Wandering Through Raseyne with a Wood Elf

“Soo... wha’re we lookin’ fer first?”

Krvavy simply shrugs her shoulders. A gentle squeeze of her hand forces her to give an actual answer. “Probably whatever is lightest and easiest to carry around.”

“Savin’ the pots and pans fer last then?” Beryl’s blue-green eyes twinkle playfully as she bumps her arm into the Drakling’s side.

“Probably, yeah.” The barbarian replies with another noncommittal shrug. “We’ll definitely be getting some towels first. We’ll need to wrap all that stuff up if we don’t want it to make way too much noise clanging together...”

“Ach, we’re goin’ ta be zippin’ around the city all day, aren’t we?”

Krvavy raises an eyebrow and looks down at her sweet berry. “You chose to come along. So you can’t complain.”

“Nah, Ah can complain.” Beryl disagrees in an exaggeratedly serious tone. “Ah came ‘ere ta meet the woman who seduced ya. Me ‘elpin’ out wit’ the shoppin’ is just an extra kindness on my part.”

“Sure, sure.” Krvavy idly shakes her head. “And speaking of Rina... what do you think of her?”

The tomboyish Elf remains silent for a few long seconds. “Well...” she slowly breathes out, “Ah like ‘er.”

“Is that all?”

“Aye,” Beryl lazily nods, “wha’ else do ya expect me ta say?”

“I mean, I asked for your thoughts, so I’d like to actually hear them...?” The Drakling expectantly trails off.

“Alright.” Beryl takes a moment to find her words, breathing deeply before calmly exhaling. “Rina is an incredibly beautiful woman. Ah’m not sure if ya’ve seen ‘er wit’ absolutely no makeup on, but... she really doesn’t need any o’ tha’ stuff ta look gorgeous. So it is no surprise tha’ she seduced ya wit’ no real effort on ‘er part. Especially since she isn’t just eye candy. Rina is also intelligent and fun. Ah imagine tha’ she’d easily be able ta become close friends wit’ each and every one o’ yer girls.”

“Why do I feel like there is a ‘but’ coming up?”

“Because ya know me well enough, my dearest love.” The Wood Elf woman warmly smiles, cuddling up to the barbarian’s body as best she can while still walking. “Rina is nearly perfect, but fer one thing: the fact tha’ she is a Countess. Tha’ just makes ‘er a forbidden fruit. Delicious and wonderful, but out o’ our reach. We can’t take ‘er ‘ome, we can’t keep ‘er. So she can’t really be one o’ yer girls.”

“Yeah...” Krvavy slowly sighs out. “Her being a whole week of travelling away does make it a bit tough for her to properly be a part of our relationship...”

“Aye, but there’s no reason we can’t still enjoy ‘er as best we can.” The tanned tomboy’s serious tone grows slightly more playful. “Or, rather, there’s no reason tha’ ya can’t enjoy ‘er as best as ya can.”

“Trying to act like you aren’t ‘enjoying her’ just as much as I am?” Krvavy skeptically asks, her emerald eyes staring into the Elf’s blue-green pair.

“Ach, no, no~! Ah’d never lie tha’ blatantly~!” Beryl gently whacks the barbarian’s abs as she laughs lightly. “No, Ah’m just not goin’ ta be by yer side each and every time tha’ ya come ta this city~. Maybe every now and then, but not every time. Ah only ‘ave so much patience fer all this ‘ustle and bustle, fer all these people. Wouldn’t want ta sour my view o’ the place tha’ Rina calls ‘ome.”

“Fair enough.” Krvavy shrugs, her voice lowering into an idle mutter. “Maybe I should bring one of the others next time...?”

“Maybe, but then ya’d ‘ave ta deal wit’ the same issue tha’ led ta me bein’ the one accompanyin’ ya.”

“Right... I guess that, if Inanna insisted, I could carry her most of the way...” The Drakling gently sighs and shakes her head. “Thea is probably the only one who would really want to go through all the trouble just to visit Rina, but...”

