Illumin0sity

Journey to the East

“Thanks so much,” Aimee said in reply to Elann’s compliment. It made the she-wolf happy but she wondered how a man’s shirt and tights looked cute on her. She took it wholeheartedly though, smiling to Elann before she started taking bigger bites of her meal.

Noah ate quietly until his plate was clean then happily ate Elann’s bacon because she offered it too. Chewing the bacon, he watched Elann leave out of the wagon again but Aimee didn’t broach the subject they had spoke about before Elann came with their meals. Instead, she helped Noah get to the edge of the wagon where his legs hung off and they both waited for Elann to return and administer Noah his herbal tea once again. After that, Aimee aided Elann in helping Noah down onto the ground so he could relieve himself before the journey started again. Aimee waited for Noah to return from the thicket as Elann dismissed herself to prepare the wagon to be more comfortable and decorated. Helping Noah back to the wagon, Aimee used Elann’s assistance to get her brother back into the now decorated interior.

Noah walked his way to the fore of the wagon to produce a pair of simple trousers from the shared chest and sat on the bench to put them on as Elann showed her worry. “It should be,” he said, hoping to dispel her doubt.

He settled onto the floor, lying on his stomach still, with a pillow under his head as he waited for the effects of the tea to take hold of him again. He had already planned on lounging around that day so he was content there on the floor underneath the fur blanket he had gifted Elann many weeks ago. Aimee quietly sat on the edge of the wagon, her back against the frame with a book in her lap.

Journey to the East

As Noah’s hand trailed downward it was grabbed suddenly, giving him pause. Pulling back, he read Elann’s lips asking if his sister was there actually. He looked up once more to make sure a final time before nodding with a creased brow of slight confusion. It seemed nothing was to happen, thankfully, and he was relieved. Noah stayed on his side and close to Elann, exchanged kisses with her until she said she was going to grab them food following the breakfast bell being rung. Noah nodded and withdrew, letting her pull away from him to put on her dress she shed the following night. Noah rolled onto his stomach and watched her leave the wagon after putting on her slippers.

He huffed a breath and looked to the mound of blankets that the she-wolf was bundled in. As Elann left the bundle shifted and Aimee’s snout poked out to sniff the air, her nose twitching in its telltale way. The rest of her head came out then, her large ears being the last out as she sat up to scan the wagon’s interior. She noted Elann gone and Noah lying on the pallet on the floor.

The wolf slid to the floor of the wagon and shook out her coat, stretching and yawning with a high pitched whine. Next, she shifted, the human form of Aimee over taking the spot the four legged wolf once stood. Aimee stretched again, groaning as she reached for the wagon’s ceiling, forced to the tips of her toes.

“Hello,” Noah sang towards Aimee.

“Hello,” she replied, moving towards the front of the wagon to where the chests were.

Noah careened his head to view her out of the corner of his eye, listening as the chest opened and it was his and Elann’s, not Aimee’s own. She pulled out one of his shirts and waved it in the air towards him.

“I don’t mind,” Noah said, knowing what his sister was asking.

Aimee draped the shirt over her body then went to her own chest, closing Noah and Elann’s, to pull out a pair of underwear and tights. She put those on slowly then came to the pallet where Noah lie. Her hand came to his head of hair, retracing Elann’s steps in her attention to the curls. Sometimes he felt as if his hair was his most valuable asset as it seemed to attract a lot of attention. Either way, he reveled in it, relaxing all the more as Elann was away and was instead replaced by Aimee.

“You know,” she trailed quietly, “I can sleep outside the wagon if need be.”

Noah snorted a laugh. “I apologize,” he muttered in Fratava.

Aimee waved his apology away with the hand that wasn’t in his hair. She muttered that it was okay, saying ‘worry not’ in Fratava as per usual. Then, Noah voiced quietly that he didn’t necessarily want to continue when he realized his sister was still there. Questioning, Aimee asked why he did. The Kelvic shrugged lightly, wincing as the movement bothered the wound on his back.

“I don’t want to upset her,” he admitted.

Aimee hummed, asking what he meant in one noise, a creased brow, and a tilted head.

Slipping into Fratava, he said, “She wants me to ‘desire’ her.”

“‘Desire’ her?” Aimee questioned in a whisper, her head whirling towards the wagon’s opening as it fluttered, Elann appearing there.

