The air was not stifling, like it had been in the jungle. In fact, it was a complete opposite in terms of environments, yet he still somehow felt it was just as difficult, if not more difficult to breathe. Perhaps the air was thinner here, the seemingly endless void spanning beyond imagination. It gave him a view much like the sea, except it was as if he could see to the very bottom of the ocean depths. The structures far away were strange and alien to Beren, but Calliope barely gave them a look. Perhaps they were from her time... [i]or perhaps she has been to other worlds?[/i] He thought. 

He stretched his neck for a moment, and did his best to steady his breathing after that brief insanity of combat. "And you care if it changes?" He asked her. He realized he was becoming far more casual with her than he intended, and she shot him a look as if she read his thoughts and agreed wholeheartedly. 

"Perhaps..." she answered cryptically. Beren noticed she remained in the glittering armor, which was likely a bad sign of their current predicament, or at least a message that he should stay on his toes. "I care whenever my...brethren are concerned." 

Beren felt he was growing slightly better at keeping up with her mastery of the archaic language, but he knew if she continued to speak that way, there would be questions. And if other scholars like him heard it and could decipher she spoke more fluently than any modern person should, there would need to be answers. As she turned away, he spoke up, drawing her attention back to him. 

"Is there ...way... you can speak my tongue?" He asked her, curiously. 

Her eyes were as sharp as daggers, the coat around her armor unable to keep the glittering depths of the scales from bedazzling the eyes. She seemed to consider something for a moment, glancing downwards and placing a hand to her chin. "Yes..." she said. "I would have to break the mind of a mortal and suck the information out of him. We often performed such rites when we were bidden to pacify a people. Perhaps we will get lucky on the road." She pursed her lips and her brow rose as if to say 'sounds like a plan.' 

"Whoa, hey!" Beren declared, waving the thought away. He briefly glanced around, glad his words did not carry too far, before his eye met Calliope's. "We aren't killing innocents for that. Maybe if we run into an enemy, but I can not allow that." 

"Very well, then you shall have to wish it." She said simply, crossing her arms. She tossed her head back, moving a dark fringe out of her eyes. 

Beren opened his mouth, and then closed it. He knew she had him, but there seemed to be no victory in her eyes. Maybe she simply hid it really well, but still. Even if she could lie to him, and he was mostly certain she could not, he couldn't think of any other way to solve the problem. If they were to keep going, she needed to understand his language, and if they needed to speak privately, they could speak in Xubian. 

"I wish you could speak my language." Beren said. 

Calliope The Blackstar gave him a flat, unreadable look. Beren blinked, wondering if anything changed. Long seconds passed, and he glanced around. The muscled young man scratched his thick head of hair as he glanced to the left. "Did something chan-" He felt strong hands in draconic scaled grab his head, cold as death. It contrasted the warmth of Calliope pulling his head down and kissing him open mouthed. He words trailed off in an 'mmmph!' He felt a tingle on his lips, unlike the normal tingle one might get from a kiss. It was over in three heartbeats, and as Calliope pulled her head away, she breathed in deeply. Beren could not tell, but he believed he saw a bit of light from behind her teeth. 

"Well," she said in perfect Akkanaein. "That was not as unpleasant as I would have thought, but nothing to write home about, either." 

"You can spe-..." He pointed at her, dumbfounded, before her words caught up with him. Blood rushed to his face, and he flung his hands up. "I wasn't ready!" 

She snickered, clearly enjoying embarrassing him. If she could not slaughter innocents, at least making him insecure would do. "If you say so, now let us go. We had not much longer to travel, but after that, I'll follow your lead."