Woman Talk Over Archery [Izzy x Eldar]

"Nonsense, you're a twig! You could stand to eat a bit more. I bribed your mother with a cherry pie, that's how I found you." She dared to kiss his cheek and got a spark in her eyes. "I've closed up shop for the rest of the day, so wherever you'd like to go, I'll follow." She hadn't changed out of her work clothing since she hadn't really done much that morning, and was tempted to ask if they could go back out of the city. "I could give you some baking lessons if you'd like to just stay inside, or perhaps we can have a tag rematch?" This time she'd brought a proper lunch with her, as well as sweets, so they wouldn't be pushed for time if it came down to meals. "Perhaps...we could spend the afternoon in the shop, and go stargazing in the evening?" she ventured shyly. "I-It's up to you really, just a suggestion."

Of course if he liked the idea she'd brighten instantly and for good reason. She loved spending time with him, and she also loved baking, so doing both would just be the greatest day ever in her book. Between the two places she hoped to spend her day, there were shops of all kinds and some she visited frequently, some she'd rather not see exist. To be quite honest she could spend the rest of her life with Stefan, and it would pass in the blink of an eye. "You're wonderful, Stefan." she mumbled as she rested her head against his shoulder. Cupid did his job right on all counts, and soon Lori wondered why she wanted to marry a man in the army. Her father was an upstanding man, yes, but that didn't clear the rest of the men who served in the army of any notable flaws. Something fuzzy in the back of her mind told her she simply wouldn't be happy with anyone else the way she was with the young man at her side.

"You ready to be left in the dust again?" she returned tagging his shoulder and handing him the basket. Immediately she was off down the road kicking up dust after each step until she tripped and tumbled down a hill with a strange sort of shocked squeak. She'd ran farther down than they'd gone last time, as she recalled passing the maple tree from just over two weeks prior. She checked for bruises, figured she'd have one or two from her tumble, and dusted herself off. "I'm alright!" she called as loudly as she dared. She glanced around noticed it was much the same as everything else outside the city, but one side was forest and underbrush, the other side was a field of tall grass. A moment of thought to assess the danger, and she decided the shallow part of the woods would suffice to hide from her pursuer.

She sat on a low branch in utter silence, minus the creaking of the branch itself. For a time she wondered if maybe he hadn't wandered that far just yet, and if perhaps he was worried about her after her fall. Her answer wasn't far off as to how far he'd come down the road, or if he'd be able to find her, as the branch she sat on snapped and sent her crashing to the ground with rustling leaves and snapping twigs. 'Note to self don't hide in trees.' was her immediate thought process. This time she was sure she'd be bruised after a while and contented herself with simply hiding behind a berry bush to watch for Stefan. Time slowly wore down her focus and she began haphazardly glancing about before watching the clouds roll by. Life wasn't so stressful now that she'd learned to take days off and spend time with the people she cared about.

Lori immediately jumped sideways looking quite startled and smiled when she realized who it was. "Darn it, you did indeed!" she replied cheerily. She threw her arms around his neck with a laugh and pulled away before gesturing to the field. "Perfect place to watch the stars, yes? And this is perfect for tag!" she said gesturing to the trees around them. She'd never gone out of the city at night, and it would be quite a thing to see the stars with nothing in her way such as adjacent buildings. "Shall I be the one to chase you now since you've obviously proved you're better at this than me?" was her teasing remark. The rest of the afternoon was spent running through the forest back and forth until it got too dark to see what they were running into, and it was decided that it was time to find a place to stargaze.

The clear night sky wasn't really something Lourna'd had time to sit and watch, even after deciding that time off was a good thing. "Does the sky look like this every night?" she asked naively. Honestly she'd just never had a reason to look at the stars, and was quick to learn that she didn't necessarily need a reason. It was obvious that when it rained it didn't look quite so wonderful, but she'd make a habit of stargazing if it usually looked so lovely. Every day she spent with this librarian just kept getting better, and she never wanted them to end. They always did though, even if their next outing was just around the corner it seemed that time just wouldn't pass fast enough. The moon was in its waxing phase and gave off quite a bit of light once she didn't have trees overhead blocking it out. "I've a new respect for people who prefer to stay awake at night and sleep during the day." she muttered.

