The property was quiet, and had been for several hours, work had not completed. Kruger doubted that work would ever really be finished, there was always something more to do. He took a break from the work he had been doing. Pauses came between projects for him, and the air outside the forge was cool by comparison to that which was stifled within. Amber eyes looked to the windows of the house trying to catch a glimpse of Shai moving through the rooms.
During these hot summer months, generally the children were all down by the shore, basking in the splinters of sunlight and relishing in the glory that was a sweltering heat that dared to admit it was balmy. A routine in fact had been in place for months and months.
Some went about their own way, the constants of Belglade. Where the fever of life was as vigorous as blood pumping through veins. It was in those quiet times, something would always draw her to the open windows and surely, he would be down there with his cocky little grin and impish demeanor ready to unfold in some blasphemous show of...manly prowess. It was this day however that when Shai slipped onto the sill, she regarded him a long moment. "Is the devil's work completed finally, or are you escaping from the clutches, mon amour?"?
His laugh would sound at her words, the grin would of course come out with that laugh. "It's funny I'd heard the devil preferred idle hands, yet the work never really finishes. An escape then, enough done now that I can take time to do other things."? The leather apron was pulled from him and hung on a nail just inside the door. "Perhaps the devil is tempting me away from the work mon amour?"
"Mmmm...perhaps. But it will remain our secret that in fact I consider myself the Devil's Mistress and you of course, my Devil." Sweat gleamed a path across dark skin and good Saint's, it was hot. "The fall cannot come soon enough..." That muttered, she opened the window fully and spared a glance across the landscape where it rested towards the woods and the small bridge not far away. "Would you like something cold to drink, or perhaps some company if you chose a swim?" A little grin twitching her lips, surely he could not refrain, eh??
He ran an arm across his forehead taking perspiration and leaving behind a streak of darkness. "Perhaps I am the devil, only my mistress would know. Something cold would be welcome, and I think the swim is more for your pleasure than mine. I will meet you at the door love and walk there with you." He started toward the front of the house conscious of his dirty state and still lacking the understanding of what she saw in it when she looked at him.
Removing herself from the sill, it would be a few minutes until she was moving through the front door, barefoot as could be and holding a large glass of chilled water and a pitcher to match it. "I fear if I lower myself into that creek, I will not be able to get back up without one of those contraptions you and Gio rigged up when clearing the bottoms for firewood last winter." As it was, she could barely see her feet these days, much less touch them. "Here, drink this. What are you working on?" The billows continued to flow freely from the Forge, higher and higher yet into the afternoon sky.
The water was taken and he drank perhaps a little too quickly. "I just finished something for a client, more a reforming, tricky though they wish to preserve the integrity of its enhancement. It has its own heat source, I expect it was meant for use against those things which can regenerate." He didn't need to say the words of the darker creatures of this place. "As for getting you out of the creek, I believe I that my enthusiasm will more than suffice when it is time." He fixed her with that grin as a hand found itself slipping low on her back.
Shai stepped into his hand just as a chuckle tumbled. "Oui, and perhaps not before you called everyone within Belglade to come and see the sights of such enthusiasm." In truth, while there was always a light humor between them, they had faced their monsters and the darker things head on, while coming out on the other side intact...mostly. And while she didn't speak on it often, not a day went by that Shai did not wonder how deep his wounds were hidden, while still dealing with his own demons. A thumbs pass beneath his eye, she refilled his glass and set the pitcher on the small table there. "It concerns me at times, the work you take."?
He eyes closed at her touch. His lips found her ear to whisper lightly.? "I believe most of Belglade has learned that my enthusiasm is something to keep their distance from, or to at least reign in the children." There was no darkness that he couldn't be reached through by that light caress. "I don't know what else I can do Shai. It is within me whether I want it or not, and there are times I feel both. I need an apprentice, I need a skilled smith. Ravenlock was generous in his gift but I am just one man. How do I keep two forges going? Three if you count here." The moment ended with a beginning to the stroll towards the creek.
Slipping her hand into the crook of his arm, Shai fell quiet while she breathed in the scent of him. His scent had become part of her DNA. She could not ever get enough of it, or him.
Pondering on his words, she was careful in her footing and it was as the trees hung lower and thicker, she began to tense as she always did and avoided looking towards the further tree line where it became so thick, it could not be seen through. Her tone dipping to that of an almost whisper. "If there was perfection, what would you like to see happen to lessen your load and to know things are running smoothly at all 3 locations?"?
