The inn room was small, simple, and rustic. Four wooden walls, fortunately intact, surrounded a squishy double-bed. The little night-stand was quaint, but sufficient. A door on one of the walls led off to a bath, while the other could be opened into the hall. The small window was completely obscured by a dark, tattered curtain. The layout of the place clearly spoke of its specialized purpose -- toward sleeping...or toward whatever other bed-oriented activities the debaucher Liucen saw fit.Â
On that night, he laid bare between his hosts for the evening; an elegant Roegadyn woman of minty green skin, and a strapping -- though short -- highlander fellow with a dark, sun-kissed complexion and intriguing white tattoos. Their recreation had long since ended, and as the other two breathed quietly in sleep, Liucen looked up to the ceiling in idle thought. Only a few slivers of light entered into the room via the door frame and a slit between the curtains, but it was enough to provide a deeply muddy outline of the overhead wooden beams.Â
A slow, irritated breath left him -- would that his company had more drive; he wouldn't be bored and thinking foolish thoughts of work in the middle of the night. Not that he could blame them -- the redheaded Highlander was much smaller in stature than the rest of his kin, but made up for it with stamina and insatiability worthy of song. Sleep was out of the question -- perhaps roaming hands? No, that would only incense and excite more, and compound the problem. Waking them up seemed a very viable option, but they were very nearly strangers, and who knew how they'd react to that?
His thoughts abruptly halted as the line of light along the door frame went out, and the sliver from the curtain extinguished. The room was thrown into a disorienting pitch blackness. Liucen blinked rapidly but it made no difference; for a brief moment he endured the fear that he may have gone blind -- but something above him came into view that set the matter to rest.Â
At first they appeared as two silver rings adjacent to one another -- not unlike bands of eternal bonding. Careful scrutiny led him to judge them as eyes; or rather, irises within which yawned widely dilated pupils. Try as he might, the highlander could not discern anything else of a face around them. Unease gripped him for but a blink; he knew exactly what it was. Whispers filled the room -- potent, but quiet. They tugged at his sense of apprehension, but better sense won through. He kept his own, unseen green eyes on the glimmering silver pair.
Slowly they descended, and with that, the whispering grew in volume. Liucen feared that his hosts might wake, but they showed no sign of doing so. Instead, he remained still. The eyes were no threat; this he knew despite the instinct that screamed at him to spring out of bed and take action. Half a fulm from his face they eyes vanished; but there was a definite presence there still -- had they simply been closed? An answer came in the form of lips, pressed ever so gently to his. He could not help it -- a sharp intake of breath cut through the room. Fortunately, aside from a shifting adjustment, neither woman nor man next to him woke.
The lips against his grew bold; they were soft, feminine, and tasted of a delicate yearning. Never one to turn down a good snog, the Highlander participated -- only to feel the intrusion of something into his mouth. It was only the other mouth upon his own that stopped him from sputtering; the dry, papery texture of the object nigh choked him, and tasted of dust.
All at once the pressure from the lips vanished, but the object in his mouth remained. The light along the door's edge and between the curtains glowed once more, and the murky outlines they cast may as well have been floodlights compared to the inky blackness from before. The whispers too, had gone silent. Liucen sat up and reached into his mouth to retrieve what had been placed within. Sure enough, it was a slip of parchment -- only slightly damp at the corners from his saliva.Â
Without another thought toward his sleeping companions, he rose and moved to the window for a little light. There was a note on the parchment -- as he had suspected. The handwriting was in a neatly sloped and slightly loopy rendition of the Eorzean script. It was all Liucen could do not to snort; he had a hard enough time reading normal letters, it would be a chore to decipher this rubbish in only light from a damned window. Yet still, he proceeded.
Raymond has acquired his fifth and sixth. Your report to him was inaccurate, I am on my tenth, and Yvonne is on her ninth. We're very close. Good work, that night -- you proved it well; these replicas are powerful, and with the powers we gather they shall be more so. The next step is nigh, on our road to being sung heroes. Would it that what we've gathered could increment our replicas without the rest. Sleep well; and swallow this note when you have read it -- and don't make that face; gods only know what else you've swallowed tonight. A bit of paper is nothing.
The grimace Liucen had made at the last instruction was quickly replaced by an exasperated deadpan -- that too, did not last long, for a figure out in the dimly lit alley had caught his attention. She was tall, elegant, and poised for grace. Silver hair flowed down over her shoulders and back in natural ringlets, framing a face that seemed hewn of the finest, whitest marble. The lengthly, delicate arch of her neck and the ears that swept from her hair marked her easily as elezen -- for the glimmering silver robes she wore well obscured her form. A white book was clasped in her hand, accompanied with a silver-feathered quill.Â
It was if she had sensed him looking; she flitted her eyes up to the window -- those very familiar silver eyes -- and smiled. She gave the impression of being the very light source of the alley -- and Liucen soon realized the impression wasn't wrong. The book closed inaudibly, and she vanished from sight -- plunging the alley into darkness. Beauty stolen from his view.
The Highlander risked a grumble as he begrudgingly crammed the parchment into his mouth and chewed it to pieces. "You and your husband," He found himself perhaps more stirred than previously by the mere sight of her. "Bloody teases, the both of you."