"That's very true, I bet she'd love it out here. The only trouble would be she'd have nobody to play with, you and I would be too preoccupied with each other to do much of anything with her." Her mind wanted to say something else to him, but that risked ruining the moment. Oh well it wasn't so tough to strike up a romantic mood when she'd brought wine with her. "Though I take it with the look you're giving me you probably couldn't be too bothered to even speak of her much less entertain her, could you?" she joked. Though really her face was red hot simply from noticing the look in his eyes. "You know I brought some red wine with me, not a large bottle by any means, but it was meant to go with the food you mentioned earlier."

A light breeze rustled the grass around them and she inched a little closer to her starstruck companion to stay warm. "I'd have worn something warmer if I'd known it would get cooler tonight." She could have at least brought a jacket with her, but did she? Of course not. Somehow she feared she was making him uncomfortable, and shied away from him. "I didn't mean. . .I just. . ." she mumbled as her face got warmer still. It was more likely she was making herself more uncomfortable, rather than him, but that didn't do much either way. "I'm still terribly awkward with you, I-I don't know why." Perhaps it was the idea of intimacy that made her squirm like a nervous child in a doctor's office, or maybe he'd gotten her flustered again; he was prone to doing the latter solely to see her blush. At least that was her conjecture on the matter; he'd neither confirmed nor denied her claims to this point.

"How about that wine then, hm?" she asked trying to get a subject started or at least changed. The cold air made her loathe to peel away from Stefan, but the unsettling feeling she had leeching through her body almost forced her to. Instead of actually moving she simply turned over where she was and pulled the basket over. "I don't make a habit of drinking this stuff, but on chilly nights half a glass before bed keeps the cold away."

This was the second time he'd caught her off guard with a kiss, but unlike the first time she wasn't a deer in headlights and could almost see it coming. The strangest feeling in the world is apparently that one you get when you kiss someone and you know they're returning the affection. It turned out to be the fireworks every girl dreams about, in Lori's case. "You know this is the second kiss you've stolen from me, Stefan. You can't at least give me a little warning, hm?" she commented. She was smiling, there wasn't a shadow of a doubt that she was happy, but she never really had time to react to him and it was a little disappointing. If he was afraid she'd smack him he was very sorely mistaken. His comment about a second blanket didn't escape her notice and she did her best not to laugh. "Or we can just make a camping trip out of this with our families and sneak off to do whatever we please."

"At any rate we should head home soon or we'll be freezing by morning. If you want to stay with me all night that's perfectly fine." Nothing ever happened anyway, a kiss or two was really nothing since she'd heard of far worse in the gossip chain. "Reputation can take the night off in my opinion." Didn't mean honor had to leave with it, she'd prefer to keep at least THAT in tact for the time being. Of course now there were a few questions buzzing around in her head, and one involved marriage, the others were of a more personal nature and they made her blush. One such question was whether or not he'd kiss her again, and if he did then she'd prefer a little warning just so she wouldn't be left dumbstruck every time. Another shiver or two and honestly Lourna'd have been content to wait until they were home to have the wine. Not like she'd say anything to him about it now, but her body language spoke volumes.

"Do I look displeased with our little outing?" Truly she didn't think she did with flushed red cheeks and a cheerful grin. She was still shivering a bit form the cold but lighting a fire in the hearth certainly warmed the room quickly. She put the blanket and basket away before checking on her little friend. All was well and she gave them both a friendly greeting before going back to her business of chasing rats. Lori meanwhile grabbed two crystal wine glasses from a protected case in the back of her kitchen and set them on the table. "Somehow it just tastes better when you drink it from a crystal glass."

"As for reputation, I'm not too worried over it at the moment. Hardly anyone ever sees me with you anyway so it isn't like it matters much." Moments later two half full glasses were balanced in her hand and she held them in such a way that his was in front and hers behind it. "To love and devious thinking!" The shining firelight made the wine look bright and sunny as if it were freshly pressed cherry juice, and the color reflected against her skin made her cheeks look even rosier. "You've brought light back into my life, Stefan, and I'm learning what it's like to truly be happy again. Thank you." Her little dragon had helped with the cause, but being loved just made everything worth a little more.

He what?! Her mind reeled for a moment and she could swear she was about to faint. She had the sense to put her glass on the table and then moved to put his beside it. "You. . .You. . ." Oh perfect, now her voice was failing too. Hang it all she "would" get it to cooperate! "Please tell me you're not joking." The last thing she wanted was for him to laugh at her for all this strange behavior of hers. No man but her father had ever said he loved her. Without thinking she threw her arms around him and practically tackled him to the ground. "If you're just poking fun at me...!" she started, then paused and actually looked at him. "I don't know what to say." she whispered.