Aimee showed the Benshira a smile and Noah turned his head to face the entrance again. Both of the Kelvics chimed a good morning as the aroma of a cooked meal filled their senses. Aimee brightened as the dishes were brought closer to them and happily took her meal, sniffing over it before starting. With help, Noah sat up with one of the blankets draped across his lap, the plate placed there where he picked from it with his utensil and fingers.

Journey to the East

Looking down at her, he could see her brilliant irises tinge with a newly unquenched thirst. The Fratava coming from her lips seemingly rolled romantically, bordering on seductive as she paused between each word. Her desire and intent was clear to the Kelvic but it wasn’t what he meant to evoke by bringing himself to her. His action, smoothing across her front with his hand, was meant to bring touch innocently. Noah’s eyes flicked upwards to where his sister lay, her mound of a body invisible underneath the blanket she was cuddled under. It was morning, and surely Aimee had heard the birds, yet he couldn’t tell if she was awake or not. She, usually, was an early riser.

Noah looked back to Elann and found himself mentally withdrawing from the moment. He was in a playful mood and it seemingly translated into that of lustful yearning to Elann. The libido he did have didn’t have power here in his hurt, but he did want to please her in some way. His sister was in his mind though, and though it wasn’t an unnatural act to have sex with his bondmate and wife, there was a certain amount of privacy he wanted. His sister wasn’t exactly the greatest potential audience either.

With that in mind, his hand pulled back from across her waist and front, withdrawing as if her lightly placed hand was pushing him away. He saw the want in her eyes though and that gave him further pause. He bit on his tongue, wanting to say something but not wanting to upset Elann either with his rejection. Submitting, he leaned down to her and met her lips with his, pecking to release her pent up passion until it flowed. He continued on, grazing his open palm over her waist again, traveling down over her navel and down on between her legs towards her warmth. Noah kept his movements slow, as to not strain himself, yet kept his meticulous fingers working below as he tried to match her ardor in their kiss above.

Elann had expressed the want to attempt new things, be it in their lovemaking or general life. He figured this was a new thing and would hopefully serve as something to satisfy her pressing tides until they ebbed back from whence they came. Noah wished for her to be quiet like the first time they had made love as to not wake Aimee, whom he couldn’t see clearly due to the lip-lock with Elann. When they broke for breath he gazed in the direction of Aimee and saw her seemingly unmoving frame, yet still had no idea what it meant. His attention returned to his bondmate each time, focus going to his movements below the blankets and the attention he was giving her. He continued on, unwaningly until she peaked and fell or until she asked for a cessation, whichever came first.

Journey to the East

“No,” Noah whined in reply, pressing his head against his shoulder to stop her from tickling him. He chuckled childishly, his smile widening to show teeth and the grooves his dimples made in his cheeks.

“No, it’s mine, not yours,” he continued through his laughter until she did, giving him a moment to look at her from once closed eyes. His face calmed as he met her gaze, noting the particular sense in them that preceded her tugging on their bond. Noah didn’t have the capabilities to dull the entire bond, only preventing what he was feeling from being communicated down the silver length. Her actions of tugging, her emotions, were still felt. The tugging was clear and unable to be ignored.

As if compelled by her beckoning finger, Noah pressed himself up with his left hand, careful to not put too much pressure on his right arm. He shifted himself a little more towards her, lowering carefully onto his left side, propped up by his elbow. With her directly before him, her side along his front, his other hand snaked towards her under the blanket, smoothing across her abdomen to her waist on the other side.

“What is it?” he asked her, his head resting on his shoulder as he looked down from his slightly elevated position. “You called me.”

That’s what it was, the tug was a call unheard by any ears but his. It wasn’t his ears alone that reacted to the cord’s pull; his entire being felt a deep sense of yearning to be in the presence of his bondmate. Though he could see her, he understood the tug meant ‘come here’ without it being explicitly said.

Journey to the East

“Cold?” Noah questioned. He didn’t understand. Elann’s ever-shifting body temperature was a total mystery to him. She could feel immensely hot but say she was cold, in this instance, or her hands and feet could be total ice cubes in comparison to his own body which was seemingly constant and hotter than what the normal person’s was.

Meeting her eyes, she said a break sounded nice then scooted all the closer to him. Next came the suggestion of cushioning the back of the wagon with decorations resembling those in the tent. “I would like that,” he answered, parroting her posed question.

Noah rolled from his shoulder to lie onto his front, his head turned towards her. The blanket, in the movement, fell away to reveal the bottom portion of his face. His right shoulder rubbed against her shoulder now, and that was the extend of his moving towards her. He brought his left hand under his cheek to raise his head a little from the floor. Noah wondered if Elann would be how she was last night as well, or how she had been in the past few days. There had been a distance there he couldn’t physically close. She seemed content when she was away, but whenever she was around there was a particular sense of longing in her eyes and mannerisms.

