[Flashback] Inadvertent Stowaway (Edreina)

[Wrenmae]

Wren caught the pearls inches from his face and frowned. Why did he have them anyways? They meant nothing to him, nothing more than the chase he had to get them. In any case, he dropped them beside him and shrugged his shoulders, cheeks flushed red.

"I have...no real need of these," He said after a moment or two, frowning, "I think they would...erm..." he trailed off and turned his eyes away from her curious blue ones nervously, "Look better on you anyways, need or not, they're a gift."


In vain he tried to fill his head with all sorts of things. The land, the circus, acrobats, sharks, condors, the Balnag, Lhavit at Night...but his mind kept returning to the brazen manner of the Svefra girl, the swell of her...the.

No. Nope.


You like her, don't you fleshling?

My name is Wrenmae.

Right. Remmy

WREN MAY

Look. Maybe I'm new to this whole "Welcome to Mizahar, population fleshlings and weird fleshling culture" but isn't this that weird attraction thing?

Weird...what?

My people have evolved past your petty notions of gender, but it's really hard not to notice you keep focusing on her strange malformed fleshling lumps. Is that what your kind find attractive?

Shut up Zan.

You know what I find attractive?

...what?

Nothing. I'm asexual. I don't reproduce. You learn slowly.

Shut up...Zan.

Wren sighed again, rolling onto his hands and pushing up to his knees, folding over them and then sitting back on them. "I'm not that tired, I mean...just a bit. Magic wears a soul out, really." He pushed back his blonde hair and pointedly looked past her, focusing on the ladder and trying not to be beet red.

"I met a Svefra once...Sable Baggywrinkle, she taught me Reimancy and asked me if I wouldn't be a brother to her...erm..." he trailed off, "That was before I was marked, and I doubt I could be anymore....but I really liked the freedom of it all, the carefree nature of your culture..." He trailed off again and swallowed.

"So where are you from, I mean, I know the sea but...I...erm...where have you been?"

[Edreina]

"If you prove yourself to Laviku and are one day able to traverse the Suvan, you could surely join up with a pod with those looks." Her grin widened and she nudged him with one toe. "Every lass out there will want to share a hammock with you." At his next question, the Svefra sighed dramatically, making an errant motion with her hand. "I've been here, there... Syliras, islands without names and caves you can only see from under the water. But, I've not yet been where I want to go." Before he could ask, a slim hand found itself preoccupied with a lock of hair misplaced by her shrugging shoulders. "I know not where I want to go only that I wish to see all that this world has to offer. I was born on the Anchorage Flotilla, y'see, s'why I speak decent Common." A hint of pride colored her voice as she considered herself to be a bit smarter than most Svefra for the reason she would next state. "All manner of folk pass through there, so I have to be able to speak their tongue. Learned a bit about every culture, but nothing substantial. I feel..." she hesitated, knowing that this train of thought would receive a glare from her brother and a rap across the head from her sister. But, luckily, they were ships away.

"I feel as if there is more to life than just sailing around. Every stranger I meet teaches me something... I think that if one day I were to travel to other cities - maybe even to Zeltiva on the outer ocean! - I could learn and bring something back to my people, something to make them better." The realization that she was, as usual, rambling caught her tongue and caused her forehead to touch her knees for an instant as a melancholy smile danced across her features. "I apologize. I'm just a young woman seeking adventure, really. 'M sure there is plenty of that to be found in the Suvan." How, in the gods' names, could a Svefra possibly sound so let down by the possibility of cruising the Suvan for the rest of her life? Sometimes, she felt like a mockery of what a Svefra should be, what her sister was.

[Wrenmae]

Wren laughed nervously when she mentioned women sharing hammocks. Something he'd never gotten around to was the whirlwind romances he'd heard tell about in solemn whispers and wild, bawdy tales. His face could not be any redder. But when she put her head into her knees, something instinctual in the young man reached out and touched her, gingerly on the shoulder.

It was a tap, hesitant, and then he laid it there and patted it once, comfortingly before drawing his hand back and rubbing it absently, almost as if some injury had been done in brief contact.

