Topic: Of Snow and Scales and Steam

CherubicMagic

Date: 2010-03-26 16:17 EST
A sleek, fat bellied figure slipped high above the world through the clouds that night. Children across the realm might peek out from their night stricken windows to see the vessel pass by, some great graceful shadow with billowing halos that commanded the very air as it's power. Though in Rhydin there wasn't much to turn heads these days given magic, modernity, and the majestic were at times a blas" occurrence" but truly, not many things are more beautiful and timeless than an airship. Noble peaks and hard-carved elegance, the slow moan and groan of great wooden titans bellying through clouds. The imagery is instilled in all minds, young and old, of times long locked and past in our most treasured fantasies.

There is simply no greater joy.

And it was up on this romantic piece that a pair of figures stood in repose against one of the many wooden rails of the great sky vessel. Fronts to the wood, their sides pressed to against the softness of flesh and cloth. They were a picture, the draconian lord and his fire colored gypsy.

Their journey had taken many turns that night thanks to the hefty hands working the ship, titan figures in their own right, truly; a great moss green bear with proud tribal markings and a feathery expanse of wings. Men constructed of metal and machine, goblins and various gnarled figures all spilt crooked, proud smiles for the pair with them this evening. They knew their captain of course, Zayveon, but as of late they'd begun to hear rumors of his lover, the buxom, vivacious human at his side.

The landscape below was littered with snow and ice. They'd turned South in their night time venture and were coming near a castle in the distance below. The snow bitten, regal structure was surrounded by an ice ridden lake. Soon the draconian's hand slipped down to fit firmly in his companion's. Warm as always, he pulled her along gently through the brisk chill of the air as it whisked across the deck of the sky ship.

"Come come....we're almost there. Warmth awaits us 'below' my dear." He offered with a smile.

Distracted in a fair, dreamy sort of way for a good portion of their journey, it was the draconian's hand refitting and tugging that drew the gypsy witch's gaze away from the distant dark of the skylin. His voice stole her gaze further, those molten hues suddenly filled with the icy vision below her. The south' When had they gotten so far....Had so much time passed" How did she not notice the chill"

"Z'ev" seemed the answer to all these questions, really; time seemed to stand a bit still when he was about, hours seemed blissfully longer and the air always warmer. Bedazzled and content all at once, Lilliana smiled, nodding as she slipped her fingers about in her lover's hand to knit and thread. Giving his hand a soft squeeze, her eyes lifted one last time, and they settled on the more familiar landscape of Z"evs face.

"Yer' sneaky....ya' know tha'?" She chided him jokingly.

Ah, magic was always about....Perhaps even in the way of helping time along" One never knew just what to expect with Zayveon. A squeeze in turn to her hand and a smile as he stole her glance over the railing back toward a set of doors at the aft of the vessel's deck.

"Even so my dear Gypsy, come....I've a warm soak awaiting us below. Something few, have ever seen." His free hand moved to slip a golden key from his person'. very much like the key he used to get them onboard, and very much like the key he'd given her.

How could the gypsy protest with plans like that' The fact was, she couldn't. Especially not when he said "my' the way he did. "....an' incorrigible. Sneaky an' incorrigible. Had I known, Z'ev, I migh' have brough' a bag or se' o' clothes other than the ones I have on m'back." Chuckling, she moved with the draconian towards the warm, inviting loom of those doors across the deck.

Their boots made a crisp sound on the foot beaten boards, their echo lost to the wide expanse of the sky and the idle whip of the wind. Lilliana curled all the closer, ducking her head against the breeze; it struck the bulk of her hair up behind her like a living flame.

"I've clothes below....if you really want something on. I don't think you'll be needing anything where we're headed currently." A light smirk might of touched his lips briefly. Lilliana couldn't respond; she didn't trust the unpredictable ire and turn of her words. The draconian seemed to play with them too easily; it reminded her, sometimes, of just how many years separated them.

It wasn't an overwhelming feeling, really, or an intimidating one, but it was striking. Thousands of years of etiquette; a vast, strong empire built over an illustrious life of mastered magery and magic alike; and a creature first, not a man....A living enigma. And one that was currently bringing her to one of his more private sanctuaries. A place where all else in the world could wait and wonder as to where the souls who'd slipped within had gone.

