Just take my hand and come with me

CHULANE

blending into the darkness, & it gets harder to see

She teases and taunts, her form hovering above him, just out of his reach but oh, so near all the same. More growls and rumbles stir her nails draw lines along his skin, reddened marks that rise and pucker with the swell of heat and passion and such pleasurable pain. His muscles tense beneath her touch, his own grip on her back tightening in response, reciprocating even as they are kissing and consuming one another.

Then she joins him, lowering herself with excruciating care, her warm folds enveloping him as he stimulates her clit, triumph surging within him at her reaction. She is an open book to him now, as he moves with her, stroking and circling and building up the fire that he feels too. His manhood throbs and pulses with the rising tide, but he is determined that this ride will have a mutual destination.

As her head lifts, his does too, as he watches her, relishing in the clear abandon that has overtaken her, the sheer depth of her passion doing much to stimulate him closer to that end. She rises, and he is moaning too, as his hips now seek to follow her, thrusting and rocking, a synchrony soon found, another rhythm set, ready to adjust when both parties are nearer to that blissful destination.

try to stand & unravel what a man's gotta be

KIADA

burn it into my collar, hollowed onto your wrist

His own actions and movements cause Kiada to burn and flourish with it, a sudden shift within her that overtakes any of her previous thoughts and motives. Now all she can focus on is him, the way her body moves with his, the reaction he gives her as well as they bring the room to life with the sounds that color the air between the both of them.

Her head tilts back as she pushes herself down on him, as he drives himself deeper, a shuddering gasp of a moan leaving her again and again, tension and waves rising within her that she tries to quell so hard. It’s felt in the way she drags herself up and presses down in the rhythm with him, a certain attention granted to him as a hand rises to tangle and tug in his dark curls.

She won’t last long, not with the sensation that vibrates and burns within her — and she tries so hard to hold onto it before she can’t anymore. Between his actions and the feel of him, there’s a cry of a moan slipping from her lips as the taut string within her breaks and she’s trembling as her pleasure racks through her.

heaven knows i don't follow, but i believe in this

CHULANE

blending into the darkness, & it gets harder to see

Waves are crashing, lapping at the edges of the bath and against the sweaty skin of the individuals within it. And the tide is rising within them too, the tides of passion becoming more insistent, more apparent, more determined to take and consume them whole. The curves of her neck are exposed to him as her crown tilts back, her breasts rubbing along his chest, everything about her stirring such clear demand from him. He wants to lean in, to taste her, to kiss her, to brand her again, but he watches her instead, letting the satisfaction of her fuel him, drive him onwards.

He feels her tightening around him, feels the contractions of her pleasure and passion, as they rock and moan, finding their rhythm and increasing it until the breakover point comes.

The heat of her orgasm triggers his own, the final great thrust eliciting a deep and satisfied "Aahh…" from him. With his hand on her womanhood he gently rubs, patting at the nest of pubic hair there, before roaming once more, fluttering over her breast on its way around her ribcage, reaching across to link with his hand across her shoulder blades. A simple embrace, holding her near to him so that he might smile that deeply satisfied grin at her.

"So," he said softly, even as he was still in her, still feeling her heat prolonging the time it takes for his cock to return to a flaccid state. "You like the bath?" he confirmed, pressing a kiss to wherever he could reach of her with a warm and low chuckle, as he then offered her support and leverage should she be ready to dismount him (he wouldn't complain at all if she chose to stay though). "When you're ready, I'll wash your back," he gently ran his hands up and down her spine, loving the feel of her, before lifting a hand from her to reach over the edge of the tub for a washcloth and a bar of soap - fully intending for the bathing portion of the night to continue.

try to stand & unravel what a man's gotta be

KIADA

burn it into my collar, hollowed onto your wrist

Her own crashing wave is met with his as well, a rampaging tempest between them that has her shivering and shuddering, trying to suck in as much air as she can as she burns and lets the pleasure of him warm up every crevice within her. And she rides it out, panting and sweating, breath bitching and catching as she tries to recover, head lowering to capture him in a panting kiss before she’s pulling away a small amount, soft and glimmering blue gaze finding his own and the satisfied smirk on his face.

