Ely laughed at Dom's comment but inwardly she was quite taken aback. Not by what he said, Cathians were a lot less inhibited than she had found humans to be.
Personally she thought they could all do with a little less of them. Especially the religious nutballs; terribly uptight those people. Kiga, on the other hand, was already hard enough to get close.
He was panicking. She saw it in his motions. Ely smiled at him.
"You were awesome. You saved me from the catpeople."
Ely giggled, and the earlier thoughts slipped away to be replaced by a better mood.
Catgirl Extraordinaire
“Build a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life.”
Kiga blushed then and despite his trying to not seem to... close... he clung close to Ely. He looked away, scratching his head again and just shrugged. He didn't know what to say.
Ely [M:164:1653:][D3v:http://rpgmenagerie.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=cs&thread=394&page=1#14814][b]A soul on fire...[/b][0:Snuffed][1:Flame On!]
Ely reached out a hand to rest it on his shoulder. She was still giggling, and her tail was twitching back and forth in the water. It wasn't even a conscious thing, but her nerves had started to react to Kiga's attitude.
She didn't know whether or not to tease him or let the subject drop.
Catgirl Extraordinaire
“Build a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life.”
Was almost startled with that touch, his eyes follow the lines of her arm all the way up til he found her eyes and then he smiled... very sheepishly. He was almost trembling with confusion and nerves.
Dominic [M:123:1420:][D3v:http://rpgmenagerie.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=cs&thread=382&page=1#14144][b]Let me tell you a story...[/b][0:No encore today][1:You have my attention]
He had to fight hard not to start laughing at it. He really shouldn't have been having that much fun teasing the two of them but dammit if it wasn't a kick. He could hear the panic in the young man's voice, the nervous mirth in the girl. His look, however, turned wistful.
He'd not exactly had much in the way of company of that sort in his time. Not exactly easy for starry eyes to meet across a crowded bar when your eyes don't work. So perhaps he was teasing and refusing to let them be in peace out of a little jealousy, a little bitterness.
A mad little part of him even dared to hope they'd let him join in.
"Saved you from the catpeople? Saved you from yourself?" That statement had puzzled him.
Love, like Hope, has too few letters for a word so powerful.
Ely [M:164:1653:][D3v:http://rpgmenagerie.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=cs&thread=394&page=1#14814][b]A soul on fire...[/b][0:Snuffed][1:Flame On!]
Ely turned to look back at Dom. She had not let go of Kiga, either. Or, rather she had not pulled her hand away from him. She wasn't going to make the mistake of trying to stop him from moving if he wanted to, for now; she let her fingers rest against him.
"Mmh. Of course, he did not know I was a catgirl. I lied to him."
Ely had the grace to look ashamed about that, too.
“Build a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life.”
Dominic [M:123:1420:][D3v:http://rpgmenagerie.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=cs&thread=382&page=1#14144][b]Let me tell you a story...[/b][0:No encore today][1:You have my attention]
If he'd have been able to he'd have eyed Kiga sceptically as he spoke, though the wry tone in his voice spoke just as loudly about how silly that sounded.
"Oookay...now there's a few things that you can't really miss on a Cathian. The tail and ears tend to give it away. And no, the irony of being stumped by not spotting something being pointed out by a blind man is not lost on me." His tone is amiable and his head turns to face the pair.
"How drunk were you?"
Love, like Hope, has too few letters for a word so powerful.
Kiga was not only uncomfortable now, but starting to feel grated by the questioning. What did it matter? Why was he so... damned nosy? Kiga wasn't entirely sure he liked Dominic, he seemed rather uncouth at this moment and whilst he'd listened often enough to the tunes that wafted from the Tavern, it seemed this man had no intention other than to interrogate him.
Of course, all of that could purely be symptomatic of him being nervous about Ely. If she wasn't naked, it seemed entirely likely he'd be fine....
He wiped his face. The steam was too much and it was suddenly feeling very warm in here. He needed to get out, to run and leap of a hill, to ride the wind a while. He stammered and slipped from her touch, headed to the edge of the pool... and realized he too was still naked.
Trapped by his own modesty and nerves.
He turned back to Dominic with something of an injured glare. Be damned if he was going to be made this uncomfortable.
"I don't usually drink, thank you very much."
Ely [M:164:1653:][D3v:http://rpgmenagerie.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=cs&thread=394&page=1#14814][b]A soul on fire...[/b][0:Snuffed][1:Flame On!]
The smile remained on Ely's face. Still, the sigh that slipped from her throat was full of disappointment. Kiga it seemed had finally had enough. She didn't put much hope in him returning to her, and was rather expecting him to leave the Springs.
She was puzzled when he stopped at the edge and turn around to reply to Dom's question. She spoke up too, after he did.
"That is true. I've never seen him drink since."
She was not lying. At all. The fact that she had only spent a few weeks with him several years ago was not pertinent.
Catgirl Extraordinaire
“Build a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life.”
Kiga looked at her, almost hopefully. He didn't need her sticking up for him, but all the same he felt grateful. This wasn't an argument, he was hardly defenseless... but it was more the fact that he so very rarely felt uncomfortable.
What was it about this girl? Other than her being naked under all that water of course. He had overcome his irrational reaction to those ears but the very moment she looked at him, touched him...