Then the slip of that key, the turning and pushing of the door open" the familiar swirli of dim light and power emerged within the doorway. A wink and a smile to her, before a further tug of her hand as he moved to step into the open portal. Many a thought slipped through the gypsy's head as she moved with him, and not a single one of them unimportant or unimaginative.

Blinking back to the here and now before he found her attention wandering, Lilliana looked about as they stepped into their new surroundings.

They'd exit through a doorway that was oddly set into that of rock and stone. A passage lead upwards behind them once the portal had faded and the door closed. Ahead of them however, was a vast cavern with a ceiling high, vaulted and carved enough to fit a house below. The smell of the place was sharp and almost ocean-like, as salt and rich minerals saturated a series of watery pools, both small and large below a short series of steps. To their right' and before them, everywhere really, there was nothing but warm steam playing upwards from the hot pools. The cavern's expanse was lit by that of a more modern power of lightening at the walls, rather than more archaic, classic means. Another of the draconian's personal touches, further instilling the idea it was often all his lonely domain.

"Ten years ago, I had a Geo friendly power plant constructed some ways from here. It powers most of the electricity. No need to find wood or oils for the lamps and torches. This is one of several caverns that run below the surface here in the Southern arctic lands. Hidden well away from those above. This is my retreat. My quiet and my calm when I need time to think or just to relax in full."

So vast and warm and encompassing. The draconian's earlier words of 'a warm soak' surely were an understatement. Where his gypsy had been expecting some sprawling bath with a bit more embedded elegance like the clawed tub back at his city property, instead she was faced with, well....a triumph of underground architecture.

Lips parted slightly, allowing only the slowest slid of skin away from skin as a soft breath escaped; a hushed, awed sound. It wasn't quite the reaction of a child, nor that of an overwhelmed traveler to a strange land, but that of a woman touched deeply by the trusting exposure of her man and his inner, most peaceful sanctum. A place he held all retreats of solitude....And now she was here.

Though touched, she held no illusion that she was the first to see the place; the draconian had said "few", not "none". But right here, right now, he held her in his confidence, and that was a level of special worth her gentle reactions. Her free hand moved, rising to turn and slid up the length of his arm; the move had a motive behind it, to draw him closer. She was stricken with the sudden desire to kiss him, and it was a desire she'd never ignore.

"I t'ake i' back....Yer a swee'hear' an' a flatt'erer." Came her quiet murmur as she moved up a bit on her toes; never short, just shorter than he. Z"ev turned down and obliged with a dip of his head to meet her lips with his own in a warming play. One hand lifted upwards, settling against her cheek with a gentle stroke of fingertips as a smile colored his face. His other hand moved to slip up in a light glide downward along the laces at her back; a low, quiet growl lost somewhere in his throat. _________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ Adapted from live play.

http://i1013.photobucket.com/albums/af255/fellea/RDI%20Thingys/get-attachmentaspx.jpg

CherubicMagic

Date: 2010-03-27 18:31 EST
The water's were indeed warm, and as the steam lifted into the vastness that was the caverns, it turned, carrying with it all the heat of a cool summer day's sun.

Her movements were things that came without any real semblance of plan or thought; every move simple and natural. The return of his kiss held a myriad of sensations; warm, moist, slow, hungry, tender. A little all at once, really. She didn't drink of him too deeply just yet, however, there was no shortage of affection in her lips as she pulled back.

Lowering back down to the soles of her boots, Lillian's smile spread with all the slow sweetness of a Botticellian maid. Slipping away without hurry, eager to feel all that warm air across her naked skin, the gypsy turned, her arms moving as her feet did, to lift the bulk of her hair, presenting Z'ev with her back and the laces his fingers had been idly fondling but moments before. Beckoning as much as offering.

A smile played his lips as those fingertips moved, his steps fluid and easy with motion. They worked delicately with the ties, loosening and unbinding slowly to allow the gypsy her escape from the corseted cage. Were the lure too great, Z"ev might have leant in a bit, just as he might of accidentally blown a warm stream of air against her bare neck.

