Heirot

He nodded slowly. "Okay...". He sat up, facing her. Now that his body was calming, he showed no sign of shyness about his nakedness. He reached out slowly for the hand she'd withdrawn and took it gently, almost ceremonially, in both of his. His eyes flicked up to hers to see if the contact upset her.

Tenara raised a brow as he took her hand and held it, uncertain what he planned. Just as she thought the want in her had faded, it flared. As she felt rose coloring her cheeks, she kept her gaze locked on his unusual eyes, fearing what might happen if they trailed anywhere else. She waited for him to either thank her or curse her.

When he was sure of her tolerance, he bowed and drew her hand to his forehead, between his horns. He pressed it there and breathed. The restless need to be in contact with her finally subsided a notch.

"As this position is difficult to defend from, in my world, this is a gesture of trust. Thank you for tending to me. Thank you for your candor," he glanced at the clothes she offered him even when he might very well have given her what she wanted, had she pushed him in that state. "And for your discretion."

Tenara smiled softly, admiring his horns. She resisted the urge to ask if she could touch one. “Of course. Next time I’ll put you under a blanket before calling you back and I’ll try very hard not to let my magic make you… uncomfortable.” Easier said than done, she thought. She gave his head a gentle pat. “I’ll let you dress and see if there is anything to eat in the garden.”

With his head bowed, a small dip of his gaze was all it took to see how 'uncomfortable' his lower half still was. At least he was only half erect, and no longer looked like a stud in rut.

"All right," he answered her, ignoring his body. "I will join you shortly."

When she left the room, he rubbed the place between his horns. He thought about whether he should be offended at being patted on the head. On his world, he would have taken it as an insult, but from her, it felt intended as kindness. To be honest, it even felt "right" to be held by her hand, and he wanted to resist when she stopped.

He'd felt right and safe before, too, when he was dreaming of the bath. When she'd been polishing his blade.

He'd never found solace in physical touch before. Did he want to be held because he was a sword? Should he find that amusing or horrifying?

He made himself switch gears, dressing in the clothes provided. The pants were indeed too short, but his boots were high enough to cover them once laced. The loose shirtsleeves rolled up to his elbows easily enough. When he was decent, he gathered his dignity and made his way out into the main room.

Tenara left the cottage, stepping out on the porch and into the front yard because she thought the warm fresh air would do her some good. A walk. Walk it off.

She went to the fruit trees lining the vegetable garden and found pears and apples and plums. Tenara pulled an apple from a branch as a chestnut-colored horse wandered out of the brush towards her.

"Hello, there," she said as it sniffed at her and nibbled her hand. She placed the apple near its mouth and let it eat from her palm, giggling at the soft brush of whiskers. When it had finished munching, it snuffled her hair and tickled her cheek. "What's your name?" She brushed her hand across the white patch of hair between the horse's eyes. "What about Star? Not very original, I know... How did you manage not to get eaten by those things?"

Star nibbled at her bare shoulder and nudged her for another apple. Tenara laughed softly and reached up to pull one free.

Havitharon paused in the doorway and watched her interact with the unfamiliar animal. He had been wary when he first spotted it, but the way Tenara interacted with it seemed friendly enough. She looked happy and relaxed. It caught his interest. He hadn't seen her that way before. He walked across the yard to her, keeping track of the beast as he did so. "They were riding these, in Arroes," he noted as he approached. They had been a different color there, so he hadn't made the connection right away.

“It’s a horse,” she said, feeling a little silly about explaining that. Perhaps he knew, but likely he didn’t. She wondered what people rode on his world when they wanted to get from one place to another.

The horse rested its neck across Tenara’s shoulder, and she stroked down towards the shoulder. “Do you want to pet her? She seems very friendly.”

He looked at her blankly. "Why?"

Tenara blinked at his question, brushing her fingers over the soft short fur. “I don’t know,” she said with a laugh. “It’s just something we do. She’s soft and sweet and… it’s compulsory? I actually have no idea. I’ve never thought about why!” Tenara’s laugh turned into a fit, until the horse grew unsure and did a little jog around them. When the giggles stopped she sighed, resting her hand on her belly. It felt good to laugh so hard, and she couldn’t remember the last time she had.

The horse trotted over again once she’d calmed and nudged Tenara’s back hard enough to send her stumbling forward toward’s Havitharon.

Havi had no idea what to make of her laughter. He was still wondering what he'd said that was so funny, when the horse butted her towards him. His arm shot around her shoulder as she fell his way. He curled her in and spun her so that their positions were reversed, the way one would when leading a dance. Now that he was positioned between her and the aggressor, Havi stared down the horse with an arm raised. It shied back, and he followed up, sternly forcing distance between the horse and Tenara. The creature whinnied at Tenara, clearly offended.

Tenara’s heart thumped in her ears and she tried to ignore how nice it felt to be crushed up against his chest. He was defending her from the horse?

She reached out, placed her hand on his forearm, and gently pulled it down. “It’s okay. She was playing. We’re fine. I’m fine.”

Tenara liked the way the light glinted off his horns… made the blue in his hair glimmer. She liked the quiet around them. The peace.

He glanced at her and slowly complied, lowering his arm. Had he overreacted? Too late, he thought about how strange it was to crush her to his chest that way. He normally disliked this sort of contact, yet he felt strangely calm and focused with her hand around his arm. If he released her, she would let go. Indecision made him lock up. Shit, what was wrong with him.

"I am literally a sword," he said, again, shaking his head faintly.

Tenara smiled softly, and a little sadly for him. “We’ll work it out. I’ll try very hard to make this work for you, as best it can.” She looked around at the small, forcibly abandoned farm. It had shelter and food and solitude. “This is a good place to practice my magic—our connection. It’s remote. No one around that I might hurt. We could stay here… I could try and teleport a letter or something back to my family so they don’t worry I’ve been stolen again. What do you think?”

He nodded slowly. It made sense to pause, and figure things out. So far, everything they'd done had been a mad rush for safety, or information, or both. "Yes." He gradually un-smushed her face from his chest. "Until there is a solution, we should understand it as best we can."