(tbc)
During these hot summer months, generally the children were all down by the shore, basking in the splinters of sunlight and relishing in the glory that was a sweltering heat that dared to admit it was balmy. A routine in fact had been in place for months and months.
Some went about their own way, the constants of Belglade. Where the fever of life was as vigorous as blood pumping through veins. It was in those quiet times, something would always draw her to the open windows and surely, he would be down there with his cocky little grin and impish demeanor ready to unfold in some blasphemous show of...manly prowess. It was this day however that when Shai slipped onto the sill, she regarded him a long moment. "Is the devil's work completed finally, or are you escaping from the clutches, mon amour?"?
His laugh would sound at her words, the grin would of course come out with that laugh. "It's funny I'd heard the devil preferred idle hands, yet the work never really finishes. An escape then, enough done now that I can take time to do other things."? The leather apron was pulled from him and hung on a nail just inside the door. "Perhaps the devil is tempting me away from the work mon amour?"
"Mmmm...perhaps. But it will remain our secret that in fact I consider myself the Devil's Mistress and you of course, my Devil." Sweat gleamed a path across dark skin and good Saint's, it was hot. "The fall cannot come soon enough..." That muttered, she opened the window fully and spared a glance across the landscape where it rested towards the woods and the small bridge not far away. "Would you like something cold to drink, or perhaps some company if you chose a swim?" A little grin twitching her lips, surely he could not refrain, eh??
He ran an arm across his forehead taking perspiration and leaving behind a streak of darkness. "Perhaps I am the devil, only my mistress would know. Something cold would be welcome, and I think the swim is more for your pleasure than mine. I will meet you at the door love and walk there with you." He started toward the front of the house conscious of his dirty state and still lacking the understanding of what she saw in it when she looked at him.
Removing herself from the sill, it would be a few minutes until she was moving through the front door, barefoot as could be and holding a large glass of chilled water and a pitcher to match it. "I fear if I lower myself into that creek, I will not be able to get back up without one of those contraptions you and Gio rigged up when clearing the bottoms for firewood last winter." As it was, she could barely see her feet these days, much less touch them. "Here, drink this. What are you working on?" The billows continued to flow freely from the Forge, higher and higher yet into the afternoon sky.
The water was taken and he drank perhaps a little too quickly. "I just finished something for a client, more a reforming, tricky though they wish to preserve the integrity of its enhancement. It has its own heat source, I expect it was meant for use against those things which can regenerate." He didn't need to say the words of the darker creatures of this place. "As for getting you out of the creek, I believe I that my enthusiasm will more than suffice when it is time." He fixed her with that grin as a hand found itself slipping low on her back.
Shai stepped into his hand just as a chuckle tumbled. "Oui, and perhaps not before you called everyone within Belglade to come and see the sights of such enthusiasm." In truth, while there was always a light humor between them, they had faced their monsters and the darker things head on, while coming out on the other side intact...mostly. And while she didn't speak on it often, not a day went by that Shai did not wonder how deep his wounds were hidden, while still dealing with his own demons. A thumbs pass beneath his eye, she refilled his glass and set the pitcher on the small table there. "It concerns me at times, the work you take."?
He eyes closed at her touch. His lips found her ear to whisper lightly.? "I believe most of Belglade has learned that my enthusiasm is something to keep their distance from, or to at least reign in the children." There was no darkness that he couldn't be reached through by that light caress. "I don't know what else I can do Shai. It is within me whether I want it or not, and there are times I feel both. I need an apprentice, I need a skilled smith. Ravenlock was generous in his gift but I am just one man. How do I keep two forges going? Three if you count here." The moment ended with a beginning to the stroll towards the creek.
Slipping her hand into the crook of his arm, Shai fell quiet while she breathed in the scent of him. His scent had become part of her DNA. She could not ever get enough of it, or him.
Pondering on his words, she was careful in her footing and it was as the trees hung lower and thicker, she began to tense as she always did and avoided looking towards the further tree line where it became so thick, it could not be seen through. Her tone dipping to that of an almost whisper. "If there was perfection, what would you like to see happen to lessen your load and to know things are running smoothly at all 3 locations?"?
(tbc)