Though all hypothetical, the gypsy felt it keenly, shivering as his lips followed next in light brush against her skin.

"There's an almost, therapeutic experience when bathing within the waters here." Came his soothing murmur. With her bodice unlaced and forgotten on the cavern's carved floor, Lilliana felt the creep of all that warm, moist air. If his breath hadn't spilt, the witch still would have trembled. His words brought a soft laugh out as she turned, moving away and back as her own hands held the dip of her blouse from revealing further flesh. It was a coy move, considering the ease they both held in one another's nudity.

"Such a salesman when I've already bough' the goods yer panderin', lover." Her nose wrinkled a bit with the mirth he'd instilled, but curiosity lingered despite her soft joke.

"....I suppose, then, there are minerals in them, mm?" As she spoke, her fingers relented a bit, the blouse dipping lower. Lilliana, teasing" No....maybe. Z"ev Nodded to her, lips perked slightly as his gaze took a slow sweep over body.

"Indeed. And yes, there are minerals" unique ones. Along with that of stones you may not find in travels of the road, of our planet Rhydin here. I've had a few stones sculpted to benches and chairs, various platforms as well. All were constructed long ago to sit upon while basking in the water's embrace. Some allow the water to venture to your waist, while others all the way to your neck. Though they aren't constructed, for smaller beings exactly. They'll work should you wish to sit nonetheless."

Another soft chuckle touched his companion's throat as she listened; but this time her skeptical brow ticked up while the other ticked down. It was obvious she wasn't used to be calling small, and she voiced as such. "Small" Yer callin' me small" M'corse' size an' m'brother Brishen migh' be inclined t'disagree w' ya' on tha', Z'ev." She of course understood what he was hinting at, but it was habit by now, to toy and tease more words from the draconian.

As his eyes moved, so did her hands. Soon all the trappings of cloth were gone, and it was only the presence of air, shadow, light, and the kinked, wild sprawl of her hair that held a touch to her skin. She stood before him without shame, and in fact moved back forward, her hands intent on further busywork with his own clothing. Unable to help herself, she began again, her words slow and biting back their coy curl as she questioned him.

".....an' jus' wha' sized creat'ures are those benches an' bi's o' rare rock mean' t'suppor' an' cradle, swee'lin'?"

"Draconians..." His answer was straight forth. No reason to beat around the bush as they say. His hands moved to aid her in the slip of leather and cloth from his form. Boots, were easily enough stepped from.

"This place was once a sanctuary for our kind. A hundred strong could bask in the relief and calm of these watery caverns. Away from any that might wish to look." As he spoke of looking, his own eyes were playing over her form, silently enjoying every curve of flesh.

"Don' be lookin' a' me like tha'..." She warned lightly as she slid his clothes to the meet the frump she'd made of her own. She didn't bend so much as lean; she was purposely not giving him that indulgence. His gaze was already weighty, she felt it to her skin sure as a touch. Clearing her throat, she picked up her thoughts again, feeling a flicker of color ripen her cheeks despite her best efforts. It was hard to make the gypsy blush, but someone the draconian managed it more often than most.

"....I can' decide whether t'run t'o or from ya'." Despite the color he inspired, his reply brought her back down, genuine interest in her voice and expression as she turned to move towards the water, eager to see just how large these benches and bit of stone were as much as feel the water enveloping them.

"So lovely an' big a place....ye' there's only ya' now?" For all the care she took with that question, there was an unintentional degree of pity in her voice. Lilliana was a woman born to a large, motley family, a social being to her very core. Learned a roamer as she may be, a creature fluent in many cultures and minds she was, and yet still, it was always hard for her to imagine such a solitary existence.

"In away....yes." He slowly would follow her toward the edge of one of the larger pools.

"Perhaps one day, they'll hold more once and again." Those stony benches and chairs looked like those one might find in that of a bath house or an ancient Roman pool; carved and precise in their markings. Laid about here and there within the water's ease, stones emanated a dim light. IT sprawled and laid out about the pool's flooring; glows of greens, reds, blues, and even soft buttery yellows. Perhaps their glow was their way of telling that they were enjoying the warmth of the waters as well.