“Ya can’t exactly flaunt around a missin’ girl.” Beryl finishes that thought, giving her Draconic lover’s hand a soft squeeze. “Wha’ a shame. Really sounds like ya are stuck wit’ me~.”

“Yeah, guess I am.”

“Oy!” The tanned tomboy grins widely even as she puts on a mildly outraged act. “Ya can at least try ta sound ‘appy about tha’!”

“Why? If I’m stuck with you, then I might as well just take you for granted.” A subdued smirk plays at Krvavy’s lips as she meets her sweet berry’s gaze. “That way I’ll be in for a rude awakening when you finally have had enough of my shit. A good chance for some proper character development, that’ll be.”

“Ha~! Ya’re so weird~!” Beryl playfully bonks her head into the barbarian’s shoulder. “Like Ah would ever get fed up wit’ ya~!”

“You are lucky that I’m not going to take that as a challenge.”

“Because ya know tha’ ya wouldn’t be able ta do it~!”

Krvavy simply rolls her eyes at that, even as she continues to smile.

“Ach, ‘ow can these people live like this...”

The barbarian idly shrugs, and then immediately regrets doing that as she has to readjust the backpack strap from uncomfortably digging into her shoulder. “Well, I don’t really know how Raseyne compares to other cities around here, but it seems like a pretty nice place to live.”

“Ah know, Ah’ve seen far worse places than this. As ‘ave ya.” Beryl gently shakes her head and sighs out. “But still... People aren’t meant ta live in a corral o’ brick and... and plaster. Wha’ do all o’ these people even do all day? Just walk from one street over ta another, again and again? Because they can’t all be craftsmen or servants fer the rich.”

“That... is actually a good question.” Krvavy furrows her brow as she looks around. If this was a more modern city, and not what is basically a medieval fantasy one, then she’d just assume that most of these people had boring office jobs where they spend more time trying to look busy than actually doing work. Either that or they would be the ones unfortunate enough to work in retail. Or maybe delivery...

But not everyone in Raseyne can have those types of jobs, even if there are a lot of shops all over the place...

“Suppose we can ask Rina later. If we care enough about the answer, tha’ is.” The tomboyish Elf casually comments, before suddenly perking up. “Oh! Is tha’ the place ya’re lookin’ fer?”

Krvavy glances in the direction that her Elf is pointing. “Yeah.”

“Ya know, yer choice of ‘gifts’ is quite cruel.”

“Huh?” The barbarian raises an eyebrow and confusedly looks at Beryl. “I haven’t even told you what I’m here to pick up. If it is even ready to pick up...”

“Aye, tha’ is the cruel part!” Beryl exasperatedly sighs out, overly exaggerating her reaction. “All ya’ve said is tha’ it is a book o’ all things, and tha’ it is fer Thea o’ all people! Come on, can’t ya give me a bit more info than tha’!?”

“Really?” The confused expression filling the Drakling’s face quickly shifts into a dry, unimpressed look. “You’re just being impatient? You know what? Just for that, I’m not going to let you know what this gift is until we get home. You can learn about it at the same time Thea does.”

“Ach, are ya serious?! Tha’ is just mean!”

“Yup.” Krvavy doesn’t even bother to deny that. “But, if it makes you feel better, I think you will like the surprise.”

“Tha’ does not make me feel better.” Beryl blandly returns. “Tha’ just makes the wait even worse, in fact.”

“Well then, you should have thought about that before being impatient and calling me cruel.” A bell softly jingles as Krvavy opens the door to the bookshop, holding it open long enough for both herself and her Elf to step inside. “You could have just waited a couple minutes.”

“Ya’re not even goin’ ta let me look over yer shoulder, are ya?”

“You aren’t tall enough for that.” The Drakling casually returns. “But no.”

“Ach, alright.” The tomboyish Elf relents with a sigh. “Ah’ll busy myself by givin’ this place a good look around. Doubt Ah’ll see anythin’ Ah’d want, but who knows...?”

