzoberranzan-ian?


-he turned toward Bett there-


Dwarven holidays perhaps?



-he would settle back to stand there as he collected up the papework.. waiting on their responses.. -


We all need breaks from time to time.. we all have lives outside of this building.. I understand that all to well.

-and he did.. he had a life outside these walls.. and it wasn't easy making the two work together as one.. but he did his best and sometimes it meant he would be running late.. he listened as she spoke n his only question really being if she could move in tonight.. his head tilted to the side.. perhaps a little bit shocked that she would be so readilly accepting the offer.. -

Are you certain?..

-the corners of his lips twitched as a smile was developing there slowly beneath the surface he was impressed, very impressed.. -

You most certainly can move in at your leisure.. though tonight would be preferential if it is at all possible. The sooner you get started the better..

-he turned toward Bett there who was mulling on the idea of it all.. the woman was struggling a bit.. she had a family afterall..he nodded his head..-

Take your time.. come and see me tomorrow.. Its a big ask.. I can understand that.. spend the night going over the paperwork.. going over everything in that booklet. If its yes.. Fantastic.. if not.. no harm done.

-she offered a smile.. a tip of her head to you there before she toddled on back out.. clutching the booklet to her chest..the double doors swung open.. and then closed.. and the pair were left on their own.. he turned his attention back to her once more-.

Well I'm sure you already know.. but -he held his hand out to shake hers- my name is Jacob Anikin, I will be your Senior tutor for the duration of your medical training. I am available at any hour should it be a question pertaining to your studies.. if its something as simple as where.. -is brows furrowed.. selecting his words-.. the towels are in the house.. or whether or not you could neck one of the other Doctors for being to damn noisy in their quarters.. then perhaps.. you could use your best judgement.. -he laughed a little-. and leave it to the morning.. or just handle it. In the house.. whilst the other two and myself do hold some kind of seniority we are not your parents. You are more than within your rights to stand up for yourself at any time, to not take any nonsense. In the tuition area whilst we will have a little lee-way we will expect respectful behaviour. Believe me I know its hard to deal with the other two at times, their practises can be a little... unconventional.. but.. time and place Im sure you understand.. unless of course its a matter of gross misconduct.. then of course.. use your voice.. I have a feeling you will anyway.. you seem ..rather plucky indeed.



-he moved to stand there.. gathering up his clipboard.. the last few remaining papers.. ushering her to follow along with him-. Tell me.. what training have you had.. if any? I mean you must have done quite a bit of hands on here and there with attending doctors in your field as a striper.. how far does that extend?.. Do you have any real worries or concerns?



-he would wander along with her.. the pair of them weaving in and out of nurses dotted here and there as the general workings of the hospital was returning to what it normally would be.. one hand held the paperwork.. the clipboard.. the other had slid back into his dark jean pocket..they moved to exit the facility proper.. out into the awaiting afternoon sunshine.. it was a beautiful day.. not too warm.. not too cool just yet.. just that nice spot where neither cooling or warming was required until later in the evening.. he moved along the pavement.. nodding his head to those who regarded him.. to those whom had offered their greetings.. she herself was looked up and down a bit.. she was petite in comparison to most recruits.. would she be able to reach over the beds.. would she be able to hold down those patients that easily become unruly.. some of them had the strength of 10 men in a matter of an instant whilst under the influence of some drug.. usually dark elven.


-they moved through the open gardens of the estate.. the manor where the doctors were housed when on call. it was quaint.. well looked after.. gardeners clearly kept everything clipped and clean. fountains.. fish.. flowers and greenery.. it was to keep the doctors moods settled and calm.. when they needed to rage.. to release.. to let go.. they could do so safely within the calming embrace of the gardens.

' all of this will be open to you as a training doctor.. there are so many nooks.. dotted here and there.. places you can go should yuou be needing some space.. some time to yourself.. should you need to scream at the top of your lungs.. this is where you can.. its sounded off.. no one will hear you.. but you and whichever god or goddess you profess too..



-he nodded a little.. moving around the back of the property.. there was a hedge maze like structure.. plenty of tables.. some made of wood.. some of turned styled white iron.. there was a natural hot pool.. steam rising from its slightly mineral milky surface ..he went to draw breath to talk.. to tell her about what was immediately before them.. only to have his attention captured by Dr Rincavornon coming out from the back of the Manor proper.. a towel over his shoulder.. just a pair of shorts hanging down low upon his hips.. the man was tanned.. quite dark indeed.. and toned to the extreme.. his body from the looks of it appeared hard as a fucking rock.. the women.. Luna and Ellen.. along with the third came out soon after.. not wearing much more.. bikini styled suits.. which upon that wide ass looked quite peculiar.. and really not that attractive.. he exhaled a touch.. Dr Rincavornon called out to them both there


'Comeon.. join us! we have to get to know one another afterall.. were all going to be in close quarters for quite a long.. long time.. - he laughed heartilly.. the girls all giggled on cue.. it was a bit sad really.. they dropped their towels and sunk down into the heated bubbled water.. the girls were putting on a bit of a display.. pretending to splash one another.. before Dr Rincavornon approached the waters edge with a bottle of elvish wine.. no glasses.. heavens no.. they could all long neck that one.. in only the most dirty fashion ever.. Jacob turned to look to Rose there.. he would usher toward those frolicking ..giving her the chance to join them if she so desired..if the answer was no however he would usher toward the house.. nodding his head toward Dr Rincavornon and the ladies.. before he would move inside.. it was decorated cleanly.. not too over cluttered, not a lot of furniture.. it was clear that men had been living there for quite some time though.. the colour palate was mainly grey, brown, steel and the like..the kitchen was open and quite vast.. extremley well equipped with a large oven and hot plate.. a bar top with plenty of bottles, all types of alcohol, of spirits and wines.. -

Its an open common area really.. I do most of the cooking as the other two arent quite so.. well domestic.. I have a feeling they have often had women do the work for them..I naturally mean no offence.. it just would appear that the kinds of people Dr Rincavornon for example gravatate to.. tend to do Everything.. for him. -he laughed a little..giving a little shake of his head-.. I however am self sufficient..Can you cook? you have free reign of all of this.. any time really just tidy up after yourself.. -he rounded out of the kitchen then and into the main living area.. there was a large open fireplace.. several big couches.. lounge chairs and cushions scattered.. the ceiling was high.. with low hanging wooden beams..there was plant life indoors.. a subtle scent of earth.. of sandalwood ..of boot polish and various notes of cologne.. there were newspapers neatly folded upon the coffee table.. medical journals.. books..pens.. notepads.. - The lounge area.. its generally quiet in here.. not many of the Doctors use it.. I do.. usually in the middle of the night if i cant sleep.. or if.. say Dr Rincavornon is making far to much noise..  -he motioned to the doors to the far right-.. Our library.. in there you will find every text you need.. everything you require in ..well book form.. if something you want is however not there.. it just means someone else on the property has it.. you should be able to simply locate it by just doing a bit of a wander..I tend to take a few books with me to bed.. so I'm guilty of having a couple from time to time.. -he held his hand to his heart and chuckled-. just ask.. really.. upstairs are the rooms.. there are quite a few.. you will be able to make a choice.. depending on how much sun you like.. or want.. some dont get much at all.. some get a lot.. some are larger.. some are smaller.. each one is decked out pretty basic.. bed cupboards, desk, lamps and the like.. you can add your own personal touches.. its yours for the time you are here.. -he went to move up the carved wooden staircase.. it was all very intricate.. clearly elvish..-.. So we have.. -he motioned to the large doors to the far left.. -..

uhh.. that one is Dr Rincavornon, then you have a couple spare which he usually puts his newest recruits in.. further along is Dr Faelon's quarters.. he always prefers one empty on either side.. he is a stickler when it comes to his sleep.. though he generally takes rest aids.. and nothing would wake him short of someone literally screaming in his ear directly.. ..a few more spare there.. my own is on the third level.. its the only level that has an accessible balcony.. I like to be able to access the outside world.. often.. it gives me the chance without having to disturb those within the Manor.. there are some rooms empty up there also.. and then on the fourth there is a loft.. small.. kind of an odd shape.. but its there.. Ill leave that decision up to you.. perhaps go for a wander and make your decision.. -he gave her a little nod of his head-. Ill gather you up some text books.. since you are so eager to begin.

[BadInfluence]

A success wasn’t always a good thing in the end, was it? Successfully killing someone for instance had a very large ripple effect, and even though the person killing might have done their job and accomplished their task, was it REALLY a success? Words were tricky, so many had double or more meanings, and in the end they were just wind… She thought the fact they had even attempted mattered a great deal. They could have sent out flyers to other hospitals, poached their resources by offering better pay or benefits, or hired on half trained help with the hopes that they’d learn on the fly. Instead they were honest and humble, they were willing to take a financial hit and try to recruit from their own ranks, offering both opportunity and livelihood for anyone in the hospital. To her? Even if no one had signed up, it was still a success, because they were doing it for all the right reasons and doing it honorably. Still, what she thought and felt really only mattered to her, so she kept those feelings to herself. Even if each Doctor was a perfect sort of Dr. Jeckyle and Mr. Hyde from each other, that was ok, they at least offered a variety of teaching styles. One was obvious WAY too hands on with the way he looked like he thought he was the worlds own personal Adonis, while the other looked like he was so stiff he could make a ruler look bent and far too bookish to really work for her, leaving her with… Well not the happy middle man because that was so not the case, he was neither half way handsy or a stick in the mud, he was just… Approachable. She could get along just fine with him, or so she hoped, but she still had a few assessments to be made. One of them became apparent when Luna and Ellen decided to cling on him like some apes on a limb, and no, she couldn’t really help the instant knew jerk reaction she had. She wasn’t mean, she really wasn’t, but she was far from the kind to mince words or try to powder puff it up. She was honest, bluntly so sometimes, but at least everyone knew where they stood with her. Well… If they either noticed her or asked anyways. Ellen and Luna had both made their beds with her on just how they treated her at work, and she was the kind who didn’t only turn the other cheek, oh no… Sure she could totally give them the other side to smack, but she made sure that before they hit her, they might second guess the wisdom of it. Not that she got violent, it was simply more the right choice of words, and making someone second guess a certain action. She was as he thought, sassy and sharp witted, and far from someone who would lay down like a doormat. She’d bend sure enough if she needed to, but break? Never. Though… She might just need a little help in the whole ah… Comeback area… She just had a couple of triggers, things that set her off and sadly, when ever something did? It was out of her mouth faster than she could learn to bite it back. Thankfully she was getting better but oh… oooh some people made it REAL hard. Still at least she never reacted without cause, and even then, only when someone was REALLY gunning for it. Most of the time she didn’t do or say anything to Ellen or Luna, but perhaps she was a bit more open now because she was given the chance to be more than just a striper, to be on a stand where she wasn’t going to be everyone’s stepping stone. More likely though it was just the fact she was hot and when ever she was hot she got down right prickly and her short fuse was almost non-existent.



She was going over her own books when Luna and Ellen decided to do what they always did, try to make her life hell because of the fruit comment, and the pinch to her arm? It stung quite a bit, Luna really did have a strong grip and her arm was on fire even though she hid it behind a calm face, but she wasn’t about to let that go either… Turn the other cheek she did, but she made sure that Luna would second guess another hit, especially one like a freaking ninja pinch of doom… She hadn’t meant to be so ah… Loud… She had just managed to talk into a lull between everyone’s words so the place got quite the loud rendition of what she had meant to say only for Luna to hear, but deep down, she honestly didn’t feel bad about it. Luna was a damn petty shrew and if she did spill some tears? It was only fitting considering what an ass she was to most of the kids in the wings anyways. Hell, Luna was an ass in general to anyone who wasn’t single and a male, or hell once or twice even a wedding ring couldn’t deter her if the guy was what she considered good looking. No… The lull was more like Karma stepping up to bat and hitting it way left field in a home run. She noticed the doctors reaction, Faelon’s almost made her laugh to be fair, but Rincavornon made her want to just slap him. Honestly, how could a man be a doctor when his mind was obviously in the gutter? Shouldn’t someone in his position be a little more worried about his patients and not someone’s posterior, lopsided and lumpy or not? Even worse was that she just got thing scent off of him like he was used to winning conquests and had that cocksure air about him, like he always got what he wanted, nothing he desired was ever out of his reach… Which made her instantly think the only reason he had really become a doctor was because of the leverage it would give him on his ‘hunting ground’… He just really made her wrinkle her nose and put him on the list of ‘too stupid to mingle with’ and made sure she would make every attempt to avoid any contaminated air space with him in the vicinity… Who knows? Egotistical jackass could be an air both pathogen and she was not in the mood to catch his special kind of dipshit any time soon. Yeah… Jacob might be maybe getting more than he expected in the sassy department… Still she kept 98% of it behind her lips and in her mind, her nice little haven where she could say what ever she wanted and no one would ever be hurt or offended by it, but it didn’t exactly dispel the whole odd sense about her. Everyone was sociable, hell wood elves were supposed to be down right chatter boxes, but she was so reserved and quiet if you didn’t watch her closely she could fade right into the wallpaper… A bit like what Luna was trying to do with her ass to the wall. Honestly, Luna did it to herself, lopsided rumpus and all, and if she hadn’t pinched her? She wouldn’t have said anything in the first place. She made a face, fast as a flash, a wrinkled nose and a stuck out tip of her tongue before she melted back into the books. So far everything seemed straight forward, she was used to the somewhat garbled medical jargon, so there wasn’t much she didn’t get… She listened in on Bett’s questions too, to see if she had any of her own in that vein, and finding answers in the replies Dr. Anikin gave her. Towards the end, her one concern was one that could wait to be asked, giving Bett the time she needed with the good doctor before she spoke up. She was about to ask something when she caught sight of the ink, and she had honestly thought he had spilled something on his way here, after all he had been late… Maybe he had been cleaning up and that was why he had fallen behind? It would make sense… She offered the premoistened bit of cloth, thinking he might want to clean it up, seeing his confusion made her brow raise. Did he not know he had ink on him? She hadn’t looked that closely at his skin, she gave him a perfunctory one over and was content with that, she respected people’s privacy too much to pry for one… Two? She just wasn’t the type of person to set stock on someone’s looks. Case in point Dr. I’mTooSexyForMyShirt… Pretty but totally rotten on the inside… If she based people on their looks the whole world would be a mess of rotten apples with shiny skins and genuinely good ones with a few bruises on their surfaces… Nope, she could give two pins what someone looked like, it was what they FELT like… But she was in her own way a rather attuned empath so needless to say, she pretty much knew early on if someone was going to be a total jerk or a good person, which again might explain her self-chosen isolation.



The Glamor caught her attention like someone sending a party popper in her face, and her instant reaction was just a sudden little flare of green energy, a tendril from one of the fruits in her bag curling out a vivid and healthy green.



“Well quack like a duck…”



She muttered. She wasn’t all that great on magical control, she had a natural ability for growing things, and she tended to cause rainforests of plants to grow up around her if she spent a long time in any place with a garden, which wasn’t a bad thing really but when you have spontaneous fruit spurts eh… It’s a little less fun. She tucked the vine away and figured she might as well pot it now since it was growing, seeing it as something to get around to later, after she had everything settled in her mind at least. So far she was in favor, even with the snard and his crew, she was pretty positive this is what she wanted. There was too much good in the opportunity to pass up, it was one of those life changing chances and she was ready to grab it with both hands, and she wasn’t the kind to let go lightly. She was about to ask Dr. Anikin about the holiday thing, wanting to clear up a few details, but oh… When the Mr. Prettyface went after Dr. Faelon he flipped a switch hard… Public humiliation was not something she handled well, not that she minded it being done to her, more so she hated seeing people just get picked on… Dang it the world had enough ugly in it without adding to it! Her ears began to twitch hard under her hair and anyone that had seen her go off before, would know it was time to take cover, cause once that fuse was lit there was no putting it out. Honestly, there was no reason for it, not for any of it. Every action? Was out of sheer spite, trying to make it out to be Dr. Anikins fault via third party, and worse just taking a swing at Faelon to make him seem worse… It was petty and mean and downright childish and so yes… She snapped. Stepped right up into that verbal banter like a firecracker tossed into the ring, and blew up, no doubt about it. Though she could have said a LOT worse, she had kept it pretty civil, though she had done enough damage to ruffle a few feathers admittedly. Not that the damn crow didn’t need a good ruffling… Though the bit about being kept on a short leash made her want to bite his damn kneecaps off… Instead she just turned on a very bland and entirely neutral expression, biting on her tongue to keep from stating that if he was a decent doctor, he’d not let any of this affect her grade and score her fairly on the work she had done rather than a personal offence at being called out for being a total bird of paradise type fellow. But no, no she held it back and just let him float out of the room like a drag queen with his posy and turned her attention back to those books in her hands, waiting for them all to go before she asked about the holiday thing again. Was it a stickler for her? In a big way, yes. Those days were important to her, they were a chance to feel like she was a part of the group, of the whole… The one time she felt love like she belonged somewhere… It was pretty much her little dose of goodness that she got to savor until the next visit. She listened to what he said, storing it all away in her little mental vault, keeping in mind his preferences and what he expected. As her teacher it was important to know where he stood, if she didn’t, she had little chance at success. It was a partnership after all, teacher and student were symbiotic, and if she didn’t hold up her end the whole thing could go to seed faster than a field of weeds.



“I have no blood line to speak of, and I have no family either, it’s not a sort of obligatory thing. It’s that I enjoy the atmosphere and it’s the few times out of the year I indulge, and given I plan on taking on a very new and stressful lifestyle, it’s even more important that I adhere to and maintain the things that bring me peace of mind. As for Menzoberranzan, the last thing anyone wants is me on drugs, the celebrations are thrilling true enough but not my type of scene respectfully of course.”



She knew OF the celebrations and had almost gone to one once, but the second she got down there and saw all the raw and primal mating mixed with all the drug use, she ran out of there like a chunky kid from fat camp and never went back. All respect for them and their lifestyle, it was way not her scene, and deep down the idea of sex just really grossed her out. She saw enough of it to know just what went where and even most of the positions, but she saw literally no appeal in it what so ever, and since she wasn’t drow she couldn’t get the feelings of belonging from them as she did in Arvandor. That and at least in Arvandor when people coupled off when Hanali was in full swing, they did so in little grottoes and the like, out of the public eye… Well… Mostly… It was pretty easy to stumble into a group now and then but in general? They were a lot more respectful… Which given that she knew this but had never participated? It might beg the question of how. And the how? Simple. She hid from that lust dust big time, she even went so far as to make sure she had a little bubble of protection around her so none of it would land on her, leaving her with the feeling of belonging without the need to go hump a stranger.



“Just the main celebrations will do. They have a lot of trade in the area and I like to barter when I can for things we don’t easily get here. So long as I have those and one day out of the week for myself, I am quite content with being on call the rest of the time, it’s only fair considering we are getting paid for our time. I’m not picky in the least, I just want to know exactly what is expected of me outside of the study course, the more a person knows the better they can perform.”



Simple enough. It was also true though, she didn’t mind not having many days off, she could work around it. She just wanted a few here and there to keep her from going insane, a possibility she feared that could be caused by being in close quarters with the peacock, she’d likely kick him in the dingle dangles at LEAST once before she was done training she was sure… That sort of arrogance was like being stuck in a closed space with someone who had a super spice extra bean, extra cheese nuclear burrito and suffered from a bad case of the irritable bowl syndrome and a bad case of flatulence, there was just NO good thing to come of it. At all. Though having someone constantly remind him he was just a pidgeon rolled in dye might help de-swell that ago of his and bring him back down to earth… Who knew? All she knew was she was no captain save-a-gigolo and in the end? She just wanted to have as little to do with him as possible. Now, given that Anikin had given her all the answers she needed, cleared up any confusion or concerns she had, her mind was made up. She had one last question to ask, and that was if she could move in tonight and what sort of books she could start reading, wishing to assure him she was quite certain of what she was getting into.



“Very. Time isn’t something we get back, and I’d rather not pass mine being unproductive when there is something that needs to be done, especially something that is going to be as intensive as this promises to be.”



She didn’t blame Bett though. Bett had people who would miss her, who she would miss, a home and a soft warm place to sleep. Not something easily given up or traded away. For her though she really had nothing to lose, and a whole lot to gain, the choice was easily made once she had sure she had all the facts before her.



“That’s perfect for both of us then.”



She said easily before nodding to Bett. She reminded her that she did owe her a cookie and to come by at the end of the week for a mixed bag of them. She wasn’t the kind to just pass stuff over, to forget about a kindness done, and again… She liked Bett as far as she could possibly like someone, antisocial creature that she was. Soon enough it was just her and Anikin, tuning her attention to him as she listened to his name, a refresher from the time he had been called earlier.



“I’m Rose. Just Rose. No last name or anything so don’t worry about putting manners on.”



She stated simply, now that most of the outward energy was gone she could relax a bit, her very forward nature coming out in the not so sassy way she had. Alone she was rather relaxed, straight forward but not abrasive, her voice had a pretty ring to it and was pleasant on the ears. Nothing super incredible about her, unless of course he was looking at her eyes, in which case he might see they weren’t entirely brown like they were often taken for at first glance. They were in fact hazel with some darker green in the middle which was pretty rare but otherwise? She was just a very short wood elf with some rather unusual freckles and pretty hair and nice features, nothing to make her stand out, which was just how she liked it. She also liked his more forward way of speech when alone, it let her get an ever better reading on him without having to pry, to feel him out through his words like an invisible sort of brail that only she could read. So far though she liked him about as much as she liked Bett, she had respect for what he accomplished at his age, and liked his honest nature. Plus he seemed humble, not like a monk or some Lama but more so just real, like he had his feet firmly planted on the earth. Something she respected immeasurably since she had her own two planted much the same.



“I think I can find towels on my own, if I can’t do that, Gods help me trying to find the appendix. That’s no issue, and I’m not the violent type, too much energy for so little outcome. Besides, the only thing afraid of me is a field mouse, and even then I’m pretty sure I’d get kicked pretty hard in a bumper year.”



She had a good sense of humor about herself, realistic and not self depreciating, she had a way of looking at her existence in a way that was warming but also a bit funny as well. An over all very healthy way to go about life and one’s feeling for themselves.



“They have sound wards for a reason, and I am sure I can buy a charm that would work just fine, or pay someone to ward the room I stay in. Either way I’ll take the path of least resistance and use my energies to a much more productive end. I realize my behavior so far to you has seemed as you say plucky, I do admit I should have perhaps refrained, but like anyone else even we short ones have pet peeves. I just call them pp’s cause the words spelled would be taller than me and that’s just embarrassing.”



Again another bit of humor, and she also showed she had her own special brand of honor and humility, where she would own up to her mistakes and not be afraid to be called out on them either.



“I’ll endeavor not to embarrass you as my teacher. Luna and Ellen are my personal kind of devils and I’m used to their nasty behavior, just normally they’re not so rancid in such a large crowd so our little drama’s go unnoticed, at least before today. Though I do hope you don’t want me to apologize to Dr. Dandy… I’m sorry but I am pretty sure I could jump from his Ego to his IQ in a very successful suicide swan dive… Pick on me all you want, but trying to take the legs out of your companion simply because you want the attention on yourself, that’s just petty and not what I would think a proper doctor should do. Worse still trying to pin the whole thing on you as a third party because he doesn’t want to look like a bleeding ass- uh… associate…”



She didn’t normally cuss, it wasn’t her thing, but when someone lit a fire under her fanny she tended to have a few choice words to say about said fire starter. Still, she DID say she would endeavor so endeavor she would, and that meant not cussing… Even if she REALLY wanted to… She slid the books and pamphlets into her bag as she walked beside him, continually tucking the vine away with silent promises that she would find a pot for it really soon, it just had to wait a little while longer was all. His question though caused her to go silent, a thoughtful expression on her face as she tried to catalogue just what she had read, and how old they were… Some of it was seriously old, like centuries older, but they were books she could get her hands on… Plus they were pretty interesting starting points… She had some more modern ones too, things that could be relatable to these more modern times, but nothing quite as new as what she was sure was current. Would it be enough? Probably not, she would likely have to start from scratch all over again, but if that was what was needed so be it.





“The Cannon of Medicine, 1025, De Humani Corpois Fabrica Libro Semptem, 1543, Libellus De Medicinalibus Indorum Hebris… I realize they are all outdated but I have had a good updating since I started to volunteer, I recently started on Gray’s Anatomy and going over the various charts of what we know so far of the vascular systems as well as the interconnective tissues and various organs… I have also helped in two minor surgeries, one involving a degloving where the tissue and several muscles were reconnected, the other the removal of the gallbladder. I have been present in many other smaller issues, resetting bones and several wound stitching varieties, including dermal stitching which takes place deeper in the… Sorry, you already know that, never mind. I’m rather comfortable in a lot of situations, bodily fluid has no effect on me, smell or otherwise… My only concern is… Well… Childbirth. For some reason the whole thing just… Kind of freaks me out. As soon as the baby starts crowning the whole world tilts on me, I’m sick as a dog who got into the trash, and I’m running in the other direction. Anything BEFORE labor is easy. Anything after is fine too, I have no issue with the babies what so ever, it just the… In between… Seriously messes with my head… I Know I’ll HAVE to get around it… But you did ask if I had any concerns, and that is really my only one.”



Yep… Birth definitely scared the bananas out of her. She could handle everything else pretty well, everything but that, and she hoped she wouldn’t have to face that one down any time soon. She followed beside him and was so glad that the weather had cooled off and she let out a sigh of relief, lifting her face to the soft breeze that carried that nice touch of cooling from running over water somewhere… Oh yes… That was so much better… It almost had a physical effect on her, she seemed to have a lighter gate, like she floated rather than walked and had a very neutral almost serene look on her face. She was lost in the weather and didn’t really notice most people looking at her, she rarely did even on the days she was prickly, and was blind to much and most of it. Could she handle the job? Just because she was short didn’t mean she was afraid to jump up on that bed and pin someone down like a pro wrestler in the arena. She might need a bench on the side of the bed, something she could stand on but otherwise she felt perfectly capable of doing the job, even if she didn’t seem tall enough to get into the cookie jar on the shelf.



This was the closest she had gotten to the main building and she was half in love with the grounds… It was all so clean and fresh, open and just begging to be explored, heck the grass almost whispered her name and she wanted to go rolling in it… She just might… Later… When no one could see her… She listened as he said much of it was warded off, privacy for personal talks with their gods or just a chance to totally vent the hell out of one’s spleen, a sort of confessional without the need to go to a church… Not a bad idea, and she was pretty sure she’d need it more than once or twice with the damn peacock, especially since she was going to be on her utmost best behavior. She didn’t speak, just nodded her head as she made a careful mental map of the area, what was where… The hot spring nearly had her want to jump in right then and there but again, she was a pretty private person, and she wasn’t about to go flashing her fanny about to just anyone. Hell no one had even seen her naked since she was three, not even the doctors to tended her, she really was a pretty shy person in some rather odd ways. She liked the tables, it would be good to study outside, she preferred to be out of doors as much as she could and this would definitely play to her strong suits… Now all she needed was a little pond under a tree with a table and her life would be set! She was about to ask if such a place existed when the worse thing to pass came by and she actually groaned and rolled her eyes, honestly it was so knee jerk she hadn’t realized she did it, and the only person who could have caught it would have been Jacob and only if he was watching her at the time. She twitched just a bit, almost like a nervous tick but it was more so just the urge to walk the hell away at double time pace, and hopefully before she had to bite her tongue off…



The offer to come in and the whole ‘gotta get to know you’ thing had her gripping her bag, looking entirely casual but deep down it was keeping her sane… Ish… When Jacob waved her on she looked at him and said in a voice pitched just for his ears…



“Don’t encourage him, I think his stupid is contagious and I’m pretty sure he’s using steroids, and the LAST thing I want is to find his shriveled up dicky floating on the top like a wrinkly mini-twinky…”



To the group she put on a fake small smile.



“Thanks for the offer but I have a bunch of stuff I need to set up… Enjoy the water.”



And if Jacob didn’t get a move on? She’d actually reach out and grab his vest pocket and drag him along, four foot something or not she was surprisingly strong, and she would give him quite a tug if she had to. She was grateful to be indoors and easily took a measure of the place, and while it was bigger than anything she had ever seen before in her life, it was pretty sterile… But as a common house it would be that way naturally, no one could really leave their mark on a place that was used by so many, it was a bit like pissing on the seat… Just not done. At least… Not politely… Over all though she liked it well enough, it didn’t make her cringe and want to hide, and the kitchen alone offered enough options to make her settle pretty happily into knowing she would be able to cook up a pretty good meal in there. Which oddly enough brought up it’s own questions, similar to the ones he was talking about, that being the domestic side of things.



“No offence meant, I won’t deny my sex as the comfort makers, no more than I would deny the fact men make good providers. It’s a genetic code and that isn’t a bad thing. Honestly, don’t tip toe around me, you don’t need to. Unless your publicly berating someone else simply for the sake of doing it, you’re not going to offend me or tick me off, so please relax and be yourself as much as you want.” She said before she would continue on, answering his questions while also being sure to ask some of her own, especially things in regards to food. “I cook for myself and have for years, I’m accomplished in the kitchen well enough but I couldn’t exactly please royalty, and I am a tidy person in and of itself so I don’t leave messes. Do we have to buy our own food? Or is food provided?” She didn’t want to go buying food if it was already on hand, and especially if there was meat, like some juicy fish or tender pork… She didn’t get meat often, hadn’t had any in years now, but oh if there was any up for grabs she’d make a veritable feast for herself and anyone who wanted some. Once out of the kitchen she noticed the various smells, not exactly bad, hell anything short of a cadaver would smell better than the roaring cacophony of smells at the whore house. She liked the shoe leather smell… And the plants… the cologne was… Eh… A bit chaotic and made her wrinkle her nose but far from unpleasant enough to make her want to open a window. “I like the smell of leather here… It’s comforting… I’ll endeavor not to come down in the middle of the night and disturb your ritual but I can’t make any promises. Chances are I’ll end up living in that library for a whiel, pretending to be a book work and eating my way through a thousand spines of knowledge and absorbing it all like a sponge… Sounds like a happy little adventure to go on. Are there lights in there or should we bring our own? I’d hate to go downstairs only to kill myself by way of guillotining myself on a book shelf.” Yep… She did have a sense of humor without a doubt, listening to him speak about how if any books were missing, to just ask around… The rooms though… That had her wondering… Which way to go? Where? What kind? Big or small? “The days too advanced to tell which ones have the best morning and through the day level of light, I might ask for your help on that one, I like the sun far too much to play bat girl in the dark.” She followed him up the stairs and made a good note of which rooms belonged to who, especially the one with el Man Whore, wanting to avoid that space at all costs if only for her own sanity. As she listened she played with the delicate fretwork of the beautifully carved staircase before standing on the landing with him, looking up stairs to the next two floors. “Well I’m not Cinderella so the loft space isn’t my thing… Besides the singing mice would eat all of my plants and then we’d have a revolution going on and just… Ah what a way to interrupt studies…” She said teasingly as she began to make her way up the stairs to the third floor and poke her head into a few rooms… Finding one with his help that got the most light, and made her way in and through the large double french door that lead to the balcony, opening them up and setting her bag down to take out the poor growing little melon. It took her a bit to find an empty pot, the plant in it hadn’t survived the winter or perhaps it was waiting to be repotted, either way she took advantage of it and made the new plant a little home before dusting her hands off and nodding her head. “Thank you very much, I appreciate it, and it will be good to see where I am starting.” With that she would watch him leave as she began to unpack her things, she never left her stuff at the brothel because there was always too good of a chance of someone going in and taking it, so she often carried around a large sack full to the brim of stuff. Her melodica, a small book, a few changes of clothes and a pair of little pearl earrings… Nothing grand but it was her life. She set about moving a few things around so the bed was in the center of the room and sure to get the most light, the rest of the furniture spaced evenly about so it was still aesthetically pleasing… She changed out of her striper uniform into a pair of old linen pants and a lose shirt, the clothes virtually swallowing her but she didn’t care, they were comfortable and allowed her to sit in various positions while she read. Aside from that, she split open a melon and was happily munching on it while she made notes in her journal, waiting for Dr. Anikin to arrive.

[Deleted]

..she had given him her name.. it was Rose.. just Rose at that.. finding it more than a little peculiar that she didn't have a last name.. surely she did.. she perhaps either didn't like it.. or preferred to distance herself from it.. but he wouldn't go so far as to assume too much.. it wasn't fair on her and it was clearly none of his business. -


Well Just Rose.. when not in formal situations.. I'm just Jacob. the surface world seems to enjoy titles and the like.. me, myself I am easy either way.. however within the Hospital proper for the sake of formality its Dr Anikin. I'm sure you understand..



..the groups of giggling girls and pompous Doctors had exited the lecture hall.. leaving the three of them there to discuss this educational opportunity a little deeper.. Bett was struggling a little with it all.. he could tell.. he'd been watching the emotions cross the woman's face.. deciding to give her time to mull it over.. to talk about it with her family.. with her friends to see if it was for her after all.. the woman was gracious for the opportunity and the chance to give it some thought.. she took her leave.. disappearing through those large double doors.. he turned then to her.. to look to her properly now.. to regard her whilst there was no other distractions.. she seemed to relax more.. to settle.. her shoulders which had become quite rigid and sharp.. sunk just enough to take on a more.. feminine curve.. his gaze.. that duo coloured.. blue and green took in those intriguingly coloured orbs of hers.. the hazel with the darker green middle.. the freckles.. the hair.. all of it.. she was such an interesting little package.. he could honestly say he had never seen anyone that looked quite like her.. and he had seen a lot of people in his lifetime so far.. he wasn't dashingly handsome.. he wasn't built like Dr Rincavornon.. he was leaner.. muscular where it mattered.. he'd strength in his arms.. in his legs.. he wasn't a weak frail little thing.. but he didn't spend his free time lifting weights and tossing women around like they were rag dolls

his hair was thick rich deep chocolate in colouring.. wisps of blonde here and there from spending a bit too much time out in the sunshine perhaps.. his eyes.. as she would have noted earlier.. one blue.. one green.. a genetic fault he no doubt would have picked up from a family member somewhere along his lineage..he was young.. or appeared it.. if he were Human you'd expect him to be in his early twenties.. and yet.. clearly he was elven..the points of his ears showed whenever he shifted his head and his hair moved.. the glasses in his pocket told the tale of perhaps poor eyesight.. or strained more likely.. and was there a shadow upon his face? upon his cheeks.. his chin.. the hint of facial hair.. which would alert sall and sundry to his mixed race.. his mixed bloodline.. he offered her a smile.. those dimples only seemed to show themselves when he was laughing.. or really quite enchanted.. they had spoken on the celebrations in Arvandor.. he had asked her which ones she preferred to attend.. - ..


I often attend the main celebrations in Arvandor.. I have family there.. My Uncle owns one of the main accommodation spots.. the Inn.. should you require somewhere to stay.. if you dont have anywhere already organised just let me know.. he'd find you a place..


-he nodded.. gathering up the paperwork.. his clipboard.. his pencil and pens-..the singular day off sounds most definitely doable.. for the most part.. I cant guarantee if there is something out of the ordinary that does indeed crop up that you wont be called in.. but realistically that is quite rare.. You will be afforded your rest time.. we all need it.. I pop down to Menzoberranzan occasionally.. though not terribly often.. I trade some of our surface supplies for medications and potions.. for their poisons and ingredients.. I like to learn what it is they are using.. and how to ward against it.. its not every day that we get someone up here that has been afflicted by something lke Khaless or Denri.. but I do like to be prepared.. just in case.. if it's not your scene .. -he held his hands up-.. completley understand.. you could use the time to do as you pleased.. Dr Rincavornon usually acompanys me.. for.. reasons of his own.. -his brow rose a little and he chuckled.. giving a shake of his head.. he figured even though you had only known Rincavornon for a short time you would get an inkling as to just what he would be getting up to down there..

she had asked him if she could move in.. that night.. he was a little shocked.. and yet still quite impressed. they packed up and moved out of the lecture hall.. weaving through the doctors.. the nurses..the staff as they settled back into their duties..out into the awaiting sunshine and that was utterly magnificent.. he relished the feeling of it on his cheeks.. the gentle afternoon breeze whipping at his hair every so often.. she told him she would endeavour not to embarrass him but that those two ladies were a thorn in her side.. he nodded.. listening putting that down for future reference.. - .. If they do continue to give you grief though you do need to let me know.. Whilst a little banter between nurses and doctors can be ok.. when it starts getting silly.. or disruptive it has the potential to affect your studies.. and i simply wont have it.. I have seen those kinds of ladies around before.. and whilst they may be exceptionally good nurses.. they dont make very good doctors.. they are unable to make decisions on their feet.. swift and quick.. they need direction.. instead of leading.. but time will tell.. I dont like to assume too much too early on.. -he laughed a little when she asked if she would have to apologise to Dr Dandy.. shaking his head in response-.. no.. no no apologies will be necessary of course. Its not the first time he has been stuck up and it wont be the last. One of these days he will learn to reel all that back, he will rub the wrong person the wrong way and will feel that sharp sting.. so dont worry about it.. you haven't done anything wrong Rose.. I assure you..


-they moved into the Manor grounds.. through the wide open gardens.. where everything was so clean and crisp.. manicured.. well looked after.. it was a perfect little private haven for those that worked within the walls of the Hospital proper.. they looked after their own.. seldom did a doctor leave for another Hospital.. they simply retired when the time was right.. he asked her what she knew.. what she had been reading.. studying or practising..nodding his head as she rattled off quite a few texts.. a look of surprise settling i every so often.. he reached up to rub his cheek..the smile was getting harder to hide.. they approached the hot pool there..-


I am stunned.. honestly.. you should be in the very least a nurse.. not a Striper.. Wow.. thats incredible.. to have been able to get through those texts without falling asleep is a talent.. most certainly.. I know of Nurses that haven't even touched the older texts.. and whilst yes.. they are outdated.. they all have purpose.. and the information is incredibly rich and to see the changes.. over the years in how medicine is performed..and having the ability to compare.. to have that knowledge under ones belt.. certainly puts them ahead of most.. I'm impressed.. Very impressed.. -he nodded when she spoke on having assisted in minor surgeries.. how she had dealt with bodily fluids.. resetting of bones.. wound stitching.. he tilted his head when she mentioned she struggled with Childbirth though.. the actual act of it.. not the before.. not the after.. just the raw act itself.. - .. Well yes it can be quite daunting.. it will be something you will come across.. it's not really something we can avoid completely.. though I know not to put you in obstetrics for example.. which is fine.. we might drop feed you.. for the time being and see if perhaps its a hurdle that can be overcome.. with time..


-It would be then that Rincavornon and his crew would come out in all their near naked glory.. shorts hanging low on his built frame.. the girls with the big behinds in their bikini like suits.. bottles of wine.. Oh he had seen it all before.. this was nothing new to him.. the offer to join them was met with a bit of a laugh.. he shook his head-.. Oh don't stop on my account.. enjoy.. I might come and join you later.-a flat out lie he knew it well.. he had no interest in frolicking in the hot pools with that lot.. though he might settle in for a dip when everyone else had gone.. sometime early in the morning.. he did most of his own personal things in the wee hours.. silence was his companion.. it gave him time to think.. his gaze shifted as he caught her whispered words and did his best to hold back a laugh.. oh she was sharp witted.. this was going to be very very interesting.. his hand rose as he rubbed his chin.. his cheeks.. all in effort to conceal the grin that was just begging to form.. he felt the sudden tug upon his jacket pocket.. making him blink before he realised she was pulling him toward the house..- Alright.. alright.. Im coming.. -he laughed a little.. the pair of them moved to enter the house.. drawing the doors closed behind him so the noise.. the laughter and giggling would be more or less drowned out.. he showed her the kitchen.. explaining a few things along the way.. she told him she did cook.. he did as well .. - Ah.. wonderful.. it will be nice to have someone else in the house that knows their way around a kitchen. It is well stocked generally.. unless someone goes on a midnight food binge.. they make sure we are well fed.. keeping us healthy and the like.. cant have sick Doctors afterall..You can purchase your own if there is something in particular you are wanting that is not already here.. Maybe label it though if you dont want someone else o go picking at it before you use it.


-They moved through to the lounge area.. he had placed his papers down.. sliding his hands down into his pockets there as he motioned toward the library.. the more common spaces and areas where she was more than welcome to wander-.. Oh you wouldn't be disturbing me.. dont fear.. I just find it easier to read away from the bedrooms if they are occupied is all.. The library is all yours though.. spend as much time in there as you desire. The books and literature it contains are for all intents and purposes..Yours for the duration of your stay. There is empty notebooks and plenty of pencils and pens in the cupboards and drawers for you to make notes.. and if you have any questions about anything.. if you dont quite understand something just come see me.. Ill do my best to explain..It has a few lanterns in there that you can turn up should you go through at night.. You will have lanterns in your room also..come and go as you please..



-He lead her up the stairs to the first landing.. where the other Doctors both had their rooms set up.. several empty ones dotted here and there between.. before she headed up to the third level where he had his room.. deciding to take one of her own on the same for a similar reason as to why he chose his..the balcony.. the sunshine.. and the peace.. also the lack of a chance of running into naked Doctors walking the lower levels.. he showed her a couple of rooms until they came to a decision on one that had the most life to it.. the most sunshine..his head tilted though when she took the plant from her bag- Do you often keep plants in your bags?.. - it caught his attention.. something a little different.. not something he had seen in a very long time.. - My room is filled with all manner of pots.. plants.. specimens.. bottles.. you name it.. it's there.. I believe you never really stop learning.. and that so much can be learnt from whats around us.. possibly even more so than what can be found in the labs at the Hospital.. having come to quite a few neat little breakthroughs in that room of mine..-he looked down at the melon plant there.. seeing the vine poking out.. -.. If you need more.. there is a green house.. down the back of the property..

-he moved to step out onto the balcony there.. it was wide though fenced.. and her own.. he pointed out to the glass house in the distance.. it was quite vast..looked to be quite full with trees surrounding it ..dotted here and there- .. Free reign.. no one else uses it other than me.. so really go for it. -he glanced toward her then.. before he moved back through her room-.. I'm going to give you some time to settle in..to get comfortable.. Ill seek out those books for you.. some bedtime reading perhaps.. something to just kick start all of this.. but really.. dont feel pressured to jump right in..You can just settle in first if you prefer.. -he lingered a moment longer before he stepped out.. drawing the door closed behind him.. leaving her to her own devices.. to do as she so pleased.. she was an interesting young woman.. plucky and more than a bit fun.. it was certainly going to be intriguing to watch her develop.. to watch her blossom.. he had high hopes for her..hell he was already rather impressed by how bookish she was.. and she was just a striper.. that surprised him incredibly.. unless thats just what she preferred.. She was easy on the eye.. he'd admit to that.. readily even.. though most elves were.. her features were gentle not rough.. she wasn't a stunning beauty but someone who was would never turn his eye.. she also wasn't fake.. and thats what made her the most attractive.. he chuckled quietly to himself.. moving into his room there.. drawing the curtains wide open.. the room soon flooding with natural light.. that soft orange glow of afternoon sunshine.. he took in a long deep breath..it had been a trying day.. a long day.. one that whilst he was prepared for.. he wasn't perhaps as ready as he thought he was.. he moved toward his desk.. gathering the books from his shelf there.. they werent the beginner journals that he would have normally gotten from the library down stairs.. no she had proven to him she was pretty much above that..

it was a few journals he himself had used in the past.. some on deeper anatomy.. on potions and poisons.. on muscle work and bones.. each having a different section dependant on race.. being where they were located they saw all manner of people.. just about every race imaginable.. it meant their job was all the more harder because of it.. he rolled his neck a little.. feeling a little drained..before he realised that the glamour he had pulled up earlier for the sake of management was still up.. he huffed at himself.. releasing that immediately.. the crackle of energy ran the length of his spine.. removing the faded skin tone.. returning the clear and crisp dark lines and designs upon his skin.. though it all remained beneath his buttoned up shirt for the time being.. he reached for the small silver box.. sliding it down into his pocket before he would move out into the corridor.. the hallway if you will.. he approached her door.. giving a light tap with his knuckles.. having given her a bit of time to herself.. an hour.. maybe two -.. Rose?.. I have a couple of books here for you.. something for you to peruse in your own time.. not necessarily tonight as we had discussed..-he waited until he was permitted entry.. noticing her choice of dress.. it looked comfortable..cosy and easy to move around in.. he admired that in her.. leaving the books down on the desk there-.. I am going to leave you to it.. I in my never ending duty of care am going to park myself down stairs to keep an eye on the group of drinkers near the water.. -his brows furrowed a little-.. whilst he should as a senior Doctor know better.. i also know him well enough to know he will let it get out of hand.. and thats when things can and usually do go wrong.. Someone has to be the grown up.. -he chuckled a little.. -.. Anyway.. Welcome Rose.. if there's anything at all I can do.. just yell out.. Ill do my best to make sure you are comfortable..

-he lingered for a moment longer before he stepped back out.. drawing the door semi closed.. he moved back down those stairs with an unnatural ease.. just like most elves would.. gathering up one of his books.. a pencil a notepad.. he settled in the kitchen.. putting the kettle onto the stove.. a mug there and a teapot at the ready.. he could hear the giggles.. the girlish squeals from those outside..the splashing..the playing about.. he'd glance through the windows every so often.. catching sight of the girls having lost their bikini tops.. as usual.. Rincavornon tossing them about here and there as the three of them tried in earnest to take his favour.. he'd seen this play out before.. it was not shocking.. it was not new.. the kettle boiled.. the whistle shrieking through the otherwise perfectly silent home.. turning then to pour the steaming bubbling water into the tea pot.. the leaves already settling in.. a neat mixture of florals and darker teas.. enough to give him a bit of an energy hit.. he turned the pot a few times.. giving it a moment.. maybe two before he would pour himself a cup.. no milk.. no sugar.. this is all he required..

before he would settle down to sit there upon one of the stools that faced the back window.. his book open.. his glasses settling back upon his face.. lowered to the tip of his nose.. chewing absently upon the end of a pencil.. drawn from his trance like state only by the shrill of Luna every so often.. that girl had some pipes on her.. that was for sure..taking a sip of his hot tea.. deciding he was perhaps a bit peckish.. having missed breakfast and being on the run during lunch to make sure he met the meeting he rose from his seat.. gathering up some of that lavender and lemon cake.. just a small piece from the tin on the bench top.. it looked foreign in a place like this.. where everything in the house was clean lines and masculine.. the tin was floral.. like something someones grandmother would have tucked away in a pantry.. he took a bite from the cake.. his cup in his opposite hand as he looked out the window.. it would appear Rincavornon had chosen at least for the immediate time being.. Ellen it was.. the pair of them lip locked as the other two watched on more than a little envious.. hands were wandering.. he turned his attention back to the book there.. removing the few crumbs that had landed upon the paper work.. the door to the kitchen soon opened from outside.. it would be Rincavornon and Ellen.. towels draped around them as she giggled.. the good suave doctor swatted her ass and the pair of them disappeared back into the lounge and no doubt up stairs.. he turned his attention back to his cup there.. taking another sip.. he glanced up over its rim.. to see the pool seemingly vacant.. his brows furrowed a little.. what happened to the other two.. odd.. he downed the remainder of his tea.. placing it back upon its saucer.. his glasses down onto the page as he moved to step outside.. having a bit of a look around.. he couldn't see them in the immediate area.. there was the remnants of slowly drying foot prints though leading off onto the grasses.. perhaps they went for a wander.. he gave a slight shrug of his shoulders.. reaching down into his pocket as he pulled out the thin silver box.. flicking the clasp as he withdrew a cigarette.. sliding it between his lips.. the end sparked to life..it was clearly a little more than tobacco.. enough to calm.. not enough to send someone completely off their rocker.. drawing back on it.. before he would exhale very slowly.. a thin stream of smoke floating off into the surrounding air.. catching the wind easily.. his brow rose as he heard a light burst of giggles.. making him glance back over his shoulder.. catching the sight of someones shoulder.. one of the girls.. though before he knew it.. he'd been given a good old fashioned hard shove.. causing him to fly off balance.. to lose his footing and to stumble back into the pool-

[BadInfluence]

If she had one, she didn’t know it, and had gone just fine without one for a majority of her life. They called her Rose because of where she had been found, and she was glad it wasn’t something like ‘River’ or even ‘Sandy’ or something, at least Rose was simple and somewhat pretty. Plus at only four letters it was pretty easy to slip off the tongue and didn’t trip anyone up. She knew she could have asked what it was at any celebration of Hanali, the Hallways of Knowledge were there for anyone to see, and they could have found her at some point right? But if she did, she was also faced with an entirely different past and future than the one she currently had, questions that could never be answered and a possible world of pain she wasn’t willing to embrace. What if her parents didn’t want children? What if she was illegitimate? What if her mother died in child birth? What if her parents died of a disease? What if she had family? Brothers or sisters and she was the only unwanted one? As you can guess, she wasn’t stupid enough to go poking any hornets nest, and her past was probably the biggest one out there. No she was content as an orphan, a little odd or not, and she enjoyed the fact it left her without any real fears or responsibilities. She only had to take care of herself, and she had enough in her body and brain to manage that one, and everything else she decided to do was to pay back to the people who had raised her. After all, they could have let her go right on down that river a while still, or let her perish there to be eaten by foxes or bears… She was very grateful indeed for every step of her life so far. When Dr. Anikin replied though her lips twitched and he ended up earning a somewhat strangled snort sound from her, biting her lip as she tried not to laugh. She was glad she’d picked him as her doctor, he had a lot in him that she could get along with, which was really promising for their future studies and shared job field.



“Just Jacob, hmm? Does that mean I should call you JJ for short? I don’t know… You don’t look like a Jj to me… Ah well… - But as to the hospital thing believe me I understand entirely. Surface or not, titles are important in their own way, and it isn’t as if you didn’t earn it after all. You weren’t born a Doctor, you busted your rump to get to where you are, and at a younger age than most too. Even if I didn’t think you were a good sort, you’d have earned my respect on that alone, but lucky for you that you got both so never fear.”



Honestly, she’d never think of using his first name, heck even in her head she still called him Dr. Anikin. She was dead serious when she said she had a lot of respect for him for what he had done, even if he had been a total jackass she still would have given him his dues, just most likely avoided him as much as she intended to avoid the pompous jackass with more ego than a peacock. It was nice when they left though, honestly she felt like she could finally breathe in a space far too closed up, almost akin to being claustrophobic despite the fact the area was more than large enough. She was just a little too empathetic, not so much in a way of understanding, more so she literally could feel the emotions around her almost like a smell… And given the fact that she had stirred a nest a bit? The feeling were strong and no where near pleasant, making her take on an almost defensive style of posturing, the entire thing making her feel like someone was going to take a swing at her at any moment. So… Yes… Vastly unpleasant. Once they left it was like someone had opened a window and hit the air with some sort of freshener and as he saw, she relaxed almost immediately, well aware she was in more peaceful company. She did have a pretty shape to her, her shoulders were graceful and sweetly rounded, with nice lines on her clavicle what ever he could see of them, and nicely shaped arms from both work and nature. Like most female elves she was slender in form but she did have something worth hiding under that loose dress, something she kept under lock and key, and wasn’t about to let anyone see. The freckles were all hers, splashed along the bridge of her nose and cheeks, but no where else. Her eyes were more of a hint to her lineage than anything else though, that and combined with the blonde hair, she was something like a mix between a sun elf and a wood elf. Given that she lacked the pretty golden tinted skin like most sun elves, she just claimed wood elf and left it alone, not one to pry even into her own genealogical past. Still, even as he was noticing her, she was noticing him too… Which for her? Was incredibly weird and more than a little unusual because to her, people were just that, people… They all kinda blended into one mass of living beings, split up only by names and positions in her mind, a bit like how a beekeeper feels about his bees… Not that she disliked people, it was simply the fact that combined with her own antisocial nature and her desire to exist relatively alone, she just saw the day to day mix as simply a well functioning organism. No more, no less… Bett was one of the few who stuck out for a good reason, just as Luna and Ellen stuck out for bad ones, but Dr. Anikin… He was there for a… Different reason.