"More...D'yer children plan on ret'urnin'?" She called back absently, her attention elsewhere and wavering with successive step into the water. The lights had long been drawing the gypsy witch's notice, each molten eye admiring their echo and eb, reflecting quietly with variant schemes of rainbows.

"Not exactly....no' He smiled as he watched her enjoy of the waters touch. Of course his view wasn't bad either mind you. As Z"ev stepped further into that warm, watery embrace a fingertip traced at his side; light swirling in a play of magic.

"Ah' All this romance an' beaut"y an' ya' hide i' t'yerself....Mm, tsk, tsk." Lilliana clucked her tongue quietly as she moved further and deeper into the pool. She lead the way, but not by much; her steps were slow and indulgent. Fingertips laying out along the even surface of the water, teasing the wetness they skimmed against. Flicking out ripples here or there, she lowered her arms into the welcoming water-body.

A sigh slipped past the gypsy's lips as she felt the creep of the pool crawl up the length of her still not submerged. Gooseflesh blossomed along each pale shoulder, shivers tracing up and down her spine once again.

"How does such a lovely woman, end up so stricken by something as the likes of me?" A smirk perked at the corners of his lips as he drew down deeper into the waters depths enjoying the crawl of it's level to the line up above his hips.

His question made her still, and though while it caught her off guard, it was not something she was unprepared to answer. Eager for a true embrace in those whimsical waters, Lilliana sunk once the line hit her breasts, dropping down and going under completely.

The ends of her fiery hair collected atop the water, soaking and sinking, but then as she rose from that quick dip, they plastered to the soft build of her shoulders. Hands moved, smoothing back the thick of her now soaking hair away from the soft, round moon of her face. Wiping a bit of the drip from her face, the gypsy smiled, her lips blotting together once or twice before she attempted a reply.

"Well....d'ya' remember wha' ya' said when I asked ya' the same a while back, m'love?" She challenged lightly; opting for the easier answer of replying to a question with another question. Somewhere in the corner of her smile, dimples emerged; sweet things to the flush that was slowly taking over her skin from the heat of the water.

"Trying to avoid my question, with one of your own?" Indeed he knew the tricks, old enough he should. As she watched him, somewhere in the corner of the gypsy's smile, dimples emerged; sweet things to the flush that was slowly taking over her skin from the heat of the water. A smirk perked Z"ev's lips in turn as he slid through the water slowly, steam played about the air near his form. A light breeze began perk" Odd, there had been none before.

"Avoiding the question due to it may perk you to flush in a bit of coloring my dear Gypsy' Or simply unsure if your answer may sound silly or too romantic in texture?"

Laughing softly Lilliana shook her head and for once her mane didn't fizzle and fray like some great wild fire. The water had temporarily done the impossible and tamed it in a slick, wavy trickle across her skin.

"Aah, surely ya' see the silliness in tha' promp' o' yers" Aren' gypsy folks supposedly some o' the mos' romant'ic figures t'walk an' roam the realms?" Lowering down, she watched him as nature's sense of buoyancy took her up, arms sliding out beneath the line of the water to move back and forth slowly. Following him like some naiad of old through the steam, her smile softened, as did her voice.

"I'm no' avoidin' anythin'....I'm here aren' I?" Came her quiet challenge as she slipped past him once again; zig-zaging idly in some world of slow motion as she spoke. "I merely count'ered w' makin' ya' remember wha' ya' said when I asked ya' similar a while back..." Looking up from her submerged posture, he looked all the taller; it made her crane her neck a bit, but she didn't mind in the slightest.

"You're still, not exactly answering my dear Gypsy. Though in some respects you are correct about your folk and romance, they seem to carry with their name. Vagabonds to some perhaps?" He was smirking some, nodding to her softly. His form was lowering into the waters warmth, and with that smirk turning to a smile, he flashed his gypsy the wink of an eye and dropped down into the shallow-deep. Completely and fully out of sight in a quiet splash of water, an eerie calm overcame the entire cave for a scant breath of a moment. The world seemed to hold in a hover of time and magic; even the glow of the lights beneath the water's surface paused in their eb and flow.

