Jorin could feel even more desire coming from Rinya as she assured him that she could understand why he'd be worried, and that she appreciated his concern. He definitely suspected that she wanted to kiss him as badly as he wanted to kiss her - this was definitely going to be a challenge to keep themselves under control. And he had assured her that he would "behave", if only to not cost Rinya her job.
Truth be told, Jorin could not see why Raistren would be so unreasonable as to reprimand her for a few kisses from her husband but then, he supposed he could see how the man might see it as representative of her not taking her work seriously. That was patently absurd as far as Jorin was concerned - Rinya took her work very seriously as he well knew. But he could see how the perception might be formed.
Jorin depended on his wife in ways she probably did not even realize. No matter what, Rinya was always on his side. She might not necessarily see that as anything particularly special - indeed she might well have thought it to be a matter of course for a bondmate and a wife. But Jorin knew that it was something that kept him grounded. Without Rinya, he'd have lost himself in the masks he presented to the world, but now he knew who he was, and liked it.
Rinya had a very big hand in defining the man that Jorin was now. Jorin knew it could be dangerous to wrap so much of who he was in Rinya. After all, she was Kelvic. She would certainly age faster than he would. What was more, she worked at a dangerous job. The likelihood of her dying before him were very high, but when it came to his wife, Jorin's logic took a distant back seat. He did not care about such things, not when it came to her.
Rinya had silently indicated that he should grab a few more of the meats to his left, and he did so without complaint. He genuinely had no idea what sort of meats he was putting into the sack, other than that it appeared to be red in color. he suspected probably beef since pork had a more pinkish hue - or at least the pork that he'd seen and eaten in the past did. Of course then again, that pork had been cooked and this meat was salted, but Jorin didn't waste too much time thinking about it.
Finally, Rinya indicated that he'd stuffed enough mystery meat into his sack and that it was time for them to haul it upstairs. His comment about being excited for patrolling caused her to raise an eyebrow, her curiosity floating across the bond as she asked him why he was so eager to do it. She mentioned that it was really quite boring, even as she headed back up the stairs carefully.
Jorin offered his arm to his wife to help her a bit since the stairwell seemed ill-lit, and he knew her eyes were not well-suited to darkness. Not that his own eyes were necessarily that much better; but he could at least make out most of the major details and they both ascended quickly but carefully.
"Well, I suppose I'm just excited to be with you, that's all," Jorin shrugged. "I mean, I don't really get very many opportunities to do this," he added, before realizing he didn't specify what "this" was. "Going with you on your job, I mean," he clarified, grinning slightly even though the darkness hid most of it. "I just... love spending time with you. No matter the context, just being with you is exciting enough."
They'd been together for nearly three seasons, and Jorin had never found spending time with Rinya boring in any sense of the word. Certainly, stretches of patrolling might not necessarily be the most stirring of activities, but they'd spent many a quiet evening at home, doing nothing but enjoying each other's company, and Jorin had not once found any of those wonderful evenings boring or wasted.
As soon as they reached the top of the steps, Rinya took a sharp left and Jorin followed, finding himself in a smaller room which looked rather empty except for even more barrels. Honestly, he was now completely turned around. He had no idea what this room's purpose was; though if he had to hazard a guess he would have suspected it was probably some sort of temporary storage room given its small size and relative emptiness.
Rinya indicated that he should place his sack onto the barrels as she did, and he followed suit while talking a curious look around. Sadly the room divulged no new secrets for him, and Rinya had already shuffled to the door, so Jorin mentally shrugged and followed her back out. Rinya led him to the room directly opposite, which was a apparently some sort of armory though apparently only for mostly training weapons.
Jorin glanced down the line of staves as Rinya admitted she had no idea how to pick out a staff for him. Jorin himself knew he should probably purchase his own staff at some point but he walked over to the staves nonetheless. "Well, the only real thing to keep in mind about staves is that they really should only be about an inch or so taller than yourself," he explained to her as he measured a few of the weapons against himself until he found one that was of an appropriate length.
Settling on a fairly nondescript-looking quarterstaff, he turned back to Rinya as she mentioned that she'd never actually seen him use the quarterstaff before, and that she might someday visit him at the Kendoka one morning. Jorin couldn't help but feel very happy to hear her say this. Jorin was not a violent person by nature, but nonetheless he was always happy to spend even more time with Rinya.
"I'd love to have you there," he enthused, his face breaking into a huge smile. "I mostly do sparring, though. I'll admit - I haven't actually won a match with the quarterstaff. Not in a straight-up spar, anyway."
Jorin's face flushed, and this time it was with a small amount of embarrassment. Truth be told, he really ought to be better by now. It was not as though he was a rank amateur, but his skill with his chosen weapon was not nearly as great as he needed it to be, as Sohryn often pounded into his head.
Rinya indicated that they were to head to the very bottom of the Warren and work their way upwards. He nodded, hefting his staff and noting that his wife was carrying her usual bow and quiver - and her assassin's dagger. Jorin did not begrudge the small weapon, since a similar brother of it had saved his wife's life. Nonetheless, he still was not a particular fan of such implements, so he quickly turned his attention to where they were going.
