Rinya did not really make very much comment on his own fascination with the history of 'w', beyond mentioning it and quirking an eyebrow at him. He grinned sheepishly back, his face flushing slightly and he coughed a bit before continuing on. She also asked whether or not someone could simply write 'w' with two 'u's rather than 'v's, something Jorin hadn't considered. Then she drew the letter onto his chest with the rounded bottoms instead of the sharp edges he'd shown her.
"I suppose you could," he mused. "In the end the real question is if someone reading your text can understand what you are writing. So long as it is legible, I don't think it really matters if your 'w' has rounded bottoms or not." Jorin shrugged slightly, watching Rinya carefully as her face became a mask of concentration, trying hard to get the letter right. It was something he was learning about her - that she took learning seriously and wanted to get things right the first time.
"It was simply how the letter was taught to me," he explained further, as she successfully completed 'w', and Jorin smiled and congratulated her on a job well done. "But of course, every single person has their own flourish to their writing. Their own personal mark, you could say. No two people's writing is ever the same."
The truth was, Jorin couldn't stop the surge of desire from rising if he tried. He knew his wife felt it - Rinya was always as present in their bond as he was. Even as the kiss continued, he was concentrating on Rinya, and that meant he was also concentrating on how soft her skin was, pressed against his. It would have been quite easy to turn the kiss more passionate, to simply let the desire bounce between them like it always did, feeding off one another until it overwhelmed their senses and their reason.
But Jorin knew that while Rinya would never deny him his affections, she would be disappointed that they wouldn't have finished their lesson. Especially since they were so close to the end. Only three more letters, he told himself, even as the inevitable disappointment ran through him. Only 'x', 'y', and 'z' left, and she would have the whole alphabet. After that, it was only a matter of repetition, to ensure she learned all the letters.
But even despite the fact that they had broken the kiss willingly, without it escalating further, Jorin couldn't help the surge of emotions that flowed through him simply from that one act. Rinya had kissed him back just as lovingly, just as passionately, and as always they fed off one another until the feelings were all-consuming in their heads. It was almost a bit dizzying, honestly, but in a very good way, and he never wanted it to stop.
How different from their first shy kiss this one was. They'd barely brushed lips then, nowhere near the deep passion that they shared in bed together. And yet even then, Jorin remembered how it had felt. Like lightning surging through his body simply via contact with her lips, the kiss sending a charge straight through his heart. The bond was very fuzzy then, but he knew that she felt something that day too, though of course he couldn't know if it was nearly intense as it was for him. He suspected it had been.
Rinya muttered his name a second time when he pulled her in close, and Jorin just held her there. He could recognize the warning in her tone, and more to the point, he could feel it across the bond. She wasn't pushing him away - not really - but she was telling him that enough was enough. And she was right. At this rate they'd never get finished. So he pushed on, showing her 'x', before kissing her once again, this time much more lightly.
Rinya's soft sigh and attendant contentment made him smile with simple happiness. It always pleased him to see his wife so content. Like everything she wanted in life, she had. Sure, the two of them were young. For many, undoubtedly they were moving ridiculously fast. They'd only been married for less than a season and they were already agreeing to make children together - some couples took years to come to that conclusion.
But Jorin had never been one to feel like there was ever any reason to delay something you knew was right. For her part, Rinya decided to reply to his sentiment about loving her, telling him that she loved him as much as he loved her. Rinya's face flushed and she looked down shyly, and he couldn't help but feel a fresh surge of love for her. He loved all parts of his wife, of course. But he couldn't deny he was especially fond of this side of her. The shy girl who blushed prettily as she admitted her love for her husband... it was a side that she never showed anyone else.
She wanted to show him that she loved him, as much as he did. Jorin shook his head, taking Rinya's hand and pressing it again to his chest. He held it there, while taking his own right hand and pressing it to hers. "My love, you show me you love me every day," he insisted, waiting for Rinya to look back up at him before continuing. "You show my by smiling for me when you come home every evening, even if it hadn't necessarily been the best day. You show me by loving every part of me, even the silly little quirks other people probably find weird or stupid. Most importantly... Rinya you show me you love me every time we touch or kiss. Words can lie. This..."
At the speaking of the word 'this', Jorin leaned in, kissing Rinya again, knowing from the bond and the feel of her heart beneath his hand that the strong yet tender emotions were crossing to her. Every kiss told him she loved him. Every single one, without fail. He couldn't see how she could think she wasn't good at showing her affection for him. As far as he could tell, she was great at it. He couldn't imagine how it could've been any clearer even if she'd shouted it from the rooftops.
"This cannot," he concluded breathlessly as the kiss ended. "We've always been better communicating without words, love. Especially when it came to what we feel for each other. Just because you might not be able to form what you feel into words, doesn't mean you're not good at showing me anyway." Jorin smiled softly, as his hand gently squeezed Rinya's over his heart before proceeding to stroke the back of her hand softly with it.
"Now let's see that 'x', love," he insisted, and watched carefully as his wife drew the letter onto his skin. It was a fairly simple letter, and she got it quickly. He had to correct her slightly, as she had a tendency to elongate the letter a bit too much, but she got the hang of it quickly enough. He knew they'd have to do a full review of all the letters at some point, but tonight they simply wanted to get the last remaining ones out of the way.
Once Jorin was satisfied that Rinya had finally learned 'x', he turned his attention to the second-to-last letter. "Well, the second-to-last letter in the common alphabet is 'y', and in fact you've already seen this letter once before," Jorin announced, and instead of grabbing his quill, he simply returned to the very first page of the poetry book. The one that contained his name... and hers, right below it.
"Here it is... 'Rinya'. The most beautiful name in the world, because of who it is attached to," he whispered as he traced his fingers over the letters. His eyes were glued to the soft gentle curves of the letters. Interesting, how it curved like that, much like the woman it belonged to. "The 'y' is the second-to-last letter in your name. The only one you didn't know when I introduced it to you..."
Jorin looked back up at his wife. The bond flooded with love, more than the usual, as he felt it swell inside him. He wanted her to know what she meant to him, and the lessons were nearly over anyway. "This book, these pieces of my soul, they're both yours already. I wrote your name in here, mainly so that anyone else looking at it would know, but everything that is me, belonged to you long before." With a gentle smile, he started tracing 'y' a few times onto Rinya's shoulder, before writing her name, slowly and deliberately, across her arm. When he had finished, he took her hand and softly placed it on his chest, silently prompting her to try for herself.
"Only one more letter left to go after this, love," he smiled. He would miss these lessons, honestly. Certainly, they were sometimes interrupted by their mutual distractions, but they were fun. Interesting. He learned many interesting things about his wife while teaching her the Common alphabet. And even though he knew their evenings would not exactly fall silent once the lessons stopped, he wondered if he should continue to trace letters onto her skin anyway, even after the lessons ended. Just as a reminder to make sure she didn't forget what she learned, of course. Yeah... that was what he was going to go with.
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