Unable to resist such an obvious lure, Lilliana dipped not long after he did; lulled and drawn as any hapless moth to the flick and color of the flame before them. Spellwork was a second nature to the gypsy, and with a fine, indiscernible murmur across her lips, followed by a deep breath and a playful pulse of magic, she moved her head beneath the comforting murk of the water.

Then there came a sudden ripple through all that calm, and the large pool began to reanimate in a series of small swirls. The ripples in the pools began lapping and tickling against her skin. They were tiny in nature but growing rapidly as a new rush of steamy mist bellowed up and about the air. The perk of color played below the water's view once more, clouding and concealing.

Seeking out the draconian was no easy task, there were already so many faint, scattered little echos of light from the precious stone and carved furniture lying in wait beneath the wet. The spell was not a thing designed to help her breath beneath the water as she hovered and looked, but something to help her words carry while she held her breath; a projection of sorts, not of thoughts really, but of the syllables humming in her throat. "Firs' seek an' then ya' hide..." Came that underwater tease; somehow the adoration in her voice still carried.

"Wha' is i' ya' would like me t'tell ya', lover" Tha' ya' are one o' the mos' absorbin', res'ful, though' provokin', an' soul soothin' fellow I've ever had the good fort'une t'mee" Tha' I ne'er int'ended t'bed ya', t'love..." Her voice faltered, but not out of embarrassment or fear....just. Emotion.

Oh, Z"ev would pop back up from the water's embrace. But first before her would swirl an even smaller, more violent circle; ever perking larger as an almost static feel drew through the waters depths. An odd echo of something crackled and rolled through the caverns, Thunder" Here" From the murk of the warming waters came forth his lift upwards to break the gentle swirling wake.

Clawed fingertips raked slowly at the waters about him as the draconian stood to a staggering height of eight feet where he was once only six. A tail, long and scaled lifted and then disappeared to the waters depths behind him, as he gave a shake of his head, sending droplets of water here and there. Reptilian eyes of the draconian in his truest form peered down at the gypsy. His snout, gave that familiar almost-perk of a smile if one looked close enough.

"As I, never intended to do more to you, then simply add of a mystical ink to your thigh, Lilliana. But sometimes things have a way of turning out for the better and definitely for the curious of heart?? _____________________________________________ _____________________________________________

Adapted from live play.

http://i1013.photobucket.com/albums/af255/fellea/RDI%20Thingys/SouthernManorCavern.jpg

CherubicMagic

Date: 2010-03-28 09:55 EST
As he moved, changed, and broke the water's edge in that majestic form, Lilliana had moved with him, slipping back a careful step or two to allow his greater stature a greater berth. Lips parted, the curl a motion of silent reverence, not fear. No....She could never fear the scaled olympian standing before her. But she could and most certainly would stare.

Her mouth finally regained a bit of motion and white, blunt teeth bore down to the lush fat of her lower lip; she could taste water and magic there, and it sent a shiver across her spine. Though stricken momentarily speechless, the gypsy was first and foremost a creature with a clever tongue and silvery wit.

"....maybe tha' was a bi' silly an' romant'ic." She murmured quietly, still raking her gaze over each glistening inch. Committing each little detail to memory, hungry for every nuance....His true shape, his real form; the face beneath the sweet enigma she'd come to find herself so enamored with.

"But....I believe ya' migh' have ou'done me, m'love, in the text'ure depar'men'." A soft laugh rumbled through him as he nodded down at her from his greater height.

"True, you may have me there, my Gypsy." That tail, perked again out beside him, like a serpent of it's own accord, moving against the warm of the waters surrounding him. Droplets glided along each scale, both the touch and the soft there upon his form; it made him shine as if a creature carved of jewel. Where he was standing the waters just barely reached above his hips where before they'd been clear up to his chest. Reptilian eyes moved over her slowly.

"Interesting where life leads us at times, now isn't it' One evening you're sharing a drink before that of a warm fire, and then one eve you're enjoying the comfort of hidden springs below a frozen tundra with a species of old, before you.