There’s a matching lazy one that crosses her own as she focuses on Chulane, remaining exactly where she is with him inside her, arms draped along his shoulders and connecting at her wrist. “Mmm, I love it.” She says, flashing him a smirk, half tempted to mention she enjoyed it more because he was there with her, before his lips find hers again and she gives into him.

Then, soon enough she has to move. And she takes his help when it’s offered, pulling herself away from him and unable to keep the light gasp from leaving her lips as she shivers again. Turning to settle between his legs, pulling dark hair over her shoulder, she shows her back to him. The burn scars follow her spine from the back of her neck down to her tailbone, puncture scars along her shoulders that match beneath her ribs as well, but otherwise unmarred and pale in comparison. “How do you like the bath?” She hums to him with a light smile softening her face.

heaven knows i don't follow, but i believe in this

CHULANE

blending into the darkness, & it gets harder to see

Another kiss that stirred such delight in him, another way for him to show the depths of his feelings for her. That she reciprocated meant the world to him, and he hoped that in her heart she felt the same way, that these acts meant the same thing, as they did for him. The afterglow of their activities had him smiling even as he kissed her, and he admired her form openly as the parted and she turned to settle with her back to him.

He fetched the soap and washcloth, and began lathering the cloth up with the bubbling soap. "I could definitely get used to it," he replied with a soft laugh, leaning forward to press a kiss to that favourite spot of his against the side of her neck. "I think love is definitely likely." he whispered lowly, softly teasing the word out without taking the leap to say it as a direct declaration - this territory was still so new, so unknown, and while he knew he wanted to say it, he didn't want to push anything on her too quickly. So keeping it light and playful seemed the safest route, for both of them, for now.

He then began to focus more seriously on her back, taking in the scars, the hard history she's had to endure that was written over her very skin. He had seen them before, had admired her naked form before, but never quite like this. He made to run the cloth along her shoulders first, back and forth, so that the bubbles would then transfer to her, and lather the curves and contours of her back up. When she was soapy enough, he also lathered up his hands, and put the cloth on the edge of the tub, before reaching out to rub along her shoulders and ribs, running his strong fingers down her spine, feeling where the tightness of the day still lingered in her.

"Tell me if you want more pressure," he offered as he rubbed in a methodical and careful way, listening to what her body was telling him, and awaiting any further instructions from her.

try to stand & unravel what a man's gotta be

KIADA

burn it into my collar, hollowed onto your wrist

His comment causes her to unwind a small amount, to lean back into him a fraction and tilt her head away from him to give him more room to her neck, over the red bruise that begins to grow and outshine even the flush to her skin. A flush that only grows a small amount more as he mentions he could love it too, a small chime of a laugh leaving her. “I can’t wait.” She hums to him with a softer smile he can’t see, hiding away as she draws up her legs a small amount.

There’s a light sigh that leaves her, one of relief, when he begins to wash her back — soap and suds softening her skin and cleaning it of the days work. It’s only when he begins to add a bit of pressure that she leans into it, taut muscles rough and solid beneath his palms that begin to relax as she nearly purrs under the attention.

Each space his hand moves has her leaning into him. And eventually she hears his request, waiting until those hands are at her shoulders again, to the tight knot beneath her neck. “There… Please?” She breathes, shifting in the water a bit to hang her head and give him a bit more room to work with. “Can you tell me more about Oz?” She asks, wishing for something else to focus on along with the tenderness of how he treated her.

heaven knows i don't follow, but i believe in this

CHULANE

blending into the darkness, & it gets harder to see

He enjoys giving the massage almost as much as Kia seems to enjoy receiving it. It was something of a puzzle to him, a new way to explore her body, to get to know her, to learn where she held the stresses of her day and to help her release them. He complies when she gives her instruction, focussing on the shoulders, feeling the way her muscle has bunched abnormally near the base of her neck. Pressing there, he ensures his hands are soapy enough to glide over her skin, to work the muscle as a whole, not just focussing on the knotted area. The key was to get it moving, to encourage blood to the area, to get her own body to help in the healing.