Like the blond in his hair was really becoming in the darker locks, it made it look like chocolate and caramel swirled together in places, and it gave it a sort of depth that really made a person want to run her ringers through his hair… Was it soft or sort of crisp? Was his hair as thick as it looked? Did it curl when it got longer?... And his eyes were fascinating… She had heard of it before, a rare genetic anomaly, heterochromia was random and could come at any time… What made his even more unique was the choice of colors, as it was typically more a light colored iris and a dark colored one such as blue and brown, but the blue and green was incredibly distracting… And if she was honest? The whisper of stubble kind of made her feel a funny sort of twist in her tummy she’d never felt before. Then again, no one had ever actually managed to get her attention enough to actually look, but she really couldn’t chose one reason why… From the fact he was elvish like her down to the little whisper of a dimple she kept catching at the corner of her eye, he had a sort of draw on her orbital processes, and she wasn’t sure if she liked it or not. For the moment she just pushed it all down, figuring it was just the fact she hadn’t met a male she didn’t find boorish or just generally unworthy of recalling in any great detail, a new experience always did manage to snag her attention for a little while before it became routine and she moved on with her calm stream of life. Did Bett feel the same? If so, she could simply call it a gestational phenomenon, like a cold or allergies and that it was simply from contact with a new pathogen… Yeah… That was all it was… She easily poured all her attentions back into proper streams and not realizing he really had a pretty white set of teeth too, or the fact he smelled rather good, or the tight fit of his shirt… Nope… None of that…



“Oh? That must be quite fun to spend holiday with family in such a way. I am the kind to arrive late and leave early sadly, most of the time I end up getting caught in a crush in which case we all end up falling asleep somewhere with a roof.”



She didn’t want to say flat out that she was too poor to afford even the cheapest places to stay and preferred to find someplace out and about to sleep, or if she found a cozy barn in the winter time she also traded her stay for helping fix something in the barn or tending the animals so the person owning the space would be free of a chore that morning, she was all about fair trade in the end. An Inn was just a luxury she couldn’t afford on her budget, but she wasn’t about to say that outright, it sounded way too much like a pity plea and she was soooo not the type of person to even try for that. Besides, it wasn’t like it was roughing it in Arvandor, everyone was loving and kind there and she was in no danger of anything bad happening to her regardless of where she lay her head. An inn just provided creature comforts the open spaces didn’t and she was totally ok with that. Still, she could imagine it must be fun to stay over with family on holiday, to have a space all your own with people who cared for you. A place to land after a hard night of revelry where you could wake up and know there’d be a nice meal waiting… A little envious she might be but it was a friendly sort of envy, and really, it wasn’t like he didn’t deserve the good things he had. From what she felt off of him he was a good soul, a good person, and she was looking forward to learning under him. Hopefully he had patience though because she was sure, at some point or another, she’d end up vexing him and he’d want to toss her out. She watched as he packed up and had her own things slid into her lumpy bag, honestly trying to make sure that she didn’t hurt the new random sprouting growing in there. Now… What really made her draw up short and look at him was when he said he went down into Menzoberranzan, and that he went down to trade while El Manwhore went to do what most other elves did down there, shag and get stoned… But just imagining Dr. Anikin, this seemingly young and good hearted doctor down there, in the sweat sex riddled shadows, it just didn’t compute.



“How… Do you stand it? I WANT to trade down there, they have so much I’m itching to get my hands on, the use of some of their fungi alone is enough to make me nearly salivate… I just can’t do it. All the… You know… Stuff… It’s like you can’t throw a stick without interrupting someone’s dirty fox trot.” She was a weird sort of virgin… Totally aware of everything that went on between a man and a woman, but totally and unequivocally uninterested in it, so much so that being around it when so openly displayed offended her virginal sensibilities and had her bolting like a rabbit in the other direction. “Though I am so not surprised Rincavornon would love it there, I seriously doubt his pursuits are academic, unless there’s a new strain of venereal diseases he’s itching to catch…” She said wryly, a bit of a twist of her mouth as she said it, the look on her face that of someone who found absolutely no appeal in the man what so ever. Something the doctor was probably totally unused to, men like him always expected anything with tits to fall at his feet and salivate profusely, which only made her feel like she was doing him a favor. A little humble pie was good for one’s over all wellbeing… “Honestly I just wish they did their stuff a little more privately… I know it’s done at the celebrations in Arvandor, everyone’s aware of the lust dust, but many take it to private nooks and crannies and that’s respectable… But the one time I went down there it was just… THERE… Full on in the open. I haven’t gone back since.” And she probably wouldn’t. Not that she judged the drow for their lifestyle, it was who they were and she respected that, and she chose to remain away from something that shocked her to that extend. Still if Dr. Anikin went down there, she might just be able to ask for small things for him to pick up for her, she could still get her hands on stuff without being shocked silly in another attempt to go down herself.



She was ready to move in at a moments notice, she really wasn’t the sort to waste time, especially when something needed done. Procrastination was pretty much a death sentence for her and she’d go insane if anyone ever tried to make her do it. There was no reason to wait either, she had made up her mind and had already plotted the course she wanted to take, which areas she would hit when and how to power through the rough patches and ensure she did a satisfactory job. She knew her weak points, knew where she had a natural affinity, and pretending to need time to decide how she wanted to move was a moment wasted. A moment she might need to save someone’s life at the end of her training. Time truly was precious to her, even if on the surface it might seem like she was eternally calm and very lackadaisical, she never had a truly idle moment. Everything was done with a purpose. Even being outside in the open air and the delicious sunlight had a purpose, it helped her buck off the last bit of angst she had over the asshole that was to be her fellow resident, but at least that asshole would keep Ellen and Luna out of her hair… A necessary evil in her mind at that point. She was enjoying the breeze in her hair as they walked and talked, and she really did find she liked him, he had a good feeling off of him and that helped her hold a good chunk of hope for her success in this endeavor. They talked about Lune and Ellen but his words… She hook her head. “No. No offence but you need to focus on my training and your work as a doctor, not trying to quash petty squabbles between a bully and their intended target, that’s a use of your time that could be spent in a much more productive manner. Big people want to pick on the little ones. People don’t like what they don’t understand, and I’ve been a prime target for them since I started, and I manage them fine. Thought you saw that yourself.” The last bit was said on a teasing note, she really wasn’t afraid to get into the mix and defend herself, and she was pretty handy with a good verbal quip that could knock someone down better than a fist could. She wasn’t afraid of Ellen or Luna, no more than she was afraid of anyone else, and she would stand up for herself or walk away as the situation required. Jacob getting into the middle of it would do absolutely nothing more than waste his time and she had too much respect for him to even entertain the idea. It was interesting to hear his take on Luna and Ellen though, the way he could tell they weren’t too useful in a pinch, they weren’t leaders but stalwart soldiers in the end. “You’re right though, I’ve known them for a little bit and while they’re good at following orders, neither of them have the gumption to get up and do something on their own. Usually I have to tell them to do something if they’re busy fawning over someone, and believe me, those two can fawn like no other…” She really was promising to be on her best behavior and do make sure she did him justice as his pupil, the judgement that would get passed on him from any short comings on her part would be harsh, and he really didn’t deserve to get smacked with her own mistakes. So she would simply endeavor not to make any. Though she flat out told him she would be apologizing for what she said, she never spoke without purpose, and never once did she say anything she wanted to take back. Now… That didn’t mean that everything she said was perfect, oh no she knew she could be a little acerbic and more than a little blunt, and she totally lacked almost any ability to say something with any sort of sugar coating… She could easily offend someone but she never once apologized, she said what she meant and she wasn’t about to apologize for telling the truth, and if someone couldn’t take it? Maybe they needed some more time on introspection and self improvement. “Good. I never say anything without a purpose or thought behind it, and I tell you now, I won’t apologize for what I say either. So as I said… I’ll work on not embarrassing you, honest.” And by that she meant she would mostly go about with her tongue glued to the roof of her mouth so she wouldn’t be the cause of any upset that would be tied back to him. Would she survive? Probably. Might have more than a few headaches from not saying anything, but they had pills for that, after all.



She really did like the grounds though, this was after all the closest she got, and so many places here called to her to explore them and test the texture and smell of them herself. There was time though, an entire year of time, so she promised them in her mind she’d work her way through all of them in due order. He had asked about what she read and to her, it was a paltry amount, a few old books from the library that were covered in most dust that most coffins in a mausoleum. Old, outdated, virtually antique they were STILL medical books… Two of them had been in Latin so she had to translate them by hand using a hand held translation dictionary, teaching herself the proper medical terms all at the same time, since just about everything medical was done in Latin anyways. She wasn’t used to praise though, heck she wasn’t used to being noticed either, and as a result his words actually made a very soft shade of pink blossom on her cheeks, highlighting every freckle there as she tugged on the end of her braid. “It’s not that fantastic I promise. It’s nothing compared to what you’ve already done you know. I just find random things interesting, and the medical field is one of those random things that struck me, and I’ve sort of dabbled through it on my own for years. Besides, you’re the only person I’ve ever told anyways, so it’s not like anyone knew different.” Like him though she did find the changes amazing, just the fact alone that humans went from believing that the body was made up of humors of various types and that drinking the right colored potions and blood letting would cure anything, down to the first scientific autopsy that went through and discovered the delicate fretwork frame of veins and connective tissues. Of course she also dealt with the medical herbology as well since all medicine comes from that source, the world around them, and she was quite enamored with plants so naturally it just seemed to be right up her alley. Of course, this was only known to her since no one was really aware of much of anything with her, heck Jacob now officially knew more about her than anyone else. Might shock him a bit if he knew but she wasn’t about to tell a soul any of that. She also confessed the whole act of birth and how it seriously freaked her out. Some people had a phobia of spiders, others of heights or clowns, hers? Was giving birth. Everything before and after was peachy, but there was something about the transitional moment that just made her lose her head, and if she didn’t faint she ran out like a deer from a wolf. She scratched her hair idly for a moment, dragging a few stray strands behind her ear as she shoved her hands into her pockets, obviously uncomfortable but not in a way that gave off any warnings. More like a sort of embarrassed tenseness… “It’s daunting? They are squeezing a flesh melon out of something that’s about as big as your thumb! There’s a thousand emotions, a ton of pain, and then just the… The… You know… I mean… Daunting is so not the world I’d choose… It’s like a cross between utter terror and abject horror…” There might be a story there, one she didn’t even know herself, something buried in layers of memories and self-isolation. She knew she would HAVE to get around it, she’d need to find a way to bridge that gap, but until then? Haha. No. She was totally ok to learn all about it through books and pass her tests that way rather than live in the field.



Then of course Rincavornon came out and honestly… Really? She had about as much interest in mingling with them as she did catching dysentery. Hell… She’d prefer the later. When Jacob encouraged her with a wave of his hands to mingle she leaned in and told him EXACTLY what she thought of the situation and didn’t pull any punches. She was dead serious too, she was pretty sure to get muscles like that you had to be taking something, and the last thing she wanted was to watch someone with erectile dysfunction try to play it off like the water was too hot. While they talked though she did notice he kept touching his face, but she couldn’t quite figure out why, but the more he did it the more she wanted to dissect the why… Was it his facial stubble? Or did he have a rash? An itch? She would figure it out in time if it was really something that got to her. Until then? Like Dr. Anikin though she passed off the offer, though unlike him she was far from kind enough to lie about it, she told the blunt truth. She really did have way too much to be getting into, things like unpacking and picking a room, starting on her studies and the like… Besides, if she WAS going to go into the hot spring it would be when no one could see her, probably in the pitch black with a book under her arm in some late night reading binge while sneaking in a good soak at the same time. He hadn’t moved though and honestly she wanted to get out of the area in double time so she had reached out and caught the pocket of his jacket and encouraged him along without any shame or pretense. At least he laughed about it which earned him the release of his jacket as they made their way to the large house that was to be her temporary home through her training. She liked it, sure it was on the sterile side but it was clean and had a nice appeal to it, flashes of elvish craftsmanship here and there… It was a happy harmony of form and function, and while she might want to add a thing here or there, she also respected it’s sterile neutrality and knew better than to even try. She had a question about the kitchen, if it was pre-stocked or if everyone just sort of bought their own stuff, answering his own about if she was able to cook or not. “If you want we can take shifts? Like cook dinner on alternate nights? Just an idea.” It was an offer at least, she wasn’t sure she could cook every night, she was fairly certain she’d be consumed with her new books and training that she’d forget to even eat a time or two knowing herself. The idea of taking shifts would mean they both got fed and that everyone else had something to eat too, a sort of community bonding thing, after all she didn’t want to have enemies. She might not like the behavior of a few people in the shared domicile but that didn’t mean she hated them, no more than it meant she wished them ill, she just didn’t want them directly involved in her life. Well, outside of what was absolutely and utterly necessary, of course. “I doubt I’d have anything anyone would want in specific. Sounds entirely reasonable and quite do-able. It shouldn’t be of any issue.” After all, her only thing was cookies and really, she was pretty good about sharing them. She didn’t mind if anyone got into them and with ample food in the house, chances were she’d be able to nibble on just about anything, so no concerns there.



Then, on her cheeks, formed a sort of wry smile. Part humor, part sarcasm, and a little bit mischief when he said she wouldn’t disturb him in his studies on a light night visit to the common area. “I tend to get excited with certain medical passages, I am pretty sure ax exclamation of ‘Facinating!’ or a sound of disgust at something particularly nasty will do a fair job at disrupting your study time.” That smile changed her face and gave just the hint at her teeth, the way it made her eyes dance and sparkle as her dry witt was fully present there, and it was hard to say in that moment why anyone had ever called her touched in the head or off. There was a lot to her, secrets she kept hidden under a very calm and placid exterior, like a treasure hidden inside a simple wooden chest. “I’ll stick to the library for your sanity, though I rarely bring books to bed with me, I find it kind of confuses the body as to what is a sleeping space versus a studying one.” A bit like eating in bed can make you crave food when you lay down to sleep, even if you have just eaten and are already full. She didn’t want to go to bed to lay down only to have books flood up in her vision and keep her from sleeping, she’d go half mad if she tried, and it was simply better for her sanity to avoid such an outcome. Besides, the privacy of the library was appealing to her in many ways, and the scent of books had always been a comfort to her even as a child. It sounded like an ideal environment for her to study in, and when he mentioned blank notepads and pencils she was virtually in love with the place, the idea of having plenty of spare crisp pages to work things out or jot down important notes made her eager to jump right in. “I am fastidious about making notes when something’s out of my grasp, I’m sure I’ll come to you at the end of the day with them so that way I’m not peppering you with things through your work shift that would interrupt a fluid working schedule.” She really was dedicated to a good use of time, to ensuring that the best use of it was made, and that absolutely no waste occurred if it could be avoided. Perhaps it was just another sign she was on the right path to the job that would work best for her? Maybe it had to do to with being an orphan and everything running on a tight schedule her whole life and she was so used to it she didn’t know how to break it? Or maybe it was just a part of her physical nature, a part of her like her eye color or her freckles, an inescapable eventuality? “I’ll bring matches with me then and use the one’s in there, it just seems like a safer route to go, less chances of accidents and the like. Thank you very much, it’s really helpful to get a fill in like this so I get a step in the right direction.” Which is what the others should have been doing too, but noo, they were busy snogging in the damn hot springs like hormonal teenagers.



The rooms though… Yes she picked the same as his because it was honestly the best fit for her. She was antisocial normally so having a place that was mostly away from everyone worked best for her, it also afforded her a balcony where she could enjoy the outside without really leaving the house or her studies, as well as a space to grow her own plants and maybe create a little outdoor living space. That and the sun… She was a little sun creature at her heart, she needed it like any plant would, and she often felt mopey or down right miserable when it got too wet and dark for days in a row. This room afforded her everything she could want and so much more than she physically needed, it was by far the nicest place she had ever slept in, and it was all hers… Well… For the time being anyways. It took her a moment to sort out a new home for the melon she had accidentally sprouted in her bag, but she wasn’t about to let the poor thing die, she had been the one to give it life after all. She was now responsible for it, and that meant giving it a new home, even if it was quite a few feet off the ground.. At his question she blushed again and her earls flicked, ducking her chin down to her chest as she focused even more intently on the plant… Something to work on as she potted it. “Um… Not exactly… It’s… Kind of accidental… It was originally lunch but when someone uses magic around me, I kind of have this knee jerk reaction and I just… Make things grow… I can’t control it and I don’t know how, magic isn’t exactly a common course at the orphanage and I don’t go to Arvandor enough to find someone to help, and they don’t let to you take books back across the gates for safety purposes.” Something she found vexing but at least she didn’t have the knee jerk thing often… But of course it also might help explain why she was again so anti-social, maybe it was self-preservation, to try and avoid the questions that would come in regards to why plants suddenly reacted to well around her and hit a massive growth spurt. “Don’t tell anyone, please?” She asked softly, worried she’d get in trouble or perhaps even kicked out of class for it, and the LAST thing she wanted was to be excited about this new chapter in her life only to have the book slammed closed on her nose. When he talked about his room though her ears flicked and twitched, he obviously had her attention strongly in that moment, turning her eyes to look at him like she could see his room through him somehow. “Those… Wouldn’t happen to be… Say… Menzoberranzan plants… Would they? Like… Maybe the nocturnal fungi and mosses… Or… Perhaps… One of the flowering herb varieties?... Maybe the algae from one of the lakes?...” Yep… She was curious indeed and he might want to be careful or he could find her poking about in his room taking fastidious notes of what ever was in there… When he asked if she needed more she shook her head. “Not right now, I just accidentally sprouted this poor little guy, and so long as you don’t use magic again I don’t think the rest of my food will suddenly grow. Though I admit if I can get some specimens I might just end up having a little hot house on my balcony and a virtual rain forest in my room… That is allowed, right? So long as I don’t damage anything I have pretty much free reign?” She wouldn’t say, flood the floorboards or bring in any sort of parasite or the like, but she did very much want to have growing things in her room… Lots of them… And so long as it was going to be ok? She’d be more than happy to start up after she had a good grip on her studies.



She followed him out to look at the glass house in the back, her jaw dropping just a bit because she had never seen it for one, and two… Holy CRAP that’s a LOT of work! Small glass houses were hard enough to maintain with the fragile glass and steel prone to moving in the heat… Rust from the humidity needed to sustain certain plants… And that place there looked big enough to house at least half the worlds greenery in one space… “I’ll try not to mess up anything you have growing, but I can’t make promises I won’t take cutlings to grow myself if it’s something I know I can’t get my hands on easily. I promise I know what I’m doing though, I won’t hurt the original plant, but that’s as far as I go. I’m a wee scavenger after all.” A bit of that laughter back in her voice, a little self teasing before he said he would leave her to it, to settle in and do what she wanted before he’d come back with some books for her. He was being kind though, thinking she needed time to settle in, but when you’re an orphan you learn to expect everything and nothing and it made her great at thinking on her feet. Resourceful and downright loaded to the brim with determination and more than enough get up and go to get her through the hardest of days. “Thank you, I appreciate everything you’ve done today, you really gave me a head start. Still, don’t worry about me, I got more gander than a goose to get me through and I thrive under chaos. I’ll be just fine.” Her way of telling him to stop thinking she was going to break, she could handle anything he tossed at her and then some, and she was ready to swing at every pitch he made. While he left she set up, moving the furniture around so it suited her particular taste, not something you’d think she could do at her height but she really was a wirery one, able to get it all done with a bit of elbow grease and back sweat. She changed out of her striper outfit and into her lose linen clothes, preferring things to be free and easy to move rather than pretty and revealing, especially when it came down to studying and the like. She had her curtains open on every window, the panes opened up, the doors wide and propped so they wouldn’t be closed until later. The whole room smelled fresh and clean, ready to be lived in and just waiting for an adventure, a good deal like it’s new resident. She was sitting there at the desk and eating one of the melons when he came in and knocked, calling him in while she was jotting down things in her book, notes on the day and things she wanted to focus on in her studies for personal pleasure and satisfaction. She looked up when he came close and she saw the books, holding the honeydew between her teeth she reached up to take them from him, setting them on the table before offering him a slice to take if he wanted it. It was of course ripe and sweet, cool from sitting in the water she had set it in at the bathroom area, but if he didn’t take it she wouldn’t be offended. She was hungry after all, didn’t mean everyone was. When he mentioned looking after those outside her brows lowered and she gave him a look and shook her head before smiling, resuming her melon munching. “You know…” She said around bites, raising her finger as if to make a point, drawing attention to her words. “You keep worrying about everyone else, you wont have enough care to worry about yourself, and that means you’ll be up the creek in no time. Just some friendly advice.” She left it at that and just smiled up at him, a full smile this time, not self teasing or fake… It completely lit her face up, her teeth were perfect and white, and her smile had that sort of infectious quality to it that made others want to smile just by seeing it. “I’m sure your aware too that you can technically let the dodo bird drown for five minutes and resuscitate him without too much damage to his brain… No more than the ‘supplements’ I am sure he is taking… “ She said, complete with air quotation before she gave him a wink and he left her room. She opened the book about the various races and their make up and she damn near died, a happy squeal as she sat up and set her melon to the side and wiped her hands off on her clothes, not wanting any sort of sticky fingers near the perfect paper and the pages of priceless knowledge. She was devoured by it, like a child with a fairy tale book complete with paintings of castles and fairies, she was enthralled and enchanted… Completely tuning out the entire group outside and everything else for that matter, it was just her and the book, the world faded into nothingness… Even the whistle of the pot went unnoticed.



What drew her out of her attention was the somewhat familiar and muted sound of sex. She paused, startled out of her revere by a sound she had thought was going to be behind her, the thumping of bodies colliding and the moans of a rather loud partner. “Oh what the jolly roger fu-…. Uuuuugh…” Of COURSE she picked the room over the man whore, because you know, this situation wasn’t allowed to be perfect. Figures, but then again it was life, and no one said it had to be perfect to be amazing. She Definitely made a note to get a sound ward put on this thing because there was no way in hell she was going to tolerate that sort of crap! She was pretty sure that if anyone would know who could do it, it would be Jacob, right? So she made her way down to find him, sticking her nose out at the very loud and active room and hauling butt past it, and she would have gone right outside… But someone had left out cake… And tea… She stopped… And guiltily made her way forward, slinking past things to make sure she wasn’t seen, the melon in her hand forgotten for the moment. When she saw it was an actual lemon and lavender cake she squeaked and reached for it… Almost taking a bit of it but jerked her hand back, whimpering as she just dropped into a crouch and looked at it longingly, moving to the tea and the blend there… She could improve it… But it was pretty good on it’s own admittedly. Of course it was around that time she remembered what she was getting into, moving outside to see Jacob standing by the now empty pool and smoking a cigarette, totally not what she expected of him and it had her watching him with her head tilted to the side much as a puppy would. And that was when it happened… Bam. The third bimbo in the trio had come up behind Jacob from left field and tossed him into the water and she didn’t think. She just reacted. She took the melon in her hand and ripened it up until it was pretty squishy and threw it with all her strength at the one who pushed him into the pool, watching with a satisfied smack as the cantaloupe exploded all over the back of her head and upper back. She was coated in melon guts and seeds, and with enough strength behind that throw, she had managed to off set her balance and have her face planting right into the mud around the pool they had caused with all their splashing. Oh she was laughing… Laughing HARD! “Look Out! Someone get the name of that basket! There has been a drive by fruiting!” She said loud enough to be easily heard before she ducked back into the house and found the first linen cabinet and brought out not just one, but three towels before heading back out, still snickering with a teasing light in her eyes. She came to stand at the side and look down at the girl she caused to face plant into the mud and handed her a towel. “Don’t worry, apparently there was a mischievous grape ape throwing fruit, and the carrot cops are hot on his trail. You might want to go inside and grab a shower until the authorities lock him up with the other bad fruits in juice jail…” The blond, thoroughly pissed off but unable to prove anything, just took the offered towel and stormed off to the house while glaring daggers at her. She just remained with a neutral expression and watched her go. She’d reach down to help Jacob out if he needed it, if not, the towel was there for him to take and she’d hold his jacket or the like if needed. “Are you sure you’re the one supposed to be an adult? Or the poor nanny who’s going to be terrorized by the kids?” She asked with that smile he had seen earlier, ink on her fingertips from the fact she had been taking hundreds of notes while in her trance earlier, a happy flush on her face that could only come from truly enjoying what you were doing. “Come on, you need a change of clothes and if you aren’t careful, tweedled dumb is going to come hurtling out of the bushes and try to finish the job. Remember, Luna has a huge rump so she could really give you a toss…” How did she know that? She’d seen Luna bend over one too many times near things and watch them go sailing out of the way like they were opposite sides of a magnet. She would make her way back to the house, intent on studying when she heard it again and groaned, rubbing her hand over her face. “Ugh I forgot… Um… Do you know anyone who can ward a place… Like my room… So I don’t hear that? I didn’t realize I got the room right over the man whore and the last thing I want is to hear him pumping away like the little engine that could.” She would manage if he couldn’t, she’d get some sort of a record player and put it on blast so that it would drown out their sounds, she just hoped that it wouldn’t drown out Jacobs ability to study or hers for that matter. Once again she was by that cake and looked at it pretty longingly, nibbling her bottom lip before making herself look away and moving past it, going back upstairs either with or without him to get back to her studying.

[Deleted]

..he had showed her around the property.. or in at least a small amount of it n any rate.. a little of the back opened yard.. the hot pools.. there was that slight.. well interruption there, but it was easily walked around.. fairly easily avoided without too much trouble.. he had introduced her to the kitchen.. the larger lounge and motioned to where the Library was for her future use.. telling her he spent a lot of his early morning hours just down here.. with his books.. he assured her she wouldn't be interrupting him.. or taking away from his studying.. her response made him laugh a little and nod his head..-.. Ah.. but we all do that from time to time.. especially when something grasps us suddenly.. it's fine really.. don't give it a second thought.. you wont be bothering me.. you have free reign of the property.. use it..

-The pair of them had moved to the upper levels.. he'd done well to explain who utilised which area.. which floor.. the two other doctor
s on the second.. him on the third and then there was the empty loft.. she chose the second for pretty much the same reasons he had.. the easily accessible balcony an the sunshine.. it just poured in up there.. right through the large doubled window doors.. pure heaven especially in the autumn and Summer months.. she'd chosen her room.. down the hall just a touch from his own.. it would be then that he would notice the plant she was pulling from her bag.. it caught his attention almost instantly.. causing his brow to arch there upon his features.. it wasn't an every day occurrence after all.. her reaction though made his head tilt. she looked almost.. embarrassed.. or shy about it.. he listened to her explanation.. that it was something that just seemed natural to her.. or at the very least something that happened for as long as she could remember.. she had the ability to make things grow.. that she couldn't control it.. and that it was the by product of someone using magic within the lecture hall ..oh well that made him bristle a little and his eyes blink.. he reached back around to rub against the back of his neck.. scratching lightly a the skin.. it was his fault surely.. he knew not of really any other within the hall that would have tossed any magic around.. his senses would have picked up on it pretty quickly.. he looked to her with an almost sympathetic glance when she pleaded with him not to tell anyone..-.

.secrets safe with me.. I assure you.. -he reached across.. sliding his hand beneath hers.. his fingers curling up as if to lightly grip the underside of her wrist-.. may I?.. -he would naturally ask for permission.. he wasn't just going to grab her.. if she allowed he would hold before his free hand would come down to settle atop her palm.. she'd feel a little spark.. an almost crackle.. oh there was energy in the air.. magical energy.. reminiscent of what she felt in the lecture hall.. the corner of his lip twitched.. as if words were whispered and yet never mouthed..before he would draw his hands away..

there upon her palm was a small shiny bubble.. its surface shifting.. she'd be able to spot her own reflection there.. though within it a changing image.. a floating monarch butterfly.. a sleek long mantis.. a Christmas beetle..before it would inevitably pop in a little shower of the tiniest sparkles.. like glitter and it was gone.. he tapped the side of his nose.. he understood.. more than most ever would..

he leant against the door that lead out to the balcony.. his arms crossed there.. looking out over the back gardens.. she got incredibly excited when he mentioned he had plants.. and then of course of the green house.. -.. I do keep quite a large selection of spores from varied species of fungi..and then of course seeds from the underground herbs.. you're more than welcome to sample at your leisure.. most of them i can easily replace.. there's only a few that I keep under lock.. I'm sure you understand.. -some of the varieties he himself had to harvest.. and it was difficult.. extremely so.. dangerous even.. -

Menzoberranzan is not.. that bad really.. it just depends on the time of year you visit.. though that in of itself opens up all manner of problems also.. to go outside of festival times mean you will be grilled as to your reasoning.. the Drow are a very.. very private race.. very strict.. they dont care for pale skins on their grounds.. If you go during the festivals you do have to deal with the ..well.. the open-ness of it all. My first visit was a bit of an eye opener and it took some getting used to.. I guess subsequent visits I simply made sure I went in as a Doctor.. Sex after all.. can be completely clinical if you think of it that way.

Dont drink anything.. Dont eat anything.. keep clear of the main city and you'd be fine.. I will be heading down there this year.. if you dont wish to join just write down what you'd be after.. I'll see what I can do.. Rincavornon usually takes his charges down with him.. -naturally.. this would be a no brainer.. wild drugs and heavy liquor.. sex and massage.. it would practically be Rincavornon's home.. he motioned to the green house in the back of the property.. and she seemed quite intrigued.. and very interested.. that was pleasing.. it had been so long since he had someone who was on a similar level..a similar wave length to the things he enjoyed.. the things he found comfort in.. he was finding he was really liking her.. so many secrets locked away in a little package.. it was easy to be around her.. easy to talk to her.. he wasn't having to pretend to be interested.. she wasn't showy or over bearing.. she wasn't after something he had.. she was intelligent.. articulate.. smart and witty.. it was a nice change..-..

Ill get you a key to the green house later.. you can go have a look for yourself.. free reign.. as with everything.. -he waved his hand a little..then deciding to leave her to it.. giving her a bit of space as he went to gather up the books she requested.. he could have easily settled down in the library and plucked up a few of the earlier ones.. but from her history alone he knew she needed a bit of a challenge.. a bit of meat to really get the balls rolling.. so a few racial lits.. and he returned soon after.. giving her around an hour.. a bit more to do as she pleased.. she'd managed to move the furniture a touch.. to get changed and settle in looking quite comfortable.. the room was filled with afternoon sunshine.. with the warm air.. was rather inviting indeed.. he moved across.. placing the books down there upon the corner of the desk.. taking the offered bit of fruit with a gracious smile-.. Thank you.. much appreciated.. he told her he was heading out to keep an eye on the impromptu pool party.. as alcohol and water didn't tend to mix so well.. her comment on him always worrying about everyone else made him nod a touch..-.. duely noted Rose.. Thank you for the concern..

-he went to step out before he slipped his head back around the door of her room.. he simply had to comment after she spoke on the dodo being able to drown a little while before he would have to be saved-.. 5 and a half minutes.. -he shot her a wink.. laughing a little before he moved off downstairs it was just something he was used to.. and it wasn't like he wouldn't be doing something for himself at the same time.. settling down in the kitchen with his books.. pencils.. his freshly brewed tea and then of course a sliver of that cake..he fell into his literature.. the bookwork.. the passages.. pages and pages of information.. just taking it all in.. grasping it with both hands... he would be torn every so often from his.. trance like state by squeals and giggles coming from the pool.. and then of course Rincavornon and Ellen dashing past through the kitchen.. making a bee line for the stairs..

leaving tiny footprint puddles in their wake.. he chuckled quietly and shook his head.. taking another drink from his tea.. glancing out over the yard.. expecting the two others to still be in the water.. only.. they weren't.. peculiar.. removing his glasses he moved to step out.. taking a cigarette from the silver cage.. a spark and it was lit.. his right hand falling down into his pocket.. maybe they went for a wander in the sunshine.. down into the deeper gardens.. before something caught his eye.. and he was more or less shoved down into the pool.. it stole his breath.. made his heart stammer before he stumbled and landed with an almighty splash.. he was not prepared for that what so ever and it all happened so very quickly.. he rounded about once his body and brain connected the dots and he surfaced with a splutter..reaching up to slick back his hair.. wiping the water from his eyes as he coughed a few times.. just floating there.. he missed the commotion between her and the blonde though he heard her grumbling and huffing.. catching the aftermath of it perhaps.. something about carrot cops.. it took a little while for his eyes to focus again.. it would be then that he'd notice the somewhat muddied girl storming back inside.. his brows furrowed.. before he laughed-.. What on earth was that all about.. -he wiped his hands across his face once again.. glancing toward her offered hand there.. he reached for it.. though didn't apply a lot of his weight he didn't want to pull her in there with him afterall-..

mmm.. well Nanny it is then.. maybe I missed my calling.. - he laughed.. coughing up a bit more of that water that had unceremoniously entered his lungs.. -.. And you.. -he glanced toward the mud puddle there.. chuckling-.. that was a bit cheeky.. -taking the towel then.. he was clearly very amused.. -.. I asked for it.. I should have just stayed indoors.. would have been safer.. fell into that trap a bit to easily i think.. he was drenched through.. like a cat.. his jeans clung but hung low.. the shirt though may as well have been a second skin.. or painted on perhaps.. the white crispness gone.. replaced with just almost completely see through fabric.. revealing the extent of the ink along his arms.. the back of his shoulders.. that is before he tossed the towel about them.. -..

I guess I should be thankful its at least a warm day.. -he reached up to give his hair a bit of a shake.. it was all over the place now.. and yet slicked down.. looking darker...he nodded when she said he needed to get changed.. -.. a shower to i imagine.. but ill let her go first.. I have an inkling she might need it a little bit more than me.. -they moved to head back indoors.. pausing when she asked if someone could ward her room.. so that she didn't hear 'that'-.. hear what?.. -he questioned before he stopped.. tilting his head up.. and there it was.. pretty unmistakable-.. Ah!.. -he nodded-.. of course.. I'll organise something for you here shortly.. once they have finished with their show...if you dont mind waiting just a bit longer.. here.. look.. come.. -he nodded drawing that towel up around his shoulders..

he removed his boots then.. leaving them by the door so he didn't trail water through the whole house-. Il get you that key.. you can go check out the green house whilst you wait.. it will get you out of the Manor for a little bit.. -he lead her up those stairs.. up to the second landing.. down the hallway.. past her room to his own.. oh you could hear it.. the sound of the headboard banging against the hard wooden walls.. the exclamations of pleasured calls.. the moaning.. groaning and the rest of it.. bit of swearing mixed in there.. his door wasn't locked.. he didn't see the point.. drawing it open.. it was a big room.. a little larger than her own.. she would notice.. when he closed the door behind her.. all sounds from beneath them disappeared.. his room was warded.. all she would be able to hear was the birds outside.. the wind rustling the curtains..

he had a larger bed.. possibly a double.. just that bit bigger than the usual single.. though it was well made and looked barely slept in.. if at all.. there was a big chair in the corner..it was in a tear drop shape.. hanging from the ceiling.. cushions and a throw rug there.. books resting upon a table beside it gave the thought that it was possible thats where he often found himself resting.. he had shelves and shelves and shelves of books.. old texts with spines that were just about illegible.. different languages.. symbols that would have been unrecognisable.. there was paper work.. note books filled with words and writings.. pencils.. pens.. ink.. on the opposite wall were plants.. terrariums of all different sizes.. little bottles with plants living in their own atmospheres.. a cabinet filled with bottles.. a mixture of poisons.. of potions.. of medicines.. his desk had hand drawn pictures.. akin to today's photographs.. there was one of a very young child.. maybe a year old.. maybe a little less-.. hmmm..

-he paused a moment.. looking around before he opened the top drawer of his desk.. taking out the small silver key there with a tag attached.. it had a picture of a leaf on it.. reaching across to hand it to her.. -.. That will get you in there.. also.. whilst you're here.. -he drew open one of the cabinets there..pulling out a small wooden box.. it held sachets.. paper bags.. velvet pouches.. all labelled.. some with skulls and cross bones..he approached her.. -.. I permit you to not take it all.. I'm sure you wont.. this is the catalogue of spores I was telling you about, they will grow pretty much anywhere as long as the conditions are right.. so maybe.. in the bottom of your cupboard perhaps.. keep them wet.. just about everything down there is damp in some form.. You' find the algae growing in the green house pond.. and the herbs on the benches down there also.. -he nodded.. moving across to his cupboard there.. gathering out something a bit more comfortable.. neatly casual.. some more jeans and a short sleeved shirt.. -.. I am however going to check on this shower.. surely she is done by now.. Enjoy your wander Rose.. Ill catch up with you soon..

[BadInfluence]

She had been told as a youth not to read in bed because a- it kept the other children up and b- she really did tend to make either sounds or outright words when something got her attention. She’d learned to just read in private and to leave others to theirs, politeness was part and parcel of who she was, and she did honestly want to get off on a good foot. Why? Now that she wasn’t too sure about. Normally she really didn’t care either way, she was one of those people that simply existed in the stream, a drop in the river no one noticed. She had never cared if people liked her, one way or the other, but the whole dynamic had shifted this time. Maybe it was because if she did something, it didn’t just affect her but it affected him too? After all he would be judged by her actions, the time in the large room just a while ago told her as much when Dr. Ego had bit down on Jacob’s neck, telling him to keep her on a leash… The last thing she wanted was for Jacob to get in trouble because she wasn’t familiar with change or how to go about it. It was all good and fine for her to get in trouble for her actions, after all her whole life she had been the only one responsible for them, but all that changed the moment she signed up for this opportunity. That had to be the reason she wanted to take more care about her behaviors, right? Why she wanted to do this the right way, to make sure she made all the proper steps, that nothing would be done to cast a bad reflection. Yeah… That was it.



She liked the general areas, even if the library was still closed, she at least knew where it was and she fully planned on exploring it after dinner. Her choice of rooms was mostly sold simply on its location, it was impossible not to want a private balcony and with all the sunshine it offered, it was like catnip to her. Plenty enough light and room to grow things and have a little space for maybe coffee or tea in the morning as the sun came up, maybe a little outdoor pleasure nook with a soft pile of blankets and pillows, and the windows and big doors made it pleasurable to be both inside and out. The first order of business for her was to pot the poor little melon and as she worked yes, he asked and her reaction was just as natural as what started the plant to grow, ducking her head down to try and make herself seem smaller. She didn’t lie but that didn’t mean she found it easy to be truthful all the time either. To her this was kind of embarrassing as she really didn’t tell anyone about it, and she was worried she might get in a touch of trouble for it, like it was a bad thing… She hadn’t meant to make him bristle and feel bad about it, it wasn’t her goal what so ever, but she could pick it up from him like a change in his smell. She just asked him not to tell anyone, to keep it a secret between them, she didn’t want anyone to know about it for many personal reasons. The main one was simply because she didn’t know how to use it or control it, it mostly reacted due to either a- outside sources or b- her own emotions, and since she could only really control one of those it was better if no one else knew. “Thank You.” She said as she made sure the melon was properly planted in such a way that it would grow quite comfortably in its new home, dirt under her nails and all over her hands, lightly patting the top soil down so it was even and could handle its first watering without going everywhere. When he moved to grab her, even though his movements were slow and calm, she still went vividly pink on her cheeks and Gods help her if she knew why. She just kind of blinked at him like a doe in bright light, not quite out of fear but simply shock, he had slammed her with something out of left field and she wasn’t quite sure how to react. When his fingers touched her skin she felt an instant zing that made her twitch for just a second. “But… My hands are dirty?” And they were, with soil and dirt, but she didn’t stop him. He’d turn her hand over and she watched curiously as to what in the world he was getting up to with her hand. Was he going to put like a bug in there? Maybe an earth worm? Please not any kind of fertilizer she might hit him if he did…



What came next caused the same kind of knee jerk and the poor melon beside them just shot up like a weed the second there was that flicker of magic, causing her to look over and frown just a touch, worried it might have put too much stress on the plant without any water in the soil. She turned her gaze back to him as he worked. “So it WAS you who uses it too… I thought that ink on your skin moved kind of funny… And the cloth didn’t come away with any black on it…” She said, able to have figured out what he had done, and a little proud of herself too. She did want to be very astute and take careful notes of what went on around her, it was a part of being a good doctor, able to make astute observations of signs and symptoms of a patient… Her head tilted as she watched his lips almost move, like a skilled ventriloquist, wondering just what had happened but in that moment he pulled his hand away and she saw the bubble there. “Oh…” She breathed and looked down at it, carefully cradling it between her hands, like she could shelter it so it would never burst… “Oh… It’s beautiful… “ She breathed, as if she were afraid anything more than a whisper would pop it, seeing the monarch with all it’s vivid orange and blacks… The mantis that blends in with the plants it lives in… The Christmas beetle which she had never seen outside of a book before… She was utterly enchanted and her whole world focused on that bubble and she held her breath as she waited for the next thing… Only for it to pop… Even if it had popped in a beautiful way, with colors and sparkles, and should have made her smile… Instead it made her tear up as she quickly blinked her eyes before wiping at them, smearing dirt on her cheeks. “Oh…I’m sorry… I popped it… And it was so pretty…” She said, playing off that the tears in her eyes weren’t there and there wasn’t the slight tremble in her voice, getting herself under control in a moment flat. “Well, I certainly can’t make something that beautiful, I just make poor plants grow like weeds.” She said as she pointed to the now fully established melon plant that had only moments ago just been a tendril starting. She stood up and dusted her hands off as he mentioned the green house, and she gladly switched venues as she went to join him, looking at it from even this distance she could see it was huge. Yes, she was instantly and insanely interested in plants, kind of went hand in hand with her own natural gift and it was such an important part of the medical field that only an idiot would dismiss it’s vital role. She had to ask about those plants though, he did mention he went down to Menzoberranzan and given that she herself had failed hard the first time she tried? She was more than interested and excited to know about it from someone who had, especially given the plant types down there, she had heard stories but the actual concrete evidence on any of it on paper since they guarded their knowledge as strictly as any glutton does his food. Some of the information was contradictory, others just far too fantastical, and she wanted the truth. Surely it had to be between them all somewhere, right?



“Of course, you don’t have to give me anything you know, it’s not as if you owe me anything? I’m just your pupil and that doesn’t exactly entitle me to everything you have. I entirely respect your privacy and what you want to keep safe and private.” She found herself a little concerned for him, he was open and generous, kind to a fault… How did he manage to give so much of himself and keep anything to love his own self? There has to be a balance, a give and take, and from what she had seen? So far he didn’t take… Just give… And she had little to nothing to give him that could equal everything he was already offering her, all the help and the head start over her colleagues, even the plants… Things he didn’t HAVE to do, thing’s he was doing because he was a good soul, and deep down she was moved by it… Moved enough to actually open herself enough to care for him, to want him to be on guard, to make sure he kept enough love for himself so he had his own warmth in the dark… “Do you ever wonder at the history of the Drow? We have our religious texts, the story of why the Drow were banished, but do you ever think it could have been due to something else? Technically it takes millennia to evolve as a species, to adjust to living in a subterranean life style, but aside from a slight sensitivity to light they have as a species remained the same as they are catalogued in the books… Maybe the reason why they are so secretive is because there might be something more there than the books give us?” It was a question she had often pondered but never once spoke aloud to anyone else before. In her mind? It was one of those questions a lot of people would never puzzle over or even want to discuss, but she felt Jacob had a mind similar to her own, at least in so much as he had a questioning mind. Had he pondered those things too? Or was it just her and her odd mind that wondered if there was more to the world outside of what the books and texts told them? “I just think it might be a cause for why they are the way they are, just like say how a wood elf such as myself tends to feel more at home out in the open, and why high elves look down at everyone else? We all have our reasons as to why we are the way we are as a race and species, but no one actually states anything in regards to the drow like that, they have such a bad reputation… Admittedly I myself haven’t helped abate that, they shocked me pretty badly my first trip down and I haven’t made myself go back since, but I do want to learn…” Why did she say that? Probably because she honestly did for one, and two, the way Jacob talked about them? It was one of those first times that she had ever heard anyone speak about them in a way that wasn’t derogatory. They were People to him… Not Drow like some dirty word to be spat out, no, he was respectful of them as a race. Which again, just played into the fact that she said what she did, and deep down… Maybe she was lonely… The world didn’t accept her and she was totally ok with that, she always would be, but never before had she realized she could enjoy talking with someone. Like, not just the occasional exchange at work, but a genuine conversation… She wasn’t the type to pray but she did send up a small prayer to which ever God or Gods had helped her find herself in this situation because it felt like a whole new lease on life.



“ Sorry sometimes my brain takes hold of a subject and this is the first time I’ve had a chance to actually voice it with someone who might understand. I think I would like to accompany you, and it will be good for me to practice seeing things through a more clinically minded eye versus my own, and any training is good training. Just let me know a day or two ahead so I can pack some food for the trip, little mammals need to eat three times more than our taller counterparts and if I can’t eat anything down there for my own well being, it’s best I pack the kitchen in a bag.” She was more so back on a teasing note now, something light and easy, shifting it from the heavier conversations to something comfortable. Every time she seemed to come out of her shell she pushed herself right back in, a bit like an anemone in its tube, a little afraid to reveal the fullness of herself in case a predator lingered by to snap her up and teach her better. When he mentioned that Rincavornon was going down and took those he taught with him she just sort of dead faced, like she went entirely neutral, but her voice when she spoke was so dry she could have turned steak to jerky. “As for Dr. Rincavornon I’m sure he is just as much as a feature there as the moss… Just with less use and a smaller mental scope than the microorganism.” She said and shifted on her feet a bit, crossing her arms over her chest as she let out a puff of air, blowing a bit of hair out of her face. “Honestly I don’t hate him and I swear I sound so dang petty but honestly… Leash me? I could have let him go by with anything else but that… I hope you won’t judge me too harshly, I’m not a wasp honestly, I just… I might snap about him for a few days until I’ve worked it out of my system…” She didn’t know if they were friends or not, and in the end it didn’t matter, she knew she sounded down right bitter like some scorned shrew. Sure, it was entirely justified but that didn’t mean it was right, and she knew she was being petty. She might take a good long run later, or maybe a swim if the pools around here could manage a longer stride, something to burn it out of her system with sweat and effort. She had said what she would on that part, she wouldn’t apologize to the damn dandy either, but she WOULD attempt to curb her tongue. Not for the jerk but for Jacob… Because honestly, who in the hell wants to constantly hear someone complaining, even if it was with dry witt and humor? She knew she was painting a bad picture of herself, one that wasn’t true, and she didn’t want him to think she was this venom tongued little thing. She left it there and let her attention be grabbed by the herbs and such, that easily grabbed her attention and had her fingers itching to play with them, albeit not in a childish way more so… She wanted to catalogue it all… To take detailed notes and cross reference everything… To find this new world just waiting to open up to her and show her a dream she never dreamt before. She had asked if she might grow things in her room, and from what he said she gathered that so long as she didn’t damage anything it was all up for grabs, which had her instantly plotting out just how she could make use of every inch of the room. She nodded when he left and she began to rearrange the room to how it suited her, making sure the spots with the most light had her bed in it and little else, she planned on making the whole room a sort of living terrarium and that meant special placement of a whole lot of stuff. The time allotted was just fine, she got everything laid out in a way that was both pleasing and functional, letting the room fill with fresh air and sunlight. She knew in a few weeks she’d have birds but so long as they didn’t shit in her hair, she was pretty content with that, after all even Cinderella had some charms right?



She was sitting down at her desk and making notes, specifically in regards to the trip to Menzoberranzan and what she wanted to get down there, what to pack and what to ask about, if the opportunity arose that is. The books that he returned with oh… That had her attention easily and she closed her little note book, melon between her teeth as she offered him a bit of melon for himself if he wanted it. “It’s no problem. Fruit’s good for you and it’s pretty tasty.” She finished off her own bit and wiped her hands down on her pants, wanting to start on those books when he talked about keeping an eye out and she honestly just wanted him to know that he really should hold onto a little bit of that light of his for himself. She took his words and just smiled back, soft and small, but it was still there. “I know, I know, and I won’t mention it again.” She wasn’t his mother after all, or anyone really who had a right to tell him to look after himself, she was just his pupil and even that was something that might bottom out if she didn’t keep on top of it and really give it her all. She had no place worrying about him, even if he was nice to her and made her want to talk… She slipped a little more down into her shell a bit, closing doors that had started to open just a sliver, remembering that it was safer to stay behind those wooden beams… She did mention he had five minutes to revive the dodo bird if he drowned in the hot springs while he left, but when he came back and slipped his head around the side of the door, his witty retort and the wink? He instantly had her bursting into a fit of giggles and little snorts as she shook her head, resting it on the end of a book as he left. He was giving that guy too much credit, with the brain cells already killed on drugs and sex, five minutes was generous! Still the fact he could use that humor told her he might have a streak of his own there under the surface and it made her smile, letting her head rest on the back of the chair with her legs slung over the desk, she looked at the ceiling but only saw him smiling. Funny how she had never noticed him at the hospital but now all of a sudden he was this new amazing plant in her world, like once she noticed him she couldn’t NOT see him, which for her felt so strange. This was just a sort of day for firsts, and she was caught up in it all, and left it at that.



She turned her attention to the book in regards to the anatomical break down of every race and she was instantly sucked into the book as if she were a part of the pages, her free hand quickly jotting down notes and questions in regards to each rage that was laid out on paper like glass slides of each level, touching each page reverently because it was so much more than she ever thought she’d get her hands on it. While she was reading she felt so much calmer, like she found her center again and she really got into her stride, the world vanishing and all there was before her but the gift of knowledge. She remained like that for some time, ignoring everything and simply enjoying what she had before her, at least until a certain sound… Well… A random mix of familiar sounds began to pluck on her ears and she found herself frowning, a sound that she THOUGHT she had left behind her was suddenly ever present, and no matter how hard she tried to tune it out the sounds were so random that they kept bursting her bubble until she gave up and closed the book. Honestly! What was WITH people and sex?! Unless you wanted kids she seriously did NOT see the point of it, a sloppy exchange of fluids that had a rather pungent aroma and then the mess of emotions with it, it was like someone trying to force feed her brustlesprouts through a sieve. Plus she had never once in her LIFE seen it end well, and that wasn’t even with the brothel either, it had to do with just about everyone she knew. They cheated, took lovers, hated their spouses or belittled their kids… It was like sex was literally the route of all that was negative in life and she was absolutely and utterly uninterested in the mess as a whole. Even if it felt good? (which she seriously doubted anything could feel good enough to be worth all the drama that came with it!) Surely the feeling was far too fleeting to be worth the general disappointment that had come with it. Since she had no chance of studying with all the racket going on she moved down stairs, blowing a raspberry at the offending room before heading to the kitchen and out the front, doing her best not to snag a sliver of that cake on the table. Where ever they were getting it at, she would gladly do a weeks worth of chores for the information, if only because the cake was heavenly compared to anything she could try to replicate in cookies. She would have to find out quite sneakily later, right now she had a goal in mind, to ask Jacob if he could help her find a resolution to her problem. When she was at the door, a melon in hand to share if he wanted some more, only to see him get line backed into the hot spring. Honestly, talk about a way to ruin a cigarette and a peaceful moment! Plus that was way too childish from a group of people who were supposed to be training to be doctors! And… Maybe… A part of herself she wouldn’t even confess was there, didn’t like seeing anyone pick on Jacob, he was too nice to be made the butt of any joke. Even a ‘harmless’ one. Though being chucked into a pool was far from harmless in her mind. Either way she reacted on instinct and couldn’t find a sliver of regret as that melon hit its target and exploded, leaving her laughing heartily before calling out about the drive by fruiting, taking more than a little satisfaction in the fact the girl had ended up faceplanting in mud to boot. What? She never claimed she was an angel! She was more a little devil, still had her training wheels and stuff, and her pitchfork was more like a spork than not… She got a couple of towels and came out to give one to the blond, playing on the fruit themed joke, completely unruffled at the daggers she was getting. Honestly? Karma was a bitch, and in this girls case, she was helping karma along a little.