Unsure of what to truly make of it, he stayed his own course and focused on healing. Lethargy came and stayed with him many times since his injuries being inflicted, and he was growing beyond bored with lying around, but it hurt to move in most cases. Sleep and being stationary were his best bets and it was what he wanted to do today, lie there so he wouldn’t be achy and annoyed.

“I’m warm,” he said playfully in contrast to her saying she was cold. “Nice and warm, mhm.” He nodded along with his hum, and he was smiling in a teasing manner.

Journey to the East

Elann returned his hello after a moment, blinking, then looking at him as if she was confused over something. Her many faces, subtle or not, were interesting and humorous to him but he kept his composure as she laid her head back down on the floor. He kept peeking at her as she cleared her throat, asking if he had been doing anything while she was sleeping. Noah nodded, humming an “mhm” softly underneath the blanket. “I was touching you,” he admitted.

“Your skin is hot,” he stated, moving his right hand slowly back towards her as it had withdrawn when she woke up. He pressed it softly down on her tummy, just above her hands that played with her navel. “Like this.” Noah demonstrated by letting his hand rest and then moving it somewhere else on her stomach, staying above her navel. He did it two more times before pulling his hand back to himself, letting it rest carefully atop his stitched ribs.

“Are you going to wait for the cook?” he asked, muffled underneath the blanket. “I think you should take a break.”

He spoke genuinely. Usually at this time Elann would be up and cooking for the three of them, but she had done that so much, he asked her to relax. He wasn’t sure if she would even heed his words, but it was mostly because he didn’t want to get up just yet, very comfortable underneath the blanket and near his bondmate.

Journey to the East

Resting, Noah had been dozing in and out of sleep as the daylight broke and streamed out over the valley they were in. The further it came into the valley, piercing through the wagon’s closed flap, the sharper the birds seemed to become in Noah’s ears. He awoke at the slightest rustling of inside, be is Elann’s deep sighs or his sister’s shuffling on the bench, Noah opened his eyes to the room. Lying, he observed Elann as she slept. It was dark underneath the blanket, but the smell of her hair was close and the strands could be felt sparingly on his cheek and nose.

Elann was radiating heat and it could be felt whenever he smoothed his hand to a new position over her bare body. The heat was conforming to his though, and seemingly dispelled to replace the warmth on her skin where his arm had once been. He played a curious game with it in his wakefulness, waiting a moment before gingerly moving his arm over her body again, feeling the heat lessen before moving his arm once more. It was hardly a stimulating game but he was captivated by it enough to pass the time, time enough for a sound to happen that caused him to peek out of the blankets, halting his game.

A voice came, the voice of the driver, telling them to hurry and wake if they wanted breakfast; they would be leaving soon. Noah hadn’t kept track of the time, the residents of the wagon relatively deaf to the world around them, save for Noah who wasn’t paying attention. Peeking out of the blanket, Noah looked to Aimee on the bench, switching his attention to Elann as the cover shifted on her side. Then, the blanket pulled down from her head and her eyes found Noah’s peeping out from the blanket, which covered his face from the bridge of his nose down.

He blinked at her a few times, searching her sleepy eyes with his curious ones. “Hello,” he sounded quietly from under the blanket, his voice muffled slightly. “It’s almost time to go.” He continued to look at her, his eyes large and alert in their faintly olive color. In a way, they could’ve been seen as adorable in that moment.

Journey to the East

Noah turned his head to the right, looking at the lump in the blankets that was Elann. Last night she was quiet, voicing a few things, but remained particularly soft spoken. He enjoyed the moment they had last night until Elann voiced she was too cold to continue it. Maybe it was because he was allowed to think and be in his own mind while being with her at the same time, or maybe it was because he was seemingly allowed to forget about their fight. Now in the morning, he thought about it and found the wound to be fresh and painful, dully aching, hardly felt, but unable to be stitched like his worldly scratches.

Noah rolled onto his left side, edging himself towards Elann until he was pressed against her. His right hand slowly shifted the blankets so that he, too, was beneath them, her hair in his face. The same hand came back down to delicately drape over her waist, fingers lightly grazing across her abdomen. He took a breath, her hair’s smell coming into his nostrils, and he was content with sleeping a little longer. Unless Elann commented on his shifting, he was falling on away.