"Once upon a time, there was a baby sparrow who did not know how to fly..." he smiled at her, using the story as a means to embolden his actions. When he slipped into the persona of a performer, he felt at ease, calm, able to deal with a young woman who had both the power to stammer his words and...theoretically, toss him into the ocean. He reached forward with both hands and gently pushed her shoulders up, forcing her to look at him with those luminous blue eyes. He smiled at her in turn, withdrew his hands, and continued.

"When her brothers and sisters had flown away, she hopped along the branches to see if the other birds had instruction for her...after all, a bird that could not fly was hardly a bird at all. She came to Hummingbird, who had rested a rare moment and asked him how to fly. Hummingbird revealed that the secret to flying was flapping ones wings as swiftly as one could and to simply be lifted that way."

He folded his hands in his lap, "Little sparrow tried. She flapped her wings as swiftly as she could but could not lift an inch...frustrated, she sought advice from Eagle, the majestic bird high in the branches. Eagle, with a voice like thunder, told her that the secret to flight was to open ones wings wide and allow the wind to bring them aloft, soar on the back of Zulrav. Little sparrow tried his way, she leaped from the tree a dozen times to catch the wind...but never managed to do more than fall. By this time she was losing hope, perhaps she was not meant to fly...and she sought advice from wise owl. Owl looked at her with his huge eyes and did not tell her how he flew...instead he told her to fly in the way she felt was best. She was not Hummingbird, not Eagle, but she was still Sparrow, she was still a bird. There is no right or wrong way to fly. Little sparrow took his advice and leaped from her branch, flapping her wings fast, but not as fast as Sparrow, and opening her wings wide, but not so wide as Eagle...and she flew."

He sat back on his knees and took Edreina's hands. There was lightning there between fingertips. "You are Svefra, and there is no right way to live. If you feel there are other seas to sail on, other tales to hear, other folks to see...then that is how you sail, not just on waves but across cultures and cities. Your casinor is your ambition, your storms the dangers you will face across the rough soil. Never allow yourself to be limited by your upbringing...as Sparrow found, there are many ways to fly...but only one way that's right for you."

Finishing the story and its lesson, he smiled again, a blush spreading across his cheeks. Letting go of her hands, he brought them back to his chest, tried to still his own pounding heart and swiftly found perch for his eyes elsewhere...like the wall.

"Erm...so...heh."

He trailed off...he'd lost his words again.

[Edreina]

Odd as it may have been to others, the story of the sparrow resonated within the Svefra. A small gasp even managed to escape her lips at its conclusion. When abruptly she found her hands clasped by another, her eyes fell upon them curiously for an instant before rising to meet his. An indescribable energy seemed to flow beneath the strange man's skin and, for a tick, Edreina was lost to it. Being understood was probably one of the most integral comforts a human could be granted.

And then, as quickly as the beautiful words had come, they disappeared as well. "How can one so skilled in speaking find himself at a loss for words?" Edreina wondered absently, cocking her head to the side again. Where most would see a distinctly avian behavior, the habit of cocking her head to the side when curious had actually resulted from watching dolphins turn their head in order to get a better view of the goings on above the water's surface. Even as she watched, his eyes remained curiously pinned to a spot on the far wall of the ship. Was he still so terrified by the Suvan that he worried over a shark battling its way into the ship?

"They're not going to get you... Not while I'm here," she said quietly, resting her hand upon his thigh in an attempt to comfort him. Again, that strange energy buzzed through her hand. It was curious, almost as if she was setting him on edge...

"Ooh..." Belatedly, it all clicked into place. Despite her airy mien, the redhead actually had a brain between her ears and was a touch more observant than she meant to be. Years of sitting and watching others upon the Anchorage had allowed her to noticed some more delicate human subtleties. The one being exhibited by Wrenmae, in this case, was one she had often seen in her own brother. When a man was pointedly avoiding looking at the woman before him, it was usually because something about her appearance was making him uncomfortable on a hormonal level.