"A species of old..." Accent-less and a perfect mimicry of his words, Lilliana found her smile returning to the otherwise awestricken angles of her dapper apple cheeks.

Encouraged by his laughter, and intimidated despite the strength of her reserve, the pale cherub slipped slowly in the wake of the draconian. Fingertips trailed across the tippy top of the water, purposely plopping and skimming, leaving little wet, musical patterns rippling out in her wake. "....ya' make me feel like some silly mort'al who's st'umbled u'pon some wondrous bein's home." Came her quiet tease as one of those trailing hands gained a bit of bravery and reached out towards one of his scaly hips, eager to feel the ridge of his body.

So many places to memorize....Was the witches tender, inner dialog. As Zayveon might have guessed long ago, his gypsy had an affinity for mapping the planes of her lovers and engraving them deeply to her mind's eye. Though still the same creature she'd come to know and love, she now had new angles to explore.

"These lands are full of fairy tale like stories. Though I'm not sure I'd call myself wondrous." A clawed fingertip lifted from their trace of the waters at his side, moving to usher back a few wet locks from her features. Not at all minding in the least her curious nature to touch of new textures, scales of varying tough and tender feel.

"Fairy t'ale or no....Ya' live an' breath in ways I've no' known. For tha' alone ya' are a wonder." An amusing thought passed through her head, and turning, she pressed the warmth of her lips against his hand, her nose tip nuzzling with the utmost gentility to the back of his hand.

"More often then not' this is where I am most free in every whim. That's not to say, I haven't let myself go' as the expression goes, back upon my manor within the city to the North from which we ventured from. Perhaps upon the evenings, such a form may be let out more often." He added with a quiet rumble, was as the gypsy closed her eyes as he brushed the wet strands away, Lilliana felt her shoulders unwind; there was a lovely sensation behind so sharp and delicate a digit traipsing across the soft warmth of her cheek.

"Ya' have no reason t'be anythin' other than comfort'able around me, Z'ev....I care no less fer ya' now than I did the momen' b'fore ya' delved b'neath the wat'er." Curious" Yes, that might be the word for it, but it was a thing she gave pause to savor the brush of hand to her skin. Pale lashes rose once again to show the fiery hues beneath that had begun to glow a soft, inner light; they looked like little rose, cathedral proud bits of stained glass stricken to a illuminated blush.

"Did folk ever mist'ake ya' fer a creat'ure in the pas' tha' needed a sacrifice?" Lilliana teased quietly, her lips still close.

"In some tribes and guilds of the past' yes." Eyes watchful of her motion, his hand a slight bit rougher, to the touch of her lips then that of the human texture and mask she'd come to know. But there was that warmth, that definite familiarity' it was him indeed. Behind him that tail was still moving of it's own accord, moving slowly up and down through the line of water.

"I am quite comfortable around you my dear Lilliana. Time can pause as we enjoy the quiet moments in each others company." He replied with a slow, graceful nod of his head.

"So ya' mus' be t'reveal yer'self thusly, mm?" To his first answer she'd only been half listening. Lilliana was quietly mesmerized by the varying patterns of his scales. It was truly a difference, yet still....beneath it all, the same soul. The gypsy had always taken folks in every manner other than face value, for each person held a deepness to them that physical lines could never truly capture.

Beauty in the eye of the beholder, the wealth of looks only skin deep, the soul is a light that outshines any form; these were all sayings she'd found true. But never in all of her days had she held such a real, tangible example of all those things. Still small, still soft, still breakably human and so humbled, and yet the gypsy found her lover the same despite his change; a soul within a changeable shell"

Out of the corner of her eye she spotted the idle sway and dip of his tail, and it drew a smile as she moved forward, her nose now touching to his wrist and palm as she breathed into the softer scales of his inner hand. "Is this wha' ya' mean' by the place bein' filled w' more o' yer kind?" There came that unmistakable perk of his snout as Z"ev watched and listened; an almost, smile if you will. Clawed fingertips flexed gently as her nose touched to his more tender and smaller of scales. though the touch did send a tingle of almost that of a tickle along his arm, he managed not to chuckle or tremble.