Krvavy takes a deep breath as her sweet berry walks away, mustering up her courage before heading over towards the counter nestled in the far side of the store. She really hopes that the book is ready. That she can just pay for it and leave. The fact that she is here to buy a sleazy romance novel is embarrassing enough, but if it wasn’t ready... Well, she doesn’t want to come across as eager, or anything...

Steeling her growing nerves, Krvavy reaches out and rings the silver bell resting in front of her.

Ding!

Just as before, the Drakling winces as that sharp and clear sound pierces through the air and echoes in her ears.

But unlike last time, Krvavy doesn’t need to wait very long before the door behind this counter swings open and someone steps through it.

“Yeah, how can we help you?” A rather bored looking woman, who appears to be in her early twenties at most, asks in an incredibly unenthusiastic voice. She idly brushes a strand of black hair from her face while lazily looking Krvavy up and down, showing absolutely no emotion as she does so.

“I ordered a book a few weeks ago and was wondering if it was ready yet...?”

The bookstore employee blankly stares at the Drakling, looking utterly apathetic as she slowly pulls a ledger our from beneath the counter. “What is your name and what did you order?”

“Krvavy,” the barbarian quickly answers, unable to keep her cheeks from gaining a slight bit of colour as she forces the next part out. “And I’m here for... Love Upon th–”

“Oh?” The seemingly emotionally dead employee lightens up in an instant. A wide, knowing smile spreads across her pallid face. “Yes, I see it. How lucky you are. I just finished copying that last night. It is quite good, for such a trashy story~. A welcome change of pace from the boring bullshit I normally have to work with.”

“Uh, so –”

“Now I see why you asked for such specific modifications~.” An oddly intense gleam enters this employees grey eyes as she leans forwards, elbows pressing onto the countertop. “Quite a few similarities that I’m seeing in front of me~. So, does that mean you also have a big, girthy co–~?”

“Olya?”

The young woman jumps and spins around, glaring at the much older woman standing in the doorway behind her. “Gran! I’m dealing with a customer!”

“Oh, sorry dear. I was just wondering if you have seen my glasses?”

“Gran...” The employee’s shoulders sag slightly. “They’re on your head...”

“Oh?” The older woman reaches up, her fingers brushing against the rather thick glasses resting atop her grey hair. “Oh, silly me. Thank you dear, and sorry for the interruption.”

“Ugh...” an exasperated groan escapes past the black-haired employees lips. “They are always on her head... Decades of ‘losing’ them, and she still never checks there...” With a very long sigh, the employee turns back to Krvavy. “Wait just a minute, I’ll go get your book...”

Krvavy just stands there awkwardly, not entirely certain how to deal with... everything that just happened. Were she not already embarrassed about being here to buy what is basically just porn, then maybe she would have appreciated the obvious flirting...

“Here.” The young woman returns with a book in hand, its cover proudly emblazoned with the words ‘Love Upon the Icy Shores’. “Do you have the other half of the payment?” She blankly asks, hardly reacting as Krvavy places the necessary coins down onto the counter. “And do you want it packaged?”

“Yes.” The Drakling nods, feeling considerably less awkward as the employee returns to her seemingly emotionally dead state.

A rather soft looking fabric is quickly wrapped around the book, before being covered up by a much more tarp-like layer. Some rather simple twine is then tied tightly around it all. “Here you go. Thank you for your business. Do you have anything else that you’d like to order...?” The slightest bit of hope enters her voice at the end.

“Uh... No...?” Krvavy turns her to the side. “Beryl?” She calls out, her voice loud enough to carry across the store but not quite at the volume of a proper shout. “Find anything you like?”

“Nope...!” The Elf remains hidden somewhere between the rows of shelves as she all but yells back.

The black-haired employee raises an eyebrow, though still looks just as bored as before.

“Maybe next time.” Krvavy shrugs and pick up the bound book, securely placing it into her backpack. “Thanks.”

Beryl’s blue-green eyes twinkle playfully as she rejoins her Draconic lover at the door to the shop. “Soo... flirtin’ wit’ the cashier, were ya~?”