The young woman made a quiet hm sound deep in her throat, eyes narrowing as she assessed Wrenmae, and then herself. Sure, she was dressed differently than most women that walked beyond the tide line. He was just lucky that he had not seen her sister this far from the shore... woman was not fond of covering herself. Actually, there was more than one reason he should be grateful for not meeting Zindr - namely the fact that she would have run him through with her cutlass without a second's thought. The sole reason that Edreina covered herself more than others was her deep rooted lack of self confidence beginning the day her body decided to show signs of developing more than the average Suvan-dwelling-woman. Her father had claimed that it was a "curse" on the women in his line, but lucky Zindr had not inherited the trait.

But, the thought that someone may actually consider her to be attractive, despite her defects, was not an unappealing one. But, why was Wren being so sheepish about it? Had he not seen woman that surely outpaced her in that aspect? Then again, most women did not dress as Edreina did. Before she could stop herself, curiosity sprinted from her mind to her tongue and dashed between her full lips in a less-than-well-timed question: "Have you ever seen a woman naked?"

A blush to rival Wrenmae's flooded Edreina's cheeks, making her freckles a shade darker and her eyes a shade bluer. "Ah... Um..." It was now her turn to be struck speechless. "S- Sorry..." The knees at her chest were drawn closer and a curtain of hair was allowed to fall and obscure her face ever so slightly.

[Wrenmae]

He would have answered her first question with a shy joke, would have being the operative part of the sentence. In truth, when she asked her second question it seemed as though all the blood in the young mans body swiftly relocated to his face and a chorus of sharp, nervous, jabs propelled him away from her. But given that he had crouched in an awkward position, all it did was land him on his back, smacking his head against the bottom of the boat with a dull thud.

His vision swam for a moment, settled, and remained still. He stared up at the ceiling, doing his best to recall the last time he had so utterly botched a conversation. Nothing came to mind.

Svefra. They were always so forthright about their thoughts. Some would call them blunt, even lacking subtlety, but it was far more than that. The Svefra were a strange mercurial mix of air and sea. They hid what one did not expect to find beneath the blue of their eyes, and scoured bare their thoughts with the wind of their voice.

He was a simple lad of Syliras and Alvadas...discipline and illusion. The propriety he had learned came from Philomena...certainly his father had showed no restraint in bedding and even talking openly about his conquests...

Or had...a long time ago.

He tested the water with his voice. "I...um...er..." Nope, that wouldn't work. He raised his hands as if he expected to twist the sounds he had uttered into a word, gave up, let them flop down on his chest again and then shook his head mutely.

No. He had never allowed himself the luxury of getting close to a girl, much less seen one naked. There were books with depictions he had seen once, and the way some dressed left little to the imagination, but he had never seen one before.

He raised his head off the ground, smiling sheepishly.

"I can tell a story before a crowd, make friends with a stranger, even release a giant sea serpent and talk back to a god...but somehow I can't talk to a pretty girl...how very silly of me." He sighed and laid his head back onto the bottom of the boat.

Honestly he had forgotten he was on the open sea.

"You'll forgive me, won't you?" he asked her, "I mean no offense, I'm just...erm...flustered, I guess."

How could he say that her touch felt like reimancy sparking at his fingertips? That his heart thrummed faster than it would when he told his tales? Was that forward? What was he doing?

"I'm sorry."

[Edreina]

You'd think I just asked him if he'd like to go for a swim... Edreina thought mildly, brow furrowing with confusion. No move was made to follow him, opting instead to simply watch and see how this played out. When again he attempted to speak and found himself failing miserably, a grin split her face. Apparently, she had been exactly right. For all of Wrenmae's cool confidence and ability to weave a tale as easily as a gull flew, he had not the ability to associate with women.

Svefra were often looked down upon by the land-walkers for their affinity for nudity. It was not that they were, as commonly thought, all prostitutes, simply drifting from town to town. In all actuality, the concept of exchanging money for sex was abhorrent in and of itself. Sex, while freely shared among Svefra, was still an intimate affair. Despite their often shifting interest in partners, they were not prostitutes.

Her mind had wandered away on a tangent again, the redhead realized, eyes refocusing upon Wrenmae as he spoke once again. "There is nothing for me to forgive." The statement was simple, but true. He had done nothing to warrant an apology, only acted on his more immature instincts. Wrapping her arms around her legs again, blue eyes alight with curiosity, Edreina took a moment to formulate her thoughts this time instead of simply shouting them. Obviously, that approach had not been effective.