So for what seemed like an eternity she just hugged him, and whether her behavior was from the wine or simply a matter of shock, she was smiling. "Might we keep this a secret just a little while? Else mother will plan a wedding posthaste and that'll be that. I much enjoy spending time with you without worrying about expectations and prying eyes." Yaya looked up from her place by the fire and gave a sort of curious squeak. What on earth were those two doing? Ah well, she'd learned that this man she spent so much time with made her very happy, and that was good enough for her. Perhaps they should be more careful, falling on the floor certainly did hurt when she did it.

His ramblings always seemed to make her laugh. She knew when he asked prior to clarifying his question what her answer was. Instead of telling him to stop she grabbed his collar and kissed him, eyes shining. "You do not need to explain yourself to me, I understand you well enough when you ramble. You should know well enough what my answer is, but I will say it for the sake of confirming it: yes, I will." At that moment lightning flashed in the window and it began to pour rain just outside. "Seems you won't be heading home tonight whether your parents wish it or not. Nobody would be stupid enough to go out in a freezing thunder storm at this hour." With that out of the way she called Yaya over and smiled. "Sinyaya, you will have to learn to live with Stefan, he will be around much more often now and you must learn to care as much about him as you do myself and Siofra, he is very precious to me." Yaya looked rather confused at this profound statement of affection, and looked between her and Stefan. "I can try." she squeaked as she rubbed her head against his chest. "If he'd pet me now and then it'd be easier to like him."

Of course, it was matter of attention! How Lourna had overlooked that she didn't know, but the people that her dragon friend learned to like were the ones who'd been kindest to her as a hatchling. "Stefan, you will have to try to learn to care for Yaya like you would a human friend, it has to be a mutual effort. That's all I ask." Sensing the two wanted a little more time alone, the little dragon licked Stefan's cheek and whispered, "She is precious to me too, take good care of her. She'd do the same for you." That being said she curled up by the fire and proceeded to drift off to sleep. Lourna pulled away from Stefan, regretfully, and brought a cushion down from her desk upstairs for the dragon to sleep on before snuggling up close to him again. "Since she can't come upstairs tonight she should at least be comfortable where she is." Of course she didn't expect anything to happen, but any sort romance would certainly be hindered by having the innocent little dragon wake up at every time one of them tried to get comfortable.

"I think it's time we let Yaya sleep, the poor little dear needs a lot of it at her age." She'd been totally honest; it was a big concern for her that her little dragon get enough sleep every day. That and she didn't want her sweet little baby waking up to the sight of her kissing Stefan, or doing anything else with him for that matter besides cuddling, then asking all sorts of questions. That being said she pulled him to his feet, wished Sinyaya sweet dreams, and proceeded to the stairs. "Watch your step now, I've found myself tripping up some of these on nights when I worked late." She vanished into the dark room and quickly changed clothes before lighting her oil lamp and covering the windows.

Just sitting on the bed made her feel sleepy and in need of someone to cuddle, luckily enough she had someone that fit the description and hopefully he'd come sit with her momentarily. "Forgive me if I fall asleep on you, suddenly the day's activities have me feeling sluggish and in need of sleep." That being said she lay back and dragged her hands down her face, it really had been quite a day from tumbling down hills to tumbles in the back room to marriage proposals and who knew what else would happen before they both fell asleep. She pulled the sheet and duvet over her legs, as they were the only part of her that was cold, and got herself comfy. She'd sleep like a baby for sure.

Never let it be said that Lori was by any means an easy girl to get into bed, but this wasn't a normal circumstance and just for once she didn't want expectations and rules holding her back. "Whether it feels right or not I still want to marry you." she replied snuggling up to him with a shiver. Now really she was shivering very little, the bed wasn't all that cold; she was mainly trembling because the situation, whether she liked it or not, made her nervous. It would have been no different had it been her wedding night, but here it was just a smidgen worse. Her night clothes weren't risque in any sense of the word, unlike the clothing her mother liked to parade her about in and torture Stefan with. Only major difference was she wasn't required to wear a cinch or corset for sleeping and she had a soft, pale, cream colored gown over her underclothes.