Krvavy narrows her eyes. “Eavesdropper.”

“Not on purpose~.” The tanned tomboy grins at that accusation, grabbing back onto the Drakling’s hand the two of them step outside. “But really, don’t ya worry about yer surprise bein’ ruined: Ah didn’t ‘ear anythin’. Ah just ‘appened ta look over at the right time ta see tha’ girl leanin’ over the counter. She looked quite ‘ungry~. So were ya flirtin’ wit’ ‘er, or was wha’ever ya bought interestin’ enough tha’ she came onta ya all on ‘er own~?”

“She... just appreciated that I didn’t order a boring book. Because she is the one who had to make this copy.”

“Sure, sure~. Tha’ is definitely the whole truth, my dearest love~. Ah believe ya~.”

“Was there really nothing in there that caught your attention?” Krvavy rather abruptly changes the topic.

“Avoidin’ givin’ me a proper answer, aye~?” Beryl teasingly asks.

“Obviously.”

“Well, alright, if tha’ is ‘ow ya want ta be...” The tomboyish Elf exaggeratedly sighs out. “Ah’ll be the better woman ‘ere then and answer yer question: no.”

“Really? Was there nothing that you were even a little interested in?” A slight bit of skepticism enters the Drakling’s tone as she glances down at her sweet berry.

“Ach, nothin’ interestin’ enough fer me ta want ta buy. There were some cookbooks and gardenin’ manuals tha’ might ‘ave been worth at least readin’, but... Those’d be a bit redundant.” The Wood Elf woman idly shrugs. “Ah doubt there is anythin’ a ‘uman book could teach me about gardenin’. And while Adeline might ‘ave liked ta look through a cookbook, Ah doubt we’d ‘ave enough ingredients ta follow most o’ those recipes.”

“I didn’t give you very much time to have a look around in there, did I?”

“Wha’ is tha’ supposed ta mean, my dearest love?” Beryl’s beautiful eyes narrow slightly as she stares up at her lover.

Krvavy smiles innocently as she meets her Elf’s suspicious gaze. She could explain that what she said wasn’t a subtle insult, or... “You know, I think it is about time for lunch.”

“Oy!”

“What? Aren’t you getting hungry too?”

“Tsk,” the Elf clicks her tongue in mock defeat. “Ya are a cruel, cruel Dragon, my dearest love...”

“Hhaaaahhhhhh...”

“Everythin’ alright, my dearest love?” Beryl asks, a note of worry in her voice as she gives Krvavy’s hand a gentle squeeze.

“Just getting a bit tired of being around all of these people...” The barbarian responds with a faintly fatigued shrug.

“Aye, Ah get ya. It’s ‘ard ta think properly wit’ all those different voices and noises fillin’ the air.” Beryl pulls the Drakling’s arm further into her embrace, all but hugging onto it. “There’re just a few more things on our list, so ‘old on there, my dearest love. We’re nearly done wanderin’ about this city.”

Krvavy simply sighs and nods her head.

The two lovers continue on through the mildly busy streets. Their eyes trail over the various buildings that line the road, looking for shops that might have one of the few things they need. But it doesn’t seem like they’re in the right part of town...

“Ya know, maybe it’s best tha’ we didn’t come ‘ere in time fer the festival.” The tomboyish Elf’s idle musing causes Krvavy to glance down at her with an eyebrow raised. “We would ‘ave ‘ad some fun, sure, but the whole place’d’ve been even more crowded than this.”

“Yeah.” Krvavy can’t help but agree. “Kind of glad we missed it.”

“Would’a been nice ta ‘ave won some prizes though.”

“What makes you think that we would have won anything?” The Drakling curiously asks, sounding just slightly skeptical.

“Come on, my dearest love, why wouldn’t we?” The Wood Elf returns with a note of pride in her voice. “Ya really think tha’ these city folk could beat us?”

“Carnival games are always rigged.”