"What if, one day, you're telling a story and interacting in some place where women strut about with little upon their frames? How will you keep yourself from growing flustered?" She asked, rocking lightly in place as if to disperse some of her boundless energy. A wry smile tugged at her lips, bringing a new breed of sparkle to her eyes. Teasing and tauting him about this as she often teased Surai was an intriguing opportunity but, in all honesty, Edreina liked Wrenmae more than she liked her annoying as petch brother. This fellow did not feel the need to see every woman that strode the earth in naught but her skivvies. In fact, his problem was entirely the opposite, which raised another problem, at least to Edreina.

"In all honesty, when you've seen one nude woman, you've really seen them all. The only things that change are their skin color and the proportions." How could much more change, really? It's not like women had extra appendages sprouting from their... Hm. Perhaps that was what they would seem like to Wremae, some foreign creature's... Anyhow.

Most of the young man's frustrations likely stemmed from his lack of knowledge, from the fact that it was all still a mystery to him. "You know... you'd probably be better off if you just got it over with." There was that phenominal Svefra tact. "Isn't there some woman you know that-... Hm." Her brows crinkled slightly and a playful look vaulted into her eyes. "I could always show you, y'know?"

[Wrenmae]

Gods...this was the content of a sailor's tale, told between shared mugs at an Alvad tavern. The cursed and the blessed...forbidden, alone, young, and pretty. Certainly he was not humble enough to discount his own attributes. Although he didn't sport the chiseled muscles of a more violent man, there was a charm in his dexterous frame that suited his purposes. Vayt left him healthy and vibrant and certainly she was something of an ocean gem herself.

Those intoxicating bright blue eyes...

He opened his mouth to speak, immediately distrusted what would come out, and closed his mouth. His brow fought together, dividing lines across his brow like chasms. Wren could not be any more out of sorts. The situation had rapidly spiraled into complete madness. But the playful way she smiled, the shy and brazen language in her body it was at once comforting and alluring. Would it be so low of him to ask to see her unclad?

It was almost too easy to picture and yet...there was that tantalizing possibility when air was on open skin that...

Gods. Really? REALLY? I do my absolute BEST to motivate you and this is what you wanted all along?

Wha- Zan?

Don't 'whaa-zan' me. I am appalled. To think that the only motivation you need to be simultaneously entertaining and silent at the same time is a female fleshing...This is certainly a momentous day for us all. Are you going to make baby fleshlings with her?

WHAT?!

Oh. Sorry. I didn't realize that questioning a species' biological functions was somehow insulting. Let me rephrase. Are you going to__________ with her?

Wait...I...what?

Confusing, right? That's what we get when you break down our valuable line of communication. Here's my vote. We can do one of three things. The first is that I continue to be widely entertained by your floundering and you stop tripping over yourself trying to be a gentleling, two, we try your moves on the fishy fleshlings beneath us, and three, you pretend to be asleep and hope she loses interest.

Wren held a hand against his forehead, shaking his head slowly.

Oh! Great choice. Mimic a muteling.

Shut up Zan. I have this.

Or it has you.

I will throw you into the sea

Oh no! A giant body of water! Whatever will a floating water-being like me do? Oh the cruelty! Oh the humanity!

Just...let me think.

Sure. Cause thinking has really helped you before.

Wren took a deep breath and then another. Letting them out, he tried to center his inner quailing self. There was nothing to be afraid of but in truth, between the situation he was in, the pretty girl, and his quickening hormones, it was honestly hard to prioritize.

"I..." he paused, seemed to consider his words, then continued, "I admit I don't...have any experience with women. I'm not sure if I could hold up if I was telling a story and..." he was quiet, pushed his fingers together,

"I...wouldn't object."

[Edreina]

A pale, speckled brow rumpled faintly at the sight of Wrenmae clasping his forehead. She almost felt disappointed when he subtly made the universal signal that an offer was going to be rejected. Actually, he almost seemed annoyed with her for offering it. Must've upset his delicate land-striding sense of decency, a petty woman within her sniffed, chin raising defiantly. This woman instantly dissolved, of course, when he surprised Edreina by taking up her offer.