She reached down to help Jacob out, and she figured he wouldn’t put much weight on her, even if she could have handled it he was too much of a gentleman to do so. She handed him the towel before she answered, tugging in the end of her braid as she watched as the girl continued to stalk off, trying to formulate an innocent sounding truth… But honestly… She failed pretty hard. “I came out to ask you about something and I saw her side line you into the pool. Knee jerk reaction and I threw my cantaloupe at her… Don’t worry, it was over ripe, otherwise I’d have to fish her out and I’d rather not.” It was the truth and while sure, it didn’t make her look good, a little fruit throwing ninja assassin and all that… But she never lied and usually she didn’t care how the truth painted her but he frustrated her a little… He had this… Thing… About him that made her actually care… She just hoped it would fade over time… She couldn’t resist the teasing she laid on him, it was light and playful, and it helped to keep her mind focused on something other than him but… He was soaking wet… And… You know… She could see a LOT… And… Maybe… Just maybe… He made her mouth a little dry and she was trying to swallow for some reason she couldn’t fathom… “Ha! You’re a terrible Nanny.” She said straight out and smiled up at him. “Stick to your day job, Doc.” He called her out at being cheeky though, the smile on his face as she knew he was having fun with it, and again she felt that weird thing… Hell had she eaten a bad fruit? It wouldn’t be the first time and she learned the hard way that some fruit if you ate them too early or late could REALLY mess with your head! She had to have done that, maybe there was some sort of bug in the meat that made her stomach feel a bit off, that could make sense of so many things. Needless to say she wouldn’t be eating another. “I think she just wanted attention… Lots of women, not enough men, and I don’t think she’s the type to wait her turn…” She said with a slight eye roll and reached up with the towel she still hand and tossed it over his head. “Stay still dorkasaurus.” She said as she quickly dried his hair off for him since he could still get sick if his hair was wet, and it gave her a chance to watch his tattoo’s without him seeing her doing it, and Gods did she ever wonder way lay under their lengths… What stories were behind them? What novels did he paint onto his body? What meanings were so important he wanted them carved into his skin in ink and pain?... She almost touched one… Almost… Jerking her fingers back in time as she took the towel from him and they walked back to the house. “Don’t worry, even if it were in the snow, I’d still fish you out… I can’t get taught by a soggy boggy butt, right? So I guess it’s in my best interests to make sure I keep the other idiots off of you.” Why had she said that? She had no idea… But somehow she just basically said she was going to keep him safe, and chances are he’d never think she could, she was too short… But the cool thing about being short? No one expects the can of whoop ass you can crack open in a fight. Not that she did fight, but she could definitely take care of herself, that went without a doubt.



They walked back together, her slippered feet barely seeming to touch the ground as she walked beside him, quiet as the grave unless she was talking to him. “You’re a lot nicer than she deserves. But… That begs the question then that there is only one bathroom for all of us? Sweet cheese and crackers if that’s the case this is going to be a really, really, REALLY long internship…” Like… One thing she liked about where she lived before? The baths. She could go up and soak for hours if she wanted to and it wouldn’t matter, there was always a ton of hot water on demand and big brass tubs, plenty of soaps and anything else they might need. If there was only one bathroom in this place? She could almost cry… And she might just start trying to sneak out to grab a bath somewhere else. She was not a fast bather, she liked her showers, it was a little guilty pleasure and she didn’t want to have someone blasting on the door telling her to hustle fanny. Once they got inside she heard the sounds of sex right off the batt and asked if he could do anything about it, and she couldn’t help the brow that rose on her face when he didn’t know what she meant at first, at least until it clicked over for him. “Thank you, really, I appreciate it. I can handle the wait…” Just because she didn’t like it didn’t mean she couldn’t handle it. Both her brows rose as she heard him asking her to follow, her head tilted to the side as she followed along behind him, up the stairs and towards his room. Sure enough the sounds of sex were even louder and she growled and tugged on her ear lopes as she shook her head. “Ugh they make such a racket over an exchange of fluids. Something’s seriously wrong with them.” She shook her head and followed him into his room and the whole thing just faded as her jaw fell, and she let out a sigh of pure wonder, her eyes taking everything in. When his door was closed and everything just disappeared, the sounds of sex utterly gone, just the sounds of the world outside… Her shoulders instantly dropped and she closed her eyes, taking in a deep breath of the room around her… She smelled humidity… Earth… Leather and oil… Candle wax and the scent of smoke… Ink… Old books… Growing things… She tucked her hair behind her ears and opened every sense to this space, hearing the hum of living things, the tinkle of glass as the world moves around it, the creak of old wood… She almost went catatonic before she opened her eyes and moved around the room, respectfully of course, hands behind her back so she wouldn’t be tempted to touch anything. Well… She tried… While he looked for the key she went to the books and ended up touching the spines, listening o the sound of them under her fingers, the little songs they sang… “I would never want to leave…” She said, almost to herself as she drifted along on silent feet, carefully examining every plant in it’s own little glass world… The potions and poisons, the labels and everything else there, wondering how poisons could be used in the medical field and eager to learn their applications… To learn about everything… She moved from there to his desk and saw the picture of the child, wondering if it was him as a youth, or perhaps his own child? Had he been married before? Had she died? Was he still married? If so though she thought he would have been living with his spouse and child surely?... But she was reading a whole lot into a little picture… For all he knew it could be a little brother or sister to him. What she wondered too was if he had drawn it himself, or if it was done by another, someone with exceptional skill surely…



She was taken from her thoughts by his voice and looked over to him, coming around to his side with her head tilted a bit, taking the key as he offered it… Carefully though, she wasn’t sure about the spark earlier and she didn’t want to feel that thing again, and she wasn’t even sure if he felt the same thing and he might think she really was a total nutter. She slipped it into her pocket as he went to another cabinet and what he offered her next? She took the offered bags reverently, as if she were holding the tears of a God or something, very carefully and respectfully handing each one. “I’ll only take one from each I promise, and I’ll return them to you directly, I promise I’ll respect this gift… Thank you so much… Really… You have no idea.” She said before he got his clothes out and mentioned going in search of that shower and she nodded her head. “I’ll be down at the greenhouse…” Was all she needed to say before she left his room before him and made a bee line for that great glass building. She didn’t pay attention to much around her, she was too focused on what she was getting into, and made it to the glasshouse without any error. Once inside she carefully looked for a section that wasn’t far from Jacob’s but still gave them both plenty of room to grow in… Respecting his space and boundaries. She got to work instantly, sweat starting to bead up on her brow as she lifted pot after pot, trench after trench, and began to carefully start her own garden. She sectioned it all off according to their properties and styles, poisons with poisons, beneficial with beneficial, and those that could be used for good or bad in the middle. It was all laid out in a certain pattern, a bit like a sun burst so there was enough space between them all to allow for proper growth and leaving her space in the middle… That was where she put the big copper tin tub that was part of a fountain that had been disassembled, and while it took her a little bit, she managed to get enough parts together to jerry rig a working water source with a current beneficial to plant growth. She was drenched in sweat by this time but she was in a grove, hair tied back in a knot so she could work without it getting in her face, small cuts and scrapes on her fingers from the work but a satisfied look on her face. She carefully began to get cuttings from every plant, as well as making sure to carefully pot one sample from each vial he had given her, and here was where she really showed an aptitude for both space management and growth… She planted these in their own trench under the fountain that had been propped up on paving stones in a way that seemed truly artistic. They were given plenty of moisture and out of the light, sheltered by the large fountain and kept several degrees cooler than the others, making sure to recork and seal every vial. She wasted nothing, and from every bit she had taken, she used a little bit of her gift… Helping it all to grow, to take root quickly and grow in a few minutes what usually took months, and she didn’t stop there. She made sure to care after Jacob’s plants too, thanking them for their gift and giving them a little boost to help them along, making sure too she gave them some fertilizer… All of them got a good dose of food and water and were growing better now than they had before… Not without a cost though. She was exhausted and fanning herself as she stretched out, wishing she had brought her melodica with her but since she didn’t she just chose to walk around a little. Calm down, let her muscles relax, rolling her neck and shoulders… She had work to get to back at the house… Dinner to cook… She wanted to start making copies of that book so she could write her own notes on the pages and not ruin the original. It could all wait though… Pausing by one of the bigger pools with koi and other fish in them, she sat down on the edge and rolled her pants up, sitting with her feet in the water while the fish nibbled on her toes so she ended up giggling and enjoying the cooler temperature in this side of the glass house.

[Deleted]

..They had settled up there within the confines of her small room.. he was doing his best to make sure she was comfortable.. it was a big ask really.. to expect that someone would just fit in immediately.. to just move in without any worries or concerns at all.. and yet she seemed to be taking it all in her stride.. at least.. thats how she appeared. he had watched her re-planting the melon vine.. something he had found just a little peculiar.. the fact she had been carrying it around.. she soon explained that due to a spot of magical use -namely his- that it sprung to life in her bag there.. that she had an almost hyper sensitivity to it when it was around her.. he felt a bit bad then.. it was his magic that had caused her the mild discomfort.. easily then making a mental note to make sure that he was a bit more careful in the future.. she all but pleaded with him to keep it quiet though.. and he honestly couldn't let her sit this one out on her own.. he reached for her hand.. asking for permission first of course.. the corners of his lips twitched and turned upward when she complained that her hands were dirty..-.. Its just a bit of earth relax..

-he'd whisper to her.. before those words were spoken though his lips never moved.. it was a small series of words.. of phrases.. just enough to conjure up a little something to perhaps sate her heart.. to show her that he understood all to well.. he caught the movement of the plant on the table there.. the way it seemed to twitch and stretch when he began to flood the room with his light magical energy..he nodded his head in response to her words-.. it was indeed.. you did well to catch that.. I dont think anyone else in the room noticed.. thank the goddess.. it was.. rather lax of me to allow it.. -he slowly rose up his hand then.. revealing the globe there.. the soft shiny bubble with shifting.. moving images contained.. he took a solitary step back.. his hands finding their way back down into the depths of his pockets.. tilting his head.. watching her reactions.. observing it all float across her features.. though his brows furrowed a little when she seemed to get a little upset when it ended.. when the bubble finally popped-.. Oh.. no no.. it's designed to do that.. really it was nothing you did.. I assure you.. -he nodded.. watching as she wiped her fingers across her cheeks...leaving dirty lines and smudges across her freckle kissed skin..-.

. I use them with the children.. a distraction device when they have to be observed.. or when medicine is going to be administered.. I am sure.. what with you having dealt with children in the past.. you would understand they can be.. tricky .. -he reached down into his pocket there.. plucking out a small napkin.. placing it down into her hand there-..you've managed to wipe a bit of the dust from the pot across your cheeks.. I don't want you to get it in your eye.. -he listened as she basically said she couldn't do such pretty things.. that she simply had the ability to make plants grow and that was the extent of it-.. Well.. no.. for one that talent is incredibly important.. there will always be a use for growers.. we need food afterall.. whilst we can survive a little while.. it's not a permanent thing. And plus.. without the proper training and focus.. you really don't know to what extent your abilities and talents extend to.. You could possibly do a great deal more.. you just dont know it yet. Something to look into in your future.. perhaps.. -he nodded.. he had left her alone then.. after gathering her some supplies.. some text books.. he went down to keep an eye on the impromptu pool party.. possibly not the best plan of his for the day.. stepping out into the afternoon sunshine.. sparking up that cigarette then before he was shoved into the springs.. if he had more bearings he wouldn't have stumbled quite so easily but he was not prepared for that assault what so ever.. so under he went.. only surfacing toward the end of her sharp amusing little conversation with the blonde that was on Dr Suave's team.. comments floated around on him being a Nanny instead and how he had missed his calling.. he laughed whilst spluttering and wiping the excess water from his eyes and cheeks.. he reached for her offered hand.. moving to step up and out of the waiting grasp of the pools.. he was soaked through.. his jeans hung low on his hips.. his white shirt was just about completely see through.. there was the ink.. the dark lines down his arms.. across his shoulders.. she took him b surprise though when she reached for his towel..

asking for him to stay still before she dried his hair.. well that made him blink..made him tighten just a touch.. not entirely sure how to react in such a situation.. he crouched down a little so she wouldn't have to overextend at least.. it was an incredibly nice gesture and not something he could remember anyone really doing.. when the towel was removed whilst the hair stuck up it was a lot easier to manage.. being semi damp ..he reached back.. dragging his fingers through it.. giving it a bit of a tousle before he took the towel and let it rest about his shoulders-.. Thankyou Rose.. that was.. -he laughed a little-.. very much appreciated.. -.. now he could take all of this as a new student.. a new recruit trying to butter up the professor/teacher..or he could take it as someone just being genuine and trying to help out when it was needed.. -.. But.. -he paused his facial features taking on a lot more of a serious look-.. Dorkasaurus?.. really?.. and here I thought i was well.. cool.. -he held the laughter back for as long as he could before he gave a slight shake of his head and the pair of them moved back into the Manor proper.. he mentioned allowing the woman to use the shower first..she caught it and asked about the bathing facilities.. he began to remove his boots near the door-.. Well yes and no.. there is one very.. very large bathroom.. it has a multi person bathing pool and several showers that line the outside of it.. along with everything else thats required in there.. The Doctors usually use it all together.. and when we do have women in the house they tend to use it at the same time.. but.. well.. even though we are in a society that would and should readilly accept equality.. I dont think it appropriate to share the space with the young woman. and I'm more than willing to wait until she is finished..I'm just wet.. I'll survive.. -she asked him if he could help her out with warding her room.. motioning to the noises that were going on as they were down on the lower level.. it took him a moment to realise what she meant.. before it sunk in.. Oh it was there.. muffled a little due to their location but still clear as to what was going on-.. Of course.. -he nodded-.. I can do that.. but not until they are finished their floor show.. otherwise it could have the opposite desired effect and you'l end up with that.. -he motioned up toward the ceiling.. the sounds of moans.. of groans and heavy breaths-.. fine tuned just to your own ears.. and yeah.. no.. no one wants that.. -he paused a moment.. dragging his tongue across his teeth as if in thought-.. Come with me.. I'll get you the key to the greenhouse.. give you something to do for the afternoon.. away from the house that is.. -the pair of them moved up the stairs there.. the sound of the pair only growing louder the closer they got.. swiftly to the third floor before he moved across to his room there.. she'd notice it wasn't locked before he allowed her entrance first.. drawing the door closed behind him.. the ward lifted.. and silence..perfect pure silence floated about. just the wind outside.. the birds.. the distant sound of running water from a pool or fountain.. thats all.. no other people.. just the pair of them..

he shifted across the room.. allowing her to drink it all in as he drew open a few of the drawers of the desk.. each one filled with notebooks.. with pencils and ink bottles.. he pulled out the key then.. its leaf chain attached.. turning to get a glimpse of her running her fingers along the old books.. -.. It's my own collection.. texts ive managed to pick up on little jaunts here and there.. some ive been given as gifts from family an friends.. A couple I havent quite transcribed yet.. the languages are difficult to translate.. but I am nothing if not determined.. forever learning afterall.. I trust you'd be careful.. you seem to be just as eager as I was when i was a bit younger.. you're welcome to peruse.. to have a look.. I have some cotton gloves here in one of these drawers.. so.. when you have spare time.. if you are feeling.. well.. bookish.. be my guest.. -it was true they had not known each other a very long time.. really at all.. if all their interactions were stacked up.. it would be perhaps a couple of hours.. but a trust had developed and he truly believed he was a good judge of character.. she seemed nice.. educated.. determined.. witty.. he approached her then and gave her the key.. -.. its down the back.. You can't really miss it.. whoever built it did so for grandeur thats for sure.. I'm the only other one here that enters it.. so take up whatever space you like.. its far to large for me.. -he also gathered up that wooden box filled with pouches.. spores..seeds..dust and the like.. offering it to her to share in her research.. -.. It's no problem.. it's actually pretty exciting to see someone else interested enough to want these.. to want to experiment and research .. so.. no it's more like.. Thankyou Rose.... -he gathered up his clothing then and she headed off toward the greenhouse.. leaving him to his own devices.. a new pair of dark jeans a short sleeved shirt.. belt.. whilst he was a little dryer than he was when he had taken his untimely plunge he was still incredibly uncomfortable.. making his way toward the bathroom.. he paused.. listening for water running or movement.. not really catching anything.. before he would lightly tap.. knocking.. waiting.. still nothing.. he made his wa inside.. it was fairly steamy.. the young woman must have had the heaters up fairly high which was unusual because it wasn't one of the colder months.. he turned the dials back.. the steam began to vent a little.. placing his clothing down on the wooden bench.. he began to unbutton his shirt.. before he felt a hand to his shoulder and he froze.. long thin fingers curling around.. manicured nails.. a hand slowly beginning to make its way across his shirt.. toward where he had just opened it before he reached up to grasp that thin wrist.. clearing his throat.. he turned.. glancing toward this young woman there.. and she was naked.. not a single stitch on her.. he felt his heart sink a little.. he was sure she had left already.. she looked.. pleased.. entirely too much so.. his brows furrowed-.. I appologise I thought you had left already.. I will go and come back in a short while..

-she frowned.. her hands rose.. warm as they were to cradle his cheeks.. pleading with him to stay.. that she had.. plenty to offer as he could surely see.. he exhaled softly.. reaching up to take a hold of her wrists.. her hands.. drawing them away from his face-.. this is not going to happen Kit.. -he gave a little shake of his head.. releasing the hold he had on her-.. You're a beautiful woman and you have a lot of romise.. I dont doubt you could go very far in this profession if you applied yourself.. but this.. -he motioned between her and him with a gesture of hand-.. no.. I'm sorry -he didn' want to make her feel rejected but he had to make her realise that no.. it was not-.. I am a teacher.. I am in a position of power here.. and it would be ethically wrong.. not even going into the morals or the legalities of it all.. -she wasnt about to let him get off that easily reaching to help him unbutton his shirt.. telling him she didn't care about the morals or ethics or legals of the situation.. that she'd even be willing to step away from the course if he'd just give her a chance.. he huffed.. growing perhaps just a little aggitated by this stage.. -.. No Kit.. it's a no.. I'm just not interested.. I'm sorry.. -Ooh now that one stung and she jerked her hands back.. commenting quickly and biting asking if he was gay or something.. oh he wanted to laugh a little-.. I could be.. what does it matter.. the answer would still be no..

-she huffed.. gathering up her towel before she more or less stormed out of there with the towel barely covering her completely.. allowing the door to slam closed behind her.. he rolled his neck.. his shoulders before he removed his clothing.. this was becoming perhaps a bit more stressful than he would have Ever expected it to be.. shirt.. jeans..shorts.. belt.. all of it piled up beside his fresh clothing before he stepped beneath the shower..feeling that heated water washing down over his face.. his body as a whole.. it was really.. really very nice.. it was like giving his muscles a bit of a warm hug ..allowing him. giving him the permission to relax even if only for a little while.. before he felt those same warm small hands back upon his person once more.. only this time.. creeping around from behind.. he sucked in a bit of a startled breath.. his eyes blinking.. trying to remove the water that was threatening to invade.. his surprise meant his reflexes weren't quite as sharp as they should have been.. and the young woman managed to get her long thin fingers around his hardened cock.. his body stiffened considerably though not birthed from her advances..-.. Stop this Kit.. Immediately.. -he reached for her.. grasping her arms there.. his fingers wrapping once more around her wrists as she wasn't about to give up quite so easily.. she was having a right wonderful time of it.. figuring his excitement when she entered was from her advances.. when no.. it was not.. it came from another pattern of thoughts.. Something he himself had realised in that moment that he needed to put a handle on.. and quickly.. she bit him.. right then on the back of the shoulder causing him to grimace and forcing him to take proper and strong control of the situation that was growing ..pulling her hands off him with a strength someone with his stature should not have had.. spinning her around so her back was to him.. her arms crossed about her own chest as he held her tightly-.. You will leave the premises.. Its clear I was wrong when i said you would have the potential to go far on your own devices.. if you applied yourself.. this was not what I was referring to. Pack up your things Kit.. and leave.. Dont make this any harde on yourself than it has to be.. -he had the potential to ruin her.. completely.. she could turn it around and attempt to ruin him by lying.. but it would be her reputation against his.. she struggled and was clearly annoyed.. starting to tear up before she was released and she left the bathroom in a huff.. he turned off the water.. his nice calming shower having agitated him more than he would have ever imagined it could.. his poor heart was racing.. he dried off.. sliding into those shorts.. dark jeans and the short sleeved button up shirt.. though he left it open.. beneath it was a simple slim fitting t-shirt.. nothing fancy just.. comfortable.. he ran a comb back through his hair and he made his way down the stairs quite quickly.. only to catch Kit being hugged by Luna.. the blonde was crying.. and the pair of them looked at him directy.. narrowed eyes.. oh he knew there was deception at play here.. his shoulders sunk a little and he took a deeper breath..-.. She needs to leave Luna.. she's no longer able to remain a student under any doctors tutilidge in this Manor.. her behaviour has proven that.. I just cant tolerate it.. I'm sorry.. -his arms rose as he crossed them there about his chest.. the bite upon the back of his shoulder was smarting.. it was stinging.. Rincavornon came down the stairs then having caught onto the commotion.. Luna filled him in though the information she had been fed was clearly lacking.. the doctor laughed a little and shook his head.. asking loudly why they couldn't all just get along.. the girls moved to step outside.. Kits tears were becoming a little unruly.. it was quite dramatic really.. Rincavornon patted Jacob on the shoulder telling him he should have just taken the chance.. the opportunity.. that the girl wasn't exactly a mullet or anything.. Jacob pushed Rincavornon's hands away.. snaping suddenly..'I'm not you, I've no interest in Fucking my students'.. before he exhaled.. sinking down in his chair.. he apologised for the outburst.. he was just a bit wound up.. Rincavornon laughed.. a comment like that wasn't about to hurt him any.. he headed off to settle the bristling women outside..Jacob remained in the kitchen.. letting everything come to a still.. to a stop.. he reached his hands back.. rubbing against the back of his neck there.. the girls would hae gotten fairly far down into the gardens.. settling upon a table and chair beside a hedge.. which she could have been behind.. they would have had a chat.. a gossip session if you will and if Rose was listening she might have caught bits and pieces of it.. an exaggerated affair of what went on in that bathroom.. -

[BadInfluence]

It wasn’t an ask though, and maybe that was where his little catch was, because he hadn’t asked her personally. A group had asked a congregation and she had chosen to respond. No one had made her do anything, she saw it for the opportunity it was, a chance to have a livelihood that could provide for her in life long into her twilight years. No one was forcing her to do anything and she wondered why he felt like he had to be so nice to her for something she was completely compliant in. Did she mind?... Ah… That was the trick now wasn’t it? A part of her had no idea just how to handle this kind of treatment from someone, it wasn’t that she was treated badly or anything, she wasn’t some Susie sob story. It was just that people in general just ignored her and she ignored them, treated them like a hive versus individuals, and it worked out just fine for her in her life. But Jacob just shook everything around and put her well off her balance, like being taken up on a wind and planted in new soil, unfamiliar flora and fauna all around her. She wasn’t sure right now if she liked it or not either… A part of her… Maybe did…



She had been potting the new melon while she confessed one of her biggest secrets to him, that she had this ability to grow things, and that she really didn’t have a lot of control over it. What she did know, she learned on her own over the years through trial and error, so while she could do a couple of things she couldn’t control any of it when magic was around. She was glad at least he wouldn’t tell anyone, honestly it could pose a lot of problems for her, things she didn’t even want to think about. Things that made her more than a little scared to be found out… It wasn’t long after that though he asked to take her hand and she felt that little jolt race up her skin to her spine and sink into her belly, leaving her with a funny sort of twist she couldn’t explain, but she didn’t pull away. She simply stated her hands were dirty and they honestly were, dirt and earth dusted her palms and under her nails but he didn’t seem to care, just turning her wrist over. “It might be earth but that doesn’t mean you should get dirty…” She said almost on a last ditch before leaving it there, feeling the magic begin to flow and she wanted to ask just what he said, what he was doing… Instead she remained silent, watching, waiting to see just what he had done. Of course, the fact that magic was dancing all over the room told her pretty clearly she had been right about where it had come from, the Ink hadn’t been moving right, there were things there that didn’t match up… She had thought it was him but hadn’t wanted to accuse, but now that the cat was out of the bag, she voiced her thoughts on it. “I watch people sometimes… Especially when something seems a little off. You know a little bit of women’s cosmetics could cover it up around the area where your cuffs come up so you won’t have to use magic… I just thought you had ink stains from whatever you were doing that made you run late to the meeting. Still… I wouldn’t worry a whole lot… Not everyone there is exactly the brightest crayon in the box… “ After all, aside from a couple of the staff, most everyone there was pretty much just good old cogs in a machine, but take them out of the watch and sure enough they glitch and sputter. Not that they were bad, not at all, but she doubted most would have noticed half the things in the world if only because it didn’t directly pertain to them. They were selfish, everyone was in their own way, and there was nothing wrong with it.



That bubble though… That held her attention like nothing else had in a long time. She’d never seen anything so pretty, it held her rapt attention as she held her breath, careful not to disturb it’s surface. Honestly it was beautiful… She said it softly as she watched the animals come and go, eager to see what came next before it burst and she honestly thought she had done something wrong and broke it, and it genuinely made her want to cry for some reason. Pretty things were rare in her life, something like that had never been given to her and it was a truly priceless think to her, so to think she had somehow destroyed it? Really did throw her for a left. She had almost cried but hid it well, wiping at her cheeks as if she had an itch, unaware she had left trails on her cheeks. She apologized for breaking it because she honestly thought she had, but when he explained the why of it? She paused and realized that ok… It was just something on a timer… Like a candle that would eventually burn out… It had been nothing she did. “I use puppets… They like funny stories and it helps… Though I’m sure yours comes off with a lot better results. They must be completely mesmerized.” The next thing he did had her blinking though, dusting her hands off on her pants before taking his cloth, not wanting to get it dirty… Well… Any more than it would be off her cheeks… She carefully wiped it up as she explained she definitely didn’t have the talents he did for magic, that hers were quite simple and rather plain, nothing like his… When he spoke she shook her head and leaned her chin on her palm, elbow on her knee as she looked up at him from her seat on the floor, kerchief forgotten in her lap. “If I ever did admit what I can do in Arvandor? They’d toss me into a school and train me, but I wouldn’t be me anymore, I’d just be the equivalent of a food battery. I’d be seen not as myself but as someone who helps sustain an economy, and not that it’s not a good worthwhile goal, but if I have to lose myself and my singularity I’d rather chose how I do it.” Here? She was a Striper but it was her choice, she got to work with people and that made her content, it was an anonymity she chose. Becoming a doctor was another choice she made and she wanted to stick this through as much as she possibly could, to the end if it were possible, and she wasn’t going to give up without the fight of her life. But there? She was allotted, counted and measured, expected to do something because it was for the betterment of everyone else. Was it a warped view? Maybe. It wasn’t like she spent a whole lot of time in Arvandor, only four time a year for the last four years, so sixteen days total… Not exactly enough to form a genuine conclusion but enough to make her warry. Enough to make her side against anything quite that… Concrete. “I know you mean well with all your heart, and honestly I respect your opinion for that, but right now I think I am quite happy where I am.” She wouldn’t poke at it any more than that.



He left to go play Super Nanny, and she to finish her room up and get a few things sorted and settled, notes to lay out and plans to formulate… Small but happy things for her, little moments of a day when she was left alone and allowed to just be herself, no one telling her what to do… When he had come with the books of course she had been utterly delighted and threw into it like a fat kid on a life sized chocolate cake. She had been wrapped up in layers of cellophane and ink, completely consumed before she was interrupted and yes, she was more than a little pissed off. At least the whore house she expected the sounds there, after all it was bought and paid for, but this was supposed to be a place of learning. Of professionals. Of genuine solemn knowledge… Not the Bump and Grind. Naturally she couldn’t ignore it once she heard it, it was a buzzing fly about her head and she couldn’t swat it away, so she went after someone she thought who could help. Of course, leave it to Jacob to end up getting stuck in the lurch, but to be fair she had warned him… Well ok… Maybe she was a little too subtle for it to be seen perhaps… One moment he was relaxing and taking a nice smoke break and the next he was making face love to a body of water. Of course she made sure to nuke any other plans the blond had with the over ripe fruit and yes, she was damn cheeky about it, and hell no she didn’t regret a moment of it either. It wasn’t like the blonde didn’t deserve it. When she helped Jacob out and handed him the towel, she honestly had a really hard time there, her mouth suddenly ran dry and a lump formed in her throat that she struggled to swallow… She’d never been attracted to anyone before, hell she’d never even noticed anyone before, so to her this sensation just seemed like a terribly bad side effect from a bad fruit perhaps. She blamed in on some sort of food poisoning and played off her own feelings by teasing him about being a nanny and not quitting his day job. Of course a moment later she noted the ink and wanted to touch the lines there, she almost did, her heart hammering in her ears… Instead she asked him to bend down, using a made up tease while she did so, distracting herself with the task of drying his hair. Did she notice he got tense? Not enough… It was slight and it could have been him flexing for balance which she left alone, smiling as she made sure to get most of the water out of his hair, standing up on her toes even with him bending it was still comfortable. She set it back on his shoulders with his help and she smiled up at him, her head tilted to the side a bit, a brow raised. “Didn’t anyone dry your hair when you were little? It’s one of the best feelings in the world you know.” She stated simply, and while she had only had it done once for her when she had been really sick, she remembered how good it felt and it was one of those moments in her life she held onto quite tightly. She paused as he spoke and oh sweet cheese did he really have to say that? He ended up causing her to burst into a small fit of giggles as she shook her head, running her fingers through her hair to push it off of her forehead, watching him through bright warm whiskey and mint colored eyes. “You turtleweed… You’re way better than cool… You’re Real.” Cool was something she never liked in someone, they were just packs of sheep trying to stand out in the crowd, and more than a few of them made sure to step on the smaller in the flock just to do it too. What was so great about someone like that? But someone who was real? Who faced the world exactly as they were? Who didn’t have any shame for who and what they had become in this life? Now THAT was someone worth knowing. That was someone who was real and genuine and honest… That was someone she wanted to know.



On the way back to the manse as he took off his boots at the door, she had to ask about something he had brought up, that being to wait about the bathroom. Now… She had her quirks, everyone did, but hers were bathroom time. Those were sacred to her and she really would lose her mind if she didn’t get it… Ok maybe not… But it was still an idea… When he explained how it was though, she could tolerate that, but she’d have to be insanely secretive about it. We’re talking super spy style bathing but if she could get away with it? It would be entirely doable. She just had to find a way to break up her sleep schedule to manage it. “If you haven’t noticed? You’re a fish in a building full of sharks…” As in he was a single doctor who was the best looking guy here… Wait… No… She didn’t even think that what the actual hell… Nope… Not her… She gave herself a mental shake there and blamed it on that damn fruit. Seriously what the hell… “Ellen, Luna, and the other girl are all going to be gunning for you since unlike Mr. Sex up there? You’re stable and that’s pretty much going to be candy for them.” Yep… She watched a LOT. She knew a lot of the quirks and turns they made as a group and she wasn’t stupid enough to think the whole dunk into the hot spring was accidental. Hell if she were him? She’d start to watch his food for evidence of tampering because she’d bet her ass one of them would try to slip some sort of a love potion in there. Of course she didn’t say that, it was none of her business, and if he wanted to do the dirty dance with one of them? That was up to him and she had no place or say in any of it. “This is less about being polite and more so about sheer survival.” After all she didn’t trust anyone… Well no… She trusted Jacob… Yeah for some reason she hung a halo on his four poster bed and it was going to hang there until he gave her a reason to remove it. Either way though if he was smart he would stop thinking about the others in such a polite way and more so focus on the golden rules of work. C-Y-A. Cover. Your. Ass. “Though I think I need to watch the routine for a day before I even dare… I got a feeling all sorts of no good shenanigans are going to be floating around here.” With that though she followed him upstairs and heard the reason why he had to wait and she literally looked utterly horrified at the idea of that sound coming through the walls EVERY time versus it being blocked out… Yeah… No… Just… “Oh please no… Yeah… I can wait…” She said as she followed him into his room and yes… That whole world inside his four walls wrapped her up like something familiar and soft, a beloved blanket or the smell of a childhood kitchen, instantly soothing every little frayed nerve she had. It wasn’t even the beautiful silence or the gentle call of birds outside, the sound of the wind as it rustled through the room, the clear sunshine…. It was just… Everything… She found herself drifting around the room, breathing soft words to herself as she let it all envelop her, touching the books with a soft and careful hand… Of course as he spoke she listened, loosing herself to the space, wanting her room to be similar to this at least… If only she could… Of course when he mentioned being careful she paused and instantly jerked her hand back as if she had burned something, putting them behind her back and linking them at the wrists, her cheeks pink as she stepped away. “I’m sorry… I didn’t know… I love old books but I didn’t think they were… Well… I don’t think I was actually thinking… I’ll um… Just keep to the books in the library. I don’t want to hurt or damage a private collection, especially one as precious as this must be to you.” Once again she was reminding herself to respect his private space and his things. Just because he offered to share didn’t mean she had to take it. Something about this just had to be because of the fruit, it was spiked or tainted or something because she was most definitely not feeling or acting like herself, she felt like a stranger in her own skin and it was incredibly unsettling.



The offer of the plants though was both startling and a very happy thing for her, she’d read about them and heard of them, but never once had she been so close to them before. She treated those precious plant products like something entirely priceless and holy. She held them close to her chest and while she had the key to the hot house in her pocket, thanking him from the bottom of her heart for what was to her, a totally priceless gift. What he said next once again had her blushing and honestly she was starting to wonder if it was just going to become like, a thing or something, cause she’d blushed more today than she had in her entire life surely? Either way though he had an uncanny knack for making her blood rush to her cheeks and she looked up at him despite it, wondering if he was just this nice to everyone, or if for some reason it was only to her? The idea of that alone gave her another funny twist and she wondered if she was going to have a hellish time in the bathroom later. “Well I’m glad I can help at least in this way…” She said before she left him to it and made her way to the hot house where she began to really put her back into it, starting a veritable garden of her own that was almost an exact clone of Jacobs. The only difference was how it was set up, and the fact that she had a couple of plants that were obvious hybrids of one or more species, something she was privately testing before she finished up… Every plant both hers and Jacob’s carefully tended and nurtured, growing with renewed vigor and health before she took her own break, sitting at the cool pool in the center and letting the fish nibble her toes. She rested… Waited… But while Jacob had said he would come, he hadn’t, which made her figure something must have caught him up… Or worse… And she had a feeling that with Jacob? Worse was going to happen a bit before the better part came around. She slipped off of the pool, washing her hands and rolling down her pant legs and making her way out, the vials carefully packed in moss so she could take them back to him without fear of anything getting jostled. She was on her way back when she heard chatter, and honestly she wondered if she could ever get used to that, it was had enough part time as a Striper but now it seemed like a damn plague outbreak.. She stopped when she caught Jacobs name and for some reason she bristled and turned around and went back into the hot house and gathered up some rather choice plant spores, multiplying them in her hand with intense effort but by the time she was done, she had two really good handfuls of what she wanted held securely in her hands. She stomped right out from that hothouse and rounded the corner of the hedge where she caught Luna and Kit talking. “Ok Blubber Butt I’ve had it! It’s bad enough you guys make the lives of any single guy at work bloody miserable, but now you have to go and screw around with a damned good opportunity, and for what? Cause you didn’t get your damn clam dipped?!” She said with more than a little heat in her voice, and as soon as she spoke she slapped both of them with that fine dust in her hands, coating them down the front and getting into their noses, eyes and mouths… Every open orphic area it could sink into along with their skin. They also each sported a nice crimson mark on each cheek. What had she hit them with? A cross between truth dust and remorse pollen. Truth dust was used a lot in the court of law and the remorse pollen was often used either by people who had lost touch with themselves or by those who were being punished for a crime. What she had was a hybrid of the two and while it was untested she had enough faith in her own abilities to believe it wouldn’t kill them… Or shouldn’t… “So you get yourselves all bent out of shape for a guy who literally is going to fuck and drop you each in turn like a bad habit. You give yourselves up so easily and he’s going to take you like ripe fruit from a tree, and when he’s done eating all you have to offer? He’s going to toss you like any man would. You think what you have between your legs is so special? It’s NOT. If you just used your damn heads!” She said, poking each of them in the forehead as she did so, well and truly pissed. “You would have seen that this is a chance to have a life and if you ACTUALLY made it as doctors? You’d be able to pick any man you fancied if that was what you wanted! But noooo. No you two dipsticks had to go and get your panties in a bunch over a useless little bit of sausage. Go ahead, throw the chance away you freaking ding dongs, and get the hell out cause I don’t want to waste MY time and opportunity watching you two freaking chimps get chumped!” She said before she stepped back, smacking them both upside the head like a very irritated mother with two errant kids. “Now, you two are going to march yourselves RIGHT up to the head person in charge and tell him the TRUTH of what you did to Dr. Anikin. I expect it is writing too and an apology in letter form to Dr. Anikin too. If You don’t? I swear on every God out there I will make your stay here so damned miserable the pneubonic plague is going to seem like a vacation!” With that she stepped back and had them frog marching to the building, arms crossed and face set in neutral lines of stone, and she wouldn’t stop until they were there and had opened the door to the person in charges area and began to explain what happened. Once she was sure they had? She turned and left, still more than a little angry as she made her way back to the manse and headed up the stairs, taking them three at a time. If she saw Mr. Lusty she would honestly flat out snub the shit out of him and walk on by like he was nothing more than a bit of dust on the furniture. She didn’t knock to get into Jacob’s room, he didn’t lock it and she was too angry to wait for permission, simply going in and setting her bag down on the table carefully. She took the vials out and put them back carefully where she had seen them taken out from, and settled them back gently, closing the drawer after she did so. She didn’t say a peep, didn’t even look at him, she just moved from place to place. Going to the vials she had seen she went through row after row of them, looking for something that provided an antiseptic as well as a healing ointment.



Once she found what she was looking for? She would move to stand in front of him, hands on her hips and for the first time he could actually see she had some curves on her, things easily hidden under uniforms and baggy clothes. “Shirt off now, if you please.” She would say, and she’d repeat it until he did, and if he didn’t? She’d come around behind him and lift his shirt up over his head even if she had to tussle him a bit for it, finding the open bite mark with a few tears in the skin and began to apply the salve to his wound, the slight sting chased away by just how soft her hands were… She really had a gentle touch and despite her work her skin was surprisingly petal like. “I told you… You’re too handsome to be around these cats…” She said, and she didn’t care if she just broke one of her own rules, she was damn irritated now and she was going to end up smacking someone again if she didn’t talk. “Or do you not see yourself in the mirror? Do you really expect girls like them are going to respect your morals? Your privacy? They’ll eat you alive to get ahead and don’t even choke on your bones.” She shook her head, and once the salve was on, she covered it with a bit of soft moss and pressed down just a little, enough to make it stick before slipping his shirt down gently over his shoulders and down his back. Once she was done? She would move to the door and stand before it, hand on the door knob but she didn’t open it, instead she let it go and moved back to him and crouched down before him in his seat, reaching out to lightly take his hands in hers. “Listen… You’re a good soul… A really good one and you’ve been nicer to me that… Well… Anyone ever. I have never liked anyone before, I usually don’t care about or for people in general, they’re just a mass organism and I wish them well in their lives. But you? You stick out in the crowd to me. There’s this way about you that I really… I really like being around. You make me laugh and your really fascinating, I like that we’re interested in the same stuff and you talk to me, not at me… There’s so much in you I really want to protect… But if you don’t watch yourself here? Those girls WILL try to break you… You haven’t seen them like I have, the way they destroy relationships and lives, all because they want something that no one is offering to them. They’re rotten on the inside and they’ll spread that rot anywhere they can…” She said, giving his hands a gentle squeeze before she stood up, brushing his hair off his face a bit. “Next time you go to shower let me know and I’ll make sure the place is actually clean and I’ll guard the door. Luna and Kit are taking to the head master right now and admitting what they’ve been doing and if they’re smart they will leave you alone… At least for a while… I’m going to start dinner… Just… Relax ok? I’ll bring you a plate… I think you’ve had enough for one day.” She said and with that, she would quickly move to leave the room, feeling strangely naked and wanting to change that… Moving downstairs she would do as she said and start dinner, pulling out venison and baby potatoes, carrots and butter, herbs and tomatoes… She began to pan sear the venison in butter after it had been floured with salt, pepper and garlic. The baby potatoes were boiled until soft before tossed in a bowl with fresh herbs and tomatoes, tossed in light oil and a touch of salt, and of course cooked carrots into a fine fluffy mass. She set it all upin about a half hour, a skilled hand at cooking before she made him a plate, not too big or too small, unsure of his regular portion size… Figuring he was more on the lighter side she made sure not to give him much more than he would have had naturally. She also carried a bottle of wine with her and a glass for him. Once she was there she set it out on a table by his door and lightly knocked before leaving him to it, not wanting… Well… Not that… More like she was unsure if a- he would want to be around her again and b- if he even cared after what she had said…

[Deleted]

..Luna and Kit had been sprung.. you'd caught them by surprise enough to make them stammer their words.. to make then blink and step back a little..-.. Wow.. someones grown a backbone overnight.. what in the ever living Fuck Rose is your problem..why do you care? Oh.. Oh.. someones jealous.. I saw you.. -Luna quipped-.. there at the pool side.. drying his hair with the towel, did it make you giddy.. did it make you feel a bit.. funny inside..-Luna glanced toward Kit there and the pair of them had a giggle between themselves-.. I think someones got a crush.. Someone wants the sweet Doctor all to herself.. You know he said he'd never Fuck one of his students.. looks like you're shit out of luck- before you struck them both with the concoction of truth and remorse.. it easily made its way into their systems by way of simply breathing.. and when someone slaps someone else.. gasps usually occur.. they huffed..

their laughter.. their anger.. all seemed to settle and they sunk back on their heels.. just accepting the lecture they were both being given.. that they could do anything with their lives.. they could be so much and yet they were choosing to throw it all away.. Kits lower lip started trembling.. she shook her head-.. I'm not smart like you.. like anyone.. I'm stupid.. this is all I have.. -she motioned to her figure.. afterall its what got her to the point she was in .. the nurses aid.. she never would have passed those tests on her own if it weren't for the fact she fucked the tutors.. they both visibly winced when you poked them in the foreheads.. over and over.. chewing upon their cheeks.. looking to you through those long dark lashes like a couple of newly scolded children.. they nodded when you said they had to tell the Director just what had occurred here on this day..in detail.. so it would not come back on Jacob what so ever.. and then of course a letter to Jacob directly.. they exhaled and nodded -.. yes..

-spoken in unison.. they were more or less frog marched back to the Hospital.. up to the higher floors where the Directors.. the Managers and Hospital president resided during office hours.. the pair of them disappearing into his office.. though they left the door open just a little.. just a crack so you would be able to hear what was said.. after all you needed to know it was done right?.. every little detail of what occurred within that shower was put down for record.. right down to the biting of his shoulder.. the Director was not terribly pleased with it at all.. and made mention of his disappointment in the two girls.. that they should have known better.. the opportunity that was before them would not come again.. that it was huge.. it was a big deal that no other hospital would offer.. were they really prepared to give it all away over such disrespectful nonsense?.. the two of them pleaded with the Director that it would not happen again.. that they would behave themselves.. he put them both on notice.. that they would be watched.. no three strikes your out policy.. they were on their last .. one more disruption and they would be out on their asses.. before they were both dismissed.. they thanked the Director graciously and backed out of his office quickly.. like a dog with a tail between its legs.. the door closing.. they both looked to you there.. their gaze narrowing just a touch.. before they moved to head out..talking amongst themselves.. realistically your ears should have been burning.. the amount of times your name was coming up between them then.. before they were gone.. somewhere to lick their wounds..



He had remained in the kitchen there for a short while longer.. after everyone had all but left the building.. the Manor.. leaving him to his own devices.. he was angry at himself.. close to being utterly furious.. how could he have been so stupid.. he knew she was hanging about.. he could have locked the door.. but he didn't.. his mind had been elsewhere.. and look where it got him.. into a very.. very uncomfortable position.. all that girl had to do would be to spread something unsavoury around the place ... his brows furrowed he didn't even really want to give it any further thought.. it would just bother him.. moving back up to his room.. stopping though.. just at her door..

he would give the door a little nudge.. and providing it was not locked he would step inside.. she hadn't done a great deal to it.. but realistically it was more than most did.. and she'd done it in a quarter of the time.. the room smelt like her.. he took a breath.. a deeper one than was perhaps necessary.. this was fucking with his head.. his hand pressed to the desk there.. before his lids would half close and he'd whisper up that ward.. the sound bubble for her room.. she'd not hear anything from the one beneath.. not a sound.. just the whistle of the wind outside.. the birds every so often and perhaps splashing coming from the pools.. he turned and made his way out.. letting the door close behind him before he settled in his own room..

sinking down before his own desk.. drawing open a book.. he'd throw himself into his studies.. into deciphering one of his texts.. notably the dwarven one.. his glasses finding their place there upon the end of his nose as his attention was stolen.. the words on the paper just swimming.. circling his mind.. he was stolen from his book nook though by the entrance of another into his space.. his brows furrowed as he glanced back over his shoulder.. noticing it was her.. he watched for a moment.. curious indeed as to just what she was doing.. placing the vials back and then looking for something maybe.. -.. Did you need something Rose?.. -he would question quietly.. though he would receive no reply.. drawing a bit of a breath there.. perhaps whispers on the wind had already begun their gossip cycle.. he turned back to his book there.. grasping his pencil as he began to work back through the letters.. before he heard her small feet moving back up to him there.. he could feel her proximity before she spoke.. turning then in his chair so he was facing her.. his head tilted up.. curious.. his brow arched though when he noticed she had her hands on her hips..

oh he could tell she had shape to her.. she was not straight up and down.. she wasn't extremely curvy either.. she just had those rounded edges that made a woman feminine.. that gave them that hourglass shape.. he blinked when she asked him to take his shirt off.. as if it wasn't quite sinking in-.. sorry?.. -he would question before she would repeat herself.. and then again.. she was only growing more flustered with her queries so she moved behind him and went to remove it herself..-.. Hey hey hey.. Ok!.. ok.. -he blinked once more.. sliding out of the short sleeved shirt first.. before he would draw the t-shirt up over his head.. letting them both come down to rest there upon his lap, the bite mark was substantial.. you could count how many teeth Kit had from it.. the skin had been torn.. it was rather angry looking.. she'd get a better look at the extent of the tattoos upon his back from here.. it was richly done..

a mixture of elvish designs, trbal, dwarven, drow.. all mingling.. all coexisting to make an absolutely stunning work of art.. he sucked in a sharp almost hiss of a breath when she first applied the salve.. though that sting was quickly chased away by just how soothing her touch was.. his head lulled forward and he exhaled softly.. she'd put him to sleep easily with a gentleness like that.. he figured quite quickly though.. since she knew about the bite.. she must have known something about what had happened.. she told him he was too handsome to be around those girls..that did he even look in the mirror.. that surely he didn't just expect they were going to respect his morals and privacy .. that they were going to eat him alive.. he cleared his throat-.. Its not so cut and dry Rose.. -he would speak softly..

feeling he could just about slide off the chair-.. Everyone may not be good but there's always something good in everyone. I was told once.. by my Uncle that.. I was to never judge anyone shortly.. quickly.. because every saint had a past and every sinner had a future. None of us are perfect.. and some will take advantage yes.. you are right.. I wont disagree.. I guess.. I didn't really know those girls that well.. or at least not yet anyway.. so I was gifting them with a similar courtesy.. as I would have done you. You could have done the same to me.. I am perhaps not as good a judge of character as I figured I was.. mmm.. -he shook his head a touch-.. got taken for a bit of a ride.. I could have locked the door.. I probably should have.. I don't know.. Sometimes I trust too easily..

-he glanced toward her as she moved to step across to be in front of him once more.. he grasped his shirt then.. and slid his arms back in.. leaving it unbuttoned for the moment-.. It's not because I am naive.. but because.. I guess my heart wants to believe that not everyone is out to deceive.. perhaps thats foolish..-he watched her as she moved to crouch down there before him.. taking his hands.. a curious gesture indeed.. he offered her a smile when she said she liked being around him.. that he made her laugh.. and that he was indeed quite fascinating.. she gave him her warning.. that those two would try to rot him.. that they would try to ruin him and that he was far to nice for that.. far to genuine to be just wrecked by silly girls.. she released his hands and moved to stand.. his lids grew heavy when she brushed his hair away from his face..he nodded his head when she asked him to tell her when he was going to shower..

that she would more or less stand guard for him.. it was an honerable gesture.. before she moved to step out.. saying she was going to put dinner on.. -.. Rose.. -he would call out to her when she was half out the door - Thank you.. -he rubbed his lips together-. for..well everything.. -he paused-.. you're a special gift.. happily accepted and deeply appreciated.. Thank you.. -he would allow her to go and prepare dinner as she had said earlier..

he turned back to his texts there.. glancing down a the pages.. though the words were all just a blur ..and it would be then that he'd realise he had snapped his pencil in half..he blew out a bit of a breath there.. his free hand rising to rake back through his hair.. -.. What are you doing.. this.. no.. just.. no.. -he rolled his neck.. moving to stand there.. his shoulder felt good.. it was no longer heated or angry.. it was just a little sore and would probably be almost completely healed by morning.. she was incredibly smart.. switched on.. his heart seized a little in his chest there.. taking his breath away as his thoughts wandered a bit more.. he coughed .. moving to step out onto his balcony.. sinking down onto one of the iron chairs..

he lit up one of those cigarettes since his earlier one had been interrupted rather rudely.. there was a tap at the door though it was so gentle he didn't catch it.. considering his current choice of location.. an envelope slid under the door.. addressed to Dr Anikin.. it would be Kits apology letter.. the girl not being game enough to actually deliver it herself.. she'd no doubt hide in her room for a good few days.. at least in the short term.. until things settled and blew over.. he did however catch the sound of her knocking there.. or was it more the scent of food that took a strangle hold on his attention.. he moved to stand.. drawing the door open.. seeing the plate there upon the table.. and catching sight of her just about disappearing behind her bedroom door.. he leant against the door frame there.. -.. Rose.. -he called across to her-.. Do you want to join me?.. out on the balcony.. could call it an impromptu teaching session.. You don't have to.. the offers there though..

-he nodded a little.. lingering for a moment before he gathered up the plate and bottle there and he moved back inside.. making his way through his room.. back out onto the balcony there.. he sank down onto the scattered cushions instead of using the table this time.. just wanting to catch the last of the sunlight before it finally settled for the night..popping the cork on the bottle he poured himself a glass of the wine.. the food smelt fucking incredible.. he couldn't deny that.. when she said she could cook a little she was clearly talking herself down.. if she did join him he would shift across a bit.. there was plenty of room to stretch out.. she could settle across from him with her back to the balcony bars.. or she could settle in beside him to watch the sun setting.. -.. You so lied to me.. you said you could only cook a little.. whats this then?.. are you hiding a cook down there in the cupboards?.. or are you perhaps a budding chef.. moonlighting as a striper?..

-he took a few bites of the potatoes.. the carrots and tomatoes.. everything just melted away.. it was beautifully seasoned.. he was impressed..-.. Wow.. yes.. you need to cook more often.. -he laughed a little nodding his head-.. so we have a chef.. -he motioned toward her-.. and a Nanny.. -he pointed to himself-.. what other positions could the remainder of the household keep do you think?.. -taking a sip of the wine there.. he sunk against the side of the manor proper.. just looking out over the grounds.. though not actually looking at anything.. a little silence settled between them-.. Tell me a bit about you.. if you don't mind of course.. I'd like to learn what makes Rose.. well.. Rose.. what do you like to do in your spare time?.. Its clear you like to travel.. at least back to Arvandor..I'm interested.. I'm curious.. though dont feel you have to tell me anything you are not comfortable to.. no harm.. no foul.. I respect privacy.. -he nodded-..