He hmm'ed quietly as he worked, acknowledging her request for more information on his home, a smile tugging at his lips that she wouldn't see, but might hear, as she used the shortened version of his homeland. "Oz is something of a nickname for my homeland. Australia is the full name." He goes quiet as nostalgia rises within him - normally he'd shy away from it now, normally he'd avoid it, lock it away in that compartment with all the other uncomfortable emotions he didn't want to face.

But he always faced these things with Kia. He shouldn't shy away from them - and he wouldn't.

He took in a somewhat shaky breath, but when he spoke, his voice was strong and clear again.

"It was known as the sunburnt country. Compared to other nations of the same physical size, it was sparsely populated, mostly because it could be a hard, unforgiving place to live if one wasn't prepared. Still, there is evidence that the indigenous population had survived there for tens of thousands of years." he paused, knowing he was dodging the true depth of her question, and berating himself silently for it - he would do better. "I was raised on a farm, passed down my father's side for many generations. My mother was a veterinarian, and so I seemed to pick up both trades for myself. I was… advanced, for my age. I was given opportunity to complete my studies far earlier than a typical student might.

"I had friends, relationships, extended family. People I loved. People who will miss me. I miss them. I hope they are OK." His words came to a stop, as he dedicated his mind to focus on her for a moment, giving himself a chance to gather himself before trying to speak again. He expanded the area he was massaging slightly, as the knot he was kneading seemed to lessen, running his hands down her spine again, across her shoulder blades, back up to cup both sides of her neck.

"It was a world vastly different to this one. I was raised so entrenched in science and logic, for the most part - that's why I struggle with the whole gods and magic stuff, even if I can turn into a leopard now." he huffed a small, humourless laugh at his own expense, his eyes slightly misty, not just from the warm water they sat in.

try to stand & unravel what a man's gotta be

KIADA

burn it into my collar, hollowed onto your wrist

His hands begin to loosen the knot at the base of her neck, and it begins to melt her as the tension leaves her body – head dropping a bit lower, occasionally a soft hiss as his hands roam over a particularly sore space, but ultimately a soft hum manages to leave her as she feels the results of it begin to work, as blood flow begins to run through her and relieve her of her worries and the weight of the day along her shoulders.

His story does wonders to distract her mind away from it as well – using the time to try and imagine Australia. “Oh. Australia.” She comments at first, ensuring she gets the pronunciation right before falling silent again, hearing the shaky breath he starts with before his voice returns strong and clear. As he explains it, she focuses on trying to imagine it – drawing some parallels to what she’d heard of the Dragon’s Throat from Helovia. But the mention of a farm has her nodding, a small smile crossing her face.

And then, when his words come to a stop as he mentions his friends and family he misses – her hands leaving her legs to run along his own within the bath, a light squeeze of support and understanding sent through the attuned bond. But at least here they had each other, and she tilts her head to look at him over her shoulder, eyes bright in comparison. “It makes sense that it would be hard.” She says quietly, before her lips are quirking into a small smile. “If it helps, all this… Technology around here doesn’t make sense to me. I grew up in worlds with magic and gods. I suppose that makes us rather opposites, hm?” She leans back into the hands, tilting her head just enough to try and press a kiss to the fingertips at her shoulder.

heaven knows i don't follow, but i believe in this

CHULANE

blending into the darkness, & it gets harder to see

He appreciates her silence as she listens, and the soft support she sends through with gentle touches and the attuned bond. He couldn't imagine life without her now - and he surprised himself by thinking that he couldn't even imagine life not here anymore. Thinking of Australia, of home, of the friends and family he had left behind… He had come to accept that he wouldn't ever get to go back, that this was his reality now.