As they descended into the depths of the Warren, Jorin instantly noted how cold it was becoming. Given the weather outside, he was not all that surprised, but he wondered why Raistren would make guards patrol this area for any length of time. It was really quite chilly and he could see how his wife might have come down with a minor case of hypothermia being down here.
Random banging and clanking echoed down the stone walls and floor, sounding for all the world like the groans of a ghost haunting the darkened halls. Rinya, for her part, did not seem to notice or care about the strange sounds, which presumably were being produced by other guards dropping or shifting items on other levels. Given his wife's lack of response to the sounds, Jorin decided it was probably normal and paid them no further mind.
His response to Rinya's sarcastic remark regarding the excitement of the patrol thus far was met with a small smirk of his own. "Not much worse than a day of rehearsals," he shot back with a small shrug. "I'm telling you, Rinya, it doesn't get much more boring then having to repeat the same eight lines. Over. And over. And over." Despite his whining, Jorin grinned.
As they walked, Jorin caught Rinya stealing small glances at him, and truth be told he was doing the same with her. They were alone now; deep in the depths of the Warren. If Rinya's statement was accurate - and there was no reason for it not to be - then few guards went this far down. Meaning they were not likely to encounter any guards while they were still down here.
Jorin could feel his own desire to kiss Rinya grow by the chime. Really the only reason he had for not doing so was his promise to "behave", but really that had been mainly for the benefit of the other Akalak, so that Rinya would not get into trouble with them. They weren't there at the moment, and Jorin was finding less and less reason to hold to it. Especially since he could feel his wife's affection for him across the bond as well.
She asked him why he wasn't at the Amphitheater that day, and Jorin just shrugged. "I suppose you could say that my job at the Amphitheater allows for a great deal more flexibility," he explained. "Rehearsals, after all, can be done anywhere, so long as one memorizes one's own lines. When we finally get into the dress rehearsals, my presence will be mandatory, but while we are still on script readings, it is not strictly required."
Nonetheless, Jorin had still gone to the stage master to beg a day off in order to accompany his wife. Under ordinary circumstances, the request would have likely been granted with few to no caveats. But in Jorin's specific case, the man had piled a few... conditions on him. Not least of which, apparently Jorin was to "star" in a second production of "The Thief of Hearts". Joy of joys. As if once wasn't enough.
Deciding to take his mind off of the absurdly stupid play he'd agreed to take part in, Jorin glanced over at his wife. He could see small puffs of her breath floating into the air, indicating that the temperature was really much colder than he liked, especially after her stint with hypothermia. He decided to walk a bit closer to her, and snagged her gently by the waist.
"It's really cold down here," he explained quietly, off her expression when he grabbed her. "I... just don't want you to get sick again," he continued, but instead of just continuing to patrol, Jorin noted a small alcove that seemed to be dug into the wall. He steered the both of them toward it, briefly wondering why such an alcove existed in the first place before deciding it didn't matter.
He ducked into the small enclosure, dragging Rinya with him until they were partially obscured by the shadows cast by the indentation. He quickly wrapped his arms around her, pressing her up close to him and nuzzling her neck, enjoying the warmth of her body against his as he held her to him. It had not really been very long since he'd embraced his wife, but it felt like years to him.
Releasing Rinya slightly but still keeping a light grip, Jorin knew she could barely see him in the low light. Nonetheless, a few of the torches flickered light across his face just enough that she could see a gentle, loving smile playing across his lips. Even if she couldn't, the love was equally evident across the bond as he considered that it was really quite amusing that he literally could not help himself. It was definitely a good thing he was not her full-time partner in the Warren.
Even in the darkness, Jorin could make out the important details of his wife's face. Everything about her was beautiful, he decided, as he felt once more that he was the luckiest man on Mizahar for having found a wonderful woman like Rinya. The look he gave her was one he never gave anyone else. It was the look that told her that she was the most precious thing in the world to him, and that he would do anything for her.
"I love you," he whispered, almost breathlessly as he leaned in to kiss her. He knew he was breaking his promise to 'behave', but the truth was Jorin simply did not care anymore. The moment his lips touched hers he knew he'd never regret doing this. He could feel warmth, not just from the contact but across the bond as their mutual love blossomed even further across the bond, ricocheting between them until it became something quite remarkable.
Jorin knew there was a possibility that someone might come along. A guard or, gods forbid, an intruder. But he was too far gone to care. One of his hands came up to his wife's neck, pressing her further into the kiss as the other kept a soft but firm hold on her waist. Jorin groaned slightly as he slipped in his tongue to enhance the kiss, smiling when the act elicited the usual response from her.
He knew he was being a distraction and a horrible tease. At this rate, their nominally bells-long patrol was going to take all day. But the kiss was fogging Jorin's head too much for him to care. When finally the burning in his lungs forced their lips to seperate, Jorin could only grin at Rinya with unabashed want.
"I would tell you I'm sorry about the kiss, but let's face it, my love. We both know it would be a lie," he confessed with his usual mischievous grin, even as he leaned forward to press another one to her lips. "Because I meant every tick of it," he unnecessarily explained just before their lips met once again.
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