[BadInfluence]

She figured no one knew she was out here but Jacob so yes, she sure as hell took advantage of the situation, the opportunity it afforded her to get the jump on them. Their stammering only went to go and show they were gossiping, after all no one who’s talking about the truth stammers, it’s only lies that trip up the tongue. Of course what she said next had her glaring hard at Luna and honestly, if she didn’t have her hands full? She would have probably graped her right in the mouth! Left her a big ol bruiser too and not held a drop of shame for it either! Of course one of the other reasons she didn’t was because Luna said something that suddenly took a strange hold on her brain, like a neat little noose choking off all other thought for a moment. Funny inside? Crush? She admittedly freely to herself she didn’t feel like she had this morning, and she had been blaming it on a fruit she had for lunch, thinking maybe it was just some funky form of food poisoning… But… What if Luna was right? What if she was feeling something for the doctor? Her thoughts struggled in that mire until they giggled and she snapped out of it and bit back in rapid oder. “I have nothing and no one to be jealous of Luna. If he likes someone that’s his own business and sure as hell isn’t any of mine. THAT’S your issue Luna. You want to be so far up everyone’s butt you can smell what they’re having for breakfast next week. Fact is? I really could care less if he wants to fuck someone or not. A person’s worth sure as hell isn’t between there legs and if I DID have any designs on Dr. Anikin? I’m not going to try and win a man over with the bits I was born with. Love isn’t found that way, if it was, whore houses would go out of business in no time flat.” If she wanted him… How WOULD she win him if not through sex? She might look down on it but it wasn’t like women hadn’t been using that trick since the dawn of the sexes to start with… No if she did figure out if it was food poisoning or feelings? She’d decide from there, but she definitely wouldn’t use sex to do it, she’d just have to hope he wanted her for just her… Anything else? Was just going to lead to a whole lot of heart break for both of them.



All of that was thought in a split second before she slapped both Luna and Kit, she had honestly had enough with the two of them, their games and petty actions. She wasn’t holding anything back like she had before, she wasn’t afraid to show she had that backbone Luna accused her of, a truth that it had always been there but they hadn’t been worth showing it to until now. Not on behalf of herself, but for Jacob, because he wasn’t able to do it himself. She was ashamed of them, the fact she had to share the same sex with them just burned her up, seeing the very duplicity of the worst of her species coming up full tilt like that… It was disgusting. They had options and opportunity, a chance to apply themselves but instead they were going to throw it all away by trying to use tricks that were never going to actually do anything more than land them with a reputation that would stick for years, if not decades. When Kit spike up though she honestly felt bad for her, wondering who had taken her as a kid and told her that, who had destroyed her self-worth so thoroughly that she honestly thought what she had in form was all she was worth. Not all apples are rotten the same as Luna and Ellen, some like poor Kit end up having a worm that eats them up on the inside, and she wished Kit could have avoided it… Being raised at the orphanage did have some perks… No one picks on you to the point that something like that had ever happened to her. She wasn’t told good or bad, she was just ignored, which let her build herself up just as she wanted… “The great thing about a brain Kit is that you CAN get smarter. It’s a muscle, the more you use it, the better it gets. Right now? You have a chance to really learn, to get smart, to really make something of yourself. The only person who can hold you back is you, Kit, no one else. You want to learn? You want to get smart? I’ll help you. But stop thinking that sex is the only way to get ahead. You do that and I’ll tutor you and help you with notes. But you mess up again? I’ll drop you like a hot potato and walk.” Gods what the HELL was she getting into?! Here she was offering to help someone she really wanted to beat the tar out of! She had to be insane, Luna was totally wrong, this act alone proved it. She didn’t have feelings she had just lost her damned mind. Stupid fruit. She laid down the rest of the law like Moses and the tablets, and sure enough she let her frustrations show there before she had their yes and marched them to the proper person, and she wouldn’t leave until she heard everything she needed to hear. The stuff could wear off at any minute, hell it was at best a prototype and could even be volatile perhaps, so she wasn’t taking any chances. She stood by the door, leaning against the wall as she listened to the proper and full account of what had happened, making sure there was going to be no chance for rumors to go around and ruin Jacobs reputation. She was also glad that they got the warning but they still had a chance to do something right with their lives, to follow this path out through to the end, and she honestly hoped this was enough to help them realize what they could do… If only they’d quit the damn games. Her last real concern now wasn’t them trying on Jacob again, they aught to know by now she was going to protect him from that kind of crap, no it was worse… It was their teacher she worried about… He played on their need for attention and sex and she doubted he actually had any real care to teach them anything other than coitus… What could be done with it though? She rubbed her forehead and sighed, trying to chant to herself that it wasn’t her ducks, and not her pond… Just repeating it over and over again until they left the room. Sure enough she caught the look and it just made her grin, arms crossed over her chest, brow raised… She had enough energy for round two if she needed to lay down another smackdown of truth. Instead they just hustled off fast down the stairs and she watched them go, knowing for a fact she had pretty much made herself public enemy and she was going to have a damn rough year ahead of her, but she couldn’t find a single reason to complain or cry about it… She did it for a good reason and she never felt remorse for moments like that.



She took her time back down the stairs and back to the manse, figuring Jacob might need a while still to collect himself, given what she had just heard through the door the poor guy had officially been smacked by the what the hell stick more than a few times in a row. Well… That and since she had seen him with a wet shirt she kinda knew a little of what he looked like and… Maybe… Her mind was wandering down some not so puritan paths for the first time… Like… What had he looked like when he was naked? She tried to form an imagine in her head but nothing solidified, not really, all she saw was his back and the tattoo’s… Even so? It was enough to make her blush furiously and cover her ears with her hands and shake her head hard, completely and utterly frustrated with herself and the stupidity her brain and body were suddenly deciding to perform, like some autistic specialized fever she had to suffer through. She ended up pausing once or twice on her way, seeing an herb garden on the way back to the house she plucked a few for dinner, already thinking about what she was going to do and sliding the herbs into a side pocket on her bag for later use. She had a goal in mind, and she figured by now he should have cooled himself off enough to be fit for public, or at least a visit from her. So she headed upstairs, glad the sex sounds were entirely gone and it was strange how much that settled her down, easing her way up past that floor and up to the third. She didn’t knock, knocking would invite a possible rejection and she wasn’t giving him that option, instead she simply walked in and began to put his precious collection back where she had found him taking them out in the first place. She heard his words but didn’t reply, she just kept on her path she had designated for herself, going to where she had seen his vials of potions and poultices and picking out the right ones to help with what she was sure to be a rather ugly bit of business. Humans had FILTHY mouths… Nasty bacterial filled things and a bite could easily get infected, and the last thing she wanted was for him to catch a fever and be out of work for a few days, she needed to learn a whole lot more than he needed to get sick. When she had found what she was looking for she came back to stand before him in his chair, and asked him to take his shirt off so she could tend to the bite, and at his confusion? She repeated herself again. She didn’t blame him for jet lag, after he was just pounced by Kit, she was at least understanding that he might be leery of anything a female asked for a little while. She tried again… Still he had this fish out of water look on his face and she sighed and came up behind him to take it off of him herself if he was going to be playing thick Theodore. When he finally seemed to put two and two together she stopped instantly and stepped away, giving him the space to do what she had asked, hands resting at her sides. “Thank you.” She was calm and peaceful… Until those shirts came off and it was like the little scene in her head got a whole lot more vivid and she was washed over with the scent of his skin as it warmed the air around him… The vivid color of the tattoo’s against his skin… Her heart suddenly seemed to stop and stall out before racing like a hunted rabbit, her mouth went dry all over again and that same lump came back, and she itched to touch him for reasons she couldn’t figure… She didn’t even understand what was going on and so much of her shied away from it. Thankfully once she saw the wound she could focus on that and she hissed softly under her breath the moment she saw it. “Damn Cat…” She swore softly under her breath as she began to tend to his wound. She applied the salve and she heard the hiss and she made soft soothing noises as she made sure to be through buy quick. “Shh I know...” She said as she worked with a soft touch, easing his pains away with care and compassion, making sure she did everything she could to ensure it wouldn’t get infected and would heal up clean and neat. She pressed a soft pad of healing moss over it and it was as she worked she talked, asking if he just didn’t realize he was handsome or not, even if it meant she had to confess to things she never would have before… Breaking personal laws within herself in this case and unwilling to keep them going in this situation… He needed to hear things and she couldn’t keep them guarded behind her teeth anymore.



“Jacob…” She said softly as he spoke, hearing about the wise words from his uncle, good rules to live by they honestly were… But nowhere in that life lesson did it ever say for him to take care of himself… She gently touched along his back as she stood there, tracing the lines of his tattoo’s softly and letting herself fell this guilty twisting in her stomach, knowing every time she touched him she felt that jump but she was looking for it… That twist and churning… The sudden feeling of not belonging in her own skin anymore… The fact he was warm under her fingers… The scent of his skin almost bleeding into her fingertips like she could store it up like a cologne she could guiltily sniff when she pleased… “There is good in everyone… Don’t ever stop believing that. This world has a lot of light under some of the darkest shadows but Jacob… There’s a difference between being willing to see the light and the foolishness of wading into the dark… You can have faith in someone for their goodness, but there is nothing wrong with letting them prove you wrong or right, to giving them the benefit of the doubt while also keeping yourself safe…” She didn’t realize that as she talked she was slipping into giving him something akin to a gentle massage, finding the tight muscles and began to gently work them free, fingers soft as silk on his skin. “You are a good judge of character… Kit isn’t a monster but she keeps too much company with one and if she isn’t careful she’d be eaten up and turned into one too… But that’s not your fault or your responsibility…” It was hers, and she had already signed up with that devil, so she was going to be handling that on her own. She wasn’t sure if Kit was going to be able to change her path but she’d try to help, but the second Kit stopped trying to get better, she’d walk. She wanted to help but she wasn’t some super hero trying to save all the broken people in the world. She realized she had been touching him too much for too long and blushed, stepping away from him and moving around the side of his chair to leave, her hand on the doorknob as he spoke, and she couldn’t just leave it there. She came back and crouched before him in his chair, taking his hands in hers, a first for her to initiate touch with anyone like that…  Taking someone hands was even more personal than tending a wound to her... More intimate... She confessed how he had her feeling, how much she liked being around him and how he made her happy, made her want to be around him… He stood out to her like a rose in a field of weeds and all she wanted to do was be next to him and she didn’t want him to be ruined by people who couldn’t care about what a beautiful thing they were trying to break… She stood after she said her little reveal and brushed his hair off of his forehead for a moment, asking him to let her know next time he was going to grab a shower, at least this way she could make sure he wouldn’t get stuck in a similar situation again. She headed off to make dinner then, pausing at the door as he called her name, tuning her head to look at him over her shoulder… Hoping he couldn’t see the pink on her cheeks… “Life gives us just what we need when we need it… You’re not the only one who was given a gift today…” She said before she left and closed the door behind her, her cheeks flaming as she went down stairs to start on dinner, easily sorting her way around the area as she set water to boiling and the like.



She used to cook all the time at the orphanage, she was good at stretching food out and making it taste good, so it had become her chore along with tutoring the little ones between meals. She liked venison too personally, it was lean and flavorful, had a million and one uses in the kitchen and could go with anything. It was plentiful in the fall and she used to cure and dry it so they could make it into soups in the winter when things got tight. The potatoes were much the same, like all root vegetables they had a lot of flex in them, and considering it was still warm out she decided on something light and easy. Fluffy seasoned carrots and boiled baby potatoes with herbs and oil, a touch of salt and pan seared venison that had been floured and seasoned. She managed it all in good time and made sure there was enough for anyone else who might want to eat, setting it in the oven so it would be warm when they got to it, taking up the plates and a bottle of wine and a glass for Jacob. If anyone needed a glass, or hell even a bottle of wine, it was him. He’d had one hell of a day and chances were he could really appreciate the restful lull of wine and good food. She had knocked softly, ready to leave the plate by the door on the table, not wanting to face him in a way… She wasn’t even sure if she could, she was still in shock with herself after what she had said and done, everything with her in the last couple of hours was so not her usual self… But she liked it… Too much maybe… But even so she wanted to be around him, her fear was that he didn’t, and she wasn’t going to thrust herself into his zone. She’d done that once after all. She was about to get into her room with her own plate when he came out and she blushed, taking a deep breath and trying to get the pink from her cheeks before she turned her head to look at him. What he asked next had her blinking in surprise. “Are… You sure?” She’d already taken up a lot of his time… But when he called it an impromptu teaching lesson and she smiled, tuning around then to look at him full on, leaning on the door frame a minute. “Ah Huh... Sounds perfect.” She said and made her way across the hall to his bedroom, her heart racing again and she just gave up on a whole lot of it, what ever this was? Food poisoning or feelings? She was just going to ride it out… She couldn’t fight it obviously and it would probably be better tomorrow, right? Right. So it was best to just roll with it and let it do it’s thing… She followed him inside and out to the balcony, having a bottle of cider with her instead of wine, the sweet tart apple drink a guilty favorite of hers and something she looked forward to enjoying.



When she saw the options of where to sit, she hesitated a moment, debating… She could sit across from him and watch him… Or she could sit beside him… It was so much harder than she thought it would be, because she wanted to just sit in one place, but the other side of her was trying to argue that it would make her look… Bad… In the end what she wanted won out, and she settled in beside him, plate in her lap as she watched the slowly changing colors of the sky as he talked. When he stared to eat and commented about her lying she ended up giggling suddenly and loudly, head tilted back against the building carefully holding her plate so the potatoes wouldn’t roll right off. “I totally have a poor runt of a dwarf down in the cupboards, I feed him on moss and sarcasm and drag him out to cook whatever I want, and if he burns something I punish him with overripe tomatoes.” She teased still laughing, that sort of tinkling melody that comes from inside a soul, her lips curled up in a bright smile as her eyes closed. When she was done laughing she turned her head to look at him, poking him softly in the arm as she shook her head, watching him with that smile still on her lips. “I said I could cook a little but I wouldn’t impress royalty, I was quite honest! Besides, it’s just some roots and a bit of venison. Still, I am really glad you like it, I figure after the day you’ve had if anyone needs this, you do. A lot.” She said, blushing and smiling at his compliments, spearing bits of meat and potatoes together as she ate. She had really good table manners for an orphan, she made sure to take smaller bites and not scrape her knife on the plate, things like that. She took a drink of her cider and instantly knew in that moment it wasn’t her typical cider they gave the kids… This was adult cider… Alcoholic and strong too… Well she could sleep it off right? What ever… She had had alcohol once or twice so she was sure she could handle this. “I offered every other day with you but I might be able to cook more often if you make it an extra credit thing… Even if I don’t need it it’s always good to have a little padding.” She teased and looked over the grounds then, watching the birds flying home to meet with their partners and their little ones, nestling in to wait the night out while the other creatures took their place in the play of life. She was smiling all over again at his words and thought about it, tapping her chin as she tried to puzzle out where to put who, giggling softly even as she did. “Ah that’s hard! Luna could be a house maid? Shes got such a stick up her arse if we put bristles on the end of it she’d sweep as she walked… Course with such a big butt we’d have to glue things to their stands or we’d spend a fortune replacing broken decorative china…” She just had this bright smile on her lips, her eyes flashing with laughter and light, that blush still on her cheeks but nothing was going to be able to chase it away. It was there to stay, for today at least. She took another drink and felt the warmth start to spread out through her belly and relax her even more, leaving her feeling warm and a little fuzzy, and quite content in the moment. “Dr. Faelon would make a really great head butler of course, he’s smart and stiff as a ruler, so you know he’ll make sure everyone’s in their proper place and such… Hmmm… Everyone else we could just make kitchen workers? Run the spits and peel the potatoes… Well maybe not… Dr. Pretty Boy might try to seduce the poor ceiling hams… Anything to feel like someone’s thinking he’s pretty… Maybe put him on chambermaid duty… He can flirt with chamber pots all day…” She continued on teasingly as they ate, slipping into a comfortable silence between them, finishing off most of her place before he asked to know about her…



He wanted to know about her…



What did that mean, exactly? No one had ever wanted to know about her, ever… It was a strange thing for one, and two, it was him asking… It just made her blush all over again… She finished off her plate as she thought it over, a few more drinks of her cider before she felt comfortable enough to speak, setting her plate to the side as she brought her knees up to her chest… Arms around them… Bottle handing from her fingers against her legs… Chin atop her knees as she thought about how to reply… “It’s not that I’m not comfortable… And if I was going to share it with anyone… It’s going to be you.” She said, pondering for a few more moments before she settled back against the pillow, leaning against him just a little bit, though that was more so the fact she was starting to feel the cider and she was pretty relaxed… “I spent my life at the orphanage and helped raise the other kids there, I did a lot of different things there, cooking and cleaning… Helping the little ones learn to read and write… Basic math… I watched them all get adopted over the years, I was happy for them, but it wasn’t for me… I was antisocial even as a kid, I didn’t ever feel like I belonged, sort of like a rabbit with a bunch of swans… I think I gave up the idea of being adopted when I was seven… Just decided if no one wanted me? I didn’t want them either.” Bit of a raw truth there… And it also made a big part of who she was too, the fact she cared so little for other people’s opinions, why she able to function so well entirely on her own without any guidance or supervision. “You can only stay in the orphanage to the age of sixteen, after that you get cycled out, they say your old enough to survive on your own. I admit it was rough but I did pretty good. I got a job at the tea house in town, I make the blends and bag them or make loose leaf tins, few hours a day but I made enough to survive on my own. Rented a few small rooms or lofts in barns for a while until I decided I want to be a striper at the hospital after all the books I had read… I wanted to give back to the community that had paid to raise me, after all, orphanages run on charity and I felt like it was a good step in the right direction.” She’d began as a striper a little before spring so she had been there a few months but not much more than that, perhaps four months at best, but she had done well. She was given a lot of jobs a regular striper wouldn’t get but she showed and aptitude and a willingness to do it so she moved well. She finished off her cider and set the bottle on her plate to the side, and she would take his too once he was done eating, setting them away as they watched the sun start to dip behind the mountains and trees… The sky changing from blue to scarlet and vermillion, deepest shades of violet and indigo, the clouds looking more like colorful smoke from a hundred different fireworks… “I play my melodica in my quiet time… If I can’t sleep I sneak into the library in town through a basement window that doesn’t have a latch and I can spend entire nights there sometimes, just reading all the medical books or the ones on herbology and the property of plants…” Yep… She was a little fuzzy… She just confessed that she totally broke into a closed library regularly to read books when she couldn’t sleep at night. Who the hell does that? Right? Her, of course, little miss touched in the head. She stretched out and found herself sinking a little more into his side, her head resting on his shoulder as she watched the last of the light fading from the sky, her hair brushing across his arm with the warm smooth breeze that played across their skin on that balcony. “I go to Arvandor to try and find my parents… There’s woods there near where they found me… They were all dead… Burned down… But I brought them back… I’ve spent years bringing them all back to life… Everything… I stay there during the festivals and I wait… I hope my mom or dad… Someone will miss me and go looking… I think they’re dead though… I keep calling but no one ever comes, no one answers, and that’s ok… I do ok…” She said nodding her head, waiting for the first couple of stars to come out, and once they did she would point them out to him with a smile as she did so. “I went to Menzoberranzan that one year to trade and maybe see if anyone had heard about burnt wood area, maybe some old stories, maybe a drow raid on the surface… Never know unless you ask right? But all that sex? I freaked out… I didn’t even make it past the first gate before I bolted like a big old chicken. I just don’t understand it. Surely it can’t feel that good can it? I mean honestly? I understand the aspect of it for procreation but aside from that it seems like a messy smelly bit of business.” She went silent for a while, finding her fingers sliding across to stroke along his arm absentmindedly, a cross between a caress and a massage that she was completely unaware of doing. “The baby picture you have… Is it you?...Or your son?... You don’t have to answer but I was curious… You have no rings and you work here… Live here… It’s not something a husband would do, is it? I admit I don’t know a whole lot there… For our kind it’s different but even for us I don’t understand much… I might have the body and ears of an elf but most of my life I’ve lived like a human… Feel like I just don’t belong anywhere sometimes… Sorry… I’m rambling… I think I underestimated the cider…” She said, curling up into his side even as she did so, resting comfortably against him… She was just tall enough to be utterly comfortable there, but short enough to take up to next to no room, like she might have even been made to fit right there at his side. She closed her eyes and drifted there, not asleep but resting, fully relaxed and peaceful for the first time in her life… Was a little like a drug, being around him, it made her feel like she finally got to touch the floor rather than drift around like a pod in the wind… “I really like this…” She said softly as she rested against him, listening to the sound of his heartbeat, the scent of him enveloping her along with the scent of the world as it comes into night time… His breathing… The feel of his cotton shirt under his cheek and how warm he was… The cool night air… It was perfect…


[/i]

[Deleted]

..he had leant against the door frame there.. his arms crossed about his chest, his shirt remained unbuttoned though slightly bunched up what with his current stance.. he called out to her.. asking her if she wanted to join him.. she'd done a lot for him on this particular day.. a lot more than he could remember anyone doing for quite some time.. and his shoulder well it felt a lot better than it had earlier.. the slight ache hit him every so often.. mostly when he moved around.. but otherwise he had all but forgotten the event had even happened..

he crouched down to gather up the envelope that rested there.. the apology she had gotten Kit to write him.. he slid it down into his back pocket before he plucked up the plate of food.. the bottle and glass.. waiting for her to enter the room.. before he would close the door behind them both.. -.. this smells incredible.. - he would mention quietly.. making his way through the bedroom proper.. out onto the balcony.. she had her choice there.. she could sit at the table to his left.. or upon the bundled up cushions and rugs.. which was where he was to settle.. sinking down to sit so his back was pressed to the Manors outside wall..

his plate coming to rest there upon his lap.. bottle to his side.. he popped the cork there.. pouring the richly coloured liquid.. he waited until she sat down.. even going so far as to shift a little across to make sure she had enough room there and was atop the rugs instead of beside them.. the wooden base of the balcony could get quite cool if one sat on it directly.. it was well into the late afternoon by this stage.. coming into the evening.. the sky was coloured.. though it was all fading quite fast..

there would only be dim sunlight for a short while longer.. before it would inevitably set.. he laughed a little when he called her a liar.. that she could clearly cook unless she was hiding someone in the cupboards down there. her response had him nodding as he picked up his cutlery-.. Ah! yes of course I figured as much.. well do make sure to tell him thank you when you see him next.. he can whip up a fine meal.. -he glanced toward her there a moment.. as if offering a thank you to her.. though without words-.. it's been a day.. thats for sure.. - he didn't want to say it was bad.. it wasn't ALL bad.. just key parts of it.. sure it was certainly up there as being one of the worst he'd had in a while.. but it circled around.. and this.. this was just nice.. -.. This is really very good.. -he took some of the vegetables.. a little of the seasoned meat.. a sip of wine every so often.. a quiet eater.. there was no teeth gnashing or knife dragging.. whoever brought him up had done so right.. extremely good table manners..

he placed his cutlery down when she offered to cook more often if he could make it an extra credit thing.. the corners of his lips curled and he chuckled-.. now thats cheeky.. -he nudged her with his elbow just lightly-.. I'll certainly give it some thought.. It would be nice to not have to cook all the time.. I could focus on other things a bit more.. but we will see.. though yes.. I think you are right.. I highly doubt you're going to need the extra credits.. -he turned back to his meal there.. taking a few more bites.. his head tilting back against the wall as he looked out over the horizon.. watching as the ball of light was slowly slipping down behind the mountains..

taking another drink from his glass there.. he broke the silence.. asking about her.. about what she liked to do.. about who she was as a person.. whatever little tid bits of information she actually wanted to share.. he didn't want to make her feel like she had to.. or to offer up anything that made her uncomfortable.. he was just genuinely interested ..he wanted to know about her..he tilted his head as he turned to watch her shifting.. getting comfortable.. drawing her knees up like a child would.. it made him smile.. it was kinda cute.. he nodded when she spoke about how she could share it with him..-.. well I am honoured Rose.. the floor is yours..

-he took a few more bites of the meal there.. a little more of the vegetables.. the meat.. before he placed it aside..having had his fill.. it was just heavy enough to sit in the belly.. to make one feel full without feeling ill.. just that warmth.. was beautiful.. he held onto the glass then.. falling silent as she spoke..the orphanage.. cooking.. cleaning.. how she never really felt like she belonged.. a little antisocial perhaps.. he nodded..he was surprised to hear she worked at the tea shop in town.. that she made the blends.. that it gave her just enough income to be able to rent housing here and there.. before she decided to take on the role he knew her in.. the striper.. -

.. Ah! I do like my tea.. I've never actually been to that tea house though.. perhaps I should pay it a visit.. i'd probably get something a bit more catered to my tastes.. rather than the concoction that I have downstairs.. it's not that its bad.. it's most certainly drinkable.. it's just a bit.. well.. flat.. -his knee rose there - perhaps it is you whom I should be enquiring to about my tea.. the expert.. bending as his elbow came down to rest upon it.. dragging his fingers back though his hair..-.. forgive me.. do go on.. of course..

-he didn't mean to interrupt.. she spoke on how she played an instrument.. and that she snuck into the town library when she was unable to sleep.. to read the medical books..his brow rose a touch and he chuckled..-.. Well now.. a little criminal in my midst..that's awesome.. -he laughed-.. and to read medical books.. I'm impressed.. You could have gotten up to all kinds of mischief.. but no.. you're a little bookworm.. no wonder you're so smart.. -the sun had settled by this stage.. the bright light disappearing behind the mountains.. the night sky shifting in.. growing deeper and darker as each moment passed.. he felt her shifting every so often.. closer and closer.. before her head came down to rest there upon his shoulder.. he felt his heart take a bit of a sudden start.. a short seize before it sped to catch up to its regular rhythm.. he swallowed.. clearing his throat.. he didn't move however.. he remained still.. only shifting a touch to reach around her.. to draw the rug up over her opposite side.. he listened when she spoke about Arvandor..

how her visits were to try and find her family.. how she remained during each festival in hopes that she would find her family.. that she is sure though that they would probably be deceased.. he exhaled a little.. he slid his arm around her.. so she could settle in properly against his side.. he rubbed her arm just lightly-.. I'm sorry you haven't been able to locate your family Rose.. If you like I could look them up for you in the hall of records.. it would tell you one way or the other.. at least for sure if they were still within the realm of the living or if they had indeed passed over.. your call of course.. -he wouldn't pressure her.. he knew all to well what finding out the truth about family could do to a person..his head tilted upward when she began to point out the stars then.. his gaze.. that duo blue and green watching the glittering lights as they began their show..he himself used his free hand to point out one she had missed.. or perhaps did not know about.. the netted stars.. before she mentioned her short visit to Menzoberranzan.. he found the fact that sex freaked her out.. quite intriguing..

how she bolted before even making it past the first set of gates.. he rubbed his cheek lightly with his free hand there.. though what she said next.. well that just about floored him.. causing his brows to furrow.. were it possible she was really that inexperienced?.. it would make sense in some respects.. but wow.. really?..was she a virgin?.. god help her if Dr Sex on Legs found that out.. he paused.. allowing the silence to settle between the two.. watching as her fingers tickled down the length of his arm there.. along the designs inked into his flesh-..

It certainly has its place.. whilst yes you are indeed correct that down to the core of it.. Sex is for procreation.. it is for the guaranteed continuation of the humanoid race.. however.. -he tilted his head.. being very.. very careful with his choice of words-.. hmm.. your view of sex is a little.. skewed.. I'm not entirely sure where that is from.. but.. all I will say is.. it can be incredibly good and it can be incredibly bad.. -he laughed a little-.. don't be frightened of it.. it's just another facet of a very.. very long life.. give me a moment..

-he slowly pulled away from her.. moving back into his room there.. he shifted around.. running his fingers across his books..before he plucked one out.. he didn't want to embarrass her.. but he felt it would help.. hopefully anyway.. even if only a little.. he slipped it out of the dust jacket so the name of the book would not be on the outside..it was the Paramour guide to relations and self pleasure.. the mind.. the body..the soul.. he tied it up with some twine so she wouldn't open it just yet.. before he would return to her outside.. sinking back down beside her.. he'd place the book down.. tapping it with his fingers-.. bedtime reading.. for later..-would she simply figure it was one of his many books for her to catch up on.. to browse to get ready for his studies.. he hoped as much.. he didn't want to make her uncomfortable..

he reached for his glass once more.. taking another small drink before she tossed the question at him.. making him swallow a bit harder than he was prepared for.. it was about the picture.. the baby one he kept on his desk.. he nodded a little.. -.. you're right.. I dont wear any rings.. I do live here.. for the most part.. its most certainly not something a husband would do.. a good one anyway.. -he pulled the rug up a little more.. so he had it partially covering his legs.. slowly buttoning his shirt whilst he spoke-..It is my son yes.. in that picture.. his name is Kace (K ace) .. he is not very old.. though growing like a weed.. I see him as often as I can..

-he downed the remainder of the wine from his glass there before he placed it down beside the almost empty plate-.. I'm a widower Rose.. my wife Cora died shortly after giving birth.. -he dragged his tongue across his teeth there.. his free hand rose as he rubbed at his chin.. his cheeks.. it wasn't as raw as it used to be.. but it still stung a little.. and probably would for.. many.. many years to come..-..

He is being raised by my family back in Arvandor .. my uncle and my parents.. it's not ideal.. but.. it works for now .. and to be honest.. of all the parents Kace could have gotten.. my Uncle.. at least to me.. one of the best.. he brought me up afterall.. -he nodded when she spoke on living mostly as a human.. despite having the physical characteristics of an elf.. how she was unsure on what to do and how she felt she didn't really belong anywhere-.. Arvandor.. really would be your best bet to learn.. all there is to learn about our kind.... You said wood elf.. I know of quite a few that could help you.. I myself am part Wood elf.. part Witch elf ..it's where you would have gotten your affinity for plants and plant life i general.. the earth just knows you.. it..feels you..if.. you get what I mean..

-he nodded.. he was perhaps not being as articulate as he normally would be thanks to the softening of the wine-.. you're not rambling really it's fine.. talk as much as you like.. -he waved his hand a little..-.. I grew up without my parents.. my Mother died when i was born.. which leads me to believe I could well be cursed.. -he exhaled.. it would explain how Cora just.. died..-.. i was raised by my Uncle and his wife at the time.. thrown into my studies from a very young age.. once my gift presented itself I was needed.. I shifted here.. to get away from it all for a while.. to just have a bit of space to breathe.. Arvandor will always be my home.. always..I love it there.. it's where my parents live.. all four of them.. Thats a story in of itself right there.. -he laughed a little.. shaking his head-.. it's where my family reside.. it's where I have a job.. I have a practise there.. I'm a Paramour.. a Doctor.. a Father..a Son.. -he pursed his lips together-.. sometimes I just need to get away from it.. so much responsibility.. it's pretty terrible huh?.. walking away from it like I do.. I feel a bit.. suffocated sometimes.. and when Cora passed.. well.. I just couldn't.. no one seems to judge me for it.. yet I judge myself for it..-and pretty harshly..

-he tilted his head down a little toward her when she whispered that she really liked this.. those few well timed words would have had his heart doing a few more flips there in his chest and if she was listening she more than likely would have caught it.. -.. It is nice.. it's a beautiful evening.. very calming.. Thankyou for joining me.. -he would offer a smile even though her eyes were closed..he tipped his head back a little.. letting his own eyes drift half closed.. his arm was still around her.. the rug was pulled up.. keeping the chill of the wind off of her almost completely.. apart from his face.. there was a chirping.. just gentle.. just quietly.. enough to shake him from his relaxing quiet comfort.. to spot a swallow.. there upon the iron railing.. -.. mmm.. -he chuckled a little.. -.. watch..

-he motioned toward the tiny bird there.. hopping along the railing as it did.. it was far to late for an actual swallow to be out wandering.. he reached his free arm out.. a slight soft whistle sounded and the bird hopped across.. -.. this should only take a moment.. forgive the interruption.. -he'd whisper to her.. before the bird disappeared in a puff of glittery sparkles.. and a wavering image took its place.. like someone looking down into a crystal clear pond.. every now and then there would be a ripple or two.. but for the most part it was clear.. it was an image.. a message perhaps or something akin to a live call..

a childs voice would call out.. though you could only see the top of his blond head.. he was far to short.. he was jumping to try and get into the image.. spotting duo coloured eyes must like his own.. -.. Good Evening Aylan.. -he called out quietly with a chuckle.. I dont have long.. whats going on?.. -he tilted his head down to her.. to speak softly.. -.. it's my little brother..-the child or what she would have been able to see would have appeared around seven.. maybe eight years old.. before he took off down the back.. leaving the scene to fall silent once more.. he was confused as to what was going on.. before someone plucked up whatever the recording device was and turned it around.. making him feel a bit dizzy in the process.. it was Sybelle.. -.. Ah! Mother.. of course.. how are you?.. -he would question.. offering a smile.. she looked as she always did.. lavender coloured curls hanging loose on either side of her head.. a youth that seemed quite remarkable for someone who should have looked quite a bit older.. she mentioned being busy.. that Kace was well.. hitting every milestone.. she would have continued.. gone into a bit more detail before she noticed he was sitting with someone.. that he was not alone.. her eyes widened a little and her smile grew..

she asked quickly whom it was there with him.. and why wasn't she told!.. how it was exciting..he chuckled and shook his head-.. This is one of my students Mother.. this is Rose.. -the Mother hmmm'd a moment.. looking across.. offering a smile.. -.. She looks smart.. and really quite beautiful.. are you sure you're not hiding anything from me Jacob?.. -Male voices could be heard calling out to him.. perhaps his Father? or one of them in any least..and then of course to tell Sybelle to shut it and leave the poor boy alone.. that she was embarrassing him..his brows furrowed..-.. Was there a reason for this?.. something that had to be said right now or perhaps could have waited..till tomorrow?.. -he rubbed his lips together..-.. not that I am at all unappreciative of the time we get to talk Mother.. -she huffed a little.. -.. Don't forget about your Uncle Garafins bucks night.. it's coming up.. if you arent there he will come to the surface to get you.. you know he will.. just.. giving you a gentle reminder.. thats all.. Rose is of course.. welcome..

-her smile widened a bit more before the recording device was grabbed once more.. this time by a gentleman.. it would have been Diovan.. apologising for Sybelles interference..-.. Ignore her.. she always gets this way when she's pregnant.. -he was suddenly wacked about the head by little pale hands.. he ducked for cover-.. Ill see you soon Jacob. -he laughed.. trying to fend off the smacking he was recieving before the image burst.. and silence fell about them once again...he groaned a little-.. Im sorry.. -he laughed a little awkwardly-..are you comfortable still.. or getting a bit too cold?

[BadInfluence]

The invite to eat with him had her torn in two very opposite ways, making her feel like she was going to be torn down the middle, a want for something and the fear of watching it all break… Here she stood on the cusp of something, a chance to explore a side of life she never even thought about, or the path she had walked herself for years… She could make a friend… A real friend in every sense of the word… Or she could avoid the pain of something falling apart and just keep to herself… It was a gamble, a big one, with a price tag she wasn’t sure she could afford… But in the end?... In the end she gave in and went to play the game, price tag or not no one in this world gets to live a life without hurt, even those like herself who made choices to minimize that. So she took her plate and cider to follow him, hearing the soft words of how good it smelled, a smile curling on her lips there. “Well it should, it is food, you know.” She stated off the cuff, a bit teasing and humorous as she followed him where he lead, through the room she was already half in love with to his balcony area. It was close there to what she wanted to do on her own, very similar though hers was going to have more plants, but aside from that it was perfect. She watched him settle down and she had another tough choice, to try and decide to sit across from him and keep it proper, to distance herself from him in a way… Or she could sit beside him and enjoy the guilty twisting she felt every time she got close… In the end she went with what she wanted versus what was probably safe and sat down besides him, enjoying the soft rug under her and the feel of his nearness beside her, and yes… Even the weird twisting in her gut and the strange way her heart didn’t know which tempo to keep anymore.



Like him she was a quiet eater, she didn’t rush but didn’t dawdle either, and her table manners were quite good all things considered. He sipped his wine, herself with the iced cider that was a lot stronger than she thought it could be, and together they just enjoyed the silence as the world started to darken around them from soft blue to a vermilion sky and towards indigo… When it settled and he asked her about her cooking, she couldn’t not take up the gauntlet he dropped and run with it, mentioning she had a runty dwarf she kept in the cupboard who cooked for her. It was totally off the cuff and too funny not to do, just imagining some incredibly hairy little thing down there that did all her cooking, she could only cringe at the amount of hair one would find in their food if that was the case! His reply though had her giggling even harder and shaking her head as she pressed her hand over her eyes, bright pink cheeks and smiling almost from ear to ear before she swallowed it down, rubbing her cheeks from all the smiling she had done. They hurt, something she had never felt before, and it was pretty amazing. “I will be sure to pass it along…” She knew what he meant in the look, he didn’t have to say anything, she could hear it clear as a bell on the empty space between them. She knew what it was like to have those days where the world just takes the rug out from under you and watches you flail and stumble, making you wonder which way you are going to land, or if you’re going to be able to keep your feet under you. She leaned against the wall with him as the sun sunk lower and lower, the quiet of the world wrapping around them in phases, the smells changing and all the while she sat at his side… Wondering how something as simple as being in someone’s proximity could change your whole world… “Venison is my specialty… I do well with a lot of meat but not fish so much… Unless its pan seared in butter I’m hopeless.” She had a sad streak of luck with fish where if it wasn’t raw or pan seared in butter with the skin on, she over cooked it and it ended up flaking off all over the place, so even though it tasted good it was incredibly messy. She smiled when he called her cheeky, turning her head to look at him as he teased her about the cooking for credits, that it would be nice for him not to have to cook all the time. That it gave him time to do more of what he wanted to do, needed to do, things that he had to put on the side for the sake of nutrition. She thought about it herself and tapped her fingers on her knees as she thought about it… It wasn’t too hard to cook really… She had done it for years and even with a new schedule to work on unlike Jacob she wasn’t a full on doctor so she had a lot more time than he did… And she wanted him to have time to do what he wanted… What would help him… “I’ll take over cooking, it’s not a big deal, I have a lot more time than you do… I can always study in the kitchen anyways if I absolutely need to. I’ll just call it my household chore or something.” She wouldn’t give him any room to argue either, if he tried she’d nip it in the bud and leave it there, no room for any interjections on his part.



He threw her hard left when he asked about her, not because she felt like he was prying because it wasn’t that, it was more so… Why would he want to know about her? For academic purposes? If so he had asked those questions earlier… No he was asking on a more personal level, to know of her, about her… It wasn’t something she was used to, and if not for the cider that left her warm and fuzzy, she probably would have kept things very neutral… She might not have said anything at all. Still, it was him, and she… If anyone was to know about her? She wanted it to be him. So she brought her knees to her chest, arms around her legs with the bottle resting in her fingertips, chin on her knees as she thought about where to start and totally unaware that he thought she looked cute doing it. Where... That was always the hardest part… The where. Big chunks she wouldn’t tell… At least… Not yet… Things a little too dark to bring out in such a wonderful moment… Instead she told him the truth but more basic parts of it, starting off with how she had been at the orphanage and how things had changed there, her role shifting as she got older before she got cycled out… How she got a job at the tea house and how that had held her over before she started to work at the hospital… When he mentioned his tea she smiled and nodded. “I know, I smelled it on my way out today to find you… You need something with black tea that’s been flavored with bergamot orange rind… Not the malty black but the one that’s crisper… It tends to have a slightly flowery taste to it which blends well with the bergamot and keeps it all from being too bitter and sharp.” Yeah no one liked a bitter cup of tea, it was akin to drinking shoe polish depending on what happened, and she was the first to admit a distinct distaste for anything even slightly regarding a bad cup. “Though I also think you might do well with a Chai when it starts to get colder, I make one that is a black tea with several different herbs and spices, it’s wonderfully good to warm you up. I can easily blend up a tin or two for you.” She gently waved off his apology for interrupting, it wasn’t like he did something offensive, and she didn’t mind honestly. Questions? Meant he was listening… And more than that? It meant he cared to actually talk about it. It wasn’t an insult but more like a very kind and sweet compliment to the attention he was paying her. She was finishing off her cider as she spoke, letting the warmth just roll through her like the sun, feeling completely and utterly relaxed in the moment. Not nervous anymore, not quite afraid of choices she might make, instead just enjoying the time with him. She confessed her quiet time habits, about the melodica and the library B&E that she did when she couldn’t sleep, laughing at his chuckle and she shrugged. “I really like books…And while I’m not proud of the fact I broke into the library, I definitely have no shame in it, it was my own little adventure. Besides, who wants to make mischief? Takes too much time and energy. I’d rather read.” She might not admit to it, but she also liked the fact that he didn’t think less of her for what she did, if anything she thought he found it sort of charming…



The sun had set and wrapped them up in a private world of gentle darkness, just the stars alone to watch them, the moon having not yet made it’s appearance. She slipped down against his side, between the slow chill of the air and the cider, she found being next to him the most pleasant thing she had ever felt in her life. He was warm and he smelled really so good to her, hearing his heart beating under her ear as she leaned on his strength, finding him solid and stalwart… She was blushing but she didn’t care, it felt so good to be beside him like this, and she was allowing herself to be greedy in this moment… Just to steal a few precious memories for herself… She continued to talk as he reached around to wrap her up so she wouldn’t get cold, the thin linen while comfortable did nothing to hold heat in, and the action he made ended up earning a soft happy sigh from her. She mentioned why she went to Arvandor, why she never went to the actual festivals, instead diverting to find her family…Or trying to… After four years of attempting but nothing coming from it, she had come as close to giving up as she could, if only because she figured too much time had passed for anyone to remember anyways. When he fully wrapped his arm around her she moved in close to his side, taking in both his comfort and his warmth, only in the back of her mind realizing how beautiful and dangerous this was… But she couldn’t find it in her to fight it either way…. No she embraced it as he did her, her hand coming down to rest on his thigh, her head half on his shoulder half over his heart… “I thought about asking for help for a little while but… Finding out is it’s own can of worms… If they’re dead then they can’t help that they abandoned me in the river, but if they are alive, how much more will that hurt? To know I was so very much unwanted they didn’t care and sent me down river to what could have been my death if I hadn’t been found? I might not know either way right now, but at least I am at peace with that, and I can say that at least I tried in my own way…” She said, giving his thigh a gentle squeeze, burrowing in just a little more. “Thank you though Jacob… It means a lot to know someone would want to help… But I really am at peace with it… And I did a good thing in the interim, I bought back a section of forest all on my own, I helped… Not many things better to do with your time than help another… Even if that other is mother nature.” She had brought back an entire chunk of ecosystem, and it had been at that time she figured out more or less what she could do, sort of… At least enough to allow her to do what she did in the greenhouse and things of that nature.



As the stars came out she pointed at them one by one, watching as he pointed out others, families of stars she didn’t know went together… Her eyes watching every movement with rapt attention, listening to what he said and leaning the starts from him, things she had never noticed before. She smiled the entire time as they compared star names before she told him about her one trip to Menzoberranzan and how it went straight to hell in a handbasket, the fact she hadn’t even made it past the first gate before bolting, all the open sex and everything else around it unsettled her virgin core enough to make her run. She was gently stroking her fingers up and down his arm absentmindedly as it was draped around her shoulders, asking him flat out that it couldn’t really be worth all the stuff and nonsense, sex outside of procreation to her just didn’t make sense. Of course it was interesting to hear him talk about it, tuning her head up to look at him, thinking about what he said… Her view was skewed?... Not sure where she got it from?… “I grew up around a lot of people… There were little daily things all the time… An older girl… Fell in love with the milk boy… I um… Caught them more than a few times in the back…” Which was why it didn’t shock her to see it, it just made her incredibly uncomfortable, and definitely disenchanted. “He used to sleep around on her all the time… Her, the girl in the kitchen with me, the head mistress… He worked his way through the line and I saw so much heart break and anger… It’s just sounds and smells, they used to do it where ever they could, and it just… I used to think it was supposed to be when you loved someone, you know?... Something magical and special and made you feel… Different… But all I ever saw was an uncomfortable pairing of bodies with awkward sounds and a lot of sorrow after…” Which was perhaps how she came to be so utterly and completely disinterested in the act as a whole. She never saw any looks of rapture. She never saw looks of love. Not even compassion. Just sweaty faces screwed up with emotions as they hit a high for the male and disappointment for the female… Like something that was supposed to happen didn’t… It didn’t get better as she moved out, she saw plenty enough of the same thing all around, and given she had been living under a whore house for a while? Oh yeah… No faith in sex at all and she was perfectly content to not even bother exploring it in any context.


“I don’t think I’m afraid of it… I just don’t think that what I thought it was supposed to be, and what it is, are the same… If you don’t feel something magical in it, why do it? Even if it’s good, if there’s no connection, isn’t it just the same as nothing at all? The feeling is fleeting, surely, and your left feeling worse for it aren’t you? It just sounds so… Hollow… Without a heart behind it.” She had revealed so much more than she ever thought she would, talking about things she had never said out loud before, some she had never really allowed herself to think fully through. She paused when he asked for a moment, watching him get up and leave, her head tilting to the side before she suddenly realized how chilly it was without him. She found herself shivering and tried to get deeper under the rug for warmth while he was gone. She let her thoughts drift and wander, thinking about sex in a way that wasn’t vulgar was new to her, but she was trying to take what he had said in mind… Would it be terrible? Maybe with someone like Dr. Wanna Be Suave… Hah... No… Actually she was sure it would be absolutely fucking terrible with someone like that… But what about Jacob? The second the thought flickered across her mind her heart jumped and stalled, her nipples instantly hardened for the first time in her life and she was bathed with something like a buttery warm sensation, starting at the top of her head and rolling down like honey. She was glad he was gone in the moment and couldn’t see anything, she was flushing and half panicking for a moment, trying to sort out just why in the hell she was suddenly having such a strange and downright embarrassing reaction. It had just been a thought, she hadn’t even gotten it past a few moments in her mind before she felt dunked in something viscus and clinging but not entirely bad, just… Really unfamiliar. She was grateful when he came back with a book, it let her hold something to her chest so that the awkward reaction wouldn’t be clearly visible, curling back into his side for warmth all over again as they talked. He had asked her questions… And she dared to ask a few of him… Questions… Curious… Maybe a little afraid of the answer…



She could feel the second he struggled with what she had asked, she had told him she was something of an empath, and she could tell she had asked something that made him uncomfortable. She almost took it back but he wasn’t drawing away from her, instead she drew in closer and slipped her arm about his middle, giving him a soft and silent support. He didn’t have to answer… But he did… “I don’t think there is any guide that makes a good husband Jacob… So long as you love them I think that’s pretty much the big winner…” She said softly, giving him a gentle squeeze to try and settle whatever was hurting him a little inside, trying to cover him up more too since he seemed to be getting chilled as well. She smiled at his sons name though, she liked it a lot, and she liked babies too… “I like that name… It’s unique… Strong sounding… He’s a handsome little boy and they won’t ever stop growing sadly… But after about six they taper off a little… Or you could put books on his head to keep him small… I hear that works…” She said, smiling softly up at him, all while inside she started to draw off… Parts of her had been reaching out to him, little tendrils she hadn’t realized were striving to connect with him, wanting to bind herself close to him like a sweet pea vine to a strong post… But with a child she figured he was married or in a relationship and she respected both enough to kill what ever might have started to grow. She watched him finish off his glass before he said what happened and her heart in that moment, broke for him, a clear clean fracture that hurt like a physical pain. “Oh… Jacob…” She said on a breath before she moved, shifted, and face him while drawing him into a hug. She knew it was hurting… And she couldn’t make it better… But she could try… She didn’t have a salve for broken hearts but she had two strong arms to hold him, to give him a safe place to break if he needed it, and ears to listen to it all. She wouldn’t force him, but in that hug she hoped he could tell he had a companion in her, and if he ever needed to lay his head down she had a space for him. She would release him and return to his side, making sure as best she could that they were both covered, the chill of the night air wrapping around them while their bodies nestled together. She listened to his living arrangements, how his son was with the man who had raised him as a child, this Uncle who he looked up to. She could see how he didn’t really like the situation, but he had a child young, and was widowed shortly after… In her mind? He was doing the best he could in the situation he had been dealt, and it sounded like the child was getting more than a little love there, surrounded by three adults to care for him… It was a lot more than what many kids got so in her mind? He might be a little too hard on himself…



She mentioned then how she felt about not really belonging anywhere, and she knew he was right, that she ought to go and live there for a while… With her own people… Her own kind… But how? She’d been brought up and raised like a human, she knew little and less about elvish customs and manners, and she wasn’t sure if she could handle it… What if they hated her? Thought she was touched in the head too? Felt she was weird and an outcast? At least here she knew what was what, top from bottom, left from right… And again she had the fear of being turned into a food battery for the most part, and even if it was an unfounded thing, it was still something she was worried about. She didn’t outright say no, she knew he had a point, wasn’t he himself an elf just like her? So who better would know for her than him? It was interesting to know though that he was part wood elf like her, and it made total and complete sense in that moment why they both had such an affinity for growing things, and why they both had a very similar nature. She had no idea what a witch elf was, she had never seen one, let alone heard of it before so that might be something she looked up later… “I understand. It’s sort of like a constant presence your aware of but doesn’t bother you, like an extra limb in a way, it’s just a very familiar and comforting thing.” She didn’t say yes to the help, and she didn’t say no, either. Unlike choosing to take on this course and try to become a doctor, this wasn’t something she could decide in a split moment, she needed to think about this. Even drunk she knew not to go leaping into this one, especially given that they were people he knew, where something she did would reflect on him… It wasn’t a gamble she was willing to take. Not yet. As she talked she felt like she was rambling a little bit, the potent cider mixed with the addictive presence of him beside her had her head floating and all sorts of things a lot looser than they had ever been before, finally letting the doors open and the walls drop… Just fully, complexly, in the moment… She wanted to tell him he was out of his dang mind when he said he thought he was cursed, that it was why his wife died, because his mother had when he was born. She didn’t believe in curses or anything else like that for a single minute and she would have told him as much too… But she didn’t. Why? Because in a way he was baring his soul to her, just like she was to him, and they were both raw and exposed… Vulnerable… She wasn’t going to treat him poorly, she would take his gift and cradle it close to her heart, to respect and cherish it. She ran her fingers through his hair as he sighed, just wanting to try and help ease his suffering a little, sure this had to be hurting him quite a bit…


“Well curses are made to be broken… So we can just break this one together, yeah? You said I was a little criminal, so obviously I must be good at something, right? So I’ll be your criminal and break into this curse thing and blow it right up… Boom. All gone.” It might sound childish but she would help him if she could… She didn’t believe in curses but who knew if they were real or not? Maybe here they weren’t… Maybe in Arvandor they were? If so then she would go with him and go kick some serious curse canister! She fell silent as he explained how he was then raised by his Uncle, how he started to study from a young age, how he had come here to the surface to work because he felt he was needed… When he mentioned four parents she snickered just a little and poked his side lightly. “Greedy, look at me I have none and you have four, you’re like the fat kid with cake.” She teased, just to watch him smile, to hope it would bring a lift to his lips. She listened as he continued to speak but she shook her head there towards the end, wrapping her arms around him again but this time from the side, holding him close. “Jacob you’re not horrible, not in the slightest, and it sounds like you have a pretty bad case of the blames… Not for others, but for yourself… You’re still a father, you’re still in his life, and what you do here? Is so that you can provide a better world for him if he ever decides to come down here. Until then? You’ve given him FIVE parental figures, not counting yourself, who love him unconditionally and are raising him much as you yourself had been… Even better because where you had one, he has a whole army, so really you’re giving him so much more than many parents ever would.” She said with firm resolution, turning her head to look up at him, reaching up to gently pace her warm fingers on his cheek so he was looking at her. “Take it from someone who’s had nothing? What your doing for Kace shows more love and devotion that most parents do for their children. You fight for what you love, and you love your son, and you are doing everything you can to be the best father to him possible. Just because you’re a father, doesn’t mean you aren’t Jacob anymore, or that parts of you are instantly shut off because of it. What happened to you? Breaks my heart, I hurt for you Jacob, I do… I can only imagine the pain you must feel is even worse… Right now? You’re doing what you need to do to heal… It isn’t that no one judges you Jacob… It’s because they Understand. They know you need time to heal so you can come back even stronger and better than before… Don’t be afraid to do it Jacob… Don’t feel like your failing because you’re learning to walk again… We all have to fall so we can learn how to get back up… You’re getting back up Jacob… That’s all.”