Without the social graces to tell her that such a behavior was wrong, Edreina's seashell lips fell open with a soft pop. Accepting her offer had been the last thing she expected of the strange, cursed storyteller. But, an offer was an offer and the young woman had no qualms about holding true to hers. In fact, a playful grin flashed across her features, peeking through the curtain of hair that obscured her face as she rose to her feet. His reaction was something that she would not trade an ocean of mizas for, she could feel that much in her bones.

Already, she was scantily dressed by any standards with but a pair of linen shorts obscuring her femininity and a length of linen bound tightly about her chest. That part... well, it would be a step forward in the realm of her self-confidence for her to remove that - of all things! - in front of a stranger. Actually, as she slid a hand behind her back to undo the knot holding it in place, it was easier to undress in front of him. The redhead knew not of the form-changer's ideals of beauty in a woman, nor of what he would find to be repulsive. Worst case scenario, he gave her the same nose-scrunching look of disdain that men of the Suvan always did.

The deft fingers of a sailor had no trouble undoing the knot between her shoulder blades. With the tension released, two pert mounds of pale, unfreckled flesh luxuriated in the cool sea-breeze they were so frequently denied. Pride in being released was evident in the way that they pebbled lightly at the extrema of each peak. A faint blush colored Edreina's cheeks, brought on by some latent sense of modesty. Ah, well.

Twin mountains were obscured by the glow of a wildfire as Edreina leaned forward to push her shorts down her thighs before disregarding them entirely. When she looked up, naked as the day she was born, a small smile tugged at her lips, brought on by anticipation of Wrenmae's surely adorable and hilarious reaction. Slim hands perched upon rounded hips as she flicked her hair over one shoulder with a swift, thoughtful motion of her head. "See-" A quaver had somehow managed to invade her voice. Warmth bloomed just beneath two azure pools while Edreina cleared her voice. "See! Tis just a body. There is nothing to fear in it." Her shoulders rose and fell in a nervous shrug and she could not help but be vaguely surprised as the motion was repeated an instant later just a few inches lower. Gods, the young woman had forgotten how bothersome boobs could be.

Yes... That is why you bind them, she thought sarcastically, glancing up at the boards of the deck above. Because they bounce uncomfortably. It's not at all due to the looks you get when others see that any part of your body is capable of bouncing. Her right arm came across her flat stomach to cradle her left elbow, the only sign of a woman's deepest seated insecurity. No matter how frequently she attempted to put it from her mind or pretend it did not bother her, she always managed to remind herself.

In an attempt to recover - if Wrenmae was still coherent, that was - Edreina decided to take the experiment- to take the learning experiment a step forward. "You know you can touch me. I really don't mind. Might dispel a bit more of that mystery with which you struggle. After all," again, that wry smile crept across her lips, sneaking into her glimmering eyes, "'Tis just a body. Hm?"

[Wrenmae]

Certainly, his body danced on the edge complete perplexed confusion. The burgundy red that had taken residence in his cheeks seeped away as his blood rushed toward a lower destination. Throughout it all he couldn't help but see himself outside himself, as if observing another in the place he sat...a man similar to himself but entirely different.

It had been a journey.

Every adventure, sorrow, and triumph had led to moments that pressed themselves into the crevasse of his mind, left their mark, and then vanished on the timeline. She pulled the knot apart, such simple deft movements to operate without sight, and released from their bondage, her breasts spilled out into the cool air.

She was right, in her own way, there was nothing terrifying about the body. Even as she slid away the rest, the outside Wren wryly observed that it was almost as if the sculptor had opted for a more graceful curve to their take on the human body...rather than the awkward angles of a man. There was an art to her, an unrestrained muse in creation that lavished her figure with bounteous charms. Perhaps she did not have the taught wind-whipped body of the Svefra he'd seen in port, but there was something infinitely more alluring in the swell of her breasts, the roundness in her hips, and the way her smile curled up mischievously, faltered, and then strengthened again.

She was a girl that was easy to fall in love with, he knew the look from the stories he'd been told. There was, after all, a look...a distinct somethingness about an individual that overcame the need for long hours of conversation and the cautious process of courting. She was wild fire on dark waters, more free than he had seen a person and yet bound in the simplicity of the situation, the modesty of one arm crossing her stomach.

