Siwa nodded, not wanting to continue this right now. "See you soon. We'll do it next time, Kog. Brey, let's go get that foot checked out." 

Breden kept silent, knowing that Siwa, although honey-tongued when she wanted to be, was rather volatile when angry, and she wasn't happy at all right now. Breden walked alongside her, too slow for her taste, given his injured toe. The two of them left the forge and slowly made their way to her hut. Siwa calmed down a bit as they traveled, leading Breden to finally work up enough courage to ask her something.

"So... you are looking for another male, right?"

"Just to appease him and be able to return without lying. The gods don't like it when goblins of the same tribe lie to each other. And no, I'm not gonna mate with you, so don't ask."

"Wasn't going to."

"Just making sure. It's not like I think I'm too good for you, Brey. You're a nice guy."

"Maybe I should try being a jerk. They seem to have more luck getting laid."

Siwa thought about that for a moment. "It's not because they're jerks, but because they're seen as strong by some naive females. Even so, you'd need to be more fit to pull that off, or at least, get better at hunting."

"Gee, [i]thanks[/i] Siwa."

"I don't mean to be harsh, Brey. You're not weak, but you need to do more than just barely feed yourself to be seen as good mating material. It's not gonna just happen, and it's not going to happen overnight." They arrived at her hut, and she entered first, gesturing for him to lie down on the pile of straw which served as her bed. He did so and she picked up his sore foot, immediately getting to work on his injured toe. She gripped the digit, using her thumb to rub the underside of the toe. It felt good, but she could tell that the rubbing along wasn't fixing the issue. Siwa firmly tugged on the toe, loosening the muscle which had tightened, then squeezing it and flexing it to restore its flexibility. She then moved her hands down to massage the rest of his foot, attempting to console him for his lack of mating success with her.

"Just lie there for a few minutes, Brey. I'm gonna rub both feet. They body abhors imbalance, after all." 

Breden closed his eyes and tried to clear his mind. Today had not been a good day for him on any level, apart from this little treat.

"Feels good. Thanks."  

"Anytime, my friend." 

After another five minutes, she ended the massage, then stretched out her hands. "Well, that's it. I'd stay for longer, but I've got to get looking for a mate. Gotta at least be able to say I tried."

Breden stretched his foot. "Feels much better. Thanks!" He stood up, flexing his now-better toe. "What was wrong with it that you could fix with just a rub?"

"Nothing special, just a cramped muscle. It's easy to fix if you know what to do. Well, goodnight!" Breden left her hut and slowly headed down to his place on the other end of the village.