She returned to his side, arm around his lower back, head over his chest as she settled back in… Both of them covered up in the rug against the chill so they were comfortable and warm under it… She sunk into the silence there and whispered how much she liked this… Being next to him… Warm and wrapped up in a rug with him… The stars opening like a billion diamonds in the sky, the big fat white moon making her appearance at last, the smell of his skin… She caught the change in his beat, her hearing was too fine not too and she blushed, her own heart skittering around a bit… She didn’t know what this was… But sign her up… Because she was sure this was the best thing she had ever felt in her life… “Thank you for Inviting me… I wouldn’t say no to a round two if you ever asked…” She whispered back softly as she curled into his side under his arm, lulled into such a peaceful place, drifting but not quite asleep… When he spoke she opened her eyes, looking at the swallow on the balcony, curious as swallows were far from nocturnal… She paused… Waiting… And once the magic happened it triggered and Jacob might find his terrariums a little snug for a good chunk of his plants now… She flinched a little and shot him an apologetic look before all of a sudden a little boy popped up… Or the top of his head did… What ever it was it was precious and she was giggling as she watched it. She looked up at his whispered words and shot back in just as quiet of a voice. “He’s too cute for words.” She said with a bright warm smile as she watched him suddenly take off, confusion on her face as much as his own before the thing shifted and she felt a not so pleasant lurch that, like Jacob left her feeling a bit off. What came next though had her cheeks heating up to a vivid shade of scarlet as she realized she was entirely in the view of this woman who was his mother… She was wearing beat up baggy clothes snuggled under a rug with her son… Oh. My. God… She was blushing crimson roses but she tried to hold a solid front… Worst time ever to be a little sauced… “Hello Mrs. Anikin, Ma’am…” She got out and fought not to hide under the rug and just let the fibers absorb her… Surely she could become one with the cotton, right? Course it only got worse at the compliment and finally ended up ducking her head under the rug, her ear tips pointing out and just as red as her cheeks were. Oh yes… Full tilt there… She had hidden herself for the rest of the conversation, curled up tight into his side as she hid her face against the hidden part of his shoulder, thoroughly in full of embarrassed meltdown almost. Something she had never felt before was suddenly more acute than any pain she could recall. She heard it all though, that she was welcome to come along to some sort of event… That his mother was going to have a baby… Little things like that before the image ended and she dared pop her fully blushing cheeked face out under the rug. “Ohmygoooosh I am so sorry… I didn’t… I mean… I think… Oh jelly and biscuits…” She said, thunking her head down on his shoulder as she shook it, groaning. “ I want to stay but… It is getting late… I’m sure you have things to do and I should study and stuff…” She said before looking up at him and slowly, grudgingly separating herself from his side, the blush still on her cheeks but not for the same reason it had been. “But…I meant what I said… I’d like to do this again… Sometime…” She said, picking up the other book he had loaned her and stepping away, forgetting about the dishes in the moment. Instead she was more trying to… Well she couldn’t quite explain… But something was there… She was still blushing as she waved a little to him, turning around to head back through his room and across to hers, closing the door quietly behind her as she set about closing everything up for the night.



Her room was chilled after having everything open, going to every window and sliding it shut, closing the blinds and doing the same for the door. She started a small fire in the pot belly stove on the side, just enough to warm the room up for her so she could study without shivering, lighting a lamp and putting it on the table by her bed… She opened the book with the twine first, curious as it had no writing on the cover so she thought it was perhaps a personal journal on some medical terms, something she hadn’t seen? She set the twine on the counter along with his tissue from earlier and opened the book to a random page… And damn near fainted. She dropped it like it was hot or something, skittering back from it on her bed, jaw gaping. “Mother of Cheese! What in the WORLD did you give me Jacob?!” She asked to herself as she looked at the book like it might bite her, but in the end her curiosity won out over her shock and she carefully put the book back in her lap, going to the table of continents to try and find something… Less shocking… But there wasn’t a single thing in there that wasn’t about sex which… Well explained what he had said… She was crimson all over again and felt oddly hot as she went to the chapter about sex and pleasure, how the two were deeply entwined and she found herself getting lost in the pages, flushing and fidgeting more than once but from alcohol or the book she couldn’t say… Though to say she was getting an education was an understatement… It had a way of explaining it that actually made sense to her for one, and two, also explained why people even tried it in the first place… The hours ticked by as the night grew longer, everyone had come in and settled down, and the house was dead quiet… She was deep into the chapter about self pleasure before she realized she had a fiendish ache in her back and realized now was the best time to take a soak… Bathroom or hot spring? She decided the later, she needed a good hot soak before she showered anyways, so it made sense to do it this way. She moved around, grabbing up a towel but nothing else, unlike the girls she didn’t have a bikini… Therefor skinny dipping it was. She carefully, silently made her way out, making sure nothing and no one heard or saw a peep. Once outside she made a run for it, silent as only a wood elf can be before she reached the pool, did another search of the area to ensure she was alone, and began to strip down. A reason for the insane privacy? Well one that had nothing to do with the fact she was nude anyways, was the very real ink all along the side of her body, from shoulder down to mid-thigh she had an intricate piece of art that seemed virtually alive… It ran along her shoulder and under her breast, over her ribs and down the swell of her hips and thigh… It looked alive, impossibly delicate and intricate, swirls and dips of vines and flower with leaves that seemed to unfurl… She had had it her whole life, since she was a baby and it had grown with her, changed from season to season… It was her biggest secret and one she guarded like the devil himself, unsure of why or how she had it, let alone how it moved and changed on its own… She kept it hidden and would keep it that way for as long as she lived.



She slid into the pool and simply let herself relax, treading water in one of the deeper spots so she got a good work out of her muscles in the heat to help them stretch and relax, releasing the knots that had formed… Heat and Alcohol make an interesting mix… She was sober enough not to drown but not enough to actually have any real limitations… She was alone in a hot spring, it was late at night, and thanks to a certain book she had been given… She was curious to test a theory or two out… She carefully chose a spot that wasn’t too deep, she had no idea how this was going to go and didn’t want to be found naked belly up like a dead fish in the bowl, so she chose a place deep enough to come under her breasts but not more than that… She rested one arm over the paved section around her, the flagstones cold under her arm which only made things feel even a little more intense, dragging her a little deeper down… “Ok so… Step one… Fantasize… I think…” She said softly aloud to herself, closing her eyes and letting her mind wander, wondering where it might go… Nothing might happen at all and it would be a bust… She figured it might since she hadn’t even been able to imagine him in the shower… She still couldn’t… But she could imagine him somewhere else… His bed in his room… Over her… Shirt off… She slid her hand down to gently try and explore her breasts, only to release a startled and pleased moan as she felt that spark of pleasure, biting her bottom lip as she found a whole lot of preconceived notions going to shit in a moment… She imagined her hand was his… Smooth but for a few callouses from holding a pen… Bigger… Stronger… The hand that had taken hers when she helped him out of the same pool… She found herself slipping fast down a slope she didn’t know existed, imagining him atop of her like that, his hand over her bare breasts… She was beginning to moan, these sweet little sounds, feminine and needy… She touched and stroked over her small but full breasts, the little nipples pert and hard, the softest shade of pale pink and sensitive to her touch… She let go of the ledge then, feeling her feet shift in the sandy bottom, her hand sliding between her legs… She searched and a moment later found that spot the book had mentioned and nearly lost her legs, a sudden gasp and a deep throaty moan, carefully exploring that little spot with inquisitive fingers… But in her mind it wasn’t her… It was him… Feeling her out… How she liked to be touched… His lips soft and tender over her neck… Her pulse… Teaching her pleasure… Erotic words whispered into her ear as she writhed in the water, no longer herself but a different being entirely, broken little pants and whimpers as she felt herself getting hotter… Hotter still… Her heart racing… Feeling faint… “Oh Jacob… Please…” She breathed, throwing fully into the fantasy as she submitted everything over to him… Her body was his and she was writhing under him, burning up as he pushed her higher still, her fingers finding the perfect way to touch that had her rocking hard against her own hand in a rhythm that had been in her since the dawn of time… She felt something shift… Change… Like she was going to die but she pushed past it… Unwilling to let the fantasy go… Holding it tight… Imagining him gently telling her to let go… Let him show her… And in that moment she shattered and suddenly cried out his name loudly, feeling like something had just broken inside her, the place where she had been touching so intimately had exploded and sent waves of what must be pleasure through every inch of her, from the top of her head down to her toes and every where between. It happened in pulses, like a heart beat that came from the very center of her, making her suddenly sag and collapse against the wall of the hot spring while she sobbed sweetly from her first release… Her breath shot as she struggled to remember what a deep breath was supposed to feel like... Heart pounding deliciously... When he said it could be good or bad… She had seen the bad… But she only just now realized what the good was… It seemed to last forever… It felt like it lasted only a second… Somewhere in between though she had found her orgasm, the lessons from the book and the alcohol, being around Jacob for the evening… All of it had compiled to embrace her thoroughly and give her something incredibly intense and beautiful. Could she imagine Jacob naked? No… That still remained a blurry unknown to her… But she had been able to feel him atop of her… Against her… Fingers touching and exploring… His beautiful face and upper body bare to her… And it was more than good enough… She floated there, dazed and sated for some long moments, feeling like warm butter in the sun before she decided to grab a shower and bed… Climbing out of the pool only to pause and wring her hair out, a beautiful form in the moonlight before she drew her towel on and made her way back to the house, up to the bathroom which she locked behind her to grab a real shower complete with suds and climbed into bed feeling boneless and ready for the best sleep of her life.

[Deleted]

..the day had been a hard one.. of very harsh lows and some rather intriguing highs.. for the both of them.. and here they were.. settled down upon his rooms balcony.. both partially beneath the thin rugs and lost amongst a few too many cushions..they had supped on a delicious meal she had prepared.. drank their respective drinks.. him a little wine.. her a little more cider.. and they'd just shared a moment of honesty.. spilling out hand picked secrets to each others ears.. gaining a little more knowledge.. a little more understanding as to why both of them were.. well the way they were.. he had learnt a lot about her in this one sitting.. where she was brought up.. how she lived.. what she liked to do in her spare time.. as cheeky as it might have been..

he had told her about Kace.. and Cora though not going into rave detail it was enough to give her a glimpse of his life.. he had a son.. a very young son at that.. one who was being well cared for back in Arvandor by his family.. immediate and those few relatives.. he told her about his titles.. how he was a paramour.. a doctor.. a father and a son.. along with everything else that people tossed at him.. or labelled him with.. she surprised him a little when she embraced him.. wrapping her warm soft arms around him.. offering her sympathies for his not to savoury story.. his hands rose to hold along her arms there.. tilting her head so as it leant against hers-.. thank you Rose.. -..the hug was nice and perfectly timed.. it had been a while since he'd been this close to anyone.. let alone allowed anyone to hug him.. he'd had the offers.. but he just declined.. even those from his family.. he just felt he needed space.. but this.. this was..just really nice.. he felt he could breathe.. that she was not going to suffocate him.. that she wasn't expecting anything from him.. even with him being her tutor.. it was.. as if he Wanted to do it.. not that he Had to do it..

it was all rather confusing.. and it hurt when he thought on it too deeply.. he listened to her when she reasoned with him.. or more likely lectured him about curses.. and how he was not a horrible person.. that he was just starting over again.. he'd been knocked down.. it was now his time to get up.. he let his lids half close there.. she wasn't wrong.. the funny thing was that it wasn't the first time he had heard it either.. his family had been telling him the same.. for months.. but he just pushed them away.. yet.. here she was.. this petite blonde freckled woman.. she was getting under his skin.. she was getting through to him.. and he was ok with that.. the two of them settled into silence..

letting the world just pass them by.. he had thanked her for joining him.. and she replied with her own thanks for inviting her.. that she wouldn't say no to a round two if he asked.. he chuckled a little and nodded-.. We shall see mm?.. -it was incredibly cute.. he couldn't help but smile.. before he noticed the swallow.. and he knew all to well what it meant.. it was how his Mother communicated with him when he was not at home.. he showed her what it meant.. how the bird all but burst into a shower of tiny sparkles and the image remained.. wavering like an almost still pond.. he told her about Aylan.. his little brother who was jumping to try and get into the image though the poor little thing failed miserably.. and then Sybelle.. he didn't know she was blushing there beside him.. he didn't realise that she was struggling quite so much with it.. it was just his family afterall.. just his Mum.. he could hear his Fathers in the background.. telling Sybelle to quit it before there was a bit of a playful fray and the image popped..

he laughed and shook his head....rubbing the side of his face there.. -.. Welcome to my world Rose.. it's just like that in person.. busy and unorganised and loud.. but i wouldn't trade it in for anything in the world.. -he turned and glanced to her.. his brow rising just a touch when she apologised.. -.. Oh no.. no no it's fine really.. -he took a breath..-.. It's just how my Mother is.. and has been for a long time.. she's persistent if nothing else.. she just wants to see me happy...I know this.. My Fathers always gripe at her for pushing me.. I dont mind so much.. I love her.. dearly.. she's just got to relax a little.. -he knew Sybelle was trying so hard to make up for lost time.. but she really didn't need to..

he reached across to rub her outer arm when she all but dropped her head on his shoulder with a bit of a thump.. -.. it's fine really.. relax.. -he nodded.. she spoke again on wanting to do this and soon if possible-.. I'm sure we could arrange something.. of course.. it is late yes you are right.. you should head back.. do a little reading perhaps before you finally head to sleep.. -just a gentle reminder on the book he had plucked out for her.. he genuinely hoped she wouldn't take offence to it..he was just trying to open her eyes a little.. to what she was .. more or less missing out on..

he watched as she moved to stand.. and she quickly made her way out of his room.. it was a bit sudden.. but he wouldn't question.. affording her the ability to go as she pleased.. when he heard his door close he sunk back against the manor wall and he groaned.. dipping his head forward..-.. What are you doing Jacob.. -he whined softly.. whispering to himself as he rubbed his eyes with his palms..-....you can't.. you shouldn't.. just.. -his head rocked back and he exhaled.. rolling his neck before he moved to stand.. why was he having so much trouble getting her out of his head.. why was he struggling so much with this.. sure.. it had been a little over 2 years since he had even looked at another woman in that way.. let alone touched one.. his body and mind were at war.. his morals.. his honour.. his good nature was shielding against his lust.. his need.. his want.. and unfortunately.. the latter had a bit of a head start..

he gathered up the two plates there.. the bottles and his own glass.. feeling the bite of the night air.. the chill there as he moved back into his room.. placing the plates near the door for the moment as he closed up the doors.. the windows.. drawing the curtains closed.. letting the room bathe in darkness..he sunk down to sit upon the edge of his bed.. his hands resting upon his thighs there.. he could feel his heart beating.. it was strong.. hard and a little faster than it should have been.. his head was a little foggy.. though he knew all to well he could blame the wine for that.. he murmured.. rubbing his jeans before he moved to stand.. this warranted a cigarette.. maybe one he could enjoy properly without interruption this time.. whilst it was late he was far from tired.. far from ready to sleep.. he was wound so damn tight he was sure he'd snap..

the plates.. a notebook..a few pencils and his cigarette case.. making his way back out into the hallway.. it was quiet.. most had settled in for bed.. he could hear snoring coming from a few rooms.. someone else was talking in their sleep.. her door was closed.. he figured she was either reading.. or finally settled in to get some rest.. that cider of hers was a little harder than she might have figured.. or so he thought..down the stairs taking care due to the low lighting.. turning a lantern in the main lounge there where he usually sat to do his study.. he left his notebook there before he headed into the kitchen.. placing his cigarette case down onto the bench top.. he went to place the plates down before something caught his eye.. a figure outside?.. and he just about dropped those plates when he realised who it was.. oh his entire body had a sheer shock of ice run through it.. his breath caught against the back of his throat.. slowly.. very slowly he placed those plates down.. he was so close to just dropping the lot.. breaking them all.. that would have caused all manor of noise and possibly woken up the entire house..

his hand rose as he rubbed against his chin there.. catching sight of the tattoo there tat ran from thigh to her hips.. along the soft feminine rise of her stomach.. her ribs.. before his heart leapt.. ohh the swell of those well rounded breasts.. his throat ran completely dry.. and he forced himself to turn as she was lowering herself down into the pools.. his hands lifted.. he ranked his fingers back through his hair..-.. this isn't happening.. this isn't happening.. -he whispered to himself.. his fingers interlacing against the back of his head there.. elbows out to the sides.. -.. I should just go back upstairs.. or at the very least into the lounge.. i cant.. this is.. -his brows furrowed..

he turned his head to look over his shoulder.. back out the window there.. her figure.. if he was completely honest was..perfect.. she was curved in all the right places.. his hands fell down to his cigarette case there and he moved away from the window.. heading toward the lounge there.. he knew he shouldn't be watching her.. he knew it all to well.. sliding a cigarette out he sparked it.. between his lips it would stay.. drawing from it.. something perhaps a little stronger than the one he had partook in earlier.. he needed something to help him relax.. he was so damn rigid right now.. like a mass ball of stress.. and that wasn't the only thing that hard firmed up considerably.. causing quite an ache in those jeans of his..

he forced out a breath there.. the sweetly scented smoke floating about the immediate area as he removed his jacket.. swinging it over his arm.. he'd use it if anyone happened upon him.. to well.. conceal his bodies betrayal.. fuck.. Fuck.. it was almost foreign.. that feeling.. though he knew it well.. he knew what lust was.. he knew what want and need could do to a person.. and his body was bubbling over right now with a desire for both.. he took a few more puffs of that cigarette.. finding it was making his head swim just beautifully.. this was torture.. something pulled him back into that kitchen though.. back to the window there as he exhaled another smoke lined breath.. this time though his brows furrowed..

his fingers gripped the counter till his knuckles were white.. What was she doing?!..his shoulders sunk.. his toes curled.. he saw her fingers sliding down her sun kissed skin.. nimbly touching newly hardened nipples.. the moan though.. just about made his knees give way.. he turned again.. his back pressing to the counter as he exhaled a shaky smoke filled breath.. if he had the liquor in the cabinet he probably would have drank himself into a comatose state.. he pleaded with the universe that no one come down.. not right now.. the last thing he needed was for one of the girls to happen upon him like this.. or Rincavornon to happen upon her in that state.. he'd be on her like white on rice.. with no doubt as much enthusiasm as he himself would if given half the chance..

before his mind mentally slapped him.. she was his student.. and to top it off.. she was.. he was certain a virgin.. he knew better than this.. she had views of sex being about love.. and with the right person.. was he certain.. with all honour and morals.. that he wanted to take that from her.. was he really.. really the right person to do that.. he groaned.. the battle was not making things easier.. it was just adding more and more fuel to the bonfire deep down in his gut.. though it all shattered when he heard her call out his name.. and loudly at that.. his mouth fell open a little.. -.. Fuck.. Fuck.. fuck.. - he whined.. lowing out another breath as he put out the last of that cigarette there..

he was hot.. he felt as if he were in a sauna.. though he wasn't sweating.. it was all in his head.. he didn't know what to do.. he was lost.. for like the first time in his life he was actually lost.. stuck.. torn.. he bent then.. laying his elbows down upon the counter as his head soon followed.. his fingers lacing behind his neck.. the coolness of the wood was heavenly against his feverish skin.. he didn't catch her approach though.. or the fact she had re-entered the house..he no doubt would have startled her a little.. if she noticed him there.. the lighting was low.. but with the moonlight coming through the windows.. well she would have noticed someone there in any rate.. just how long he had been there.. well that was anyone's guess.. just how much had he seen, had he watched or.. just for some odd reason felt he needed to put his head down upon the counter.. if she asked if he was alright his head would have shot up.. his eyes taking a moment to adjust.. -.. Oh..-he'd say a little startled.. a little.. flustered-..

yes.. I'm fine.. just.. uhh.. -his brows would furrow.. he'd then notice he had dropped his jacket.. crouching down to pick that up quickly and letting it rest back over his arm.. to conceal the ache that was throbbing there in his jeans.. he'd swallow.. looking across to her there.. if she continued on to bed.. he'd remain still.. just a little longer..

there would be a sudden seizing in his chest.. like someone had it in a vice like grip.. before he would just move quickly.. -.. no.. im not.. i'm..-he would drop the jacket there.. reaching for her shoulder.. turning her toward him.. his palms would find her cheeks.. -.. I just.. -he'd whisper.. he couldn't take it anymore and he just dove in and claimed those lips of hers.. right there in the doorway.. his head tilted a little to the side ..he would go at her pace and not force it.. but he would guide it.. his tongue gliding along her plump lower lip ..before it would be permitted access to the sweet heated depths of her mouth.. fuck this wasn't helping.. it was.. but it was also making it worse. -

[BadInfluence]

His Balcony would be one of the favorite places in the world to her she was sure, she had felt her whole world take on a shift there, going from being a wall flower to wanting to be a peony in his room… She didn’t want to be ignored and left alone around him, she wanted him to see her, to notice her… And he did… Just as she did him… Neither of them asked anything of the other, no judgement or expectations, just a simple open acceptance of the truth in each other. There was something truly beautiful in that alone, the ability to be so utterly honest with each other without reservations, something that even some married couples can never really achieve they had in mere hours… Sometimes life is life that, it kicks you around for a while, tosses you in the closet and forgets about you… Then one day… Like today… It suddenly reveals why it did everything it did, and it gives you a gift that you never expected, of such magnitude that you never truly get over how perfect it is… She had found a kindred spirit in Jacob, someone who had so much in common with her and yet she had never really known existed before now, and yet she felt as if she had known him for years with how well they understood each other. To her? He was the best gift she was going to get in her life, and she wasn’t about to waste a moment of it, even if she was a little afraid at times she knew it was worth it… He was worth it.



Was the blurring the lines between a possible romance and a career? In her mind no, they were two separate things, and she wasn’t even sure what she was feeling let alone if it would amount to anything. She’d never had a crush before, never liked anyone before, and she had certainly never noticed anyone before. He was the first and she was happy with that, grateful it was him and no one else, because in her mind he was worth knowing. Anything else she might or might not feel? She would manage them when they came up, but she doubted that anything would come of it, if anything it would be a one sided crush that she would endure gladly for him. Why? Because it was him. Heartbreak happens to everyone, even when you’re trying to avoid falling in the first place, and if it was going to happen to her? At least she could say that if she fell in love with him? He was worth getting her heart broken over.



Those thoughts flickered back and forth in her mind from time to time, like a live wire snapped in two that occasionally arcs now and then, but more than most of her attention was on him. His story about his little boy and what had happened to his wife, his family and his feeling of being cursed, that he was bad for some reason… Like he deserved it somehow but she couldn’t understand that part, and it wasn’t that she didn’t try to empathize, it was more so she felt in her soul that if someone deserved something like that? It wasn’t him. She couldn’t heal his hurt, she couldn’t apply some magical balm to ease it and make it lighter for him to bear, as much as she would have liked to nothing like that in the world existed outside of time itself. Instead she rose to her knees and hugged him, and while it might not have seemed like much to some, for her it was a big gesture. To hug someone was opening up a lot of vulnerabilities, to initiate a high level of touch and intimacy, to risk getting hurt… She did it anyways… She did it because she wanted him to feel in that touch everything she was offering, a place to rest his head when he got weary, ears to listen to him and a strong back to help carry his load when he needed a break… It might not be enough… It might for him, be too much, but she offered it anyways… She offered it because her heart bled for him and the sorrow he had to endure so young, a life altered and changed from its course too rapidly and too sharply, and it was a hard scar to carry… She had never lost anyone she loved but she could empathize with his pain and his struggle, so much so that when he dipped his head against hers, she tightened her arms around him just a little more. She didn’t say anything in that moment to his thanks, she simply held him for a moment longer before she let go, slowly drawing back and settled back at his side… Her words were carefully picked and well meant, and she hoped they touched a chord inside him, something that would help him perhaps move a little bit farther past his hurt. Would it work? That was entirely up to him. Words are just wind unless someone’s a bird and learns to fly on them, and if Jacob could use them to lift himself, she would count herself blessed indeed. Once it was all said and done she simply rested against his side as they slipped into a silence as peaceful and sweet as the night around them.



It was beautiful… It was perfect… It was a dream to her, sitting there with is arm wrapped around her, curled into his side as they shared the rug for warmth against the increasingly chilly night air. She offered a round two… That she would like to do this again without outright asking him if he wanted to, catching his somewhat sly response made her smile, sticking the tip of her tongue out at him before blowing him a raspberry. Could perfect last forever? She almost thought it could until the swallow came and she found a whole lot more to magic than the pretty bubble and ward he had set up… Something she had never expected but was clearly seeing, and since the first head she saw was a child’s she felt relaxed still, smiling at the hopping to get into the picture. It was all really quite cute and she found it charming. Apparently the dual colored eyes ran strong in his family and she just found them enchanting really. What she didn’t expect? Was the beautiful lavender haired woman who showed up, Jacob’s mother no less, and yes… It was hard… She might have weathered it better if not for the inclination his mother was speaking in, like there was something there and since she herself was just starting to maybe think she was feeling something for Jacob, oh yes… She had turned a lovely shade of strawberry and ended up hiding under the rug with him because she couldn’t face the image… What if his mother saw something in her eyes that she herself didn’t understand yet? She didn’t want Jacob to be teased on her behalf, and she definitely didn’t feel it was fair for people to draw conjectures between them, especially that people being his family. When the call ended she finally lifted her head, ruby cheeks and all and looked at him, actually at a loss for words at the entire scene. She was glad he was laughing though, he seemed to have taken it really well despite all the ah… Talk his mother had… “It’s not that… I mean… I understand that but… I mean… She’s your Mother… I don’t want you to go home and visit and get teased or something because you were seen with me… After all we’ve talked about I know that would just have to be terribly awkward and I don’t ever want to be the cause of that for you. I just…” She gave up, giving in and thunking her head on his shoulder in one of her rare signs of defeat, she honestly had no idea how to handle the situation let alone rectify… Even as he caressed her arm she knew she had ended up bungling something and when he went home for this stag night chances were he’d get teased mercilessly.



The moment wasn’t ruined but it had changed, and she felt as if she were suddenly invading on his time, especially since he stated that he didn’t have much time left as it was… She once again mentioned she would like to do this again soon, though hopefully without a call because she didn’t think she could survive a second military assault like that, well intentioned or not. No she felt right now, the best course of action was a graceful retreat, a chance for him to breathe and settle his own thoughts… Surely he had to be a bit embarrassed over his mothers well meaning, but still a bit embarrassing, words. She knew she was… “I will, I promise… I want to try and get through a couple of chapters of this new book at least before I sleep. Thank you again, I’m sure I’ll make really good use of the medical knowledge in here, it will be interesting to see what kind.” Yeah she had no idea that his book was far from medical but for her it was what she simply figured it was and took it at face value, beating a quick but at least graceful retreat, completely forgetting about the dishes from their dinner in her haste. In her mind she just wanted to get to her room and suffer her acute embarrassment in silent for a few moments before starting in on the new book. Once she got back to her room she had half a chore closing everything up and getting the room decently heated for comfort, though that book proved to be far from medically minded, and her first reaction was to drop it like it had suddenly grown teeth and talked. She had opened on a page of very richly detailed coitus with a very obvious look of rapture on the woman’s face, the position something she wasn’t even sure was possible, let alone feasible but there it was… In rich elvish detail and color… It took her a few minutes to get over her shock, a part of her didn’t even want to touch the book again, but he HAD mentioned it would help… She just didn’t think he meant… That sort of help… She half wondered what he would be doing with a book like this but since he said he collected them and they were gifts, she figured it was that, her mind didn’t relate the importance of pleasure and sex with a paramour which he had stated he was. In her mind? She just figured it was a special position in a church, like a Deacon or something perhaps, no more and no less… But either way? She found herself lost in the book faster than she could have thought possible and took its knowledge to heart… Sex was more for pleasure than actual procreation it stated, though children were seen as the greatest blessings, pleasure was the main goal of coitus… It stated that through pleasure one could unlock multiple facets of one’s life, assisting in things such as renewed vigor, a healthier body and mind, and an openness to the world around one’s self… Pleasure could be used to channel artistic pursuits, to lighten ones spirits, and even help one through emotional and mental hurdles… Sex was suddenly being shown to her as a great tool for ones own health and self betterment… Of course massive chunks of it seemed a little hard to believe, such as a man being able to bring a woman to orgasm with his mouth down there, or that a man’s… Tool… Was able to get hard again rapidly when deeply aroused… Yeah… It went in hard and came out soft, she knew that much, and the whole thing looked pretty gross when she saw it… Still she took it all in stride and by the time her back started to remind her that she had been working hard today, she realized the house was dead quiet, everyone she figured was asleep… It was a perfect chance to give the hot springs a go and maybe try a thing or two out…



Fantasizing was a weird glitch for her, sure she dreamed now and them, but she’d never had a fantasy in her life… It took her a few starts and stops, but when she did land on one and Jacob was there front and center, she ended up throwing into it more than she thought she could have. The idea of him teaching her heated her blood more than the hot springs ever could, made her want, yearn for this side of her the book said she had… The feminine side of her that was entirely based around her sex and the pleasure within it… She had never self explored, never saw a purpose to it so when she let her fingers dance over her proud pert swells she suffered quite the shock, finding her nipples incredibly responsive and a pleasure zone all in themselves… She explored… Caressed… Touched… Imagining his hands on her… Making her hot… Pants and sweet little moans… Her face taking on that sweet little frustrated mask as one builds up… She lightly pinched and tugged at her nipples, twisting them softly only to find that everything there felt amazing, making her want to sag into the water… But it wasn’t enough… Oh it was delicious… Fantastic… Amazing… But it wasn’t what her body said… The book… Mentioned the female anatomy quite richly, and since she was a virgin she couldn’t exactly go and explore the other spots it had talked about, but there was a very important one they spoke of... One she went to explore that quite literally rocked her world… She couldn’t breathe, her heart beat was erratic and racing, she felt hotter than she had ever felt before… Her fingers sliding down to seek out that little pearl of pleasure and learn how to touch it… Which pressure made her soar… The rhythm… Which way to circle it that made her almost die… She was unaware she had a viewer, even if she had been she didn’t think she could have stopped, she was on the cusp of something that felt entirely too important to give up…



She was sweet… Hot and aching… Her whole body ripe for it when she finally shattered, calling out the name of the one man she would ever want to share this with, the man who came into her fantasy and showed her how… Her teacher… Her Friend… The man who had given her a book about pleasure to help unlock some of those rather warped and skewed views of sex and pleasure… He had lent it to her in the hopes she could use it, and she was, quite thoroughly… She never knew anything could come close to feeling that good, her whole body was wracked my pulses of indescribable pleasure, her heart racing and she felt incredibly faint… Hot and deliciously broken, her body throbbing with each new wave that hit her, left her to float among the stars as if she belonged there… It was a beautiful thing, pleasure, and she could understand in that moment why people did what they did… Though she seriously doubted anyone she had seen had felt anything even close to this… This was too good to miss… Surely if they had it their faces would have looked a LOT different… Once she finally drifted down from the stars she spent a few minutes longer in the hot spring, looking up at the stars and the big white moon that had been watching them since she came up, smiling almost drunkenly at how perfect the day had been… Not that it was without it’s moments because it certainly had them, but it was because of those rough ones she felt it was even more ideal… It made it real… He was real… She was real… What she felt… It was real… Emotions go almost hand in hand with pleasure, and it hadn’t been amiss in mentioning that emotional connections make things between partners even better, and considering how she felt… How he had been the one to drift into her fantasy… She could honestly say she might just be starting to feel something… Something that wasn’t friendship… Something… A little beyond that… A secret she kept close to her heart and nurtured like a precious seedling…



She climbed out of the pool then and dried off, wringing her hair out before letting it hang down her back to air dry, picking up her clothes from earlier she quietly made her way back into the house… What told her something had changed? The light was on when it hadn’t been before… Hopefully it was really… Really recent and no one had seen her… She was also now in a tight bind because someone could see her in nothing but a towel and given who was in the house? She was so not ready for that fight… She opened the door a crack, the lighting was low, but she also knew exactly who was down… And she turned another shade of crimson entirely… He said he came down to study but… The thought… Did he…? Surely… Surely not? She came around the door silently, closing it without a sound as she carefully slipped around the room, catching the scent of his cigarette… Maybe he just came down for a smoke?... He would have easily missed everything then… She sagged a bit in relief and began to make her way to the kitchen, she didn’t see him down so she figured he had already left, leaving her time to get a glass of water for what she was sure was going to be a headache in the morning… When she came in though she saw him there and nearly jumped out of her skin, hands grabbing the towel around her as she strangled down a gasp of surprise, though that took second place when she saw he was standing there with his head on the counter. Was he sick? Did something she make not sit well with him? Or did he have too much wine? Maybe he tried the cigarette to calm a churning stomach? “Jacob?...Are you alright?” She’d ask, ready to make him some ginger tea or something if it would help, her hand half out to gently touch his back when he popped up suddenly and she jerked her hand back. Ok… She must have startled him too… That’s fair enough…



“Are you sure?... I-“ She was about to offer help when she realized she was still in her towel, somehow that had been forgotten when she came in, amid the concern of everything else it wasn’t a grand surprise… She blushed and tried to drag the hem of the towel down lower, making sure her tattoo was covered, hastily covering the rest of it with her hair… It was too dim for him to see, right? Right… It was too dim… Please let it be too dim… She saw his jacket on the floor and reached down to get it for him at the same time and that was when she saw it, her eyes widening in shock as she once again had that strange but delicious melted butter feeling wash over her, that made her want to so soft and pliant… There was a small, feminine little moan there before she stood up quickly and pretended she hadn’t seen anything, but she couldn’t look him in the eye either… She would just nod her head when he said he was fine. “I see… I will ah… See you in the morning then…” She said quietly as she made her way up the stairs, her cheeks flushing as she got to the third floor, just by his room on the way to hers before she heard him coming up behind her…



To say she was shocked was a lie… Feeling his hand on her made her moan suddenly as she moved as he commanded with that motion, feeling herself starting to tighten in a new way, a way she had felt not so long ago… She couldn’t help looking down when he came to her, her eyes instantly riveted to the large bulge in his jeans, the way just seeing it made her nipples and breasts tingle and ache… Her heart stopped… Stuttered… Stalled… Throbbed… Her breath caught as she dragged her eyes up his body to look at him, to reach up and touch his hand that he rested on her shoulder, her eyes questioning but her lips were softly parted… Sweet… Begging for a kiss… “You just… What?” She got out before he kissed her and her whole world tilted on it’s axis… She’d never been kissed before… She was surprised by it, his lips firm but soft against hers, the soft rasp of stubble that made her legs go weak… His lips were… Wonderful… How could a kiss feel so magical? It was just a meeting of skin and yet it felt like so much more, her hands loosening… Going lax… Fingers unable to remain curled… She found them running up along his abs in a way that made her whimper against his lips, up his strong shoulders to do something she had been thinking about most of the day… To burry in his hair… To test it’s thickness… It was alive in her fingers, crisp and thick as sin, soft as it almost curled around her fingers… She moaned again, louder this time as she curled her nails along his scalp softly, pressing flush against him… A mistake, perhaps? She felt his throbbing erection against the little feminine swell of her belly and a part of her was shocked… Almost scared… Something that was chased away the moment he ran his tongue along her bottom lip…



Yes



Three little letters but it spelled out everything in that moment, parting her lips on that moaned word for him, drawing up harder against him as she clung to him… Savoring every sweet sensation of his lips on hers… The taste of his tongue as he kissed her… Wine and dinner… The sweet tobacco… Small sweet moans and little whimpers were falling from her lips as she joined him, her own kiss like cider and mint, a secret candy she snuck while reading… She gave into this, kissing him back, her tongue lovingly running along his… Learning from him, taking what he taught and returning it, kissing him with all the honesty of a virgin but the desire of a woman who’s very interested in the man kissing her…



“Teach me…”



She whispered between kisses, touching behind her to try and find his door handle, grasping it in her hand and turning it… Leading him in… Closing it behind her… She wanted this… But not in view of anyone who could happen upon them… Who could hear and see anything… This was hers… His… This was Theirs… How it came about she didn’t know… Where it would go?... She didn’t know… What would happen? She had no idea… What she did know? Was she trusted him… She trusted him with her mind and her body, with the very real fact he could repeat everything she’d ever seen before, that he could easily just break her heart and her hopes in one selfish act… She also had faith that he wouldn’t do that to her… She wanted him to show her… Teach her… He had that book so he knew what was in it more than she did… She had only gotten a few chapters deep but he must had read it over a few times at least… He knew too then about pleasure, about what it could be, what it should be… In that faith alone she knew at least she would enjoy it… But adding in the fact it was Jacob, a man she sincerely felt a good deal for, even if she wasn’t sure how or what those feelings were? She knew enough that with him? It would be incredibly special…



She dropped her clothes by his door, slowly leading them back to the bed but honestly she was so distracted by him she only got a foot or two in that direction before she would lost track entirely, her fingers once more in his hair as she pressed herself against him fully… Breasts to chest… Belly to groin… Somewhere her towel had fallen and she was naked as he had seen in the pool, blanketed in the soft darkness of his room, the scent of her arousal was delicately sweet against the smells he was used to in his room… She kissed him deeply, refusing to give up the moment, wanting it to last as long as it could… Her hands unable to decide where to rest, in his hair or against his shoulders, down his beautiful body and… Towards the end… She took a dive and touched him… It might be through his jeans but it was more than shocking enough to her to feel how hard it actually was… The way it throbbed under her hands… How he easily overfilled both her hands and while it terrified her… It also thrilled her… A part of her feminine enough to thoroughly appreciate a well endowed male and he was definitely well endowed… It earned another thick sweet little moan from her as she began to pet him over his jeans, uncertain but tender, sweet and wanting… Pleasure was something that could be shared… And she wanted to share…



The last thing on her mind was sex though… She hadn’t gotten that far into the book, everything she had learned was strictly self pleasure and foreplay but it was more than enough to make her eagerly curious to explore that with him… After all it wasn’t coitus… No one would be breaking any rules… She wouldn’t be hurting him or having him break his vow that Luna had clearly stated he made… No… No rules broken and no laws bent, no one would be hurt by this and indeed a lot of relief and knowledge would come from this, and if he wished? He could simply see it as him teaching her still.. Just in a slightly… Different venue… “I…” She got out around a kiss, panting softly against his lips between long passionate dances of tongue and lips, her heart racing and thudding and beating fit to pop out of her chest. “I want… I want to try… I’m… Not asking for anything your n-not willing to give but… I want… Everything you’re willing to o-offer…” She said before kissing him again, letting him lead, handing everything over to him in that moment… He was her teacher… She wanted to learn… She wanted to learn everything from him and she wanted this… Oh God yes she wanted this very much…

[Deleted]

...the cigarette slid neatly between his lips there.. a little spark would draw its tip to life.. a flourish of golden light in the rather dimly lit room.. he drew from it.. deeply.. in hopes it would calm his razor like senses.. he was so wound.. so tight he felt he could just about burst.. exhaling long and slowly.. a cloud forming before it would slowly vanish into nothingness.. he knew she was out there.. he'd seen her.. he'd watched .. catching glimpses of her bare naked body as she descended down into the bubbling hot pools.. he swallowed again.. and then again.. a lump had formed in his throat..his heart still raced.. his body ached and throbbed.. his hand fell.. he could feel the tightness of his jeans.. it was enough to make him remove his jacket..

the last thing he needed was for someone to happen upon him in such a state.. Fuck.. he whined softly.. his feet took him back to that window though as he drew once more from that cigarette.. though he almost choked when he saw her pleasuring herself.. watching her fingers gliding down her sun kissed skin.. even in the moon light he could see just about everything ..his ears twitched.. even with him being inside he could hear when her voice hit the higher pitch.. and then she called for him and his knees just about buckled.. he gripped that counter tightly.. white knuckling it.. if it were lesser wood he would have splintered it for sure.. -..

Fuck.. oh god.. -his head dipped forward.. there was sweat lining his brow.. his body was waging war with his mind.. with his heart.. they were all at a stand off.. one wanted.. one needed and the other was holding firm and strong with a No.. you should not be here Jacob.. you should be back in your room.. Leave the girl alone.. this is Not right and you know it.. his breath caught .. he put out the cigarette there ..

turning toward the counter as he bent to rest his head against the cool surface.. oh it felt nice.. it was just cold enough to help his feverish flesh.. he missed her gasp.. his own heart beating so damn loudly in his head he never would have caught it.. though when she inquired as to wether or not he was alright he blinked and shot upright.. his hand rising as he rubbed his fingers across his flushed cheeks.. back through his hair.. he nodded.. perhaps a little more enthusiastically than was required..he felt like a right idiot-.. yes.. yes.. I am ok.. sorry.. -his brows furrowed..

he noticed also that she was standing there.. before him.. like.. right there in only a towel.. her hair still damp.. hanging loose in curls there upon her shoulders.. droplets that she had managed to miss on her shoulders glistening in the lantern lighting.. he just about died when he realised he had dropped his jacket.. leaving all and sundry on display.. and he hoped much like she did that the lighting was low enough that she would not notice his bodies betrayal.. he leant down quickly.. grasping the jacket there as he swung it over his arm.. oh he caught that moan though.. that soft delicate sound coming from her.. making him clear his own throat.. curling his toes within his boots there.. his head was so damn foggy.. that when she spoke it took a moment to even register..

so there would have been an awkward moment of silence.. before he nodded-.. yes.. yes of course.. Good night Rose.. -and she left him.. his shoulders sunk and he just about collapsed against the bench there.. he literally smacked his forehead.. calling himself stupid.. and he'd pace.. just a little.. just a back and forth thing.. once.. maybe twice.. as if he was.. rationalising his position with an invisible entity.. when clearly it was simply his conscience.. he dipped his head back then.. his lids fell closed-.. forgive me.. -he whispered.. he couldn't take it any more.. if she rejected him then so be it..

he dropped his jacket down on the back of the chair there.. turning the lantern down on the table.. as he made his way back up those stairs.. taking every second one.. his heart had picked up.. his body was running so damn hot.. though in truth it wouldn't have felt it.. all of this was in his head.. the sheer lust and need that he was experiencing was almost strangling him.. he caught sight of her in the corner of his eye.. she was nearly at her door.. and not so far from his own.. he didn't call out to her.. he didn't want to alert the house to anything.. he just approached her swiftly.. his hand coming down to rest there upon the delicate bare round of her shoulder.. he turned her if she'd allow it.. looking to her there.. the shadow play upon her face from the one single lantern in the hall.. she didn't turn to look to him though.. her eyes.. those beautiful coloured orbs remained downcast.. he reached.. soft yet strong fingers found the curve of her jawline..

tracing along to her chin as he gripped to tilt up.. his words came out completely stuttered and illegible.. before he just took those lips of hers.. he didn't ask for permission nor waited for an invitation.. he simply laid a claim and drew her in for what would be their first kiss..he lead her.. he guided her.. unsure on just what she had or hadn't done.. but he knew what he wanted.. all she had to say was no.. all she had to do was back away and he would stop everything.. immediately at that.. oh she tasted heavenly.. like nothing he had ever experienced.. and the softness.. divine.. her touch was electrified as it wandered along his shirt.. he moaned into her mouth though.. a deep breathy sound when her fingers dipped into his thick richly coloured locks.. he just about buckled then... his hands had fallen from her cheeks there.. from their gentle cradling.. sliding down beneath where she was reaching for him..

though when he felt those nails he growled a little.. it was a sound from deep in his throat.. his hands were swift finding their position there against the rounds of her ass as he picked her up.. she could either remain rigid.. or wrap those heavenly legs around him as he backed into his own room then.. nudging the door closed with his boot.. he never broke away from the kiss though.. not once leaving those lush lips of hers for more than maybe a moment to catch a gasped breath.. his tongue dipped down into the heated depths of her mouth.. tasting of her.. feeling hers as she returned the favour...her words though.. her little plea to teach her made him moan softly.. her towel fell away.. leaving her completely bare and pressed against him.. him on the other hand fully clothed..

the bedroom was dark.. the curtains were drawn.. though a little expended energy which would have tickled along her senses would have those drawn back wide open.. windows closed.. no cool breeze just a room filled with moonlight and so very many shadows playing the walls..-.. are.. -he whispered against her lips-.. are you sure?.. -he snagged her lower lip.. tugging just lightly upon it before he released it.. his knees felt the edge of the bed there as he lowered her down onto it.. her bare back no doubt would have arched at the coolness of the soft silken covers.. he remained standing as he worked on unbuttoning his shirt.. sliding it off of his frame..

he caught sight of her there.. the moon light licking at her skin.. his breath caught audibly.. -.. My god you're beautiful.. -he whispered.. his boots were removed though his jeans remained.. his hands came down nearer to her knees there.. gliding along her outer thighs.. he would take a bit more notice of this tattoo she had.. the one that seemed almost animated..that seemed alive there.. it intrigued him.. he traced parts of it with his fingers.. watching it move and flow.. he leant down over her.. his lips finding the delicate dip of her stomach.. just above her navel.. his fingers continuing upward.. tickling just across her ribs.. seeking out the under swell of her breasts.. oh he found them.. in no time at all.. his hands curled..his fingers fanned out.. to hold.. to feel the weight..

the softness as he moaned against her warmed sweetly scented skin.. a finger and thumb soon found those hardened little nipples.. just barely brushing over top.. circling.. he was trying to learn her.. at least a little.. to see what would make her crash.. what would make her crumble.. his jean clad knee came to rest between her creamy white thighs.. pressing against that rather inviting little apex.. just applying a little pressure.. and then a little more.. he looked up to her there.. watching her as his head came to rest just above her chest.. his tongue replaced one of his hands.. his fingers as he flicked her right nipple with it.. circling it slowly.. dreadfully slowly as he began to rock against her.. it wasn't hard.. it wasn't fast.. it was just a gradual naughty tease.. he wanted her to know what this felt like.. what pleasure Could feel like if one just let go..

he locked his lips around that tight hardened little bud and he sucked.. his free hand continued to gently assault the other before he broke away to lift a little and claim those lips of hers once more.. he rolled onto his side.. pulling her with him.. guiding her so her thighs remained parted and his knee firmly resting between... his free hand slid down to grip onto her ass.. to hold it as he rocked against her.. -..

do you trust me?.. -he'd whisper against her lips there.. softly as his own breathing had picked up from these actions alone.. the hand upon her ass slid across the curve of her hip.. down between them both.. she would have felt his fingers dipping lower.. down between her thighs.. he growled a little at just how hot she felt.. how wet she felt.. finger tips parted those lips but didn't invade.. didn't push or take over.. they just held position..

pressed against her thanks to his knee.. one finger was just above that pleasure promising pearl-.. now move your hips.. -he whispered.. wishing for her to grind against that one finger.. to show him just how she wanted it.. that and he wasn't going to say no to a writhing beauty in his bed.. she could just rub against it.. she could lift a touch and let the tip slip just a little inside her.. she had the control.. he was simply there.. holding steady..his poor heart was throbbing there and his jeans couldn't have possibly been any tighter-.. I want to hear you moan.. I want to hear you cry out..-he'd whisper down into her mouth.. his tongue dipping to follow every so often.. he couldn't get enough he just wanted more.. he didn't want the kiss to end-

[BadInfluence]

If she had known about his suffering she would have taken more care not to be seen, she had honestly believed everyone to be in bed, deep asleep and well away from any place they could see her. All she knew was that the only viewer she had were the stars and the big moon in the sky, her little companions in her first adventure into womanhood, into femininity and all that lie locked within that small yet profound word. Would she mind if she knew he was watching though? Now that… Was a pickle of a question because it lay so cleanly divided, torn between who she was, and who she was becoming. She was striding into unknown territory, parts of her would never be the same after tonight, knowledge would be gained that would change everything forever… Gone would be the complete veil of innocence and in its place would rest a window of carnal insight, the truth of what the body was made for, and just what could be wrought from it with the right touches and a little mental creativity. The choice of partner should not have shocked him though, she was obviously uninterested in many and most men, and the one person she had showed any genuine interaction with had been himself… She had even told him she thought he was handsome, and for her to admit such a thing was quite a feat, given she had never applied the word to anyone else before… No she had chosen him and she embraced her desire for him openly, letting her mind wander down the path it chose, finding the imagery more than stimulating enough to truly set her on fire.