On that night, he laid bare between his hosts for the evening; an elegant Roegadyn woman of minty green skin, and a strapping -- though short -- highlander fellow with a dark, sun-kissed complexion and intriguing white tattoos. Their recreation had long since ended, and as the other two breathed quietly in sleep, Liucen looked up to the ceiling in idle thought. Only a few slivers of light entered into the room via the door frame and a slit between the curtains, but it was enough to provide a deeply muddy outline of the overhead wooden beams.Â
A slow, irritated breath left him -- would that his company had more drive; he wouldn't be bored and thinking foolish thoughts of work in the middle of the night. Not that he could blame them -- the redheaded Highlander was much smaller in stature than the rest of his kin, but made up for it with stamina and insatiability worthy of song. Sleep was out of the question -- perhaps roaming hands? No, that would only incense and excite more, and compound the problem. Waking them up seemed a very viable option, but they were very nearly strangers, and who knew how they'd react to that?
His thoughts abruptly halted as the line of light along the door frame went out, and the sliver from the curtain extinguished. The room was thrown into a disorienting pitch blackness. Liucen blinked rapidly but it made no difference; for a brief moment he endured the fear that he may have gone blind -- but something above him came into view that set the matter to rest.Â
At first they appeared as two silver rings adjacent to one another -- not unlike bands of eternal bonding. Careful scrutiny led him to judge them as eyes; or rather, irises within which yawned widely dilated pupils. Try as he might, the highlander could not discern anything else of a face around them. Unease gripped him for but a blink; he knew exactly what it was. Whispers filled the room -- potent, but quiet. They tugged at his sense of apprehension, but better sense won through. He kept his own, unseen green eyes on the glimmering silver pair.
Slowly they descended, and with that, the whispering grew in volume. Liucen feared that his hosts might wake, but they showed no sign of doing so. Instead, he remained still. The eyes were no threat; this he knew despite the instinct that screamed at him to spring out of bed and take action. Half a fulm from his face they eyes vanished; but there was a definite presence there still -- had they simply been closed? An answer came in the form of lips, pressed ever so gently to his. He could not help it -- a sharp intake of breath cut through the room. Fortunately, aside from a shifting adjustment, neither woman nor man next to him woke.
The lips against his grew bold; they were soft, feminine, and tasted of a delicate yearning. Never one to turn down a good snog, the Highlander participated -- only to feel the intrusion of something into his mouth. It was only the other mouth upon his own that stopped him from sputtering; the dry, papery texture of the object nigh choked him, and tasted of dust.
All at once the pressure from the lips vanished, but the object in his mouth remained. The light along the door's edge and between the curtains glowed once more, and the murky outlines they cast may as well have been floodlights compared to the inky blackness from before. The whispers too, had gone silent. Liucen sat up and reached into his mouth to retrieve what had been placed within. Sure enough, it was a slip of parchment -- only slightly damp at the corners from his saliva.Â
Without another thought toward his sleeping companions, he rose and moved to the window for a little light. There was a note on the parchment -- as he had suspected. The handwriting was in a neatly sloped and slightly loopy rendition of the Eorzean script. It was all Liucen could do not to snort; he had a hard enough time reading normal letters, it would be a chore to decipher this rubbish in only light from a damned window. Yet still, he proceeded.
Raymond has acquired his fifth and sixth. Your report to him was inaccurate, I am on my tenth, and Yvonne is on her ninth. We're very close. Good work, that night -- you proved it well; these replicas are powerful, and with the powers we gather they shall be more so. The next step is nigh, on our road to being sung heroes. Would it that what we've gathered could increment our replicas without the rest. Sleep well; and swallow this note when you have read it -- and don't make that face; gods only know what else you've swallowed tonight. A bit of paper is nothing.
The grimace Liucen had made at the last instruction was quickly replaced by an exasperated deadpan -- that too, did not last long, for a figure out in the dimly lit alley had caught his attention. She was tall, elegant, and poised for grace. Silver hair flowed down over her shoulders and back in natural ringlets, framing a face that seemed hewn of the finest, whitest marble. The lengthly, delicate arch of her neck and the ears that swept from her hair marked her easily as elezen -- for the glimmering silver robes she wore well obscured her form. A white book was clasped in her hand, accompanied with a silver-feathered quill.Â
It was if she had sensed him looking; she flitted her eyes up to the window -- those very familiar silver eyes -- and smiled. She gave the impression of being the very light source of the alley -- and Liucen soon realized the impression wasn't wrong. The book closed inaudibly, and she vanished from sight -- plunging the alley into darkness. Beauty stolen from his view.
The Highlander risked a grumble as he begrudgingly crammed the parchment into his mouth and chewed it to pieces. "You and your husband," He found himself perhaps more stirred than previously by the mere sight of her. "Bloody teases, the both of you."
![[Image: tumblr_ojgu7zoaag1robwlio1_540.png]](https://68.media.tumblr.com/80be4033cdf57fb6268473ef9ce37db6/tumblr_ojgu7zoaag1robwlio1_540.png)