Feeling his hand on her arm after a time lulled her into relaxing instead of being tense and shaking as she had to start with, which for them both meant tonight wouldn't be nearly so nerve-wracking and awkward. It took a long bit of silence for her to think of anything to say, and even then it was more clarification/explanation than a simple statement. "I trust you, Stefan, and I'd marry you tomorrow if you asked me to." Bottom line was she was going to trust him to not push her too far and break her trust. She was tired, the sugar she'd had in the last hour or so hadn't quite kicked in yet, and her guest and lover was more awake than she thought he would be. With a minute cuddle closer to him, she rested her head against his shoulder and let her eyes drift shut, keeping them open in the dark wasn't really necessary and they were starting to hurt a slight bit anyway. She wasn't quite sleepy, and wasn't about to fall asleep on him that would just be rude!

Sadly, very sadly, the morning brought a rather unpleasant surprise: Verunia. In the twilight just preceding the sunrise, Lourna stayed snuggled up to Stefan, with the exception of giving him a good morning kiss. "Hey, wake up." she said shaking his shoulder. "I can't sit on you to wake you up today Stefan I think I hear my mother downstairs." Truthfully she was coming UP the stairs at that moment and she looked rather...confused as she looked at her daughter and then at her company. "Jumping the hand are we there, Lori?" she asked as she walked over. Now here Lourna really could have spouted random gibberish and it wouldn't have mattered, she could have said anything in the world but the look on her mother's face was one that spoke volumes. Verunia "thought" she knew exactly what was going on, and she couldn't have been more wrong, but that wouldn't stop her from making rather inappropriate jokes and planning whatever it was she'd decided on that week.

"Looks like instead of another social it's a wedding! Well come on you two up you get, lots to get started on, the first being breakfast hop to it!" The older woman made a note to go fetch Siofra for this momentous event. If one could read Verunia's mind, they'd see a bit of a jumbled mess. She knew what she'd seen, but her brain wasn't making quite the right connections between emotion and reaction. Instead of giving Lourna the thrashing she had every right to assume she deserved for such behavior, she was overlooking all of that and simply planning the wedding like any happy mother would. As her mother headed off downstairs Lourna looked over at her bedmate and blinked. "Stefan. . .I do believe we're in for a near endless nightmare. Mother just decided to plan our wedding, and I've no doubt she's going off to find Siofra and ask for her assistance with this as well."

It took a few short minutes to get out of the warm bed and get downstairs, but downstairs she got and started on breakfast immediately. Her lover could sleep late if he wanted to, and with the shock of her mother showing up, he likely deserved to. She hoped he'd come down and join her in the kitchen for a little while so they could properly process what had just happened, but that could wait. Lori was a rather patient person when time allowed for it, otherwise she was just as impatient as a cat wanting after a mouse. For the moment the couple was a ball of yarn in the claws of rapture so to speak, and it wasn't at all easy to stomach.

"Unless I can convince her that I'm still a virgin I doubt she'll stop, but if I can get a hold of her and ask her to move back the date a little then we're in good shape. How far back do you want this pushed, a couple of months so it's late spring to early summer? Gives us a reasonably long engagement and perfect weather for an outdoor wedding, along with a better range of flowers for mother to choose from and other season-related variables." 'Like fresh summer fruit for pie fillings and breakfast food.' she thought as she served up warm oatmeal with some cinnamon and a pinch of sugar. "It's all I have on short notice, unless you'd like me to rush out real quick and get some eggs?" She was tempted to get dressed and do so, but it was likely bitter-cold after the storm the night before, so eggs would need to wait a while.

Still she sat down at the table with a weary sigh. "I think mother's afraid any children we have will be illegitimate. That is her worst nightmare, and I can't say I blame her really. She hasn't any idea that she has nothing to fear though, the poor dear." She wondered if he was going to leave in such a hurry like last time and simply braced herself for another hasty goodbye in case he decided he should spend the day in the library. "Will you be spending today in the library with your father then?" she asked. If she was to be with her mother and Siofra all day by herself she'd faint from stress sooner than her mother could say "pink or cream". Her cheeks were tinted with the lightest shade of pink at having woken up to her mother being so chipper, and finding her in a bed with Stefan, but she paid it no mind as she finished her meal and wondered where else in the world her mother was going so early. Most other shops in the area didn't open till after sunrise.