She had never explored before, finding areas so exquisitely sensitive that they made her quake, and when she finally drifted lower… Finding that seemingly innocent and small little pearl that held the key to unraveling her faster than a ball of yarn down hill?… Oh yes she was thoroughly wrapped up in herself and her exploration, imagining him teaching her, being the one to touch her… Burning up like a star through the sky she came and found that ideal rapture, the purpose for sex and the body itself, that sublime peak of perfection… She had called out his name without knowing it, at her apex of desire she had lost herself fully to it and reacted on instinct, unaware that her reaction caused him to put some serious vice clamp pressure on a poor bench that didn’t know what hit it… She simply languished, enjoying the after effects of that first venturing into the realm of self-exploration, finishing up her soak before heading inside to what she believed would be a shower and bed… What she hadn’t expected was to see him there, bent over the bench with his head on the cold wood surface, looking as if he were sick and trying to hold something down… Concern overrode her own fear of being seen and the innate self-protection of her body and its secrets and she went to him, concerned for him and his well-being, only to watch him pop up like a jack-in-the-box and nearly make her jump out of her skin. She had never seen him look like this, but given she had only started to watch him today, that really didn’t amount to much. Was he sick? Drunk? What ever it was he denied being in any state when she asked, stating he was fine, even though the way her brows drew in a touch over her nose and the way she watched him stated she clearly thought otherwise…



She had gone to pick up his jacket at the same time he did, thinking it might be best if he didn’t bend over, especially if it made him puke… What she caught instead of that fabric was the sight of the bulge in his pants and the moan that slipped from her lips was delicate and soft, but obvious as to what she had seen, and even more importantly to him perhaps… That she wasn’t afraid or shocked… More… Femininely curious and even a little Interested… She caught him clearing his throat and she stood, blushing and unable to meet his gaze, stating that if he was ok… She was going to make her way upstairs and left it at that, and that awkward silence really only made her feel even more embarrassed about the moan that had slipped out, and she turned to make her way to bed. At his soft words she returned her own before leaving him to his space. “Good night, Jacob.” She said as she made her way upstairs quicker than she might have normally, emotions a bit of a tangle and her body feeling things she had no control over, heavenly new sensations she was beginning to understand as related to pleasure and pleasure itself… Though the idea of lust and need were still strangers to her… She hadn’t encountered them just yet, but as sure as pleasure is real, so too are they and they come bearing very close company to one another indeed. What she did know? Was that around him, and for him alone, did she find that pleasure was something she wanted to entertain… She could see how it was a multi-use tool, able to provide many and more creature comforts and the added perk of allowing one’s self to truly open up, but in her mind? She couldn’t see it becoming such a grand feature… Perhaps as a sleep aid… Something to help ease off a particularly stressful day… But not something she would think about constantly unlike a few others in this house… Yet all she had to do was be around him, see something of his, be reminded of him and that idea shifted… She found herself imagining that scene repeatedly as she made her way up the stairs and towards her room…



That is… Before he caught her…



His touch on her shoulder made her heart surge and swell in her chest as if it might rupture before speeding up, hearing his words, broken and a little mixed up… For a moment she wondered if he was sick, it had started to sound like that before his palms came up to cradle her face, the feel of his skin on hers was tempting, and just as she thought she felt those callouses… He smelled like his cigarette and the shower from earlier, something under it, something she would recognize as masculine musk at a later date… For right now it simply had the effect of catnip on her and made her incredibly soft and pliant so that when he lifted her face to kiss her, she went easily and gladly, no stiffening of her body or reluctance… She wanted this… Embraced it as she gently gave him access to the depths of her mouth, her first kiss being one of deep need and concupiscence, the twisting of tongues and strangled breaths… It was beautiful. She opened up to him like a flower to the sun, revealing everything he could possibly desire, offering up the sweet cider and mint taste of her kiss while she fully embraced his own… Getting drunk on him faster than any alcohol could compare… Her fingers lost the battle to hold onto her towel, touching over his body instead, skimming up his firm abs to his chest… Shoulders… Into his hair that she could swear would become one of her favorite sins, running her fingers through it to lightly, softly tug and grip as she willingly drowned in him… His moan, that breathy sound made her whimper deliciously, her nipples hardening under that towel as she perilously pushed flush against him… Touching him was addictive, like some sort of new drug he had created, and just that first bit was enough to hook her for life… Between the sounds, the taste and smell of him she was utterly hopeless, lost in the sea of him and uncaring to find a shoreline… She scored her nails lightly along his scalp and that growl instinctively made her grind against him, a heady sweet lashing of her hips against his, that first step in a possible dance they might share…



When he lifted her she was for a moment confused but temptingly so… One moment they were kissing the next he had his hands on her surprisingly plush and well formed ass, earning a sweet startled cry from her that quivered deliciously against his lips, her legs parting to wrap around him… Locking behind his back as she twined her arms around his neck and buried her fingers in his hair once again. The towel had fallen, unable to hold up against their bodies and the shift of her wrapped up around him, leaving her exquisitely bare in his arms… The view from the pool he had snuck, cradled in his arms with her incredibly long well shaped legs about his waist, her lips against his with her superbly formed tits against his chest… She didn’t care if it was dark or light, day or night, she was in his room with him… Tangled in his arms… Her fantasy was given breath and life and she was entirely high on it, drunk beyond inebriation and completely uncaring of anything outside of what they would share here, what could be taught… She asked him to teach her… She was a willing pupil to his pleasure, she wanted to know everything he could offer, she was a cup waiting to be filled… She heard his words and the gentle compassion in them… There was no rush or any push from him… He was doing this at her pace… But not just for her pleasure, something she was secretly glad of, the fact that he wanted her too… She had once thought she would happily endure a one sided crush but this?… Was so much better… “More than anything… Please, Jacob…” She asked softly… She loved the fact he wanted this to be ok with her, but she also wanted him to know just how important it was to her that she share it with him, that he be as much a part of this adventure as she was… She wasn’t asking for his heart… She wasn’t asking for his affection… She had his friendship and she was content in that… She wouldn’t dare dream of asking for more… “I want you…



A simple enough sentence but it was so true it almost hurt to say it… She wanted him… She who had never wanted anything in her life, who had never dared to even dream of anything because it wasn't in her fate to have, wanted him… Wanted something profound and unobtainable perhaps… But she wanted it… Wanted him… All the same. She stayed in his arms until they got to the bed, untangling from him to be laid down on silken sheets, a distinctively decadent hiss as the chill hit her… A heady contrast to the heat that was virtually pouring off of her… She had never felt silk before… They were always rough linen,  cotton if she was lucky, but the silk felt like butter beneath her and made her moan saccharine like as she writhed against them… Exploring them with her body before he spoke, her head turning to look at him there, the way he was unbuttoning his shirt…Watching it fall off and leaving his upper body deliciously bare and her heart almost stopped before twisting in her chest… He was so much more beautiful than she ever imagined… “Not near so much as you…” She breathed in return as he came to rest at her knees, watching where his eyes ran, the way he noticed her tattoo… Yet there was no judgement… They both bore their ink in silent testament to their lives… She gasped suddenly as he began to trace his fingers over it, and he could feel the magic in it, with a touch it was like the smell of fresh earth and grass after a rain… It was alive under his fingers as surely as she was, the two were one in the same, her ink as real and true to her body as the blood ran in her veins… The kiss to her stomach made her arch and slide her fingers into his hair, her lids falling closed as she delved into every sensation, her breathing picking up quickly as he moved higher… A sweet moan crossed with a half giggle as he moved up her ribs, flickering at the corners in a smile with kiss swollen lips as she found herself arching softly into his hands, encouraging his exploration. Her thoughts scattered harder and faster than she could pull them together when his fingers found the swells of her breasts, the exquisite underside softer than the finest spider silk and as beautifully sun kissed as the rest of her, softly sweet smelling and delightfully heavy in his hands… That sort of luscious perfection that makes a mans palms itch to touch and explore, to know their weight intimately, to understand every swell and texture...



He destroyed her delectably as he moved… The moment he found her nipples she arched in the sweetest, cleanest bow he had ever seen, head pressing back into his pillows as she bit back a loud moan of delight… The strangled luscious cry of pleasure the only thing to fall from her lips as she gasped and dug her heels into his mattress. They were sensitive, responsive, beautifully petite as the rest of her and wonderfully pert and firm between his fingers. She needed little stimulation, they were so mouthwateringly sensitive that those feather soft touches had her rapturously wrapped up in a wave of concupiscence so intense that she felt herself nearly faint. He’d find she went a little wild when he pinched and gently rolled them between his fingers, a little tug now and then enough to send her into fits of pure feminine desertion, and she was enraptured with his large hands fully encapsulating her breasts between his fingers and palm… She was panting softly, writhing beside him, the most feminine and beautiful little mewls of pleasure he had ever heard falling from her lips all for him… Because of him… Her heart was going to explode, to expire like a match going up under his flame, but it was a perfect way to face a sudden ceasation… There, beneath him, under the touch of his skilled and knowing hands… And it only got even more intense… His thigh between her legs earned a sweet sharp cry of pleasure that she couldn’t bite back, her hands leaving the sheets to curl against him, digging into his thighs… Not to push away… To bring closer… Something about him between her thighs felt so perfect, so right, it brought unshed tears to her eyes as she brought herself up to him… His slow, sensual, gentle grinding was met with the instinctive lashing of her hips, the delicate hypnotic undulation of her body against his… A tempting, heady rhythm found between them, one that had her breath shot and scattered, barely able to manage the most delicate of panting…



She understood… The feeling of actually being with someone… The warmth of his body… The feel of his heart… His breathing… The pressure of him between her thighs… His gentle weight... She wanted it… All of it… Her nails digging deliciously into his jeans as she silently encouraged him against her, her core wonderfully slick and wet, leaving a naughty dark spot on his jeans as she found herself forming broken words… Pleas… Encouragement… Whimpers of how good it felt… She was in a dream and she didn’t want to wake up, one that only got better when he latched on and her eyes snapped open in surprise, a deep throaty cry of pleasure as she curled up into him… Holding him as he suckled her, her leg hooked around his as she desperately clung to him for all she was worth, on the verge of a beautiful collapse… “Yes! Y-yes p-p-please!” She begged feverishly, her cheek resting against the crown of his head, sure he could hear how desperately her heart was beating… Faster than she ever thought it could, unable to truly breathe, alive under him as she had never felt before… His lips and tongue were a perfect torture, one she was so desperate to continue, that precious coil getting tighter and tighter still… She was trembling under him, not out of fear but the sheer overwhelming sensations he was bringing out in her, so much stronger… Better… Sweeter than she had done herself in the pool… Could she hold onto a moment forever?... She wanted to… She wished she could… She never wanted this to end…



He released her nipples and she let out a soft little sob of dejection, her orgasm coming so close only to dip back, but it was an additive sort of rise and fall she didn’t really want to end… She rolled with him, her hair a golden net over his pillows, her arm under his head and the other gripping his arm lovingly… Did she trust him?… She slid her had down his arm and held his hand over her ass, linking their fingers in that moment as she looked up at him, her eyes more green than hazel with the pleasure that darkened them and made them hold more light than all the stars in the sky. “With all that I am, yes…” She whispered back against his own, saying in with several little kisses of her lips over his, curling her fingers in a little tighter over his to show him… She meant it… She was neither drunk nor high, in o way altered that would effect her choices, and she meant every syllable… She trusted him with her life, with her virginity, with all that she was… All she might yet turn out to be… She released his hand as he moved it, her own coming to rest in his hair again, occasionally dipping down to grip his shoulders or strong biceps… When he slid his hand down between them she gasped and tucked her cheek next to his, trembling at the feeling of him there, that place which was her most precious spot and where she had so vividly imagined him touching her… She quaked and quivered, her core sweet and hot, the scent of something akin to black tea and honey on the air… Natural, tempting and promising something utterly delicious, her body opened to him without a sliver of resistance… There were no excess folds or dips, her delicate center was as perfect as a split apricot, and just as tasty… She heard his words… Listened with all she had…



Move her hips… Seems simple enough… Try that when you have someone you feel you could be having strong feelings for… Moving her hips sounded like a command from the heavens and one she desperately wanted to obey, looking up into his eyes as she rocked, carefully… Cautiously… Unsure of how it might feel… How different it would be from her own fingers just minutes ago in the pool… The first lash was like lightning, striking her with an intense pulse that made her gasp and cling to him… Chest to chest as she determinedly tried to keep eye contact… Wanting him to see the world he gave her though her eyes… The pleasure that was so clearly visible… The trust she freely gave him… Even the feelings she couldn’t name lay bare to him, for him to see and him alone, her face slowly shifting into the mask of feminine need as she worked against him… It felt… Even better than the pool, something she couldn’t believe was possible but there it was, his strong hand between her thighs with all the variations of callouses and size… How much longer his fingers were than hers... How much thicker… She stopped trying to hold back, she no longer bit back her moans or cries, she threw into it as fully as she had in the pool… Perfect little moans and cries began to fall from her lips as she rocked harder against him, a little faster, quaking in his arms as she clung to him. “Please-… Don’t… Don’t stop…” She gasped and begged, writhing enticingly in his arms before she slid a little too far forward, feeling his finger slide into her with a burst of pleasured pain… He could feel it… Her virginity there, tight around his finger as he slid past through the small opening into her vice like honeyed walls fluttering around his finger… His fingers were thick and strong, beautifully shaped and felt decadently invasive inside her, the sting of her hymen being gently stretched around his finger paired with the incredible fullness of his digit there… She went still, looking up at him between the white hot kisses that left her lips bee stung and deliciously swollen, a mix of shock and desire evident in the changing hues of her eyes…



What she did next was on pure instinct and need, a determined motion that she would give to him, and him alone… She slid her hand down to rest over his, completely still as she made those soft, loving movements… Fingers twining with his as she slipped his finger a little deeper… A sharp gasp of heady pain riddled pleasure… A deliciously perfect moan… A little deeper… She was panting against him, her gaze never breaking from his, a world of truth in her eyes she could never say… The start of something so fragile and perfect there… A shower of emotions all for him… About him… For him… She slid a little deeper still before he found it… That spot she had read about... The area that was akin to her pearl located inside her… Her fingers stroking and lightly scoring along his scalp as she cried out his name against his lips in a kiss, burring herself against him as she began to rock with his finger deep inside her, her hymen still intact as she rode his hand… Moaning, begging, pleading, mewling, writhing, sobbing… She was a woman undone and she embraced it as that coil inside her tightened even more than before, sucking his finger in even deeper as her core pulsed with the tell tale quivers of a woman about to climax… She couldn’t breathe as her heart stuttered and stalled more than once on her chest, her body ceaselessly rocking against his hand as she used his offered skills to bring herself to that place, the sharp and impossibly sweet stucco of her mewling cries of pleasure everything he could have ever wanted to hear and more… So much more...



When she shattered it was almost violent… Unlike in the pool when it had been a wonderful shower of sparks and glitter, this was like a volcano erupting, a sudden and cataclysmic shattering of everything inside her that made her feel as if she were breaking from deep inside her marrow… The orgasm started deeper than her bones and spread out like a tidal wave that left her crying out his name over and over again, dragging her under in a riptide of pleasure, flowing out along her skin in a wave of goosebumps before working back down inside her… Down into her core only to pulse out again, like a star having gone supernova, she just exploded over and over again… Wave after wave of it that left her quaking against him as she clung to him, her lips pressed over his neck in a loving kiss as she brokenly continued to cry his name, a melody of adoration and pleasure that varied with words of gratitude and thanks… She was held aloft by that orgasm for several minutes it seemed, it lasted more than long enough to leave her weaker than a new born kitten in his arms, tilting her head up only enough to capture his lips in a kiss so tender… So warm… So sweet… It could make or break a heart.



“Let me please you…” She whispered against his lips only after the kiss had ended, drawing it out for as long as he was willing, the end coming only at his will… “Show me what you want…” Another soft kiss, moving down along his jaw, her fingers slowly tracing over his skin… Her own dewy with a fine sheen of sweat and pleasure… She went farther down, undoing the tops of his pants, the fly lowered… She read THAT far in… She had a… Well… General knowledge? Enough to know at least what went were… He could teacher her the fine tuning… She slid down his body, kissing along his chest, a small flick of her tongue against his nipple… Nibbling softly down his abs… A flick of her tongue over his navel before she came to his cock and there… Jesus H was that a surprise… He was big inside his jeans… The jeans were a damn lie… She gasped in shock when she worked him free, the very real fact that he was the biggest she had ever seen more than a little apparent at the widening of her eyes, but more than that… The flick of her tongue across her lips… A hungry gleam in her eyes… It took both her hands to wrap around his shaft as she slowly began to stroke him up and down, listening to his words, his body to find out what he liked… What worked best… She would slowly, curiously run her finger around the clear fluid that beaded up on the tip of his cock… The scent of his musk and desire like the perfect cologne to her, drugging her senses as she moved in, slowly running the flat of her tongue over the delicious wet mass… His cum was sweet… A little salty… Like sea salt and caramel… She moaned deeply, throatily in appreciation as she rolled the taste around over her tongue, dragging her kitten pink tongue over the head of his cock… Desperate… Hungry for it to make more so she could lap it all up… Slowly kissing all over the head as she found the stroke that worked for him before she moved down and took the head of his shaft in her swollen lips, having to part them until the sides burned a little to get him in, another throaty moan vibrating down his shaft at the taste of him… The feel…



“Well Looks like you took my advice after all Jacob…”



She heard the sudden voice from the doorway and knew who it was without needing to see it… She was there… In Jacobs bed… Naked…Pleasure soaked… The room smelling like sex as rich as any incense… His cock in her mouth… Her first instinct? Was to cover him up… No thought for herself but every one for him... Quickly detangling herself and fumbling for a pillow that she threw with all her strength at the jack ass doctors face, taking up Jacobs discarded shirt and sliding it on before running as fast as she could out of that room which was considering her lifestyle, faster than anyone might have guessed. There was the slamming of her door seconds later as she quickly threw the lock and went clean out of her room and onto the balcony, shaking like a leaf before she found herself suddenly erupting into tears… Of all the people… Of all the things… Why? What had she done so wrong to have one of the most beautiful moments of her life so utterly ruined? She wasn’t asking for his love… His affection… She wasn't asking for anything but shared pleasure yet it was as if she were asking for the sun and moon, the moment shattered by the last person in the entire world she ever wanted to be around her, let alone see her in such a raw and vulnerable position. She stood there, sobbing quietly, sniffing as she wiped her tears on the back of her hand… Seeing the other doctor leaving the house, nurses as well, and the sudden glow near the town… Like a sunrise far too early… A bonfire?



He took the pillow to the face like a champ, mostly because it wasn't the first one he had thrown at him, but that didn't stop him from eye fucking the shit out of her as she ran by.  “Fire in town and we’re needed at the hospital to tend the injured. Twelve so far but they’re the worst of it, come on, put your dick back in your pants and let’s go. You can always fuck her later when we get back.” The words were said so nonchalantly, like he didn’t give two shits about anything, at best he sounded a little pissed that his sleep got interrupted but little else. "Who would have thought all that was hidden under a bitchy attitude and baggy clothes... I get next dibs, I've never said no to a buttered muffin..." And that was it... He just didn't care outside of his own pleasure, and given his had been interrupted with Kit for the call, he was in a mood as it stood.



The call was going around to the volunteers and the trainees as well, which of course meant she had Luna telling her to get out of bed and do some work for a change… Given everything that had just happened? She would have probably gladly killed Luna in that moment… Instead she went to her dresser and pulled out her uniform, got dressed in little under five minutes and was out the door, hair pulled back in a braid and her cap in place… She had been crying but it could have been blamed on the smoke… She went silently, ahead of Jacob or behind him but she hadn’t seen him, instead she was loaded up with the rest and rushed over to the hospital. The next couple of hours for her were a blur, dozens of wounded, some very badly others little more than second degree… Ranges from children to seniors, a few adults scattered here and there, those who had been hurt trying to put out the fire… It was arson, a domestic dispute that went way out of hand, a man caught his wife cheating and had set her lovers house on fire… And that fire had jumped from house to house until three buildings were fully ablaze… They had it under control and were putting it out, saving the rest of the houses and putting an end to it, the fire bug arrested and in jail…. All ended easily except at the hospital, she worked tirelessly through the night, tending those victims with wounds not bad enough to be seen by the few doctors on staff… Hers were mostly the children, making jokes and silly faces, watching tears streaked faces break into smiles as she eased their hurts… Tended burns and bruises, cuts and splinters, a broken bone or two from a fall from somewhere in the burning houses… It took hours to see them all and get everyone patched up, despite that she worked tirelessly, moving from her now empty unit to the more serious cases… She hadn’t found Jacob but Dr. Faelon needed assistance and she worked under him silently, knowing what he needed before he said it, earning her a bit of grudging praise and even a little respect… She was good at what she did, she really was, and for all she was silent the entire time she was never wrong… She didn’t need guidance or reprimand and because of that Dr. Faelon kept her at his side the entire night until the last patient of his was tended and properly set up, keeping to his strict and almost brutal pace she performed beautifully and earned a bit of thanks from him before they were done… At that point?... The sun was coming up and she smelled like burned flesh and smoke… She stretched and yawned, exhausted beyond anything she had ever felt before, and made her way silently out of the hospital.



Many and most would be staying behind to eat and chat, but she was just as anti-social as ever, she wouldn’t open up to anyone… No one but him… So she vanished silently into the start of dawn and back to the manse, up the stairs two at a time only to stop at Jacobs door, peeking her head in to quietly pick up her clothes and towel… Taking them with her to the bathroom… She was bone tired as she stripped out of her clothes and set them in a tub to soak so the smell of smoke would be out of them, making her way to one of the shower stalls and starting up the warm water, letting her head rest against the wall for several moments… The cool tile against her forehead… She dozed off for several moments before she jerked herself back awake, shaking her head and setting about washing up, her soap was simple… Just some pear and coriander that left her skin soft and lightly scented, rinsing off only to set about washing her hair, removing the last traces of smoke from her body before finishing up and shutting it off… She got out, dried off and got dressed, looking at the doors… They were unlocked… She had locked them, hadn’t see? But since she fell asleep in the shower she couldn’t really say… She just shrugged and pulled her shirt over her head… Only to see the word ‘whore’ painted out on it in bright red letters. She blinked in surprise before taking it off, holding it away to examine it, the letters in red paint that was still damp… Gee… Who could have done that, I wonder? She made a disgusted sound and tossed it in another tub, adding more soap to it so that her clothes would be clean, wrapping herself up tight in the towel before bolting to her room without being seen. Once there she re-locked it even went so far as to put a chair in front of it, she didn’t trust the locks here and she wasn’t about to play any games, making sure everything was secure before she settled into bed… Jacobs book on the various races physical make up in her lap… She studied for another hour or two before her eyes began to blur and she ended up falling asleep with the book in her lap, the sunlight coming in just bathing her in a soft golden glow but far from waking her up, a gentle breeze blowing her hair from her face as she slept deeply and soundly…

[Deleted]

-..his hands had slid down to the generous curves of her ass as they stood there in the darkened hallway.. with a little effort he pulled her up.. lifting her.. a silent plea through heavy breaths for her to part her thighs.. to wrap those long lush legs around him was quickly met.. he felt her squeezing.. he felt her bodies heat as the towel had fallen away.. she was completely bare there.. clinging.. clutching to him as he held her.. their lips all but permanently locked.. they were breathing from one another.. tasting.. teasing.. just enjoying the feeling of being wrapped in so close.. sure they'd only known each other.. not even the better part of a day.. but there was no denying the spark that had just started a bonfire deep down in the pair.. he backed into his room and nudged the door closed..

the two of them soon upon his bed.. he had layed her down as he removed his shirt.. the moon the only source of lighting..as he just marvelled at how beautiful she was.. she was stunning.. it had little to do with her body.. with her shape.. it was just her.. she was at least to him utterly captivating.. he couldn't possibly deny it...his gaze lifted as she returned the compliment.. to tell him to her.. he was the very same.. his head was a mess.. his conscience was in the background though its voice had been dulled down to little more than a breathy whisper.. boxed up by his desire.. his need..he played with her.. he toyed with her.. his lips were soft in their explorations.. sure he could have just jumped right in.. burned out the need he had for her.. how hard would it have been to just fuck her.. it would have sated him.. in the short term.. but that wasn't what this was about..

his touches though strong remained delicate as he wanted her to just understand what it felt to have someone else more or less worship another.. lips and kisses to her stomach.. fingers.. palms to the perfect rounds of her breasts.. before he would torment those hardened little nipples.. her responses were incredible.. and they weren't making things any easier.. that throbbing.. that intense tightness in his jeans was just growing harder to deal with.. to ignore.. he rolled her to her side there.. his lips encasing one of her nipples.. his tongue circling.. his teeth giving the most gentle grazing.. just a little pressure.. just enough to make her stiffen and moan.. his knee between her thighs was getting quite a workout indeed he could feel the dampness .. it was slicking through the thick denim easily.. she was incredibly hot.. -.. thats it.. -he whispered as she arched into him..

hearing her gasps.. her moans.. watching as the pleasure just took over her features.. her brows furrowing .. the biting.. the chewing onto her lower lip.. her eyes widening.. all of it.. not to mention the grabbing.. how she was holding onto him as if her life depended on it-.. just roll with it.. don't be afraid.. -his lips found the delicate dip of her shoulder there..his teeth grazing the sunkissed flesh as she grinded against him there.. he sucked just enough blood to the surface without breaking the skin.. enough to leave a little mark.. enough to give her a small shock of pain to even out the intensity of the pleasurable act.. he asked her if she trusted him.. he didn't want to push her.. he didn't want her to do anything she wasn't ready to.. or to make her feel any undue pressure.. it was so easy for young women to feel they Had to do things in the heat of the moment..

he looked to her when she answered him.. her lips incredibly close to his own.. he felt each one of those tiny kisses.. every one causing his breath to catch in the back of his throat.. the tip of his tongue flicked against her upper lip as his hand slid across her thigh there.. feeling the smooth soft skin before he dipped down between.. the heat he felt was incredible.. and as he parted those soft wet lips he couldn't help the groan that surfaced.. -.. Fuck.. -he whined softly.. his breath came out a little shaky.. his free hand came up to rest there behind her head.. cradling her as she all but buried herself in closer to him he gave her an instruction.. it seemed easy enough.. to move her hips for him.. his finger was extended just enough where she could use it.. to grind against it.. he looked back to her.. heavy lidded as she began to move.. his lips parted a little to take a breath when it struck her.. he heard her gasp.. felt her grip tightening even more about him-.. thats it.. -he whispered.. the corners of his lips curling a little.. as if there was a smile developing.. though his mind was stuck in a lust filled daze..-.. don't stop.. keep going beautiful -he felt her trembling.. her shaking as she used him as he wanted.. she rocked harder.. a little faster .. his chest tightened when she went that little bit too far and his finger slid up into her..

oh he felt it.. that slight resistance.. he knew all to well what that was.. it made him swallow.. there was a desire there.. to pull back.. before he felt her fingers resting against the back of his.. holding him in position as she moved against it.. his breath continued to catch and shatter.. their lips met.. the kiss only deepening..her moans.. her cries sounding out in the otherwise silent space.. it was however warded so she could be as loud as she desired.. no one else would hear it.. not a single soul.. deeper and deeper that finger slid.. before he felt that sacred spot.. that little inner button and he wasn't about to pass up that opportunity.. his finger curled in a touch.. before she began to cry out.. her nails scratched along his scalp.. her grip upon him turned vice like in a matter of a moment.. -.. yes.. yes.. -he gasped loudly against her as she curled in tighter-.. cum for me -barely spoken.. she probably wouldn't have even heard it over her own cries of pleasure..

before she just broke in his arms.. he felt that final shatter.. he just held he tightly against him.. letting her ride it out.. letting her milk it for all it was worth.. brushing his lips to the side of her head.. he could feel her heart throbbing there.. he could hear her shortened breath.. slowly she began to come down as she tilted her head up to him.. their lips met once more.. a kiss though this time..a bit more delicate.. a touch more tender.. his nerves were wrecked..his head dropped to the silken bedding there.. his body still hot.. still feverish.. so he was glad the fabric was a little on the cool side behind him..

he murmured when she told him she wanted to please him.. her lips drifting their kisses down to the curve of his jaw..along the sides of his neck.. he trembled a little beneath her feather like touches.. it had been .. what.. a little under 3 years since he had even allowed another to touch him..not including the mess in the bathroom.. as well that wasn't even going to come close to this.. his throat ran dry when she reached the belt and buckle on his jeans.. hissing out a sudden breath when her tongue came into contact with one of his nipples.. gritting his teeth down when she reached down into his pants to pull his cock free.. Fuck.. his eyes clenched closed a moment.. her fingers felt absolutely incredible.. even just barely touching he got a case of the shivers.. -.. you don't have.. -his words would come out rather stuttered.. a little more than broken -.. you don't have to.. this wasn't about.. -before she began to stroke the length of his hardened cock and he groaned.. his head hit those pillows.. just swimming in lustful fog there.. -.

. Oh dear god.. -he whined.. he couldn't say no to her.. just this.. as basic as it was felt amazing.. -.. please.. -he pleaded with her -.. don't stop.. -shifting up onto his elbows there as he caught a glimpse of her tongue gliding down against the glistening head.. an audible groan.. a hissed breath through gritted down teeth.. he figured she didn't need to be guided so much.. at least not yet what she was doing was fucking perfect.. and when her lips parted to accommodate his cock.. drawing it into those hot slick depths he just couldn't help the moan that surfaced..

that was until the other voice cut through the room like a knife.. his eyes widened and he just about choked on his own breath.. the room still dark.. though he picked out the figure there in the doorway.. leaning casually as only Rincavornon could.. his brows furrowed-.. What the Fuck Rincavornon are you serious?!.. -he dropped his head down into the bedding there as he felt her pulling away.. she had covered him up with the side of the sheeting.. before tossing a cushion at the peeping tom there.. and she darted out of there so quickly he almost missed her exit completley..-.. No!.. don't it's.. -he went to call out to her but it was too late.. he sat upright there.. the quilt still hooked up about his middle..his heart was stammering in his chest like it was begging to break free.. he felt physically ill.. -.. Out.. for fucks sake.. I'll be down in a moment.. -he huffed.. the comment about Rose and how he wanted next dibs had him grinding his teeth.. now was not the time for this discussion..

he was incredibly close to murdering the asshole.. though he needed to get a handle on his anger.. on his mood.. and find out its core reasoning.. why was he upset?.. was he annoyed because his blow job was interrupted?.. was he that selfish?.. was he upset because she bolted? that he didn't want to put any undue attention upon her.. that she didn't need it.. he didn't want her to suffer any embarrassment .. it was a horrible way for things to end.. fuck his body ached so badly.. Rincavornon finally left with a bit of a laugh and he was left on his own.. silence filling the room once more.. it smelt like her.. he could still feel her beneath his fingertips.. he could taste her on his tongue.. he could smell her.. it was killing him.. he swallowed.. rubbing his cheeks.. his eyes.. back through his hair rather furiously before he moved to stand..

taking some long..deep breaths.. trying to settle his heart.. his mind.. to remove the fog.. he slipped out of those jeans.. into a new pair of shorts.. a new pair of slacks.. crisp long sleeved shirt buttoned to the collar.. his glasses returned to the tip of his nose.. he gathered up his bag.. he had work to do.. and as much as he wanted.. to go and see her to make sure she was ok.. he had to go.. there were people that needed his help.. desperately no less.. he could smell the smoke as he stepped outside.. the other two Doctors waiting there.. Rincavornon gave him a congratulatory pat on the shoulder.. he just rolled his eyes in return.. shoving off the advances there.. telling him to let it go. the three of them in a carriage and on their way..

he knew she'd be in one of the later ones.. with the other nurses and trainees.. every so often he'd glance back to see if he could catch even a glimpse of her.. but to no avail.. Rincavornon ribbed him for it.. though Faelon told them both to shut the fuck up that now was not the time.. her carriage would have consisted of Luna, Kit and Ellen.. along with a couple of other girls that were coming along to help where they could.. stripers mostly.. runners for the trainees..

Luna and Kit stared at her though.. smirks on their faces.. cupped hands between each other as words whispered were exchanged.. before Luna showed her hand.. doing a little blow job gesture..-.. Midnight snack Rose?.. get a little hungry last night?.. -the pair of them giggled and laughed shaking their heads-.. Think you're better than us.. whatever.. you're exactly the same.. fucking..-Kit chimed in-.. no.. Sucking.. -Luna laughed-.. oh yes.. Sucking your way to the top of the class.. hey whatever works right.. no judgement here.. -the pair of them grinned.. oh they were enjoying it thoroughly.. for so far as they were concerned.. you'd fallen.. from the pedestal that was well high..

now you were down with the common folk.. the carriage turned up at the Hospital then.. shortly after the one that the doctors were in.. though they were long gone elbow deep in the mass of burn victims that were soon flooding the corridors.. every staff member was on duty.. even the Managing directors had jobs.. even if it was only a runner.. everyone pitched in to whatever extent they could.. he didn't keep his distance from her on purpose.. it just happened to go that way.. though.. he was of the thoughts when he had a moment to give it time.. that perhaps she was staying away from him.. and he wouldn't blame her.. after what happened.. he dealt with a few Mothers.. some children.. though mainly the deeper darker wounds.. the ones where the lives were literally hanging in the balance..

it was a long.. long night.. everything was hard.. nothing seemed to be going just the way it should have been.. and he lost one.. an older gentleman that had gone back into the houses to save the children.. he did all he could to save him.. and but he was too far gone by the time he was presented to the hospital .. he had cleared the room out.. he wanted no stripers no trainees.. no new nurses.. only Faelon and one of the seniors.. it was serious and there was no room for teaching when it came to events like this.. both him and Faelon worked to keep the gentleman alive and for quite some time.. it would be view able from the upper levels.. and several of the nurses would stand in to watch.. some even praying to their respective gods as the surgeons did their job.. but it was to no avail.. a good three hours in and Faelon and him stepped back.. it was called.. and his shoulders just sunk.. he was exhausted.. mentally and physically.. and this.. was the last straw.. this was the one that broke the camels back.. he was drained..

Faelon patted his shoulder.. he did the same to a Dr he felt was his better.. thanking him for assisting.. the third Senior covered up the deceased.. it was decided he would tell the family.. after all Faelon didn't have a compassionate bone in his body.. and it was not the seniors job.. he nodded.. stepping out.. steeling himself as he removed the coverings.. the gloves.. the mask.. wiping the sweat from his brow.. he cleaned up a little and moved out.. seeking out the eldest daughter.. it would have been her Father and her childrens grandparent.. taking a breath as the little one bounded toward him and attached itself to his leg.. asking how his grandpa was.. and when could he see him..

the Mother however picked it up pretty much straight away from the expression upon his face.. tears began to fall there from her eyes.. all he could say was he was sorry.. that they did all they could.. the only solace they could really take from it was that if it werent for her Father.. there would have been a lot more deaths.. he had alerted and saved a lot of people tonight.. the woman just broke down.. her child moving quickly to cuddle in close to her asking what was wrong.. he ushered across the hospital help.. the counsellors and aids that would be able to walk the woman through it all.. he needed air.. he remained with her for a short time longer before he stepped out into the sunshine.. it was early morning..

the fog was still low..he sunk down to sit upon the stone fence..lighting a cigarette as he removed his glasses.. offering a wave to those who were leaving.. those who'd pulled the night shift.. he was offered a few pats to his shoulder.. they didn't lose people often.. but when they did it was felt by everyone.. he swallowed down a shaken breath.. Faelon and Rincavornon came out.. they were preparing to head back to the house.. mentioning the need for a good stiff drink.. and how that was fucking rough.. he nodded.. though remained silent.. he had nothing to say.. nothing really registered.. even on the way back to the Manor.. the night overall whilst it had so much beauty in it.. also held so much pain.. he found himself just gazing out the carriage windows.. feeling the breeze upon his face.. she was not far from his thoughts.. though he questioned whether or not to approach her when he got back to the house.. perhaps now was not the right time.. his mind was a wreck.. he was more likely to snap than anything else.. and he'd never have wanted to do that to her..

the trio arrived and made their way back inside.. the girls dotted here and there.. though he noted she was no where to be seen.. they had their opportunity to tease then.. but it was quickly thwarted by a wave of Rincavornon's hand.. and they buttoned it..he was offered some of the elvish wine.. maybe some spirits.. he plucked out one of the unlabelled bottles and a small glass.. and silently made his way into the lounge.. sinking down into the floor before the open hearth.. he poured a glass of the violet coloured brew.. it was a drow wine.. something stronger.. something that would more or less make him numb.. just a little.. he didn't want to get drunk.. he slid his glasses back on and pulled the books to his lap.. pencil on hand.. notepad at the read and he fell back into his studies..this was his escape.. this was how he dealtwith pain.. with frustration.. it was why he was so incredibly smart.. he barely left those books alone.. it was his go to.. an thats where he went.. before he more or less drifted off himself.. his head lulled back against one of the arm chairs.. and he slept.. or his mind forced him to in any rate-

[BadInfluence]

Later on a part of her might wonder how this happened… How she who had been uninterested and uncaring of the opposite sex for her entire life suddenly found herself in one of the most intimate positions with one, a stranger who had in the span of little less than a day, become quite a centrical figure in her life… Jacob mattered to her, just how much and in what context she still didn’t know, she hadn’t dared look at those areas of herself yet. She was simply living in the moment, exposed, raw and more alive with him than she had ever felt in her life. His smell was like a lullaby to her, wrapping, twining about her senses as it lulled her deeper down… Past the places she used to know and into the fathomless deep, a black velvet den of desire and curiosity… A want to explore this side of her and trusting him completely to not hurt her, to be tender with her, to guide her true… It was a lot to trust someone with, it was a lot to ask, but her soul told her it was right… Sometimes you need time to know if someone is right for you… Sometimes it happens at first sight… Their story didn’t have a time line, they were still writing the first chapter between them, something rich with laugher and shared interested… A feeling deep soul seated comradery that only comes when you meet someone who’s very much in tune with yourself, a sense of belonging that she felt with him, that trust that allowed her to follow this new line… A paragraph yet written but deliciously started and one she wanted to see through until the very end…



When he lifted her she went willing up into his arms, wrapping her legs about him as if it were as familiar as her own reflection in the mirror, arms tangled about his neck as their lips fused… She reveled in their kiss, it was something addictive and heady, his lips firm and smooth under hers… Her own pillow soft and plump, melding and molding to his, lips parted and tongues dancing… A game of give and take, chase and retreat, decadent and utterly inebriating… She breathed in as he breathed out, their moans and sighs forbidden sweets they stole from each other’s kisses, slowly getting wonderfully drunk on each little sigh… There was something addictive in the rasp of his facial hair, the way it burned on her chin, the slight roughness of it that made her feel entirely too feminine in his arms… The strength in his limbs, how easily he carried her as if she weighed nothing, his palms and fingers digging into her ass in a way that made her all too keenly aware of that area of her body… It was like he was showing her parts of herself she had known of, but never really noticed, bits of her anatomy that had simply existed but were now zones of pleasure she could have never imagined. Once they were in his room it only got better, sweeter, something about this part of him… The books and plants, the way he organized his things, the sheer fact that this room was as much as part of him as his knowledge or taste in music… It was like being wrapped up in the softest cotton while he slowly broke her down in the most exotic of ways, knowing she wanted nothing more than for it to happen right here, right now…



The moment he called her beautiful… It wasn’t that it didn’t move her… No one had ever called her anything even remotely sweet, and having someone she thought so much of tell her that, it made her heart twist and flip inside it’s hollowed pocket in her chest… Her breath stall and stutter… Cheeks flush… Yet rather than preen under it as others might, she instead revealed her heart to him, that to her? He was far more beautiful than anything she had ever seen before… He had an allure, a draw on her senses that made her feel like butter in the sun when she looked at him, in her mind he was filling out every niche and nook of what she thought a perfect man would look like… And then going to far as to overflow them, to prove to her that dreams can be real and when they are, they are so much sweeter than any mental fragment… He was perfectly scarred, he had known pain and sorrow, and yet the fact he carried it all with a mantle of kindness and true gentlemanly honor only made him that much more ideal… Like the gods had come together and took everything a man should be and crafted it, perfected it, polished it to a sheen and delivered it to her in the form of him… She was mesmerized by him and she never, ever wanted it to stop, she could have paused this moment forever and just languished in the view of him before her… Alas though she had no such power and nor did she want it, the second he moved in next to her the universe as she knew it became incredibly small compared to the one he revealed to her, a little spec of sand on the beach… Could he have dove in and fucked her like any other man would have done? Yes, he could have… Would she have let him?... That was a terrifying thought but if she were honest she would have… She would have welcomed him into her and given herself up to him if that had been what he wanted… Still, she had faith he wouldn’t, and not just because of what they had shared… Simply because she knew who he was… She trusted him completely.



Knee between her legs as she lay back on the cool silk bedding, she found herself in a maelstrom of sensations, the rough denim of his jeans and the heat of his skin under it… She’d never had anything down there that wasn’t cotton and soft, the abrasive nature of the fabric was rough and yet entirely welcome, a different sensation to tear her apart at the seams… Soft calloused fingers on her skin… The feel of his warm breath as it washed over her… Make her break out in waves of goosebumps that caused her nipples to remain constantly aroused… What it felt like to be worshiped… She never thought it existed, let alone that she would be lucky enough in her life to feel it, yet there it was… As glorious as a nebula where stars are born… What he was giving her was so much more than he thought he might be taking, more than pleasure he was giving her confidence, knowledge and a sense of self she had never had before… The feeling of being feminine and beautiful and utterly desirable to the one man she wanted more than anything else in her life. How could she ever want more than that? Even so, that didn’t mean she wasn’t incredibly eager to take everything he offered her, especially when it all felt so… Incredible… She was alive under him, undulating her hips against his knee between her legs, matching the rhythm he set as her head began to get wonderfully dizzy… She was utterly honest and open in her responses, the fact that everything he did to her made her moan and sigh, her fingers often in his hair to tug and lightly score her nails along his scalp in a desperate act to pleasure him back… Her fingers had felt heavenly on her breasts in the pool, but his lips and tongue, the firmness of his teeth as he gently grazed over them, there was no way in the world she could ever compare… He seemed to know just how to drive her wild even though she knew nothing of it herself, her thighs gripping his as he rocked against her, slowly soaking the front of his jeans with the very obvious fact of her arousal. It only got so much wilder when her actions were encouraged, it was like throwing napalm on a match, making her want to fly apart and just go up in a puff of smoke… How did he know what to say? What to do? How could he know her so intimately inside and out when she knew nothing of it herself? When she clung to him as he pushed in a bit closer, she heard the tender compassion in his voice, to embrace it and not to be afraid… She almost wanted to laugh? Afraid? No she wasn’t afraid… Not quite that. If anything it was the fact she was entirely too eager and was holding him close, trying to keep him from moving away when she was on the cusp of something incredible, desperate to share it with him… The love bite to her shoulder though… For the first time he earned a shrill cry of pleasure from her as her nails slid up and dug into his ass, arching hard into him as she felt her own thighs get wet from how much the bite aroused her, causing her to suffer a violently sweet shudder under him. Oh yes… She reached up with one of her hands and buried her fingers in his hair, panting against his shoulder as she continued to rock against him, holding him against her shoulder… A-again…” She pleaded softly, unafraid to ask for something that really threw her deliciously, eagerly rocking against him again if he repeated it.



A soft question… Concern… Compassion… Care… It was all there in his voice as he rolled them to their sides, her leg hooked over his hips with her knee trapped between his, bodies still flush in the sweetest of ways… She told him the truth, spread out through little kisses, her own breath catching and stalling when he flicked his tongue over her lips. His hand between her thighs was new but desperately wanted, it was her fantasy given flesh and her mind could never have conjured up the perfection of his fingers against her, the way he felt… Hot and smooth… Callused but not rough… Strong and yet surprisingly gentle with her… Long, skilled, well formed fingers against her core… How could anyone ever imagine something like that? It defied logic to know such an ethereal sensation… He wanted her to teach him how she wanted to be touched, all while she just wanted him to touch her, to just… Exist with her… It was a marriage made in heaven as she rocked against his hand, the feeling more than she could have ever hoped for, beyond perfect and it tripped up her tongue to try and describe it… His little words of encouragement were insane, like somehow he was perfectly aware of what it did to her, how it made her feel… She wanted to do it for pleasures sake but when he spoke like that it became so much more than a simple action and morphed into something profound… Like her pleasure was a sort of tribute to him, that he knew her orgasm was because of him and him alone, that he was wrought it from her flesh simply because he wanted to… It threw her into a decadent frenzy as she rocked and ground against it, in her eagerness though she went a touch too far, suddenly taking his finger into herself… An invasion that stung as her hymen was lightly stretched, a part of her that had never known the touch of her own fingers was suddenly very aware of his inside her, yet she didn’t bolt… She didn’t panic… Instead she slid her hand lovingly down his arm and linked her fingers with his and encouraged it… Slowly slid it deeper inside herself, writhing under him at the heady mix of pleasure and pain, invasion and fullness… Was this what sex was like? If it was… Her thoughts shattered when she took him as deep as they could and he curled his finger to find her spot, leaving her to suddenly gasp and cry out his name, to rock against his finger in a hungry hypnotic gyration until it happened… She clung to him like a drowning victim does a bit of jetsam, his words gasped against her ear only made it hotter as she flew apart, his last words lost as she nearly screamed his name as she virtually dematerialized… From the inside out, back again, high and low tide she rode those thick waves of pleasure… Left her rocking, quaking, quivering in his arms and so grateful he was holding her too… She had never felt so perfect… Feminine and soft… Sexy… Wanted… Desired… Marked by him and completely and totally unabashed by it… She clung to him as she lovingly kissed his neck, moving up to kiss him softly, tenderly… Raw emotions that had no name spilled into it and through it, less a passionate frenzy and more akin to a thanks, a revelation of things she couldn’t put to words yet…



Far from greedy though, once she felt settled back into her bones and body, she felt the overwhelming desire to share… It wasn’t fair he give her all this and she give nothing in return… She shifted her attentions to his body, to pepper soft kisses along his jaw and down his neck, noting the way he shivered under her touch… It thrilled her, delighted her, let her know he was far from immune to her touch… He was perhaps just as weak to her as she was to him? It felt that was as she heard him hiss when she licked at his nipple, catching the sound and seeing encouragement in it, gently grazing her teeth over his a he had done her… Moving from one to the other as she undid his belt, the button and fly, hearing the sudden swear… “Please… Trust me… I’ll never hurt you Jacob…” She whispered as she moved down, nibbling along his abs and yes, sweet fucking God he had a cock for the ages… Taking him in her hands, needing both to get a decent grip on it as she began to work him over slowly, listening to his breathing… His heart… The way his cock throbbed in her hands… “I want to… I want to see you cum too…” Innocent? Yes… But it was also incredibly genuine as she desperately wanted to return to amazing gift he had given her, to bring him pleasure by worshiping his body as he had hers, and with her limited knowledge she set about doing it as best he could. She stroked him slow and sweet, dragging it out so he could revel and sink into each sensation, eager to learn… The precum was a revelation to her, curiosity overriding any real concern as she licked the head of his cock to taste it, finding the flavor so much more addictive than she could have thought… It made her hungry for more, to lick and suck and kiss at the head of his cock to get more of it, hungrily devouring every little drop that came up. “I won’t…” HA! She didn’t want to. He tasted like candy and the sounds he made had her utterly drunk on him, wanting nothing more than to keep it up, to hear more of those words fall from his lips… To know she, and she alone, was the cause for their existence… She had just taken the head of his cock between her lips, the sting more than a little addictive as she flicked and swirled her tongue over the decadent helmet before everything was utterly ruined in the span of a split second, hearing Rincavornon in the room with them. Her first thought was for him, not her, and that alone should have scared her… She had always been the type to make sure she was safe so she could take care of others, but instead of trying to hide or cover herself, she covered him… She was reaching for his shirt to slide into it quickly while she also grabbed for a pillow and chucked it as hard as she could at the worlds biggest asshole, nailing him in the face as she bolted out of there at a dead run, hearing his words behind her… Not to go… Oh… Oh how she wished she could have stayed… She wanted to… So… So damned badly… She couldn’t though and she hoped he could understand why… She had just spent a chunk of her day defending his reputation and keeping him from trouble… This? Would only compound matters and if she didn’t run it would make it worse.



She threw the bolt in her room as soon as she got in and made her way straight to the balcony, sucking in deep breaths as she suddenly broke down for the first time in her life, crying for the loss of what had easily been the most beautiful moment of her life. She wasn’t ready to hear Luna’s harping on the other side of the door, and a part of her would have gladly committed murder if she had the energy for it, instead she knew there were people needing her help… She had to go… Getting dressed, while she did it with her usual rapid order and flawless execution, was one of the hardest things she had ever done… She could feel the sting on her chin from the rasp of his beard… His finger inside her as he taught her how to climax with him… Warm firm lips over hers in kisses… Teeth nibbling sensitive berries of flesh… Her thighs ached from gripping him… The slight burn from the grinding of her bare core over his jeans… She could still taste his precum on her lips, mixed with that cigarette and taste of his skin, the truth of his essence and the unique flavor that was entirely his… She gathered herself and with a bit of patience and an extreme amount of will managed to leave the room with a completely neutral expression that was her trademark… Any evidence of what they had shared was gone, it’s only trace in her memory, yet it was such a heavy thing she wondered how she could bear it… She looked out the window as they rode before Kit and Luna decided they were going to have at it. Ok… Right… So they didn’t learn their lesson earlier apparently and firmer measures were needed… She paused her viewing before turning to look at them and said in a voice that held absolutely no emotion what so ever. “So that’s the rumor now? Amusing that you two will gobble up any bait you head lauded around and spread it like Gospel. Fact is? Nothing happened and all you’re hearing? Is some twat minded little enema douche griping because I burned him in the hall at lunch.” She stated with so much fact that there was no way in hell they would ever think she was lying. After all, nothing had happened. It was foreplay and not sex for one, and two, she hadn’t even gotten to suck his cock before they were interrupted. She did however, know exactly who had said what, and if he thought just because he was a doctor he had some sort of amnesty? He was out of his damn mind and about to be in a BIG world of hurt. But first? She had to rip a couple of weeds out of the ground. “It’s funny that you both go around gossiping like a couple of old ladies while you two think you’re so utterly above reproach… Like you Luna, with your titanic lop sided ass, let’s start with you shall we? How about the fact that you’ve been stealing medications from the patients at the hospital? Hmm? The fact your using them to pay for that god awful cream you keep applying to your ass like having a ridiculous rear end is going to get you a husband? Or how about the time I caught you trying to smother the senior with Alzheimer’s because she annoyed you and you didn’t want to take care of her anymore? Or the man with epilepsy you killed because you’re actually too stupid to properly read a chart and blamed it on Susan who got fired, saving your own ass only because you made sure to fuck the entire board to keep your job? Oh yes, I know all your sins Luna, and then some. You think I do what you say out of fear? You wish. I do it to save people’s lives because you are utterly and completely worthless. You’re a shame to the female race and the biggest waste of basic matter I have ever had the displeasure of meeting, and I sincerely hope one day you put the wrong cream on your ass and die, because the only way you’ll ever be useful is by becoming plant food.”



Oh yes… The quiet girl? The one everyone forgets about? Had an entire army of arsenal to unload on people, she simply didn’t because she wasn’t a mean person, she didn’t believe in laying out someone’s sins simply for the sake of creating leverage. The reason for the shift? Was because she was done with this and the quicker they realized it? The better for everyone in the manse. Now… If Kit thought she was off the hook? Ha. Yeah no… “And you Kit… I offered to help you, to give you my personal time so I could tutor you and help you make something of yourself, and instead your throwing it all away because you think for some reason Luna is going to be your ticket to… What? A higher position? The only position she can offer you is the one you’re already trapped in, which is using your body to keep your job, but here’s the trick. You? Give another ten years and you’ll start to get ugly, you’ll get wrinkles and your tits will sag, your ass will drop and the only appeal you’ll have is what ever you might have had in between your ears… And given what you just did? Won’t be much of anything. Still, for the sake of argument though, let’s point out a few facts about you too shall we? How about the fact you have had four abortions this year alone? What? You think no one noticed the tools going missing? The medication short in the pharmacy? How about the blood stained pails and your calling out sick for a week after each time? No? Not good enough? How about the fact that two of those abortions are because you’ve been getting fucked by your dad and your brother regularly this last year so that they cover the cost of your upkeep? Poor you? Maybe if I didn’t hear you moaning your head off and begging them to cum in you. Worse still is that they’re not even adopted, they’re your blood relatives, and your fucking them both while pretending to be somehow better than everyone else.”