"Not exactly my dear. But time may tell of what the future holds to secrets of old and forgotten. A tale for another evening." He quite enjoyed watching of her curious nature. Though there was no visual sign of wings at his back like some Draconians held, there was an odd play of magic about him, as if something was still being masked or hidden. Concealed from the normal spectrum of light. Since his transformation and reemergence from that water, they'd continued to warm. That natural mists rising and roiling about the caverns were thickening, his form acting as some ethereal centrifuge for it all. Though Z"ev churned with all that magic and internal fire, Lilliana was left unburnt by it. She was a human, yes, but a vessel of the mystical in her own right; oddly the perfect compliment to the immortal creature before her.

Those molten whorls still drank him in, thirsting like a pair of wanderers long left in the desert, their drag slow and purposeful to let her lover know just how alluring she still found him.

"Wha' of this evenin', then?" She quipped lightly in response, slowly drawing the brush and nuzzle of her face from is hand and wading back an enticing series of steps. Since her dip beneath the water her hair had begun to dry, the dry air making all those endless curls and kinks spring back up to frizz a halo about her moon sweet features. Coaxed by the atmosphere, Lilliana continued those backwards steps, her movements slow and creeping; beckoning without so much as a lift of her hand for the draconian to join her at one of those large, artfully carved pieces hovering below the water.

"This evening is left up to what may....I've nowhere to be but here with you." His tail perked above the waters edge behind him once more in a slow, graceful shift and glide as he slowly was set on forward. Every piece of carved stone was set to his memory and he'd have little trouble taking up one such 'bench' as he followed in a slow, light step through the pools warmth. Clawed fingertips held above the waters edge beside him, lighter than the lightest of feathers as they cut their way through the soothing murk.

"I wonder at times, who holds more of a warming nature...myself...or that of the Gypsy before me." Red eyes fell to the woman at his side, adoring each line they found and still seeking more.

The compliment, subtle and calm as always in that low voice of his....It drew out another slow smile, her expression more befitting the whimsical nature of some forgotten, earthy muse than a raggle-taggle damsel of the clans of the roads.

Settling beside him, she made a bit more noise, but as where his nature was the slight of sound and the feathery peace of a passing wind, hers was, at best, a lighter than average locomotion. Call it that gypsy nature, really, or perhaps a touch of the goddess she worshipped and drew the bulk of her magic from. Either way, she and he would ever be a pair of contrasts to compliment one another, and that, of course, was Lilliana's most favorite thing. It spawned all those endless, lazy hours of body exploration.

"Ya' flatt'er me fer no reason, swee'lin'....I'm no' the firs' red haired minx t'waltz by ya' I'm sure..." Teasing as always; now at least she had a reason to not be able to help herself. The angle of his snout and the smile it could bare was a sight to behold as he shifted his head to better gaze at her from his settling to the bench below the water's line. That tail laid partly above...and partly below the playful warmth.

"Not the first, no. The first redhead to be here, however" yes. That is if you don't count two or three of my daughters." Another almost smirk played there on his scaly maw, and while he didn't perk flame or smoke from his nostrils like some dragons did, his teeth were many, varied and quite sharp indeed upon his form. Only caught in sight when he spoke. Clawed fingertips lowered in a light passing glide downward along her back. "Do I flatter you too much' Or just enough then my dear Gypsy?"

Though his form was different, the posture she assumed was familiar. Feeling the play of claw tips along her back, the gypsy leant into her lover, finding the warmth of him was different. It radiated in a much fuller pattern now, as if the rough bump and ornamental spill of his exterior were some gleaming shell for an inferno within. The sensation reminded her of many a night she'd spent in blissful sleep beside a solstice bonfire, drunk and glowing from the inside out with a night's zeal of the turning season. Realizing he'd spoken again, and she'd been drifting, Lilliana blinked, finding her eyes had closed somewhere between her movements to curve and conform against the side of his lap, her head to the deep, slow up and down of his abdomen. ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________

Adapted from live play.

http://fc02.deviantart.net/fs31/f/2008/208/3/a/3ab3719b7f1cf473c799ac8002d50a4a.jpg