“Ach, Ah’m not talkin’ about the games. Ah’m talkin’ about the contests.” Beryl dismissively waves her free hand through the air. “Just ‘ow many o’ these decadent ‘umans do ya think could even compete wit’ a proper Wood Elf like myself when it comes ta usin’ a bow? And just ‘ow many would be able ta rival ya in a contest o’ strength?”

“A lot of people live in this city, Beryl.” The Drakling dryly points out. “There are bound to be some who are stronger than me and better at archery than you. We are very far from being the best of the best.”

“Aye, Ah know, but those kinds o’ people’d probably be soldiers and mercenaries. And would they bother ta go ta every single one o’ these contests over the entire week o’ festivities? All so tha’ they could win a bunch o’ trinkets and cute childrens toys?” The tanned tomboy pauses for only a single second before answering her own question. “No. So unless we got very unlucky, we’d just be competin’ wit’ normal people. And we would crush them!”

“Fair enough, I guess.” Krvavy lazily shrugs her shoulders.

“Come on, my dearest love, can’t ya sound just a little enthusiastic~?”

“About a festival that we missed out on?”

“About the idea o’ a festival tha’ we missed out on~!” Beryl playfully corrects her Draconic lover. “We could ‘ave made so many fun memories sharin’ sweet fairground treats and playin’ silly games~!”

“Oh?” A smirk plays at the Drakling’s lips as she stares down at her Elf. “Were the memories that we made last night, with Rina, not enough for you~?” She can’t quite keep her tone sounding serious, but that hardly matters. “Are you being greedy for wanting more~? Selfish for excluding the others~?”

“So wha’ if Ah am~?” The teasing Elf presses up against the barbarian’s body, her pert breasts squishing against Krvavy with just the thin fabric of her sundress keeping them apart. “Are ya gonna... punish me~?”

“Hmm... Tempting. Very, very tempting~...” Krvavy exaggeratedly taps a finger onto her chin and considers that idea. “We’ll be spending the night with Rina again, so I could have you sit that out... Being made to just watch and not participate at all would be quite the punishment, wouldn’t it~? Or... Maybe you can join in, but we keep you from feeling what that toy feels~? That would be quite frustrating, wouldn’t it~? Doing all of the work without getting any of the reward~.”

“So cruel~...!” The Wood Elf woman dramatically gasps out. “Is there anythin’ Ah can do ta earn yer mercy~?”

Rather than immediately respond, Krvavy gently cups her sweet berry’s chin, caressing the caramel Elf’s cheek with her thumb. “Well~...” she bows her head down, “maybe, just maybe, a kiss would change my mind~?”

Beryl doesn’t even need to think about that, almost jumping up so that she can lock lips with her Draconic lover. “Mwah~!” Her blue-green eyes twinkle playfully as she pulls away. “Was tha’ enough, or would ya like another~?”

“I –” Krvavy abruptly cuts herself off as some random stranger walks past the two of them. Her cheeks flush a deep red as she remembers where they are: in the middle of a busy street.

“Is there a problem, my dearest love~?” Beryl shamelessly teases the Drakling. A wide, smug grin spreads across her face as she gazes up at Krvavy, not even bothering to hide her amusement.

Krvavy takes a deep breath and does her best to maintain her composure.

“Maybe these crowds aren’t all tha’ bad after all~.” The tomboyish Elf boldly trails a hand across the barbarian’s belly, caressing those uncovered abs with her dexterous fingers. “Ah don’t think Ah’ve ever ‘ad an easier time turnin’ yer teasin’ back onta ya~.”

“Come on, we’re almost done shopping...”

“Oh~? Tryin’ ta act like nothin’ ‘appened~?” Beryl’s intimate touching turns into a playful prod as she pokes at the Drakling. She stifles a laugh as an arm wraps around her shoulders, helping to herd her down the street. “Are ya leadin’ me somewhere more private~? Ah wouldn’t mind ‘elpin’ ya relieve some stress in a back alleyway, like some sort o’ common harlot~. Wha’ do ya say, my dearest love~? Is tha’ wha’ ya want~? Is it~? Is it~?”