His blood had finally settled the debate on where to congregate and Wren crossed his legs, more out of respect than modesty.

"You're beautiful." he heard not-Wren say as he watched the exchange, somehow both himself and outside himself. And somehow the not-Wren stood and gingerly reached out to the freckled skin of her side, choosing to alight fingers where the curve of her stomach met the curve of her hips first, gently putting both hands on her side.

It was a curious situation, not one he was used to. If he quailed even a moment, he would lose his nerve and take shelter in a corner, too shy or possessed of propriety to follow her offer. Perhaps she could see that in his eyes, the scampering indecision as his gaze debated on where to fall, desperately clung to her own eyes even as his mouth quirked into a shy smile.

Instead his neck craned forward, in the slow motion that he imagined moments might become in very important moments, slowed to almost a crawl as his face neared her own.

And then swerved, just slightly, to lay a kiss on her cheek...a moment of course correction shattering the bravery he had taken to get here in the first place. Suddenly, he was himself again, floundering in a sea of the unfamiliar. His head felt heavy, slow of thought, and he almost dipped in for her full, smiling lips. He wavered there, torn between pulling away and moving in again and his hands followed an upward course to rest along the sides of her breasts.

Everything felt so heavy, so very...intoxicating, and even if he could not recognize it, he felt lost in an aroma too difficult to name and too addicting to pull away from.

He imagined, for a moment, he was caught in a field of strange flowers...the red of her wild hair, the blue of her hypnotic eyes, and the pink of her flesh...and that he was being pulled deeper and deeper into their enchanting hold.

So he must have looked idiotic, leaned so close to her face, hesitant and confident at the same perplexing time.

But he hung there, torn with indecision on what to do and how to react, painfully imprisoned in his own inability to not overthink.

The magic of the moment stretched...and he felt, perhaps imagined, it beginning to tear.

[Edreina]

As any man knew, calling a woman beautiful was, far and away the very best technique known to win the heart of a woman. And, though Edreina's heart was far from won, a touch more favor for the cursed man took root in her heart. A faint smile played out across her lips as his hands found her hips; even she could not fight the gooseflesh that added to the already hilly geography of her freckled flesh nor the new shade of pink that painted her high cheeks. The lack of surety in his eyes was utterly disarming for the young woman. Every other man she had been with had known exactly what appealed to him and went for it, be it the subtle definition of her stomach, the power of her thighs, or the strong curve of her shoulders. But Wrenmae... he was different. It reminded Edreina almost of a blank canvas, or perhaps one upon which only a sketch had left its pale mark. He knew he liked the visage of a woman - that much was certain - but the aspects and proportions of said woman were still unknown to him.

It was a refreshing change of pace.

The kiss upon her cheek surprised her, sending an entirely new wave of chills dancing across her sun-kissed flesh. It was so chaste, so hesitant. But, by far, the most tantalizing bit about the gentle press of his lips on her cheek was how strange it was. It was so appealing to her that a small, curious knot of pressure found its home in her lower abdomen.

The longer he hesitated, the stronger her draw to him felt. The Svefra was vaguely aware of something crackling between them, creating a moment neither one of them quite understood. His hands stopped on either side of her ribcage, remaining curiously and, almost pointedly, away from her breasts. The innocent motion was so- The Svefra's mind faltered when seeking a description, feeling her breath catch oddly in her chest. Before she could stop herself one pale hand rose to cup the side of his jaw gently, fingers guiding him forward. A single breath separated them and soon, upon the insistence of five gentle digits, even that went the way of Edreina's clothes: cast aside and forgotten.

Without moving any other part of her body, for fear of upsetting the gentle balance between them, her lips massaged his softly, as if attempting to coax a reaction from him that was not embarrassment or absolute terror. As quickly as the kiss had begun, the red head was pulling away with a small smile perched upon previously occupied lips. "Fear of a concept will never benefit you," she said quietly, blue eyes dropping for a fraction of an instant before rising with a renewed assurance in her words. The thumb on Wrenmae's jawline moved in a small circuit, as if to emphasize the fact that he had just kissed a naked woman and was none the worse for ware.