The amount of mental whiplash in there would have been enough to break several necks if such a thing was possible. Instead she simply sat there, calm as ever, her face and voice entirely neutral… Yet she had laid out some horrifying truths that neither Luna not Kit had ever thought anyone knew about, let alone knew in such depth and detail, but there it was… “Now you two could go ahead and try to say I’m lying, but if you compare my record to yours, you’ve both been caught in several lies by people you can’t fuck your way into innocence with. If you were to try and push to say I was telling a lie they’d believe me over you in less time than it takes for a heart to beat. As it now stands, you have two choices before you, and I’ll make sure to dumb it down to your level since big words obviously confuse you both. You can either try to continue a false rumor and therefore earn me revealing the truth of both of your sins, or you can keep to yourselves, fuck your teacher and flunk out like the idiotic blonds you are. Pick your poison. Either way? You are going to lose, but at least in one of these options, you can lose without the world knowing just how utterly rotten the two of you are.” She finished up in silence as she waited out the last of the ride to the hospital, well behind Jacob though she couldn’t see him and didn’t dare look, not with what Kit and Luna were trying to do. Instead she threw herself into work the moment they arrived and devoted every thought there after to the victims, tending mostly children under the majority of them were well and back with their parents or guardians, the more intense cases going to those higher up than she. Once she tended all the minor injuries she began to look for a doctor to assist, and was grateful when Dr. Faelon made use of her, it was a chance to learn for one and two? He was a hard man and if she earned his respect it would be better for her in the long run… Of course the fact she earned it was because she was seriously talented at what she did, the medical books she had studied while old were still true to method, giving her the ability to know every term he used… The tools he needed… What various codes meant and what he wanted for each… She worked silently and tirelessly beside him, watching him dismiss nurse after nurse for botching or mangling things, yet he kept her by his side the entire night and into the dawn. When the worse case came in was when he sent her away, not from a lack of skill but because of how bad the case was, and seeing that as the dismissal for the day she left… She knew death a little too well… She knew the smell of it as it came, breathing down the neck of those about to depart, and she could smell it now… It waited… Lingering before it took it’s intended victim despite their best efforts… Some tides can’t be changed…



She headed in before anyone else had come, taking the silence as a golden opportunity to get that shower, dozing off before realizing it and knowing it was well past time to get out… Washing and rinsing off before wrapping herself up in her towel, she went to grab her shirt up only to catch the words whore written out in red paint. Honestly, she wanted to say she was surprised but really, she wasn’t… So they wouldn’t do things to her face, just ruin her clothing with childish actions… Well they were welcome to try, she wanted to become a doctor a whole lot more than she gave two fucks about their petty actions, and if this was the best they could do? She really could jump from their Ego to their IQ and make a very satisfactory suicide of it. She simply tossed her striper uniform and the shirt into one of the soaking tubs for such cases, often used to remove blood and the like overnight, wrapping the towel closer about her before sneaking into her room rapidly… She threw the bolt and even moved the chair up before it, ensuring no one could get in as she settled down into her bed, picking up the anatomy book and reading over it to get some study time in before the pages blurred… She was utterly burnt out and before she knew it she was asleep in the sun, book in her lap with his shirt held in her hand, sleeping as deep as only those who are truly exhausted can… It wasn’t long lasting though, a couple of hours in she was awoken by a queasy stomach and a throbbing head ache that made her want to curl up and die in a dark corner somewhere, driving her to get dressed… A long lose tunic with a belt and another pair of baggy pants as she made her way downstairs, her hair a sleek mass of golden curls as she headed to the kitchen for a glass of water, rummaging around for a tin of willow bark… It took her longer than she wanted to admit before she found it, snagging several slivers and chewing on them slowly, making her way out of the kitchen and was about to head up to the bedroom when she caught his feet of all things poking out… She paused a moment and came forward, peeking around the chair to see him passed out where he had apparently sat down, a small frown marring her features before she left… She went to the kitchen and began to cook, quietly though since much and more of the house was still dead asleep, and the last thing she wanted to do was wake him up.



She made him cinnamon rolls from scratch with a perfect mix of sweet and tangy frosting on top that had a hint of lemon in it… A cup of black tea she managed to scrounge up from her own supply, adding a touch of orange to it and letting it steep for exactly five minutes in the pot, slowly stirring it every minute so the leaves didn’t ferment in one spot too long so the whole blend was evenly dispersed… She took the steeper out and covered the pot, wrapping it in a warm towel so it would remain hot until he woke up, the same went with the cinnamon rolls in their little porcelain bake wear. It wasn’t much but the sugar would help get him going and the tea would revive him. She carefully came back into the study and set the covered tray down on the table beside him before gathering up some pillows and a light throw blanket, and carefully… So damn carefully… eased him down onto the soft nest she had made for him on the ground without waking him up. She was about to head back upstairs when she heard Kit this time screaming her head off in pleasure and she literally rolled her eyes and made her way back down to the silence of the study instead. She sat some feet away from him on the small sofa, feet curled up under her as she had a large blank paged journal in her hands, and she was drawing from memory a perfect replication of what she had seen in the medical journals… Adding in her notes and questions, ideas and curiosities, revealing in that book she had a mind much sharper than anyone really knew… She worked for several minutes before her own fatigue began to creep back up on her and she found herself falling asleep in the room near him, hand tucked under her cheek with the other on the book, golden hair spilling over the side as she breathed in and out quietly in the dark space with him.





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[Deleted]

...the girls in the carriage had gotten incredibly catty.. with claws out they were on a mission, their target was her.. their objective..really was simple.. to make her quit.. to make her run.. to make her want to leave the property.. the manor.. to forget all about this career idea and to go back to the quaint little tea shop where she supposedly belonged.. why.. she was far to smart.. far to switched on.. they knew that n the end in comparison.. she would make them both look bad.. now it was namely Luna and Ellen.. Kit was just along for the ride.. the poor misguided girl.. they tossed out their barbs there.. looking for a direct hit.. even blow job actions to go along with it.. fist to cheek and everything whilst they just laughed and giggled like school girls..

brows rose though in response to your rebuttal.. that it was all rumours.. that nothing had happened.. that it was all because she burned Rincavornon in the hall at lunch.. now they both paused a moment.. she was stern.. almost stone faced when she was talking to them.. were it possible that the doctor was lying..nah.. not to those girls surely.. not to them.. they were a shoe in with him.. at least in their minds.. they screwed their faces up..sticking their noses in the air a little.. they knew she was up to something.. and they would figure it all out one way or another.. before she launched her own counter attack.. and it was brutal as fuck.. Luna was the first target

.. she rolled her eyes when you started on her.. at least until you mentioned the medication and her eyes widened considerably..Oh it was like a mass smack to the face.. she glanced back over her shoulder to make sure the runner girls weren't listening before she shot a look of complete death at you.-.. You'l watch your whore mouth Rose.. -she snapped.. crossing her arms about her chest.. shaking her head-.. You dont know what you're talking about. it's all lies.. -Ouch it hurt.. all of it.. the medication theft.. the the killing of a patient.. and the almost killing of another.. oh and fucking the entire medical board to keep her job.. she grumbled.. muttering something under her breath there.. if looks could kill you'd be gasping for breath from the deepest slit to your throat.. Kit just looked on slack jawed at all of this.. she wasn't sure who she was meant to be looking at.. so she kind of just looked at her hands.. fidgeting ..- Fuck You Rose.. you worthless dirty little whore.. No wonder no one wants you.. so sure.. I can understand it all being a damn rumour.. who in their right mind would want to touch you.. let alone let you anywhere near them?!.. You're probably still a fucking virgin.. -she laughed.. shaking her head-.. Keep your pathetic lies to yourself.. -she whispered low..her face screwing up considerably..

before you turned your attentions onto Kit and the girl sunk back into the cushions.. almost as if she hoped she could melt away.. just disappear into the furniture..she took each hit.. wincing visibly as her shoulders rose.. tears began to well up in her eyes.. yes.. it was all true.. she'd been fucking her family members to keep her in the lifestyle living she was accustomed too.. she'd had those few abortions.. -.. Why do you have to be so cruel Rose..a little gentle ribbing only to have all that thrown back in my face .. Fuck you Rose.. fuck you.. -she burst into tears as the carriage pulled up and her and Luna tore out of it quickly.. the runners followed suit.. and then everything was on..

no room to sit.. no room to really breathe.. it was just full steam ahead.. people poured in.. varying in wounds from light burns and smoke inhalation.. to deeper cuts and almost full body charing.. they were all kept on their toes all through the early morning hours.. and even if what had occurred between him and her plagued her thoughts.. she would not have had a spare moment to even dwell on it.. thats the beauty of being busy.. it just made you forget.. for a little while..

and he was using that.. well he more or less had no choice.. he was up to his elbows in charred flesh and open wounds.. seeing patient after patient.. some requiring just that bit more of his time than others.. he couldn't really call upon anyone in particular to assist though he knew full well who he would have preferred.. she knew her stuff afterall.. it would have made things easier.. and yet.. harder at the same time.. he didn't want to make her uncomfortable.. and he really wasn't sure how she was feeling right now.. was she embarrassed.. was she angry.. was she upset.. these were the thoughts that plagued his mind in those minor moments where he was given a chance to take a breath..

the night ended with him losing a patient.. an elderly gentleman that had saved so many of the children and alerted a great number of adults.. which no doubt saved their lives.. it stung deeply.. him and Faelon did all they could.. but it was to no avail.. nothing worked in the end.. and they had to call it.. it shattered him completely.. his day was done.. he was done.. he needed to get out.. mind you this was not until he had informed the family.. until he had spoken with the daughter.. watching her just crumble before him.. his heart ached for her.. he just felt so rotten.. even though he knew there was nothing more than he could have possibly done.. the trio of doctors headed back to the Manor.. alcohol was on the menu along with a day of just ..existing.. though sleep would be highly prized..

the doctors gave him a wide berth.. knowing he was done.. none more than Rincavornon though .. that guy knew just how agitated Jacobs day had begun thanks to his little interruption.. so he left the guy alone.. Jacob settled back into the lounge with the bottle of thick drow wine.. his books.. a pencil and notepad.. just a little to the left of the open hearth.. he just melted there.. upon the floor.. allowing the liquor to take hold of him.. to make him lusciously numb.. before inevitably he drifted off in that rather uncomfortable position.. head tipped back on the seat of the chair behind him.. books kind of sliding here and there.. he was out.. down for the count completely..

he didn't hear people coming and going.. he didn't hear the pleasurable screams coming from Kit upstairs.. or her movements in the kitchen.. not even the strong sweet scents that floated from the oven .. nothing made him even so much as stir.. his mind was forcing his body to rest.. and properly.. he didn't move.. his breathing didn't even change or switch when she draped that soft blanket over him.. if it weren't for the sounds of his soft regular breaths and the rise and fall of his chest.. one might think he was dead.. he remained still for quite some time.. the silence only broken by the shrill cries coming form upstairs.. though really.. they didn't last all that long.. for an adonis in bed he certainly ran on an egg timer..

she would have easily drifted off in that study.. it was a calming environment..with smaller windows cracked open.. a soft crisp breeze would creep in every so often.. just to freshen the room.. the air.. soft sounds from outside easily being carried along for the ride.. and then of course the scent of books.. of literature.. or knowledge.. it was thick.. along with leather and wood..candles and wax.. there would be a tapping at the door.. gentle at first.. though a little more insistent as the occupant outside waited.. no one upstairs would have heard.. the figure waited a little longer outside.. before she would turn the handle of the door.. it wasn't generally locked during the day.. it was hospital property afterall.. though most of the town knew to stay away.. privacy and the like.. a soft voice called out-.. Hello?.. is there anyone home?..-it was perhaps older.. softer.. the door creaked when it was drawn closed.. and there was a gentle tapping filling the entry hall.. if she approached to seek out the newest visitor she would be met with the sight of a woman.. a dark brunette.. her hair pulled back in a pony tail though it was a spill of curls at her back.. a simple lavender coloured Aline dress with white poka-dots and a silver ribbon belt..

she was slight in figure.. delicate and feminine.. a little older than say the occupants within the home though looking rather distinguished.. like a librarian..or a records keeper.. she had a floral cake tin under one arm.. and a white tipped walking cane in the other.. it would be clear.. perhaps after a short while that this woman was blind.. her eyes were permanently closed.. though it seemed to bother her not.. she offered a brilliant smile.. one that could warm the heart of the coldest gent..waiting for an invitation to come in.. manners afterall.. she was brought up in a different time.. -.. I am here to see Mr Anikin.. is he available?.. I figure probably not after this mornings horrible event..

-the woman would exhale softly.. giving a shake of her head-.. I heard all about it this morning.. Mr Finarfin was a wonderful man.. so very caring to everyone in the neighbourhood.. I was not surprised to hear of what he had done.. such a selfless act.. bless him he will be well looked after.. -she waited until you would take the tin there-.. I figured Jacob might be a little shaken.. the gentleman used to help him out a lot.. when he first came up here.. to the surface.. gave him a place to stay whilst he was working his way up in the hospital.. proving his worth and the like.. Figured.. I couldn't do much but.. maybe a little something to offer a little comfort.. don't wake him..

-she nodded a little.-.. let him rest.. I wouldn't want to interrupt.. I'm only dropping by for a moment.. I have appointments to get to.. -she would offer a smile.. reaching her hand out to you-.. You seem like a kind soul.. you have a certain light to you.. its quite calming.. very different to what I usually feel when i come in here.. My name is Vivian..-she would offer a slow nod of her head.. before she would turn and make her way back toward the door.. something she had done so many times before it was like she'd made a groove in the floor.. she knew where she was going and where to reach for the door handles-.. have a lovely day.. make sure you soak in that sunshine whilst its here.. for it will be winter soon.. -she'd speak softly before drawing the door closed behind her.. and she was gone.. the tin contained cupcakes.. each one iced so delicately.. with candied violets and pansies positioned perfectly upon the tops.. it was rather enchanting really.. they would have smelt incredible..

it would be then that he would begin to stir a little.. first stretching his legs.. rolling back.. it was an awkward somewhat uncomfortable position to be in really.. rubbing his lips together a yawn soon drawn inward as his eyes slowly blinked open.. and blink they did several times.. his hands rose as he rubbed at them.. and then across his cheeks.. stopping only then to glance at the throw rug.. and the cushions.. he didn't recall placing those there.. or even having them anywhere near him.. he looked around a little.. the scent of cinnamon.. and tea floated through.. gently caressing his senses as they did.. he swallowed a little and drew himself up onto his knees nearer to the table there.. looking to the white baking dish.. the pot wrapped in its own heated towel..

the corners of his lips curled a little.. a smile was there as he reached for the cup.. pouring himself a little bit of that warmed tea.. she was right it held its temperature just right..and that first hit.. when it slid past his lips was pure heaven.. his lids half closing in the process.. he murmured a touch.. plucking the dish to place down upon the floor beside him as he sunk back against the cushions pile.. he wasn't sure where she was.. but he figured she wouldn't be far.. there was a notepad on the couch near him.. pencils and what appeared to be diagrams and designs.. he took another sip of that tea there.. glancing over the rim of the cup..

his voice was a little husky.. hoarse from calling out directions and yelling toward runners at the hospital..-.. Rose?..-he called out.. that voice crackling a touch as he coughed to clear it.. though to no avail-.. Rose.. I figure you're around here somewhere.. come.. please.. -he swallowed.. he wasn't completely awake.. and probably wouldn't be for a little while.. but.. the house was quiet.. and they needed to talk.. -.. come join me?.. -he would hope she would come.. that she would settle there nearer him.. maybe not beside.. he'd even accept across from him.. hell even the opposite side of the room if she was that way inclined.. he just wanted to see her..

he pulled the top off the baking dish there.. spotting those cinnamon rolls.. -.. Oh wow.. -his mouth dropped open a little..-.. I havent had these since I was a kid.. -he rubbed his cheek there.. looking up as she would have come into the room.. he looked a bit of a wreck.. tired.. but also incredibly relaxed.. probably why he was sitting on the floor instead of the furniture..-.. thank you.. for this.. -he would motion to the tea.. the rolls-.. you're spoiling me.. -he offered her a somewhat dazed smile.. nodding his head-.. this.. -he pointed to the cup-.. though is.. good.. really.. really good.. soothing on this raspy throat.. whats in it?.. -he would place the cup down there as he pulled one of the rolls from its batch..

watching the bread pull away with a soft ease.. the icing coating one of his fingers.. as he popped it between his lips.. before he tore a little but off.. drawing one knee up as he ate the offered sugary delight-.. mmhmm.. is there anything you can't do?.. -he chuckled a little.. tilting his head to the side there as he looked across to her..he let the silence fall a moment.. before he took a breath-.. I'm sorry.. about earlier.. I..-his brows furrowed-.. he should not have come in like that.. let alone made the comments he did.. it was disrespectful.. it was wrong..

-he rubbed his lips together-.. Im sorry for putting you in that position.. I sincerely hope it wont affect your desire to stay.. you have such incredible potential.. I mean.. Dr Faelon raved about you all the way back to the manor.. and that gentleman doesn't rave about anyone.. You impressed him.. you were switched on.. you were determined.. you were intelligent.. you knew exactly what you were doing without even having to be told.. -he took another sip of his tea there.. watching her over the rim of the cup before he placed it back down upon the saucer-.. he wants you.. on his team.. quite desperately.. I told him.. such a decision is not mine to make.. it's ultimately yours of course.. -he exhaled a little..rolling his shoulders back with a bit of a wince.. all tight and wound from resting crooked-.. I dont want you to go.. I wont however stop you if you decide he is your better option.. 

[BadInfluence]

Women are like cats in so many ways it might actually cause a bit of despair to the male sex as a whole, and she honestly wasn’t surprised why so many men thought so little of her sex, especially when faced with so many of them that just… Sucked. It was like somehow, for some reason, a large lot of the female race couldn’t exist without cutting at each other or someone else. She personally found it tacky as hell and therefor enjoyed her solitary nature and the fact she so rarely even tried to have anything to do with people. When Kit and Luna decided to turn on her, oh sure they might have made it out like it was a light joke, but given she was already pissed off enough to murder someone herself? Bad timing perhaps? Or maybe it had to do with the fact that she had already warned them both once to watch it, just hours ago, and instead they just ignored her like she was all bark and no bite… Well they were about to find out just how bad her bite was. Her first step was to nullify the rumor of her and Jacob, which she did perfectly and flawlessly, honestly her face and eyes were so impassive and blank that no would could have imagined anything actually did. Nothing had happened… Everything had happened, but not what they said, not what they thought… It made it easy to deliver the truth of her words and pointed out quite bluntly that their Dr. Man was probably spreading rumors because she had publicly rebuked him in the hall for Dr. Faelon. She watched their emotions, thoughts cross their faces, and she saw that while it might have done some work… It wasn’t enough to completely assuage their thoughts so naturally she went to step B.



Luna was the first one to feel the sting of her bite and she didn’t even bring out the worst things, no this right here was just for the sake of making a point, that Luna lived in a VERY glass house and wasn’t exactly in a position to do or say anything. Didn’t stop Luna from trying to snap back and she just let it wash over her, none of it stuck or sunk in, she remained as casual and indifferent as ever. She wasn’t afraid of what Luna said, none of it was true, and she was alright with that. Let her say what she did, call her a whore and what ever else made her world revolve, fact was that it was all lies and amounted to nothing. It was at the end that stung just a little, not that it showed but it was still felt, wondering if maybe it was just alcohol last night that caused Jacob to seek her out in the stairs… If his mindset would be different when sober? Thoughts that suddenly took root in a crack of her mind but she would worry about that later, if it was real it was real and nothing to change, but if it was false? That was its own sort of issue to handle… “Your right, I am a virgin, and I’ll stay that way probably until I’m older than the hills. No one wants me and no one ever will, and that’s ok, I have my books and my work and I’m happy with that. Thank you for noticing.” She turned the last sling of that insult around like it was a compliment. “I’ve kept your dirty secrets so far Luna because I’m not a complete bitch like you. Your human, you’re flawed, that’s part of being alive. I’m simply laying it out that I know, and if you keep trying to be a bigger bitch to me than you normally are? I can easily return the favor. I don’t want a damn war in the house, I just want to make a career for myself, and if you keep being a raging cunt I’ll have to divert attention to keeping you in line till you fail out and THAT is a waste of energy I’m not willing to expend.” With Kit… She almost would have felt bad… It was like somewhere inside her there was SOMETHING that was possibly worth saving, something that could be good, could be worthwhile… Yet around Luna it might as well be a seed trying to grow in wet cement, nothing was going to happen, nothing was going to come of it unless the two somehow managed to split off… Something she honestly wasn’t sure could happen, not because Luna’s hold was so strong, but because Kit was too damned impressionable for all the wrong reasons. “Hate me then Kit, but if you think I’m bad, look at your company. I want to help you Kit, I WANT you to have a chance at being something more than this, but instead you look up to the monster who’s secrets you now know as surely as I do. I’m cruel? Kit I am taking the blinders off of your eyes. Don’t want the lifestyle your living? CHANGE. You have the chance here, now, a safe place with funds to start fresh. Luna and Ellen? Are going to keep you right where you are… Or you can try to be Kit, who ever Kit is going to be, and stand alone and realize your worth more than being someone’s laky. It’s your choice Kit.” She said at the end before they finally arrived and everyone filed out.



Work consumed her, chewed her up and made a meal of her, which wasn’t a bad thing really… It did give her a chance to put the events of the night and the carriage behind her, let her focus on something she really was interested in, gave her the chance to not only learn but practice in the field. She worked with the children first, she had an easy and natural affinity with them, able to turn even the hardest sobs into smiles and patch them up like a favorite stuffed animal. How she did it she didn’t know but she was happy to do it, she loved kids and it was as easy as breathing for her to put them back together, bandages slaves and splints all in a row. There was quite a few, one of the buildings that had caught on was the same orphanage that had been her home for sixteen years, hence the large flux of children coming in as well as why so many adults had been hurt trying to help. Some of the older children knew her, missed her, the smaller ones were there after she had already left… She was able to calm their fears and explain things to them all in a way that settled their small souls, finishing up some hours in after the last finger was kissed and bandaged up, each one sent with a guardian to ensure they got to a safe place for the night. In the interim before she found a doctor to work with, she did wonder a little about what Luna had said, worried perhaps Jacob might have been a little more… Saucy than normal and perhaps that had played a part in what happened? Was she the after effect of a drunk night? It sounded painful even in her own head, but she knew it happened more than a few times in the world, and she wouldn’t be the first girl who was a whiskey kiss night… Would she mind? A little, yes… It had meant a lot to her, but if it was a one sided thing, she couldn’t complain about it could she? She had been a willing participant, he hadn’t lured or forced her into anything, she went of her own accord and nothing changed that…



Thoughts that quickly disappeared when she found Dr. Faelon and began to work under him, quiet and tireless, like his own personal machine that knew just what he needed when he needed it. Gauze, types of it, ointments and medications… Intravenous set ups, types of mixes to counteract certain problems, what size and type of scalpel needed… She was able to handle the busy parts so he focused on the main goal, handing him what he needed the moment he needed it, having it all neatly prepared and stacked up behind her for rapid and flawless delivery. He was a fascinating Doctor she admitted, he was sharper than the scalpels he used and he was inventive too, he knew tricks to do things she had never imagined… She watched closely and she learned, letting him teach in the best way possible, by working and watching him in action. She learned a lot in those hours, like how he was able to tourniquet a vein to stop a bleed out and sew back together the severed artery, stitches so small and perfect that she never would have imagined they could be made… Once in place the vein worked as normal, and would heal up in no time, absorbing the stitches as the human body worked… She was in awe of Dr. Faelon she really was, and she enjoyed working under him, even if there was no laughter or brightness in it? It was still an incredibly amazing way to learn and one she could appreciate. Of course that ended too when the worst patient came in and she was sent away, there was nothing else for her to honestly do there, everything else was easily handled by the stripers and regular staff. She made her way home before everyone else, choosing to walk and let her mind wander in the time being, to try and sort out the tangled mess that sleep and the nights events had left her in. Once home she showered and had the unpleasant little bit about her clothes, though she doubted it was anyone other than Ellen, the only one who was so far up the other doctors ass she couldn’t see daylight. Fine. Whatever. One was better than three and clothes washed. She made her way back to her bedroom and lay down after locking the doors, studying for as long as she could before sleep won out and took her, dragging her down deep for a couple of hours before a royal hang over made itself known even in her sleep.



That had been what drove her down, a desperate quest to find willow bark and a glass of water, thankful when she did find the former and got herself a bit of the later. She had been slowly chewing on the slightly sweet hangover cure when she saw his feet peeking out around a bit of furniture in the den. What had happened? A long night, that was what, and she wasn’t exactly blind to the wine beside him. She could smell it from here and it smelled like it could have tipped an elephant which explained him sleeping in such an… Awkward position… She easily picked up his books as she came around the silent, silently stacking them on the table before she moved into the kitchen to make him something to eat, nothing big or fancy just… Food. She steeped a blend she made just for him before making sure it was perfect and wrapped it all up so that it would keep it’s heat for him until he decided to wake up. She had brought it all out, covered up and warm but even then she wasn’t quite done, he looked like he was going to be aching like all sorts of hell when he woke up sleeping like that… She set him up a little nest, tried to make sure he was as comfortable as she could help him be without waking him up, and she would have headed back upstairs but yeah… Apparently he was going to fuck them in a rotation or something and that alone, even with her room warded, was enough to put her right back down those stairs and into the study with a sleeping Jacob. She took up a large blank journal and began to detail the anatomical structures she had read on so far, adding in notes and questions, ideas and curiosities… Things she wanted to know or verify… Like a map for her education with land marks she wanted to reach. Sadly while the soul was strong, the flesh was weak and she ended up falling down into sleep near him, lulled by the comforting smells around her and the gentle breeze through the windows…



She woke up a couple hours later again, this time not on her own but because she heard something she didn’t think belonged, something that was out of place… A gentle knocking that urged her from her sleep and forced her to open her eyes and grudgingly get out of her seat to go and tend it. She was a light sleeper and she doubted anyone in the house would have so much as twitched at this point. She was rubbing sleep from her eyes as she came around the corner, blinking against the bright light for a moment before the woman came in, wondering just what all this was about? Visitors? Someone from the village? No… She knew most of the people in the village and didn’t know this woman… She did however, notice the cane and realized there was no way she could see her to know someone was there, which instantly spurred her into action. “Good morning Ma’am, Dr. Anakin is currently sleeping, I’m sorry he isn’t here to greet you in person…” Who was she?... An old flame of Jacobs? No… She seemed a little past his age group but seriously? Ha. Like age mattered when you liked someone… She was however able to put two and two together on something once she saw the tin. “Oh… You must be the one who makes the lemon and lavender cakes… The tins… Sorry… A little sleep logged sti..” She said as an apology before she listened to the woman speak, surprised to know that the man who had died last night was someone important to Jacob’s past, a man who had shown him a kindness when he first arrived… No wonder he drunk himself into a coma… He needed it. She took the tin and carefully set it on the side, not daring to open it but ooooh gosh could she smell what was inside and it made her mouth water, which sucked considering they were for someone else. “Ma’am, a herd of rampaging elephants couldn’t wake him, but I promise I have no intention of attempting the feat either.” She said, catching the offered hand and giving it a kind and solid shake, nodding her head at her words. “I only just arrived, I’m a trainee in the internship for becoming a doctor, Dr. Anikin is my teacher. Um… Before you go?” She said, stopping her before she got to the door, pressing her umbrella into Vivian’s empty hand. “Here, keep it… It’s going to rain and I wouldn’t want you to get caught in it… Please be safe and thank you for your kindness Miss Vivian… I promise I will pass the message along.” She said before watching her go, she wasn’t going to take away the womans independence by insisting she open doors or anything, she remained standing but still… She was a little confused… The woman had a kind and gentle aura sure enough, but she was also full of something like an energy or purpose, like she could run you over if she wanted to and waste no effort in doing it. Certainly a first for her… She took the tin in her fingers and made her way to the kitchen to put it with Jacob’s lemon and lavender cake, figuring it would be an extra special surprise for him when he found it, something to brighten his day up a little… He would need it.



She was just closing the cupboard when she heard him call her name, and jesus mother of freaking tits did he HAVE to say it that way, her cheeks instantly turning a vivid shade of crimson… Come please… He had said just as much last night and yeah… Those images that had been buried under work and fatigue last night came roaring up and set upon her like a shark with an injured seal. She dropped her head a moment and calmed herself before speaking. “I’m here… Just give me a moment.” She said as she headed out of the kitchen to where he was sitting, seeing he had at least found the food which caused a small smile to form on her lips, glad he was eating… Awake… Functioning… She came back into the den and it was so much harder to see him awake than it was asleep… Those duo colored eyes still melted her and reminded her of how he had looked at her last night in the moonlight, that warm, special feeling slowly starting to seep into her bones all over again… What had been… Could have been… Might have been… She carefully put it away in a very special spot of her mind as she decided to take a seat near him, to his side but not as close as before, just close enough for their feet to touch as he ate. “Do you need something?” She would ask before he found out what was in the baking dish and his response chased away a lot of concerns she had and ended up making her giggle, drawing her knees up a bit as she locked her arms under her thighs, cheek to the tops of her knees as she watched him. He seemed so happy with little things… And the fact they were the little things she did… Warmed her heart up more than she could dare say… “They’re my favorite when I’ve had a rough day… A comfort food… I’m really glad you like them. Besides… You worked hard last night, and if it’s spoiling you, it’s merited.” She said and didn’t play it up or down, she still wasn’t sure how this was going to go, and she was treading a little carefully. When he asked about the tea she nodded her head and began to list it off. “A good tea needs three different parts, a strong base, a second note, and the finishing… It’s young black tea leaves so they’re a lighter flavor and give the tea a red hue versus the darker colors of the mature leaves. Next are dried bits of bergamot orange rind since I didn’t have any fresh, it is where you get the slight citrus flavor and how it compliments the soft floral taste of the black tea. Last is just a little bit of orange pekoe since I couldn’t oil the leaves a little added citrus helps complete the taste. The citrus helps with the throat, the black tea has a little caffeine in it to help wake you up, over all a very good blend.” It would have been impossible for him to miss the blush that rose on her cheeks when he reacted to the cinnamon roll, soft enough o melt in his mouth with just the right blend of cinnamon and butter, her lips curling in a soft smile just for him. “Well I can’t fly… Or breathe under water… I can’t tap dance either… And I suck at cooking fish.” She said teasingly just to watch him laugh, to see him smile, wanting so much to reach across and touch the back of his hand… To be close to him… Closer than this…



What he said next though… Oh yeah… Well she figured that was going to come about but she really wished it was something they could have avoided… It did need to be talked about, dust to be settled and the like, but holy mother of GOD it was going to be about as pleasurable as pulling teeth. She took a deep breath and let out in a puff, resting her chin on her knees as she thought about what to say, what to do… “He’s a jackass and a rumor monger too… Told Luna and Kit, probably Ellen too, they got on me last night but it’s handled… To tell you the truth I honestly don’t know how he became a doctor with such a nasty mind and soul inside… Still, it’s not my place to judge, and we all had a history that forms us…” Though she also knew for a fact some people were just down right fucking rotten no matter what life did or didn’t do to them. Some people were literally just born bad. She ended up moving, shifting, coming over to settle at his side so they could talk to each other without the space between them. “I don’t regret last night… Only that it was interrupted…” She said softly, wondering what he would make of that, what he would think… Feel? “You… Weren’t too drunk last night, were you?... Like… I wasn’t a… Bad decision for you? Not something you’ll… Regret or um… Already do? I know it sounds harsh but I just… It was real to me… But I don’t want to think it was something more if half of our set was under the influence… If that makes sense…” She didn’t want to let herself feel what she was if the night was mostly the cause of him being inebriated. She wanted it to have been real for him too, to have felt just as intense for him, as magical… Or… Well if not that than please… Just be real… “Even if it was a whiskey kiss event… I won’t leave… I’m here aren’t I? I won’t let the three stooges and their director drive me off, I came her with a purpose and no one can change that in me, I want to be come a doctor to help people and that’s what I am going to do. At least, if I can continue to do well because if I don’t have it, then I just don’t have it but… I’ll take this road as far as I can…” He shocked her when he said that Dr. Faelon had talked about her, she knew she had done a good job, he told her as much but she didn’t expect him to have talked to his colleagues about her. That was a genuine and incredibly impressive compliment to her and one she would never forget. She glowed a little under it, felt good to see her actions rewarded, that she really could do this… She could do it well… He was a hard task maker but his intelligence was incredible, she had learned a lot from him in that one night, and she respected him quite a bit because of it… However when Jacob said Dr. Faelon wanted her on his team she knew she couldn’t go… She rolled over, onto her knees at his side and took his hand, lacing her fingers with his. “For such a smart person you can be really stupid… I made my choice already… Can’t you see that?” She said softly before giving his hand a soft squeeze and would pull it back unless he chose to hold onto it, but either way she had said what she meant, and she hoped he understood what that meant to her. She reached into her pocket and pulled out the duplicate to her room, a small silver chain at the end so he could fasten it to his own if he wanted to, holding it out to him before speaking. “It’s going to be a rough couple of weeks until people figure out the pecking order and I don’t trust anyone but you in my room. I might not have much to steal, but there are a few precious things in there I can’t live without, so I’m going to be locking it from now on… I want you to have it, my room is your room, and you can come and go any time you need or want… No need to knock, no need to ask, just come in…” After last night there was no secrets between them anymore, just the very real truth of who they each were, he knew her and she knew him… Did that mean they knew everything? Not in the slightest… She knew almost nothing about him… What he liked and didn’t like, small thing that to her were still priceless, things she wanted to learn… But while she had been in his arms and he had taught her so tenderly, so selflessly, she knew there was nothing she wanted to hide from him… She trusted him with everything she was and she didn’t give that trust up lightly, he was the first and most likely would be the last she ever did, and what ever happened… She wanted to explore it with him, even if it came out to be nothing more than pleasant memories, they would still be precious to her…



She would hand him the key and curl his fingers over it, moving in slowly to press her lips over his in a tender, sweet kiss that ended with a delicate moan and sigh from her. He had an effect on her and she was addicted… Like a plant he was her water and her sunshine and only around him did she actually feel alive… She broke the kiss off as tenderly as it had started. “Come on… You need a soak and I need to study… The hot springs are empty, everyone’s asleep now that Kit just got her brains pushed out into the pillow I’m sure, so it’s just you and me… I can pepper you with questions while you get to enjoy a harassment free dip in the springs to loosen your muscles and get a chance to relax since it seems everyone, including myself, has been jumping you at every turn.” She said with wry humor before she got up, packing the journal and book up along with the pencils and a few rubbers for erasing and errors, heading off to the kitchen for snacks… Cheese and fruit… Some cranberry cherry juice cocktail… And pickles… Don’t judge, those things were amazing, and after last night she wanted a cold crisp pickle like a fat kid wanted cake. Once packed she would go upstairs and grab him a towel and a pair of trunks so he could finish eating and his tea, coming back down and waiting for him until he was ready to go. She’d hand him everything he would need and carried the rest herself out the door to the hot springs just outside, picking a spot in the sun and setting everything out in the cool stream beside so it wouldn’t get warm, tilting her head up into the sun and enjoying it for a while before she started to study.

[Deleted]

..he had called out to her with his raspy voice..it crackled and switched in pitch a little here and there.. he endeavoured to clear it.. coughing a little though it seemed to make no real difference.. he'd spent quite a bit of time raising his voice in the hospital that morning.. and with little proper sleep it was bound to happen.. he knew she had to be around though.. no one else would have left him tea like that.. her voice filtered though to him and he waited quietly.. and there she appeared.. standing there in the doorway.. looking a little on the tired side.. though possibly from the stress of all the events that occurred.. he rubbed his lips together.. he motioned for her to join him.. though gave her the choice as to where she would actually sit.. he couldn't tell how she was feeling after all that had happened.. and he didn't want to push her.. she sunk down nearer to him.. though a little bit across.. tilting his head when she asked if he needed something-.. mm.. I think we need to talk..

-he took another drink of the tea there before he found the cinnamon cakes in the white ceramic dish.. and he smiled.. it was true.. he hadn't seen those since he was a very young child.. his Uncle and Aunt used to bake them in the Inn for the guests and he always managed to snag a couple before he would head out for the day.. he told her she was spoiling him and her response was just lovely really.. he nodded his head-.. Thank you.. really.. they look to be just what I need about now.. some sugar.. give me a bit of energy back as I think I was pretty much spent when i sat down here earlier.. -he shifted a little noticing his shoulders were aching.. his back was hurting.. no doubt from the workout he received.. but also from his choice of bed.. even if it was only a nap that lasted a couple of hours at best.. -.. It was a very.. very trying morning.. -his hand rose as he rubbed the side of his head there-.. How are you faring after it all?.. I dont doubt your skill.. your talent of course.. but it was a lot to take in.. and all at once.. it can be quite jarring..

-he was concerned at her mental state.. especially given the way they were practically thrown from his room and into the flames so to speak.. he asked her about the tea.. commenting that it was extremely good.. and it was.. it just hit the spot perfectly.. it was just what he needed.. he was curious as to what it contained.. what it had in it.. she educated him.. the oils.. the dried fruit.. and the difference between light and dark tea.. he nodded.. looking rather impressed-.. Wow.. that sounds all really quite involved.. may I ask what got you so interested in tea?.. clearly you do drink it yourself yes.. but to want to seek out what went with what.. and a dash of this and that.. you intrigue me Rose.. so very many facets to you.. little by little that I am learning about. -he took another drink-.. utterly fascinating..

-and he was being honest.. she had so so many layers to her.. he made the comment when he tore the cinnamon cake open that she could do Anything just about.. having a bit of a laugh there and catching the soft colouring on her cheeks.. it was adorable.. he had to admit that.. even if it was only to himself.. -.. Ah! well that I can do.. My Uncle was a captain of a sea ship.. often brought home fish and it was one of the very first dishes I was taught to cook in the kitchen.. We will work well together Miss Rose.. -he chuckled and nodded.. downing the remainder of the tea there before it was placed back upon its saucer..

the topic changed there.. took the corner into serious-town as he more or less apologised for what happened.. that they should not have been interrupted in the way they were.. that it was utterly disrespectful and wrong.. he watched her as she shifted her seated position.. drawing her knees up.. resting her chin upon them.. he nodded when she said that Rincavornon was a jackass-.. he certainly can be.. ..-he exhaled.. shaking his head though when you said the doctor had gone and told Luna and Kit about it all.. that the rumours were floating about but that she had handled it.. his hands slid back to rest against the back of his neck there-..

You shouldn't have had to handle anything though.. We do indeed all have a history that shapes us.. that forms us.. it doesn't however give us the right to make others feel like dirt.. -he rubbed his lips together.. he would need to have a side discussion with these girls.. and the doctors about all of this.. it was getting out of hand and he had a feeling it was only going to get worse from here.. she shifted then .. coming down to settle beside him.. he turned looking to her as she asked if he was drunk.. wether or not she was some bad decision.. his brow rose just a touch there and he chuckled..

reaching across to her.. his fingers warm and scented of the sweet lemon icing.. he reached for her opposite cheek there.. turning her to face him.. if she would oblige him of course.. she didn't have to.. -..no.. not at all.. for starters I had only had maybe a glass and a half of the wine that you had brought up for me.. I had one of my cigarettes down stairs.. before I came up to you.. -he took a breath .. dragging his tongue across his teeth..-.. I dont regret what we did.. I do regret that it ended the way it did.. -his brows furrowed-.. the fact that you felt you had to run.. and then the comments Rincavornon made.. it was so incredibly wrong.. and Im sorry Rose.. utterly so.. though if anything.. -he had a bit of a chuckle there as he reached across to pour himself another cup of that tea.. -.. You were perhaps a little more.. sauced than I was.. i think that cider might have sunk in a little more quickly than you may have realised..

-he glanced toward her with a smile.. before he turned.. lifting up just a little as he brushed his lips to her forehead.. whispering against her warmed skin-.. relax.. dont overthink it.. -he turned back to his tea.. taking another drink there as he told her about Dr Faelon and how he literally raved about how talented she was.. and that he wanted her on his team.. he wouldn't begrudge her of that.. it was an incredible opportunity.. Faelon was someone he respected highly and there weren't to many of those on the surface..he could readily admit that..

to anyone.. she reached for his hand there.. fingers intertwining with his.. he turned to look to her properly.. to give her his full attention.. his head tilting as he laughed a little when she called him out.. saying he could be really stupid.. that she made her choice already.. he nodded his head.. accepting that for what it was.. that she had chosen him and she was sticking by him..-.. Thank you.. I really was hoping you'd say no.. but I'm no fool either.. -he watched her as she pulled out that key ..understanding it to be her room key.. he'd look down to it as she placed it upon his palm before his fingers curled around it.. -.. Are you sure?.. -he would reach to slide the key into his breast pocket there.. -..

You know you have access to my room at anytime.. that wont change.. same goes for the books.. and whatever else is in there.. save for maybe a few drawers in my desk.. which im sure you'l understand.. -its where his books remained.. his private writings.. his pictures.. items.. all of it.. stuff that was incredibly close to his heart.. -.. I dont lock it.. it's just something I'll never do.. but.. for the most part.. people generally respect my privacy and dont come barging in.. well.. for the most part.. and whilst he had every right to do so given it was quite an emergency.. his opinions and comments werent required or necessary. He will come to understand that..

-he nodded a little.. watching her as she knelt in a little closer.. his heart took a bit of a tumble in his chest.. his throat restricted further as he felt her lips laying a claim upon his own.. a soft sigh sounded as his free hand rose to cradle her cheek.. fingers lightly touching.. barely caressing there ..it was a soft tender kiss.. just slow.. not one born of want and need.. but something else entirely.. something more delicate.. like spun sugar..

before she pulled back.. he looked up to her there.. a smile curled upon the corner of his lips before she mentioned him neading to soak and her needing to study.. it whisked away the fog that was settled in his head-.. yes.. you're right.. I probably stink of charred skin and aether..amongst other things.. -he never had the chance to bathe when he walked in earlier and whilst he wasn't wearing his clothing when he was in surgery.. the stench was still in his hair.. up his nose.. on his skin..

he nodded his head when she said he needed a little time to relax.. before she toddled back off up those stairs.. he took another drink from that tea there as he slowly moved to stand.. groaning a touch as his muscles and bones ached like a bitch.. he rolled his shoulders back.. watching her return with his towel and a pair of navy shorts.. -.. Thank you.. -offered with a smile as she headed off into the kitchen to gather up what she needed.. he heard her scurrying about a bit.. he himself turned into one of the rooms off to the side there.. slipping out of his shirt.. his slacks.. those shorts.. before he pulled on the trunks instead.. they werent anything fancy.. just dark.. sitting low upon his hips and just above his knees.. swinging the towel over his arm.. he made his way out into the sunshine..

the light of it just about blinded him at first.. having to make his hand reach up to cover..but it felt good.. incredibly good against his bare chest..he spotted her across the way there.. having sunk onto the grass beside the pools as he dropped the towel there and he went to step down into the bubbling water.. he exhaled long and deeply..-.. Oh yes.. now this is just what I need.. -he sighed as he dipped down beneath its milky surface a moment.. before he would resurface on the other side of the pool.. reaching up to slick his hair back away from his face.. he could feel the clutches of the water.. the slight massage from the bubbles and then of course the minerals.. well they werent going to hurt..-.

before I forget, I was meant to tell you last night.. and.. well.. -he cleared his throat a little-.. tomorrow I have to go head a study lecture in Basic Pathology in the City Hospital. One of their lecturers has fallen ill and they require a stand in. The others have been afforded the same.. its probably nothing you dont already know.. you could use it as a refresher.. or you could stay on here and study.. or help out at the hospital.. You dont have to attend.. it's entirely up to you. -he nodded.. his elbows coming own to rest against the side of the pools there as he semi reclined.. letting the heated water do its work.. -..

You said you had some questions?.. was there anything in particular you needed help with?.. -he would push away from the opposite side of the pool there as he more or less waded across to her.. leaning against the soft grasses and rocks though remaining in the water.. he reached for a little fruit and cheese there.. the sugar from the cinnamon rolls had certainly done the trick.. he was a lot more awake than he was when she first entered that study room.. though his voice remained a touch on the raspy side..-.. If you are feeling adventurous.. maybe you could play me a little music on that instrument of yours when you need to take a break from the studying.. not that you have to of course.. -he held his hands up.. he knew about boundaries..and that some things were kept private to onesself.. he was just curious when it came to music..-.. Ive not the afinity for instruments persay.. I can sing a little.. but.. thats where my entertainment talents lay.. -he laughed a little-

[BadInfluence]

Between smoke and shouting orders, it was impressive he was really up to talking above a whisper, let alone loud enough to carry across to her in the kitchen. The choice of words were a little poor on his part but not because of something he knew, simply because she really didn’t think she could hear the word ‘come’ and not turn about seven shades of red in under five seconds, but if she was lucky? REALLY lucky? It wouldn’t last too long… She took a minute, answering him first before she would come out, giving herself just a few moments to cool her blushing cheeks before coming out to where he was sitting. Yeah… No… She would rather make face love to dust bunnies than fall asleep in that position, she would feel like she was dragged backwards through a cactus patch with a bad case of sun burn, and she was entirely against that sort of self torture. As it stood she felt a little washed out, a little thin, tired out not from work but from the constant emotional ups and downs… Anger and delight, frustration and embarrassment, pleasure and sadness. In the span of a single twilight night she had gone through more emotions than she had gone through in an entire year of her life. Needless to say it left her more than a bit tired, the physical aspect from work only compounded it, reminded her of little aches and pains that were going to nip at her until they eased off with some tlc she would have to give herself later. When she came into the room with him she wasn’t quite comfortable yet, unsure of what he would say or how he would act, choosing a position near him but not one quite as close as it might have been before. She wasn’t up to something quite like that just yet, and until she found out for herself if Luna was right and no one would really want her, she wasn’t about to open up those doors again… Not until she knew just what was waiting on the other side. “You know I think humans say those four words are tantamount to a death sentence… I never understood it before…” Until now… We need to talk sounded like a damned death knoll and she didn’t think she could ever be ready for this.



What he said though started off light, like he was easing her into it and she was honestly grateful for that, anything else and she might have bolted… “If you weren’t spent I’d ask what sort of drug your on for that kind of energy…” Especially not in such an intense sort of condition. It was brand new to work under a doctor directly, and a lot more heavy hitting than the stuff she normally did so she felt utterly exhausted, and she could only imagine how it was for him… He had been late to the meeting, busy with something just to start with, and last night… He had ah… Done a um… Bit of work with her so she was pretty sure he was even more burnt out than most… At least sex can revive you, or at least that was what she was getting at, but since he had been the one giving and she hadn’t gotten a chance to really reciprocate? Yeah… His battery had to be dead. “I am going to keep that in mind though… So when you’re having a rough day I have a little pick me up for you that you like.” It wasn’t because she expected anything in return but more so because he needed it, and if he needed something, she wanted to be the one who was able to provide it. Weird yeah… She was still adjusting to it but it was true and she would follow this new path where ever it went. When he asked how she was holding up she shifted her chin on her knees, thinking about it before answering, wanting to be honest but a little afraid of his response… “They said I was touched in the head because of my time in the water as a baby… Things like this don’t really phase me, like blood and smoke, fire and pain are just… They’re things… They’re real… But they don’t sink deep. I just don’t get upset or freak out, I just see it from this sort of… Outside perspective? It lets me access the situation without any emotional interference so I can apply the best course of action…” And now she waited… Expecting the whole ‘what the hell is wrong with you’ look to cross over his face, the confusion and maybe even a little disgust, to call her a monster just like Kit and Luna had… And why not? If that was what a monster was then yes, she was true to blood in it, but it helped her work well… Let her traverse life without being too deeply wounded by it… To survive things that might have broken another person. “Aside from that I’m just a bit washed like everyone else… Sleep has been a bit touch and go but I’m sure that will pan off soon enough and I’ll drop like a horse.” In her mind she was just fine, tired like anyone else would be but just fine, unshaken by the events at the hospital. The only part of this that DID get her? Was their adventure in his bedroom… Fears of his possible regret… She had felt nothing like it before, even her adventure in the pool had been laughably pathetic compared to what she had felt with him, and that alone… It shook her, made her tremble, afraid in a way of what it was doing to her… If she lost it… How could she cope? How would she ever be able to even dream of someone other than him? Want the touch of anything but his fingers? She’d survive, she always would, but a half of her world would be constantly in the dark now… THAT…. That was the part of her that was shook up and a bit mangled, afraid and uncertain, but it was a part of her she was keeping hidden inside.



The question about the tea was an easy one to answer, listing off what was in it and how it worked together, that blush back on her cheeks as he complimented her… It still felt a little weird… To be praised and complimented… Even more so by him when she had him sitting so beautifully upon a pedestal she had made herself just for him. “I do, I don’t like coffee much, too bitter and it’s just one note… Tea is… Flexible beyond all reason. To be honest I find tea soothing… Some people drink, some people smoke like yourself, but me? I make tea blends… I like to see what can work with what, what sort of flavors I can wring out of hot water with the plants and flowers here in the world, to see how many beneficial elements I can coax out of something as simple as a dried bit of matter…” She curled her fingers in a little bit, that blush still bright on her cheeks, a part of her wanted to look at him so badly… Another part was afraid of what he might read in her eyes… She nibbled on her bottom lip as she thought about it, perfect white teeth catching the still somewhat tender flesh there, remembering the way he had bitten it last night… God she wouldn’t be able to do anything as simple as take a drink of tea without remembering him… “You know you’re not exactly a plain sheet of paper yourself… The more we talk the more I get to jot down little notes about you, figuring out who Jacob Anakin is, writing it out like a poem in prose… Like you have a little bit of a sweet tooth… You like lemon and lavender cake… And tea… You can cook but it’s not your favorite chore… You love to read and it doesn’t matter what sort of book it is, you want knowledge for knowledge sake, not for greed but because you want to use it to help people… You have a green thumb and an affinity for growing things, and I think deep down, you like plants and books a lot more than you like most people… You’re a little broken and a little bruised, you got pieces inside you that you’ll wonder if they’ll ever heal, and you feel guilty because you think you should be done already…” She dared to look at him then, the facts there that she watched him very closely and listened to everything he said, and she repeated it without judgement… That she heard him… “But the most beautiful part of it all is that even under all of this… All this amazing stuff I’m learning about you… There’s a world waiting… An adventure I want to see…” She had said as much last night… She wasn’t asking for anything he wasn’t willing to offer, but she wanted everything he had to give, not out of greed but because she simply wanted any part of him he was willing to give… To share… Like precious seeds she could plant in her garden, she wanted to nurture it and watch them grow, to see what sort of amazing plant it might turn out to be…



What couldn’t she do? A whole lot really, but she took his question and ran with it, turning it into a little joke to make him smile. She was rewarded with so much more as he laughed, the blush returning to her cheeks as she watched him, a soft little smile flickering on the corners of her lips. A smile that grew with the words he said at the end, a brow rose there on her face, a soft teasing light in her eyes. “Jee whiz, your only getting that now?” She poked at him softly, ribbing him just a little with a smile on her lips, even going so far as to stick her tongue out at him just a little. “What was it like? Having someone who lived life on the sea like that? I hear there’s monsters out there, and beautiful things too, like mermaids and naiads… Nymphs and stuff who lure sailors down into the deep to make fish babies before they eat the poor men.” What? She was mostly self-taught and a lot of the books about the sea were totally contradictory so she just went with it as she learned, trying to at least sort out the fantasy from fact, but that was incredibly hard when she had never even seen the ocean. “I heard there is an Ocean in Arvandor… It’s supposed to stretch on forever and look like diamonds in the sun… There’s stories I’ve heard about how it’s one of the most beautiful things a person can ever see… I bet your Uncle most have loved it there…” She said softly, a little envious and happy too, imagining what it must have been like… The world was an amazing place… And Jacob must have heard so much about it if not seen big chunks himself..



Ah… Then they came around to Captain Jackass and yeah… She was far from pleased with that but she didn’t lie to Jacob about what had happened, or her part in it either for that matter, that she had snipped it in the bud as best she could. “Until I see him being something other than a self serving narcissus I vote to name him the leader of the Bastard Brigade… He can have a little penis badge.” She said drying with a wry twist of her lips as she held her knees to her chest, a sort of defensive posturing when she was uncomfortable about something, or needing to think and trying to find a way to do so without being left open. When he said she shouldn’t have to do anything though she paused and looked at him with more than a little confusion on her face, a slight shade of disbelief at his words, her brows furrowing. “You… Aren’t too familiar with how bad humans can be, are you?... Jacob…” She started softly, trying to find a way to say it without sounding too judgmental, but really that was going to be a damn tall order even for her. She tried though, she really did, desperately wracking her brain for a way to make it a bit softer than she might have otherwise. “Their lives are short… They feel everything to the greatest of degrees, they don’t often believe in pause and reflection, they live the life from moment to moment and rarely pause… It’s part of what makes them so beautiful and also so… So terrible. What’s going on right now with me and the girls and the Doctor?” She stated, giving her shoulders a bit of a shrug, though her fingers curled in tighter against her pants… A sign of distress? Or was it just a causal reflex? “Kit would have tried to say you forced her in the shower because you burned her… She would have thrown you under the bus hot and fast and painted you black as tar behind your back… Luna would have gleefully helped and so would Ellen. Dr. Rincavornon only cares about one thing, his own pleasure, and so long as he gets it I don’t think he cares about what his ‘pupils’ do. If anything, I think their drama entertains him and that just goads them on. It just is what it is, but it’s not like it’s anything new to me, I’m pretty familiar with this type of behavior. You, on the other hand…” She stated, slowly dropping her position a bit, leaning back against a sofa, her hands gently tracing the pattern in the rug. “You’re a genuine person… You good… Really good Jacob, and people like you, you’re more rare than… Than anything… You don’t deserve their crap in any measure. Your attention is needed to save people, to brighten the world up, not to play shuttle block between some catty women and an egomaniac.” She said and left it there. What could he do? The dean had already warned Luna and Kit but that didn’t stop them in the carriage. Jacob could talk to them but all it would do was spurn them on and give a whole lot of fuel to a fire she was doing pretty well to keep down to a little matchstick. Sure her damage control earned her a whole lot of hate and more than a little bit of heat but in the end it was something she could manage pretty easily.