He sighed and slumped in the water again. He felt like she might hit him on the head with a large stick and drag him home by his ankle. He was hopeless around her and the damndest thing, was that he wanted to overcome it.
The damndest thing about THAT of course, was that he figured the only way he could do that was to suck it up and.... well let her have her way. Whatever that meant. Surely, if she could just soothe his nerves...
But now it wasn't happening. All of this was happening far too quickly. They only just found each other, why was he having such thoughts? His throat felt dry and swollen, his heart couldn't seem to settle and his stomach churned.
And that would be why a loud, growling groan rumbled from his stomach, loud enough to embarrass him entirely. One growl of a nervous stomach and he went red as a strawberry.
Ely [M:164:1653:][D3v:http://rpgmenagerie.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=cs&thread=394&page=1#14814][b]A soul on fire...[/b][0:Snuffed][1:Flame On!]
Ely was not sure what to do now. But, Kiga's attitude was rubbing off on her. She was as nervous as... well a cat in a house full of rocking chairs. She fidgeted back and forth and even the warmth of the water could not sooth it.
Her ears had slowly dropped until they were flatter than her damp hair, and barely visible. The earlier relaxed posture was gone, too. She was sitting upright with her hands around her arms. And beneath the water, where it was not visible to the two men, her tail lashed back and forth.
She needed to get out of this not-so-cosy spot quickly. And that was completely alien to her thoughts from earlier. Ely did not avoid confrontation either, she relished it. Where had all her Cathain backbone gone?
Right. Back home. On the floor. Probably with her books. Dammit.
Catgirl Extraordinaire
“Build a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life.”
Dominic [M:123:1420:][D3v:http://rpgmenagerie.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=cs&thread=382&page=1#14144][b]Let me tell you a story...[/b][0:No encore today][1:You have my attention]
Dom smiled and sighed and leant his head back. "Hot damn. I'm jealous." he murmured absently, letting the statement hang in the air for a moment before rolling his head to face them. "I knew I should've kept talking but, well, I know when there's a good thing in the air. I'm not gonna come between chemistry like that." He's obviously remembering and slightly regretting, the first time he met the girl.
"So take it from a man who's missed his shot way too many times, you two. Life is short and mostly terrible. So when you're on to a good thing, when it feels really right, just go with it and hang the consequences. You really think scary ol' Grayell gives a crap if people see him prowling around with Kiko like they're about to start snarling and ripping each other's clothes off? I know Chaz really didn't give a toot in a tornado about what might happen to him when he married his Elf." His voice had an edge of frustration, as if seeing two people who obviously dig each other muck about so much is offensive.
"But who am I to say, but a blind fool?"
Love, like Hope, has too few letters for a word so powerful.
Kiga listened and then looked rather puzzled. The bard's words seemed sincere, but his tone seemed hurt. There seemed to be a degree of heart break in those sentiments, or at least as much as Kiga understood. In his life time, he had never known whole love. He hadn't allowed himself to and in fact, Ely was truly the first person he had felt for in that regard. It was strange, different and completely terrifying because quite simply, he was not paid to seduce here.
She simply... affected him in the strangest manner.
That also left him having no damned idea what to do or say. This situation had gone from a joyous reunion to one of nervousness and bafflement too easily. He sought to diffuse it some.
"Ely and I haven't seen each other seven years. It's by chance we bumped into one another here."
Dominic [M:123:1420:][D3v:http://rpgmenagerie.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=cs&thread=382&page=1#14144][b]Let me tell you a story...[/b][0:No encore today][1:You have my attention]
"I don't give a gnat's left nut for fate or whatever." Dom opined genially at that statement, continuing while raising his finger in a 'this is important so listen good' kind of gesture. "But I do believe that a missed opportunity is a terrible thing and while we may get second chances sometimes it's always best to seize the day. Seize it by the throat and drag it down and beat it 'till it calls you Daddy." His laughter rippled like the water, ending in a sigh.
"You two could end up hating each other, or spending forever together, or anything in-between. But worse than any tragedy that could come between you is just not knowing." He beamed toward them. "I'm just speakin' my mind. But if you do decide on making a go of it, do me a favour?" He leaned in conspiratorially.
"When you finally get to bumpin' uglies, get her to call you Dom." Then he laughed hard, slapping his hand against the rocks of the pool edge, leaning his head back and closing his milky eyes.
Love, like Hope, has too few letters for a word so powerful.
Ely [M:164:1653:][D3v:http://rpgmenagerie.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=cs&thread=394&page=1#14814][b]A soul on fire...[/b][0:Snuffed][1:Flame On!]
Ely, quite frankly, did not know what to make of this conversational turn. At all. And, well, Kiga looked like she felt. On one hand, she completely agreed with the "seize the day" statement Dom urged them to grab. She knew, oh how well she knew, that you were lucky to find a kindred soul. Luckier still to be able to spend the time with them.
She was not shy. Dominic's words did not bother her at all. But, she was rather confused by his later comments. Did he want to watch them? That was strange considering. She babbled out a few words just to get them out of her head.
Um... yeah. We just bumped into each other here. Been a long time."
Catgirl Extraordinaire
“Build a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life.”