The Kelvic’s thoughts wandered to his nightmare. He hadn’t been asked about it, but was unsure if he wanted to be. The contents, he felt, could damage what he considered an already fragile relationship. There was a tiny fear in him that, if divulged, it would hurt Elann. Seeing as that was unfavorable for now, he stayed quiet on it and hoped it wouldn’t haunt him again.

Journey to the East

Noah hummed in agreement to Elann’s statement. It was a night that was the picture of what he believed to be beautiful. Though they were looking at the sky, he could see the darkened branches above and before them. They swayed in the gentle wind that blew occasionally and bats came to obscure the moon. He could tell by their shape, their flying movements, what they were. The hooting of an owl in the distance told him that a rodent would be taking its last breaths soon. The world, the wild, was in perfect order, or disorder depending on who looked at it. To him, though, the wild was how it was supposed to be.

Noah held Elann, his pain dully into an ache since he wasn’t moving in his hold of her. His head above hers, he could smell her hair and how it was swept in the smells of his wild. He was glad to have the lightness of her rose powder gone, though he wouldn’t say. It was a natural smelling scent to some degree, he knew, yet it wasn’t hers and so it was off-putting in the slightest way. That said, he wasn’t utterly against her dousing herself in any smell she liked, so long as she didn’t lose the first few scents he smelled on her person upon their first few days as acquaintances, he would be alright.

He contently remained until Elann got too cold, his produced heat inefficient in warming her against the consistently dropping temperatures as the night waned. Another dosage of the tea was given to him and he was soon asleep as well, with her on the pallet on the floor of the wagon. He didn’t wake until early morning crept in, the sun still yet to make its appearance but the birds were chirping to announce its soon to be arrival. Noah woke to that chirping, listening to the morning chatter his avian friends brought to the once quiet air, when night turned to twilight.

Aimee was curled further beneath the blanket, her tail sticking out, but that was all he could see; she was a lump under the blanket Elann had draped over her last night. He was warm under the blanket and the medicine still lingered in his system, dulling some of the ache that the usual morning brought. His rib weren’t on fire that morning, and he was thankful for that, knowing when it came to stretching he would really be awake. As if provoked, his morning stretch came, pulling at his body as he fought to keep some control over how far his limbs reached under the blanket. He groaned, both in pleasure and pain as the stretch progressed. It retreated, letting him lie limply there until someone woke up.

Journey to the East

Noah looked to Elann as she spoke, saying his dear name in Fratava. He looked back to the skies and noted the stars shining in the darkness of the sky. Though she was there by his side, and though her appearance was slightly different, his eyes were on the newly calm skies. His attention, in a way, was still on her, as he was thinking about her relation to the phrase and how he had told her of it yet rarely used it himself. It didn’t mean she wasn’t his moon or world, but the most he had called her was ‘love’. Other than that, he called her almost entirely by her name.

He looked at her again, setting eye contact as hers didn’t seem to wane despite his looking away. The breeze came, moodless, as a test of Elann’s perseverance. Noah was seemingly warmed by the breezes, peering at her undisturbed as he noted her intense shivering. His own eyes seemed paler, almost palely gray, in color, yet the look was darkened as the shadows played across his face. Elann remained though her struggle was more than apparent. She figured her sensitivity to chills were because of her desert roots. The winds lost their chilling bite against him with his blessing because his god wouldn’t want to discomfort him, at times they would warm him even, levitating his mood should it be heavy. It was how Zulrav’s cursed would find no shelter from wind or rain regardless of shelter; the Warden, or blessed, swelled in the breezes. Should Noah have been more emotive, then his mood would’ve been easier to read. Since he wasn’t, his face remained passive, his thoughts quiet.

Noah raised his hand, releasing hers, and moved his fingers to rub the backs down her goosepimpled skin. He smiled softly, mirthfully, as he pulled his hand back. His own skin was void of the telltale bumps of chill, but his skin wasn’t as warm as he usually was. The rain had sapped his heat, much like Elann; it hadn’t been replaced yet.

“Here,” he said quietly, turning his hand to grip at her arm lightly, pulling her towards him to settle between his legs as they opened to accommodate her. He was careful, and knew she would be careful about his wound. Each of his movements held the consequence but he did not whine, bearing through it as he had been, just careful enough to not break any of his stitches.

When she was in his lap, his front pressed to her back, his arms came down to hold her lightly around her midsection. It was an action whose purpose was to provide warmth to Elann’s cold skin, to strip discomfort from his bondmate.