She moved in to sit at his side this time, she honestly hate the distance between them in the moment and while she thought it might help, it just made it worse for her… Besides, she wanted to hear his heart, to see his face when she asked what she did. Was he drunk? Was she a whiskey kiss girl? Or was there something real and genuine between them? Something built on a genuine desire between them, a shared spark, not something fueled by alcohol… She had to know… But she also needed him to know where she stood on it too. To her? It had been beautiful and so very real, something that had moved her soul and left her changed forever, and she… She didn’t want it to be a one sided thing but… If it was? At least she wanted to know it was. The only way to do that was to ask though, as awkward and painful as it was, she had to do it or she would never know… Answers like this didn’t get written down on paper or whispered to the leaves on the trees for her to read… This was a true to blood matter and it had to be handled… Face to face… When he reached out to her with a soft laugh, she honestly thought he was about to tell her not to read so much into it and she nearly flinched, like it was almost a physical slap but with a good deal of self control she didn’t jerk back… She turned to look at him, a maelstrom of things going on in the whiskey brown and green colored hue of her eyes, too many things chasing the ends of the ones before to be easily read… She couldn’t stop the soft sight at his touch though, or the way she could smell him mixed in with the strong hospital soap and the scent of the sweets, a touch of lemon and confectioners sugar… Cinnamon… She listened to his answer and her cheeks heated up beneath his touch as she felt a big weight shift off her shoulders, something she hadn’t even realized she was carrying, feeling almost buoyant in the after effects… “It was a… Very good lesson and I was perhaps more than a little angry at being paused when things were getting really good…” Though when she realized what she had just said that blush ramped up big time and she bit her bottom lip, hoping he would gloss it over, or… God… Just… Something! She knew the moment after the words had came out that she had sounded really… Really dirty… And honestly, how in the HELL had she even managed that?! She wasn’t thinking about how good he tasted… Right?... Ok big lie… Dammit… “After what Kit started earlier I ran to keep you from the rumors… I could care less about what that blowhard says, his opinion isn’t the one I care about, it’s yours… Luna told me what you had said and if I didn’t leave? They would rub it in your Face and Kit would use it as a chance to go at you full tilt and use me as an excuse… In the light of day and what’s happened, I know I could have stayed and it wouldn’t have changed much, except I would have had a few more precious moments with you.” Oh what the HELL Was wrong with her?! Was it the fatigue creeping up on her and making her entirely too open mouthed? Too free with her words? Because she was saying things she NEVER would have done before! When he said she was more sauced than him a brow rose on her own face and she looked at him for a moment and tried to figure out just what he was getting at… “Are you saying that because you think it fueled my choice? Because if so you’re incredibly wrong… I was a little buzzed but it takes a long time for alcohol to really hit me. I was fully aware of what I did and asked for Jacob… That I swear with all certainty.” If he thought last night was because she was drunk and throwing full tilt into something he was out of his damn mind and he needed to get that corrected asap.



A moment later though he kissed her forehead and she nearly sagged against him… No one had done that to her before… It was such a small gesture but it felt like something special, it made her sigh happily against him and lean into that kiss, her fingers coming up to curl into his pants a little… What ever that was… He could do it any time! She took his words to heart though and let it go, after all she had more than enough to think of with her own tangled emotions and feelings she couldn’t even begin to name or understand, not to mention her career choice and trying to learn as much as she could. It wasn’t long after when he told her that Dr. Faelon was raving about her and she really did glow a bit there, it was an amazing compliment from someone she definitely thought was up to snuff, an incredible doctor and earning that praise? Meant a lot to her… But would she leave? She reached out to take his hand, linking their fingers and telling him he was a little thick, smiling as he laughed at her calling him out like that. She had made her choice in him and she didn’t want to be with anyone but him… Even if last night was never repeated? He was the one she chose, she wanted to learn from him and that was all there was to it, and she wouldn’t ever want to change her mind. “I don’t know, it’s pretty foolish to sell yourself so short, especially when you know I think very highly of you.” She teased a bit. “We’re kindred spirits I think… We understand each other on a very deep wavelength and I think that’s going to be incredibly useful for us as student and teacher, the lessons will stick better and I can catch onto things much faster, which only means I’ll receive an even better education.” Which was true… Before last night they had both been keenly aware of the fact they were able to click instantly and that was going to be an incredible tool for them both. She showed him her room key then, telling him flat out that things were going to be chaos and she was locking her room from now on, knowing full well that they’d take their pot shots when and where they could. She heard his question and she just laughed a little and shook her head. “I don’t have a secret on me that you don’t know about Jacob… What could you walk in on that you don’t already know?” Because yeah… honestly? He knew about her tattoo, knew every inch of her better than she knew herself, and she seriously doubted that the daylight would reveal a whole lot more than the moonlight did. She nodded her head at his words though, she knew she was welcome in there, he had said as much before and she took it as genuine. “ I respect your privacy and I’m not going to dig through your things I promise. If I go in there and you’re not there? It will seriously be because I’m hiding out from people too vexing to deal with… Otherwise you’ll never notice I was even there.” She wasn’t sure what he thought he could hammer into the Neanderthals brain, honestly if he wasn’t plugging his dick into it, she seriously doubted he cared about anything… But if this was what he wanted to do? Then it was what he wanted to do and she wasn’t going to ask for more than what she already had.



Instead she leaned in and pressed her lips over his in a soft kiss, her own heart skipping about again like she suddenly developed palpitations or a heart murmur… A crazy ectopic beat that was born just by being around him… The moment he touched her, her own fingers came up to gently slide into his hair, to curl at the base of his neck and gently swirl through his hair line as they shared something soft… Tender… Sweet… Incredibly fragile and something neither of them were eager to break… A simple kiss it would seem but to her… It felt like so much more… A chance for her to show him how she felt… Even without… No… Especially without being under the influence of pleasure… She caught the smile as she slowly ended the kiss, her own tuning up and something in there was so fragile and new, easily broken but something she was daring to share… Little bits yes but… They were there… She told him he needed to soak and her to study, laughing softly at his words, shaking her head. “If you did I would have dunked you in the kitchen sink. You smell like smoke and iodine, and while not exactly your usual delicious… Er… Your usual smell ah… It’s not as bad as what you think…” For FUCKS sake! She seriously needed sleep or air or something! She beat a fast retreat a bit to run upstairs for him to grab a towel and trunks for him, letting him finish his tea and sweets before heading into the kitchen, gathering up a few snacks for them as well. After all, they might be out there for a minute and no one could survive on cinnamon rolls alone. Once she packed up everything she needed she would hand him the shorts and towel, smiling with a shrug as he said thank you, waving him off to get changed while she made sure she had everything they would need. When he came back though yikes… She just stood there for a moment with her eyes riveted on him and watching him like she had never seen him before… He had that… Jesus… Mother of God… She had to force herself to take a breath and let it out slowly and yank her eyes up to make eye contact before they made their way out. Would she ever get used to him? The sight of him? A part of her wished she could… Another part screamed a vehement denial because you can’t ever get used to perfection… She greedily soaked up the view of him with casual, careful sideways glances, making sure as best she could not to get caught doing it.



She set up not far from him at all, setting out the food in the cool spring that kept the hot springs from cooking everyone up like a lobster, within easy reach for him so he could pick and chose as he pleased. She couldn’t help the giggle as he seemed to be about in heaven as he sunk into the water. “Of course it is, I said so.” She replied so cheekily with a grin and a wink, sticking her tongue out at him before going back to her book, only to end up nearly marring the page when he mentioned last night. Ok seriously… She had to get over that! She looked to the side and hoped she could blame the blush on the sun instead of an instant memory recall, turning her attentions back to her work while he spoke, only to raise her head in curiosity. “Really? You’re not just teasing? They don’t have a book on recent pathological studies in the library that I used to ah… Peruse… So I haven’t had the chance to really dig into it… I just know the basic care for it, keep things clean and limit the spread, the typical hospital run down… But this is a really good chance for me to see it in a way I haven’t been afforded yet… Are you sure you don’t mind bringing me along?” She asked, genuinely curious, and more than a little excited. “I’ve never been out of this place before and I would really like the chance… If you are sure…” She’d never been invited anywhere… Never went traveling… Never even been to such an event for her so she was really rather excited and a bit hopeful, it would be such an amazing opportunity to expand her horizons for one, and two it was new… And it was with him… She smiled as she watched him come up and relax, arms crossed and since she met him, this was the most relaxed she’d seen… It warmed her heart up in a way that made it skip and jump a little but in a sweet, pleasant but still unfamiliar way, her lips curling in a smile as she watched.



Turning her attention back to the books, she began to write down some questions she had in regards to the anatomy books, things she thought about at random but could become really useful. She watched him reach for the fruit and cheese, figuring she had picked right and it only made her smile all the more, reaching for her little glass of juice as she watched him eat. She paused when he recalled that she had some questions and she tapped her chin with the end of the pencil, shaking her head but pausing, tapping her chin again. “It’s sort of… Random a little I guess but… I was going over the notes about our plants in the greenhouse and how the drow use them and I realized that… Given the book on anatomy you gave me, while some of their poisons can be lethal to humans and elves, you know it might have a really good use with the other races… Like, for instance, the dwarves. Their system is insanely advanced in a way, they had to combat a lot of illness and malnutrition down in the mountains so for generations they’ve evolved this incredible resistance to things… But that also means when they get sick, they get desperately bad, and a lot of the things we have can’t do much without it being administered over a long period of time… You gave me some spores of the oloth’arr mushroom and I was thinking… If we use this we can actually open up the central system of the dwarves without having to do anything invasive, and if we were able to create a sort of chemical compound or cocktail that would be specifically designed for whatever was attaching their system, I think we could actually increase their recovery rate from even the most virulent strain of illness they can contract. It would save the hospital and the patient a good deal of money and time, not to mention pain as many of the systems we currently use for them are invasive and unpleasant…”


She fully expected him to shoot it down because she wasn’t sure it could work, she knew a bit but she was far from a chemist or anyone even remotely smart enough to know what she was talking about. It was an idea to play on the natural compound of a plant but chances of it being successful, well she wasn’t sure, and she wasn’t about to go blathering this to anyone… Well anyone but him. At least he might understand… She set her book to the side and reached for a fruit, only to take aim and flick the grape at him, watching it bounce off of his forehead cleanly, leaning forward to catch it with her open mouth before wriggling her brows at him. She had a playful nature around him, something she didn’t let out around anyone but children normally, but with him she had a feeling he could use as much laughter today as she could give him. She would wave him back and try to aim fruit into his mouth for a few tries, laughing if she made it, laughing harder if she missed and it pinged off of something like his chin or forehead. “ I didn’t bring it down but I can go get it real fast? And don’t feel bad… Honestly you got most of the talents a person can have, so stop being greedy, leave the rest of us some small measure of contentment.” She teased before she got up and stretched, rolling her neck a bit before leaving him there, running up to the front doors and disappearing inside, upstairs to get her melodica and grabbing a throw rug on the way out. She was back out in a few moments and settled the rug down on the grass before settling down onto it, turning a little knob on the end as she blew air into the reed end, making sure it was in good standing order. “Any kind of song you want to hear? I can sing a little if you like but you have to swear not to tell because I only ever sing in the shower.”

[Deleted]

...she had given him the key to her bedroom.. to her one sole private place where she kept her things and where she went to relax.. to get away from all and sundry.. it meant a lot to him really.. it truly did..he felt honoured that she trusted him enough.. he of course reminded her she had free reign of his room.. it had everything she'd need to further her studies.. and the items in his cabinets.. the bottles and pouches.. he was well travelled and perhaps a little bit of a hoarder..there was only a couple of drawers that he kept to himself.. ones that held his writings.. his sketches.. his pictures and photographs.. trinkets that meant the world to him.. and some things that most would find simply trivial..

she took him a little by surprise when she leant in to lay claim upon his lips.. though he didn't stall or hesitate.. it was returned just as gently.. just a light affectionate pairing.. her fingers slid back through his hair.. settling down at the base of his neck there.. a soft murmur sounded before it would inevitably part.. his gaze.. that soft duo colouring would lift to linger upon her own.. offering her a smile.. she mentioned him going for a swim.. that it would help his aching muscles.. he laughed and poked at the fact that he probably needed a bit of a dunking more than most considering he hadn't showered when he got back from the Hospital.. though his head tilted when she spoke on how he smelt.. how it was different to his usual.. delicious no less aroma.. well .. not quite something he expected to hear..

he gave a chuckle and nodded his head.. allowing her to head off to gather up what was needed outside.. he finished off the remainder of his tea there.. it was an incredibly good blend.. one he would be more than happy to keep around often.. it was quite soothing on his somewhat scratchy throat.. and the taste.. was just beautiful.. the cinnamon rolls were incredibly delicious.. sticky and sweet.. almost sinful really.. he took another bite before he would move to stand.. groaning a little in the process.. and feeling a touch like an old man.. his hand reaching around to rub lightly against his lower back.. rolling his shoulders ..drawing in a breath there as he watched her reappear.. his trunks and a towel in hand.. she knew just where to find those it seemed.. intriguing..

he slipped off to the side there to get changed.. to slip out of his clothes and into those low sitting navy shorts....letting the towel rest over his arm there as he moved to make his way back through the kitchen and out into the awaiting grasp of the sunshine..it took his eyes a moment to adjust.. before he would head toward her little picnic area and the waters edge.. placing the towel down over the back of a chair he moved to step into the bubbles.. a lengthy sigh sounding in response before he just dipped down till the tops of his shoulders were covered.. he shifted about a little.. disappearing beneath the waters surface before he would appear on the opposite side of the pool.. slicking his hair back.. wiping the excess droplets from his cheeks and chin.. the thought occurred to him of the training course that was coming up.. like.. tomorrow.. he was going to mention it to her last night but.. got a little waylaid.. -

.. mm.. no not teasing.. The resident Doctor and Teacher on site there at the hospital has fallen quite ill and cant bring himself to front the group.. and its been organised for quite some time.. a few even travelling to be able to take part.. so.. he got in contact with me a few days ago.. to ask if I would be interested.. I'm not sure you'd really get a lot from it.. you seem extremely well read as it is.. but.. you would be of course more than welcome to attend.. I have extended the invitation to the others in the house..

-he nodded a little.. slowly wading across to her there.. pulling himself half up onto the side of the pool as he took a couple of things from the snack plate.. a little cheese.. a little fruit..he nodded when she spoke about not being able to locate a book on the more recent works of the study.. that she knew the basics.. but could always use a refresher-.. Well Rose you'd be more than welcome..

of course..I dont mind bringing you along.. it's more than a mere day trip though.. we will be there for a couple of nights.. staying in the Inn a few streets across from the hospital. Its the city of Narius.. -he paused.. a thoughtful expression crossing his features-.. probably 10 times the size of the city we are in now.. -he nodded.. settling back into the water there to just put his feet up.. and recline.. his head dipped as his eyes closed-.. Should be quite an adventure.. it's been a while since I have been there..

Just make sure you're ready to go tomorrow morning.. I believe we are heading out a little before lunch.. well.. depending on how long it takes for everyone to get organised.. sometimes these things dont run quite to plan.. -he chuckled a little-.. bring your uniform.. note books.. the usual.. -he had asked her if she could recall the questions she had for him ..he rested back against the opposite side of the pool.. watching her as she took notes.. and sketched.. she was a very..studious person.. in all his years..

he couldn't remember seeing someone so eager to learn.. it was refreshing really.. he nodded as she began to talk about the notes .. the plants and the greenhouse.. he moved over toward her then.. his arms coming down to rest on the side of the pool as his chin soon found their spot atop them.. watching her as she strung her questions together.. about the drow and dwarves.. he nodded-.. oloth’arr is a tricky one.. and far from stabile.. it could go either way.. the idea certainly has merit.. I have felt the effects of Khaless myself.. it's quite unsettling.. to suffer paralasis and then black out.. and then of course when you return.. have no memory of the event.. -he nodded pondering it a moment.. rubbing his chin..-.. you are indeed correct when you speak of the dwarves..

they have some serious struggles that we do have trouble treating at times.. it could help.. certainly something to look further into.. hmmm.. indeed.. -he didn't shoot her down.. it was a pairing he himself had not seen until now.. and whilst it was clearly unconventional.. it could work.. she surprised him though when she pinged a grape off his forehead.. he blinked a little.. laughing once he realised just what she was doing..-.. Hey now.. dont be starting a war you cant win.. -the corners of his lips curled there it was playful..

it was fun and all a bit silly.. but there was nothing wrong with that.. not at all..she took aim for his mouth and managed to get it in a few times.. though equally she missed also.. bits floating here and there that he gathered up as he asked for her to get that instrument of hers.. he was curious and wanted to see it in action-.. I'd like to see it.. if you dont mind..

-she headed off into the house there.. he reached across for a cup of that juice as he waited.. just relishing in that sunshine on his bared shoulders and skin.. that coupled with the water.. pure heaven.. he exhaled long and deep.. hearing her return.. -.. I dont even know what can be played on that.. so.. -he motioned toward her with a gesture of hand-.. ladies choice.. as for you singing.. -he crossed his heart there with a fingers tip-.. i wouldn't tell a soul.. its up to you entirely.. you kind of run a risk being out here.. im not sure how long we will be alone like this.. so I wont tell you one way or the other. -he offered her a smile and was sure she would understand-

[BadInfluence]

Privacy was privacy, and given Jacob had a very full life, he needed at least some areas of his life to be closed off and secret. She understood about the drawers and she wasn’t about to go pocking into them, any more than she would start to read those precious books he collected, she knew all too well some things were far too precious to just let anyone randomly poke into it. If he wanted to share with her? He would. It was that simple, and if there was anything she needed to know, she could always ask. If he didn’t tell her then there was a reason for it and she respected that more than enough to take that as a ‘do not trespass’ sign and leave it there. Her own room was nothing but empty space so far, the things she had carried with her were so small and few they could easily have fit in a small box and still rattled about, meaning that where ever they were in her domicile? They were well hidden indeed, and never together, no point in making the job easy for a thief. It might seem like nothing to some, but every little item she had was precious to her, held a very strong memory or moment in time. The pearl earrings were real, given to her when she left the orphanage, a good buy gift everyone had pooled their sources for to give her. Her melodica which she had gotten somehow as a child, maybe someone left it behind, possibly it was thrown away and she had found it… She couldn’t remember exactly how she came into possession of it, some of her memories were oddly blurred, moments in time that were like looking through a foggy mirror. Either way she had it for years and it was something she had fixed up and improved many times while she owned it, hence it’s somewhat more unique sound than most others would have, well that and she was pretty sure it was elvish made… Human things don’t typically last nor are so repairable. Her diary was there of course, and while she didn’t write large amounts, she did write something every day. Sometimes just a line, others a few sentences, but little more. Then there was a little picture, or at least a picture frame, the portrait inside had been blank and water damaged her whole life… They said they found it in the basket with her when she was discovered and she’d had it ever since, but who it was or who it might have been she had no idea, there was no way she could undo the damage and simply saved it because it had been hers…



She hadn’t really thought about kissing him, at least not in the way that might be seen as premeditated, more so it was a reaction… She wanted him without being under the influence of anything, simply because he was himself, because he was Jacob… It wasn’t fueled hard and hot by passion or need, it was softer and infinitely sweeter, a touch of spun sugar compared to the dark chocolate of last night… She heard his soft sound as she ran her fingers into his hair along the nape of his neck, slowly breaking it off only to see him smiling up at her, retuning it with warmth and affection as they gently split off. He really had the most beautiful eyes and she wondered if she would ever be able to see them and not have that sweet but sharp twist in her heart of the weird flutters in her stomach, strange side effects from being around him that she still couldn’t diagnose, and no book she had read yet gave her any real insight. Maybe she was just coming down with a sort of bug? That would be so much easier but if that were the case it wouldn’t show symptoms only around him… Last she checked there was no such thing as a proximity cold. He made mention of how he must stink and she ended up having a bit of a blunder and she knew he caught it, the way his head tilted and looked at her, she flushed brightly and looked away… Tugging on the end of her hair… “Well… You do… At least to me… It’s nice… Like a cologne but it’s not… It’s natural… It’s kind of like cedar and fresh earth with rain and maybe sandalwood and leather… You smell… Like books and ink and things too… It all just comes together and it does smell really, really good… I’m sorry…” At least he was laughing and she let out a puff of air she hadn’t known she’d been holding before she got up to go and prep things for a sort of impromptu picnic outside in the sun before the weather started to drop off and chill. Going back to his room she found what he needed pretty quickly, she had been watching him when he took his clothes out yesterday to grab a shower after his impromptu dunk into the hot spring, and started her search there. Admittedly she had to dig a little bit to find the trunks, there wasn’t many there unlike the slacks and jeans and so forth, but she did get them without messing anything up. Towels were pretty much pie, they were in the linen closets located on every floor so that took nothing at all, making her way back down to him quickly.



She did her best not to stare when he came back changed into his trunks, a part of her wondered if maybe he was just blind and didn’t actually see how good looking he was, or if maybe it was just in her head? Beauty is in the eye of the beholder after all, so maybe she just saw him in a way no one else did, which was entirely possible. All she did know was that when she looked at him her heart went bonkers and her stomach felt like either the bottom had dropped out or had a flock of very active insects in it. Either way though she did make her glances very covert until they got to the pool and she settled in, laying the snacks out in the cool spring fed water and her books around her, in her lap and on the side. She was back at the anatomy books because they held the most interest to her at the moment, and given how they held the structural make up of several different races in depth to her it was like candy… She kept making notes in the journal she had started, drawing out exact replicas of what she saw in the pages of his books, adding in notes of things that sprung into her head… Question to ask later or ideas to perhaps theorize on and the like. She watched him get a bit of a swim and smiled at him over the top of her book. “It’s really nice in there, I took a dip myself last night and the water is pretty amazing. I didn’t go quite that deep in though, last thing I wanted to do was get too hot and end up rolling over like a fish in the bowl.” She said with a laugh as she shook her head. Oh she could talk about that part alright, after all she didn’t think he saw her, and he hadn’t mentioned it so she was sure they just ran into each other last night a few minutes after her um… First adventure. When he mentioned the event though she was curious without a doubt, and she really did want to do, she’d never been farther than this village, even the gate she used to Arvandor was the little local one versus the larger ones out of area. She asked if he was sure, she didn’t want to get excited for something that might be a ‘possibility’ sort of thing, better to confirm it.



“I feel quite poorly for the Doctor to have fallen sick at such a time. I am sur he must have been looking forward to it. I do hope he feels better soon.” And she meant it. Though his incapacitation was a boon for her, it gave her a chance to do something she had never done before, to go exploring and to learn something new. “But… I’m really not? Almost everything I know is from really out dated sources, and while the roots of medicine have stayed true the rest of it has changed, I’m honestly quite out of date Jacob… Pathogens and contagious diseases aren’t something they put on a book shelf, half of it would give the town a case of hypochondria, and the other half a religious fervor in hopes of saving their souls… Either for the sake of self-preservation or simply because no one has donated it yet the books there on either course are virtually non-existent.” He praised her and it made her blush, but she also felt in a way she didn’t deserve it, she wasn’t all that terribly well read... OR all that smart honestly, she had a curious mind and she did well to absorb what she read, but she had so much more to learn… So much to catch up on to become a doctor, to be as good as himself, for instance… She watched him nibble and was glad of it, she wasn’t sure how he would take today after everything that happened, so she was sort of lining a nest for him with brushed cotton and down, trying to give him a little bit of a breather… A chance to get his feet under him before the world expected him to walk once more. She was thankful for the invitation but she did wonder if anyone else would come… She didn’t see the girls going… Or Dr. Jerk… Dr. Faelon might have but she had a feeling he would stick behind with his students to handle any crop-ups form the fire that might occur… Infection with burns wasn’t exactly an unfamiliar occurrence. She was pondering that over when he began to explain where exactly they were going and for how long… Her instant knee jerk reaction was a silent groan… Not because she didn’t want to see the city, she did, very much so! No it was because big city meant nice clothes, nice clothes meant shopping, shopping meant spending money… Worse still? A few days there meant she had to get more than one outfit and she hadn’t gone shopping… Ever. She didn’t even own a dress. She literally had the old hand me down clothes he saw her in and her two striper uniforms. One of which was still in the tub… She would have to figure something out… Surely she could? She was resourceful, she had saved up a little money on the side, she could afford it but… What the HELL did someone wear?! She was about to open up her mouth and ask him something when she saw him look so relaxed she just couldn’t bring herself to do it. Instead she remained silent while he let the water work for him and tried not to feel like she should back out in order to save money and you know, avoid what was surely going to be a very awkward and majorly uncomfortable situation… The thing that kept her holding strong? The fact it was going to be an incredible opportunity for her to learn a world of things she hadn’t yet for one… And two… A chance to just spend time with him without the fear of the damn constant harpies. Well… If they didn’t come, at least…



From what he said she made a mental list of what she needed to bring, her lips quirking up in a smile when he said ‘the usual’, resting her chin in her hand for a moment. “You do realize that for me the usual is just my bag full of stuff for the day at the hospital, right?” She had to tease him a little bit there, the smile on her face cheeky and a little impish, unable to resist taking what he said and ribbing him a little with it. She went back to her books and was now double referencing something, going over the book of medical herbology on one side and the anatomy on the other, trying to catch up to those far more educated than herself. She did well, going from one to the other, able to sometimes make mental leaps which caused her to jot down various notes and ideas. The question he asked her did trigger something she had thought about yesterday, a rather curious idea in regards to plant uses and the medical field, specifically drow plants. When he answered though her jaw dropped a bit and she stared at him. “Wait a moment… You’ve been hit with Khaless?! But… But how? Why? I-… Sorry none of my business…” She shut herself down hard and fast there, instead going back to the original discussing regarding the plant, and how it was unstable and could go either way. “Maybe we can find a way to stabilize it? I have it growing in the green house right now and I’m sure in a few weeks at most I’ll have enough samples to actually experiment… Maybe break it down into its chemical compounds and blend it with Anjelica? It’s a very stable compound and has been used in a lot of homeopathic medicines… Of course there wouldn’t really be a way to test the stability without asking someone to play a Guinea pig, which would most likely be you or I, and given you said you’ve had that encounter once before… I’m not going to ask that of you again and I have no idea how I’d take it myself… But then again you are a doctor so I know you’d save me… Hmm… Maybe something we can work on later?” Like a pet side project? Something they could ponder over together and compare notes in down time, or when the weather was exceptionally poor or there was a lull in the hospital… She was sure the drow had their own medicine, something incredibly sheltered and very private, after all they have to get sick just as much as everyone else does… They also had to have antidotes for their poisons, for their regular flora and fauna that surround them every day, which meant that while elves and others knew only of the poisons? Maybe that was because it was all they ever saw? After all even Deadly Nightshade as a poison is also used to help people with slow heart rates and help stop a heart attack. Surely the same could be said for many of the Drow flora…



However it was a far too serious thought for a day she wanted to make a bit happier for him, last night had been serious enough to last for a whole week, and she wasn’t about to extend that for a day. Instead she took up a grape and pinged it off his forehead playfully, watching it fly up on the bounce back and catching it in her mouth with a laugh, wriggling her brows at him. When he caught on and laughed she gave him a wink and picked up some easy bits of food to play with, preparing to make a game of it, a brow rising at his playful words. “Oh yeah? You and what army bub?” She teased back and slipped closer to the water to playfully splash at him before playing with him in a game of ‘get the food in the mouth’, laughing and cheering when she made it in, laughing even harder when she missed and telling him to stop wriggling all over the place. It was funny, it was silly, and it was exactly what was needed… Being a doctor is serious business and they need breaks too, perhaps more than others when you consider the tight rope they walk in life, and she was more than happy to do this with him. Help him loosen up, lighten up, and generally be lifted up from the pit he had been dropped into last night. He asked about the melodica and she got up to go retrieve it, able to come and go rather quickly before settling back down and tuning it, asking if he had anything he wanted to hear… Or if he might prefer to hear her sing instead. When he answered though he made a good point and she chewed her lip a touch. “Good point… If I share something like that it’s only going to be with you so maybe another time… I have a favorite song, it’s called morning in the slag ravine, doesn’t sound too flattering but it’s really pretty… It’s just about tuned up…” She said, picking up the reeded end again and blew into it, turning the dial just a little bit more before pressing down on a key that looked very much like a piano… Even sounded like one a little bit. It was sort of like a recorder and piano blended together, and depending on the tune she put on it she could access various sections of the piano keys with needing only a fraction of the space. She began to play then and the melody that came out was simple but also surprisingly uplifting, like something in it was a little bit of magic all by itself, holding the melodica with one hand while pressing the keys with the other. She had excellent control of her breathing with how she managed to keep the tone consistent without it wavering or falling short on a single note. The song wasn’t ever long, about a minute in a half, but it just had that ability to make you smile when you heard it.



Once she had finished up she came forward to sit on the end of the pool with him, rolling her pants up and dipping her feet in, sighing at how good it felt on her calves. “Come here.” She said with a smile and waved him forward, and actually handed him her melodica, showing him how to hold it so he had a secure grip on it. “So you put your lips here, like this, and you blow. Not too hard or too soft, too hard and it’s going to sound like a screech and too soft will sound watered down. Sort of like the same pressure you use to blow a bubble with bubble gum. Go ahead… Try it…” She’d smile at him encouragingly, and once he started to blow she’d take his hand in hers and press a button down, the sound ringing out steady from the instrument. She would slowly walk him through the keys to press, guiding his fingers with her own so that in his own way, he ended up playing the same song that she had. “See? You can play an instrument too.” She said with a warm smile and would let him tinker with it some more if he wanted to, if not she would take it back and set it down on the blanket, nibbling on bits of cheese and salami between drinks from her juice. She was quiet for a while, just enjoying the silence with him, no need to fill it up with useless chatter like some people. It was just warm, comfortable and companion like, tow people enjoying the weather. She would reach out to guide him to settle with his back to her, reaching down she would start to gently rub and massage away the knots in his shoulders, easing the tight muscles from a long night of work and more than a little stress… It was also a chance to see how the bite on his shoulder was doing… “Well that’s good! The bites almost completely gone… You barely even scabbed that’s really good news… Your tattoo’s won’t be damaged now.” She said as she worked on hi with patient and knowing fingers, easing away those aches and pains that were a little stronger than the hot springs could kick, paying special attention to the areas that made him moan in pleasure. She would do this for some long minutes in silence, taking a simple but sweet pleasure in knowing she was helping him feel better, letting his mind run in silence as well… To work out what ever was resting on his mind, a chance to reflect without being alone, in a companionable silence that kept him from being too solitary… “Could you perhaps… Help me with something?” She would ask, leaning forward a little, resting her chin on the top of his head. “See… I kind of don’t have enough clothes for a stay that long… Which means I am going to have to go shopping… And I’ve never actually done that before… Would you mind coming with me to help? I have no idea what a girls supposed to wear in a big city…” And she didn’t. Were pants still ok? Or was that a no go in a big city where girls had to look like girls, which of course meant dresses, and dresses meant underclothes of which she didn’t have either… Plus she knew for a fact she would have to get a nightgown, no way in hell she could stay in a hotel and sleep in the buff as she always had, that was just begging for problems. Surely he could help her know right from wrong? But then again she might be asking him to do something uncomfortable, something he didn’t want to do, a thought that came in after she had asked… “But you don’t have to! I just realized it might be something you don’t want to do or something you dislike…. You know if you just tell me what’s ok and what’s not I’m sure the Modiste at the shop and I can sort out the rest.” She wouldn’t push past that though, not even close, she was just a bit worried that the woman at the clothing store might try to take her for a run and set her up with all sorts of gewgaws she didn’t want or need. She was sure there was no reason in the world for a lot of the things she had seen some women coming in wearing so she wasn’t about to let someone else take her for a cotton bunny in spring.



They’d remain there until he was fully rested and relaxed, in which case she would give him access to the throw run to sun dry on while they finished off the snacks and she studied a while longer. It was by now perhaps getting into the afternoon, closer to one or two by the time she had to call a break for herself, bookmarking certain pages and closing everything and packing it all back up. “You should get to bed and try to sleep. I’ll head into town for that shopping now, and I’ll be back in time to start dinner.” She said with a nod as she stood up and brushed her pant legs off, heading back to the house to put the dishes in the sink and put her things away, taking her small stash of money back with her before she would pause in the kitchen. Chicken tonight with cream of mushroom soup over a bed of white rice with fresh mixed vegetables on the side sounded good, setting out the things she would need, skinning the chicken and putting it and the fat in a separate pot… She began to make a stock to cook the rice in, something on a low heat that would build up excellent flavor while she was gone, as well as scent the house with some incredibly delicious aromas. With that she set off to the clothing store, having forgotten to ask Jacob for some notes, simply shrugging her shoulders… Surely it wouldn’t be too hard… Right?



What a joke…



Arriving there was easy enough, it wasn’t the longest walk in the town after all, and the store was hard to miss. No the hard part was that once she arrived it was like a lamb to the slaughter and they kept trying to point out things she… Needed… Things she told them flat out no… No bobby pins, no ribbons, no velvet chokers… No stockings, no garters, and hell no to anything that bound her up like a corset. It became one of those sort of wards between women and what a fight it was, being taken behind the screen and measured, hearing weird compliments about what a lovely dainty waist she had and what a shame she hit a lovely figure beneath baggy men’s clothes… What? Did Jacob think her clothes were that baggy and a woman’s? Nope. Her clothes were hand me downs from one of the older boys at the orphanage and they were huge on her, but they were exactly what she liked, no one saw her and she had plenty of room to move in. She had to swat at their hands when they began to cup her breasts, freaking out a moment when she wondered what the hell they were up to, hearing them explain that she needed a bustier if she wasn’t going to wear a corset. Naturally she had no idea what the hell that was but at least in this she let them show her because she admittedly had nothing under her clothes which caused extreme shock and dismay for the women helping her… Already she had a box of feminine underthings she hadn’t been allowed to see or pick out, they were chosen for her according to her skin color and size and in this, she actually didn’t complain… She needed them apparently and hell if she knew what was supposed to go where… She ceded defeat… The harder part was the actual outfits and when she asked for a pant suit she was told strictly that was a huge no go, only men wore pants in the bigger towns, and a woman wearing pants was often seen as very poor company… Since she didn’t want to embarrass anyone she agreed that she’d be fitted for a couple of dresses then… Her whole body recoiled at the idea of wearing something so… Frilly… But sometimes it has to be done. They picked her out, thankfully, things that she actually thought were somewhat pretty… Not too heavy, she wanted her movement, but also very conservative… Perhaps a little low in the bust but they swore her cleavage was too pretty not to show off… When she told them she was innocent they kept the colors to softer things, like pretty mint greens and cream colors, nothing bright or jewel toned… So far?... Ok it was uncomfortable but she had had worse… She also asked for a nightgown or two and she was told they were incredibly important and so they saddled her with a weeks worth… Total? She had five new day dresses, two walking dresses, several nightgowns and she had no idea how many under things… She even gave in and got a little pair of kitten heel shoes and walking boots… And one ribbon for her hair… Over all it cost less than she thought it would, a bit surprised at the fact it was more affordable than she thought it would be, only needing to spend about a fourth of her savings which to her was a miracle. On her way back she stopped by the tea house she used to work in and picked Jacob up a few tins of tea she blended herself in the back, keeping in mind the things he liked and didn’t like so that each was blended uniquely for him, and even got a rather cute tea steeper for him if he wants to do a cup versus a pot… It was a little seed with the tip of a plant with two leaves growing out of the top… She packed it all up in a rather plain looking box and was walking out of town loaded down with bags and about to order a handsom when she saw it in the window… She paused… Thought over her savings… And went inside.



It wasn’t large… It wasn’t decorative… It was simple, almost understated, and that might have been what caught her attention. She wound it up, tested it out, her lips curling in a smile as she brought it to the counter and bought it then and there… She didn’t mind the cost, she didn’t even blink, just did it and had it slipped into a black silk velvet bag that she slipped into the box with the teas in it. She then hailed that handsome and headed back to the manse, exhausted and so ready for a nap but excited too, and ready for the big adventure tomorrow. Once she arrived she snuck in through the back, she didn’t want Jacob to catch her, seeing his back in the common area she knew she was safe… Running upstairs she deposited all her stuff on her bed hurriedly before locking the door behind her, slipping quietly into Jacobs room and placing the box on the crumpled blankets, pausing for a moment… Knowing why they were crumpled… Able to pick up the slight smells even now… She blushed and left a small note on the box… “Thank you… For Everything…” No more, no less, heading out of his room and closing his door behind her. She made her way easily down stairs and into the kitchen where she began to cook, hearing Ellen come down not much latter and gripe at her, saying she should have started cooking an hour ago. “I know, I’m sorry Ellen, won’t take long.” Yes… She said she was sorry! Something Ellen had never heard from her and damn near lost her jaw on the floor before nodding and walking out sort of in a daze. She started a pot of tea for Jacob while she began to cut up the chicken into sections, screening out the broth and starting it over white rice, setting that to boil and cook up fluffy as a dream… When his tea was done she would sneak it out to him quietly, setting it down at his elbow so he could enjoy it in silence without being interrupted, and one of the cupcakes Vivian had made him on a side dish. Just something to hold him over until dinner. The soup she started from the last of the stock mixed with butter and flour, a rich hearty base before adding Portobello, Chanterelle, Oyster, Mitake, Reishi Porcini and Shimeji mushrooms. All good for you, incredibly delicious, and added a rich flavor to the soup… Once that was delicious and thick she added in the chicken portions, cooking them all together until the poultry was tender and incredibly juice, the rice was finished and all she had left was the vegetables. Those she steamed with a bit of vinegar and seasonings, things like bell peppers, cauliflower and broccoli, green beans and baby carrots… All cooked to perfection and set in a bowl on the side. Once done she would set it all out on the table for everyone to come and help themselves, setting up Jacobs plate first and then her own before joining him in the common area. She set their plates down, took his empty ones away, and would put them in the kitchen before grabbing up some elvish wine and two glasses this time… Pouring one for them both as she ate in silence, book in her lap as she carefully ate, not wanting to drop anything on the book but she had fallen behind while shopping… Of course she was also reading faster than most could, already half way through his book and getting deeper still as she soaked it all up like a sponge.

---

Gift

[Deleted]

..if he had the chance to look back over the week.. to even look back over the past few days.. would he have ever guessed that this would have been what occurred?.. never in a million years.. it wasn't something that could be easily guessed.. he'd seen his fair share of farseers in his life and yet none of them mentioned the turbulence these past few days have thrown him.. he had slipped into the trunks she had gotten him.. gathered up his towel and made his way out into the awaiting embrace of the early afternoon sunshine.. oh it felt incredible against his bare chest.. his shoulders.. his eyes on the other hand didn't appreciate it all so much ..

he squinted and covered them with his hand for a little bit until they adjusted.. dipping down into the water soon there after..her comment on how it was really nice.. that she herself took a dip on the previous evening had him clear his throat.. Oh he remembered.. he caught more than a small glimpse of the whole display.. rubbing his lips together he nodded-.. its really quite good.. I certainly needed it.. you were right.. -he swam around a little.. nothing grand.. just wading more so.. feeling the heated mineral bubbles clutching his frame.. his skin.. the soothing heat.. the gentle hold of the water itself.. it was just what he required.. he was reminded of the little study jaunt that was coming up quite quickly.. and he asked her then if she wanted to attend..

he had been meaning to.. just got perhaps a little waylaid.. he nodded when she spoke on feeling poorly for the head Doctor to have fallen ill at such a time..-.. He was looking forward to it yes.. had been for quite some time.. it's all rather unfortunate indeed.. Ill be checking in on him soon after arrival.. to go over the study plan and so on.. so you'l have at least half a day of free time to explore the city proper should you desire the wander.. like ive said.. it's open to you.. to anyone in this house since I am going and will have the room in my carriage .. and if there are more then we will of course take a second.. everyone is just going to meet out front of the Manor around lunch tomorrow and we will go from there.. -he nodded a little.. silence settled between the two for a little while.. he just sunk against the soft rocky sides of the pool.. lids half closing..he himself spoke out about what she would need.. just the usual travelling clothes.. her uniform.. books and pencils..

he glanced toward her when she spoke about her usual bag.. how she didn't really own a lot.. so had very little..
he nodded-.. I can understand that yes.. you honestly wont need a lot.. I usually only take maybe a couple changes of clothes total.. Im sure we will be able to work something out though. if you are missing anything in particular.. -he swam across to her side of the pool there.. sitting up a little to gather up some of the fruit.. a little cheese and then of course a cup of that juice..he asked her about the questions she might have had.. before she spoke on the Drow poisons.. he mentioned being struck with one in particular.. and he blinked in response to her.. well.. response.. it was a bit sudden.. he chuckled a little and nodded-.. yes.. I have been hit with Khaless..its quite.. an unnerving poison.. and it comes with a rather interesting story.. somewhat embarrassing.. -he laughed as he took another drink of his juice before he sunk back into the water-.. ill tell it to you sometime.. but not today..

-he listened to her examples.. her ideas on what could be done with the mushroom spores.. and how it could be blended with another.. something a little more stable.. something she was actually growing.. he shrugged his shoulders when she said she wouldn't use him as a guinea pig-.. Oh I wouldn't mind.. but yes you are correct.. there's probably a better chance of me being able to bring you back should something go awry.. -he shot her a wink there and chuckled.. they played a little game with fruit there for a while.. she tossed it at him.. trying to get it into his mouth.. missing a few times as grapes flicked off his chin and cheeks.. the pair of them having a good laugh in the process.. it was such light hearted nonsense.. which made it all the more perfect..

he asked her about the instrument and she went to gather it.. it intrigued him a little.. it was not one he had seen before.. a wind instrument.. yet it had keys like a piano.. -.. Interesting name.. -he responded to her choice of song.. not one he had heard before.. his sharply pointed ears twitching to the sounds of her making sure it was in tune.. he moved across to her as she began to play there.. looking up.. watching her facial expressions as the general area before them both would soon be filled with that gentle melody.. the corners of his lips curled into a smile.. once she had finished he clapped his hands for her just lightly-.. Wow.. thats pretty awesome.. I cant say Ive heard the song.. or seen the instrument before.. just beautiful Rose.. -he watched as she reached over to hand him the melodia.. he shook his head a touch-.. I dont want to break it.. or.. god forbid drop it in here.. -his brows furrowed a touch.. before he gave in and accepted it.. stepping up a little more out of the water there.. it took a bit of shifting.. of guiding before his hands would be even close to being in the right spots.. she taught him in that moment how to play it.. well at least a little.. when to blow.. just how hard.. and when to press the keys.. it was a bit of a Frankenstein version of her song but he had a good attempt for his first go..

he laughed a little.. his smile growing when he passed it back to her.. bowing his head-.. Thank you Rose.. that was certainly something different for me... she guided him to turn away from her.. so his back was pressed to the side of the pool.. before she would begin to massage his shoulders.. the back of his neck.. he exhaled long and deeply.. letting his head lull forward a touch.. -.. oh wow.. -he whispered softly.. that was nice.. it was really very very nice.. though he blinked when she began to talk.. before he realised it was about the bite.. -.. Ah!.. good.. good im glad to hear it.. all thanks to you no less.. for putting that salve on it shortly after it had been opened.. -and it was true.. he probably would have left it.. his mind being elsewhere at the time.. the stress of it all..

he couldn't help the gentle breathy moans that surfaced every so often.. just when she hit a certain point.. or made him tremble upon another.. he was putty in her hands in those moments.. before she asked for his help-.. mm?.. what do you need help with Rose?.. -he listened when she spoke on needing help with clothing.. would he mind going with her to help.. that she had no idea what girls were supposed to wear in a big city.. he couldn't help the smile there.. it was adorable.. -.. mm it's not that I dont want to.. or something that I dislike.. I'm not sure i would be terribly helpful I'm afraid.. womens fashion is not something I have really kept up with.. I mean back in Arvandor.. when the festival of the heart for example rolled around and they dolled up the women. the rest of us just stood there quite slack jawed.. utterly astonished at how they looked.. I'm hopeless.. I might have someone that could help you.. Someone i met on my travels to Shimmershine..

-he just melted under her touch there for some time afterwards.. before it was time for him to leave the body of water lest he turn into a prune.. he pulled himself out.. the trunks hanging as low as they possibly could without being indecent.. clinging to his muscular thighs.. he sunk down on one of the chairs there.. deciding he would drip dry at least a little before he settled on the rug.. his fingers raked back through his hair as he nodded when she said she was heading off to go shopping-.. of course.. Have fun.. hopefully you find what you're looking for.. but really.. if i can offer some advice.. dont let them push you around.. I've seen how those ladies can get..

-his brows furrowed a touch.. watching her as she disappeared back indoors.. before he settled down on the rug there.. reclining back soaking up what sun he could.. at least for the moment.. before he gathered what was left out there and he headed back indoors.. leaving the rug to air dry over the back of a chair as he headed back up to his room.. sliding into a loose tank top.. a dry pair of shorts.. he pulled up the bed there.. smoothing out the pillows.. the cushions and what have you before he sunk down on the tear drop shaped hanging chair he had.. a book upon his lap.. glasses upon the end of his nose as he settled in to rest.. and rest he did.. within 30 minutes he was out like a light.. looking right comfortable really.. it was where he chose to sleep.. stuff the bed.. that was where humans preferred to sleep..



she would happen upon one of the larger seamstress establishments in the small town they resided in.. but one of the better..since this particular shop handled not just clothing but also underwear.. coats.. accessories.. even down to shoes.. everything. it would make it nice and easy with the right guide.. now this bubble of sweetness and light would get her friends message a little late.. so she wouldn't be there when you arrived.. but she'd make her way in right when the women had their hands upon your breasts.. her mouth dropping open.. she had short cropped pink hair.. a pastel coloured top peaking out from beneath a white boned corset.. a skirt.. and then another skirt.. though it wasn't puffy or large.. she didn't take up the whole room she just.. existed.. perfectly.. her voice was pitched high.. but not unpleasantly-.. Good Gracious!! No.. No no no..

-she appeared to just float across the surface of the flooring.. her tiny ballet slippered feet did move it was just so quickly that it wasn't so easily noticed.. her ears were sharpened to points.. and she had iridescent wings that glistened in the bright lights of the shop proper.. she batted away their hands from you-.. Stop That.. what are you ladies trying to do.. frighten the poor girl off!..-she frowned.. but it was akin to Tinkerbell frowning.. was far to cute to ever be taken really seriously.. she shot you a wink there.. reaching to take your hand.. dragging you off to the corner of the shop as the women behind all whispered and muttered..

her eyes were pale green.. her features were elvish though it was clear she was not pure .. perhaps an elvish/pixie mix.. -.. Those ladies can be just dreadful.. goodness.. picking and poking at your lady bits like that.. How Rude.. -she shot them another look there.. before turning back to you with a mischievous smile..-.. Im Anouk.. We have a mutual friend!.. yes we do.. Jacob.. well i know he's my friend.. and I figure he's yours.. since he shot me a message for help.. so yes.. I guess.. anyway..

-rambling a particular trait of a pixie-.. you need some help?.. big city trip.. or something?.. I dont know.. only really read half the message.. -she extended a finger and a little glittering would have the paper unrolling.. upon it in Jacobs hand.. a few lines.. "My Dearest Anouk, A very close friend of mine requires some attire. and you're fashion sense outshines any I know.." she waved her fingers.. there was more there but she let it fade.. I didn't read any further.. its true.. my fashion sense does outshine any ..well.. any that anyone knows..

-she grinned-.. You though.. -she reached across with spun candy scented fingers as she cradled your cheeks in her tiny hands-.. you are so beautiful.. look at those freckles! -she almost gasped-.. Gorgeous.. now.. lets get you sorted.. -she looked at the pile that had been organised for you.. tossing most of it away.. -.. No.. No.. what the fuck is that?.. No.. nope.. Nuh.. Nope.. -the pile grew and grew.. only now and then would she stop an fall in love with a colour.. or a fabric choice.. passing it across to you with a bright smile.. her wings fluttering when she got a little excited.. -.. You have a hot to trot figure under all those boys clothes.. lets show that off yes?!.. nothing wrong with being comfy.. but hey.. if you've got it.. flaunt it.. -she held her hands on her little hips there.. perching to sit upon the end of a table.. as the underwear was brought out.. namely the bustier-.. Im partial to corsets myself.. but you.. nah you dont need it.. your figure already has that hourglass thing going on.. -she made the movements with her hands-.. lucky duck.. genetic lottery for sure.. Make sure this girl gets some jewellery too.. she's got such pretty ears.. and a gorgeous neckline.. lets put something there.. shoes.. a purse.. gloves.. all of it.. its already paid for..

-she held her hand up when you tried to pay with the coins from your pouch thingy.. she watched as everything was packed up into boxes and bags.. before she bounced over.. kissed your cheek and disappeared in a puff of cheery scented smoke..her visit quick and to the point.. you'd find her card in your pocket.. it had her name..

Anouk Moreau -
Style.. it's what I do.-.Fashion is my Passion.
If you need me just shake..
and then on the back would read..
The card dummy-




-he had rested peacefully.. getting a few hours.. maybe a bit more in.. it did well to recharge his batteries when coupled with the nap he had taken earlier on in the day.. returning down stairs then.. down into the common area with Dr Faelon.. the two of them comparing notes.. pouring over a text there as they were discussing something important.. like bouncing ideas and questions off one another.. little light bulb moments occurring one after the other..

he didn't catch her return at all.. had no idea she had gotten back until he heard Ellen whining about the food.. Faelon quipped suddenly that Ellen had study to do.. which was a lot more important than whining over food .. the young woman turned beet red.. that comment coupled with your apology had her packing up those stairs quickly.. she was more than a bit lost by that stage.. he glanced toward the cup of tea there.. and the unmistakable little tea cake beside it before she scurried off back to the kitchen..

Faelon didn't notice.. or even if he did he wasn't one to make a comment over something trivial.. the pair of them continuing to mull over the possibilities of the literature they were exploring.. he dragged across a chalk board on wheels there.. and equations.. ingredient lists.. bottle sizes and potion pouches were listed.. lines drawn here and there as the two of them tried to marry the two ingredients.. leaving them baffled on more than one occasion.. the pair of them standing back to scratch their heads.. several lists were rubbed off.. new numbers taking their place.. before again being taken off.. or a line drawn through..

they werent getting flustered.. or frustrated.. there was no anger or argument.. they were actually laughing.. just two highly intelligent doctors exercising their brains.. the food would be spread out on the main table there.. his plate brought out to him though.. Faelon headed off to the kitchen with the others.. when she settled though if she looked at the board she might notice it was the marrying of Anjelica and oloth'arr.. he turned.. his tea cup in hand as he had taken another sip of it.. offering her a smile-.. Oh! yes.. how was your shoping trip?.. find all that you needed?.. -he had no idea if Anouk would have gotten his message in time.. but hoped that one way or the other she would have been able to get what she needed-.. This smells incredible.. you have been busy.. Thank you.. -he motioned to the cupcake.-.. did we have a visitor?.. Dont tell me I missed her again.. thats like the third time.. -he chuckled and shook his head-.. she has to have the worst timing..