With her.

He smiled, and blinked the hot tears behind his eyes away, at her words, and laughed a soft but hearty laugh. He let the sensation fill him, let himself enjoy the moment despite the nostalgia that plagued him. Leaning forward again, he whispered into her ear. "Maybe we're magnets with opposing poles, different and yet always drawn together." Returning her kiss with a soft one of his own to the top of her shoulder, he leaned back again to resume his massage.

Continuing to lather up and press his fingers along her shoulders, he slowly worked his way outwards from her spine, and then back inwards, moving down a vertebra each time before rinsing and repeating. He would slowly but surely work his way down her whole back - and probably cop a cheeky feel of some side-boob as he went down her ribcage and waist (boy's an opportunist).

"Would you tell me more about this guild of yours, oh mighty monster hunter?" He asked, keen to keep the conversation flowing, to learn more about her all the while.

try to stand & unravel what a man's gotta be

KIADA

burn it into my collar, hollowed onto your wrist

“How romantic.” She chimes to him, a light laugh leaving her lips as his whisper registers in her ear, feeling the soft press of his lips to her shoulder. Perhaps they were – where he was the soft, gentle version of himself and she was bronze and metal, burning and bloodied. Perhaps they were entire opposites and it had been that which had brought them together. She couldn’t tell, not yet anyway. All she knew is that he had latched little hooks into her the moment he’d accidentally ran into her that day so long ago.

But he continues to wash along her back, and her hands continue their gentle stroking of his legs, offering attention where she could, stretching her neck out a small amount with a satisfied sigh of a hum when he continues the massage. His question leaves her silent for a few moments, trying to figure out where to even start with all of this information lingering behind her mind. “We’re really small.” She offers with a soft laugh at first before shaking her head.

“I got it from a man named Ronin who founded it. He and his husband wanted a sort of… New start last LongNight and the last Monster Hunter’s Guild burned down. I wanted to sort of find a place to fit, you know? Deimos has his Militia, Amalia has her bakery and her tasks for Safrin… And then there was just me, not sure where to even start. And since it had burned down, I think I offered to help and he simply handed it over.” A soft laugh slips from her once more before she’s exhaling and hanging her head again. “So I rebuilt it with some friends, and since then I’ve just been recording all the creatures in the varying lands.” She offers, glancing over her shoulder to him with a soft smile.

heaven knows i don't follow, but i believe in this

CHULANE

blending into the darkness, & it gets harder to see

Romantic, she teased, and he didn't deny it. He was smitten, absolutely and completely, and he wouldn't keep any romantic ideals or thoughts to himself. He liked that it made her laugh, that she too didn't deny it, even with the cheesy analogy he had woven just now.

Hands kept roving along her body, gentle and firm at the same time, seeking out those pockets of tension and releasing them with appropriate levels of pressure and attention. He was a healer by trade, this was the work he revelled in, being able to enact positive change on another's body - that it was a body he was very much attracted to was simply a convenient side-bonus.

He listened when she spoke, keen to hear more about her home, of her life before Deepfrost had her locked away in Halo. He'd be lying if he said that he wasn't anxious about meeting her family, but he fully intended to - Deimos he had already met, at least in some form, though certainly not with the knowledge that Kia was so close to him. He wondered at what would happen, how would he be judged, scrutinised, by those who also loved her, who sought to protect and defend her from any harm, who only wished the best for her. Would he be considered the best?

Would Kia cling to their judgement of him, should it be negative?

He tried to focus on the guild he had asked after.

"It sounds awesome, and similar to the work I was doing before the portal snatched me up. I think I'd be keen to be a part of it. What sorts of creatures have you observed so far? Do you literally hunt them, kill them?"

try to stand & unravel what a man's gotta be

KIADA

burn it into my collar, hollowed onto your wrist

Kiada has always always been a firebrand, an ember turned wildfire, quick to make her decisions and stick with them regardless of who and what thought it to be a good idea. Some of those ended in mistakes, in her alliance with Kisamoa who turned out to destroy her home. Some of those had been full of hope, the ability to love whomever she chose and stand with them as both a protector and a lover.

Chulane has been nothing but good for her and to her, and in the end all Kiada can hope for is that Deimos and Amalia can see that. And she thinks that they will, when they find out how happy she is. It doesn’t mean that they won’t try to protect her if necessary… But, it certainly means that she won’t be quick to tell them just how much the man behind her means to her.

In short, they’ll have to deal.

And so she explains how she got the Monster Hunter’s Guild, a light hum of laughter leaving her as she gives into the feeling of the massage along her skin, at the tension that’s relieved. “I’ve observed the Sparkbird in the Grounds, a few other random ones sprinkled therein. I’ve been sacrificed to the Fae’s Tulminhar in the Greatwood when I was captured with Amalia.” She lists off a few she knows off the top of her head.

“Don’t typically hunt unless necessary, unless it’s asked of us. I mostly just want to gain information to better protect ourselves against them if they become a threat.” Scarred shoulders rise and fall in a shrug.

heaven knows i don't follow, but i believe in this

CHULANE

blending into the darkness, & it gets harder to see

Perhaps they had more in common than their curious histories, hers from magic and gods, his from science and technology. The way they had each navigated their lives had been similar, the way they both jumped on opportunities given, estimating to the best of their abilities at the time the outcomes, and always learning, evolving and seeking to improve, to advance, to progress and thrive. Perhaps the depths of their ideals, their passions and the way they each carried themselves was similar enough that the relationship that had been forged would indeed prove stronger than steel, even the mythical valerian steel from stories of Chuy's past.

As thoughts of parents and meetings and things that may or may not happen swirled about within his mind, he kept working diligently at her massage, and heard the stories she offered of creatures encountered and curious events that had his brow quirking upwards yet again.

"Begging your pardon - sacrificed to a what? What on earth did you do to warrant such kind treatment?"

He was glad to hear that the guild did not kill without cause, that it was not a matter of making trophies out of the carcasses of the unique wildlife that decorated this land. Even the dragon who took Weaver was only acting within its nature, its instincts - there was no use to kill it unless it truly sought to threaten the people of Halo, unless it returned time and again to feast upon them one by one. Chuy at least, could not condone its slaughter otherwise - such an act would hardly being Weaver back, or mend the hurt her death had left on the city. "The guild sounds fascinating. Who do I need to sleep with to sign up?" he quipped playfully.

try to stand & unravel what a man's gotta be

KIADA

burn it into my collar, hollowed onto your wrist

“It’s like a big world turtle.” She explains, a soft laugh leaving her as she adjusts a small amount more to let him continue the soft massage. “You tell it… Stories and what not, it’s how it eats.” Her lips purse ever so slightly, then she sucks in a quiet breath and turns to look at him with a small smirk. “And then I was rescued.” Her grin she flashes to him is slightly wider, a bit less of a smirk and a bit more of a pretend ‘innocent’ look.

But she hadn’t really been on a hunt in a while, and really had only come to Halo aside from it being asked of her, to try and gain more information in regards to the creatures that lived here within the icy tundra. And she had gathered a bit of information, from Korbin mainly, but always on the search for more in the end.

Chulane’s quip comes with a wide grin on her face, a brilliant laugh slipping from her throat. “Hmm.” She says, lifting a soapy hand to tap at her chin. Then, glancing to Chulane as she furrows her brows, she can’t stop herself from the amusing joke she’s come up with. “Wessex, I think.” She can’t quite keep the laugh from slipping from her lips at the end, before she shakes her head and gives him a bit softer of a smile. “Consider yourself a member if you’d like.”

heaven knows i don't follow, but i believe in this