Rinya's blush and behavior as she admitted she liked spending time with him as well reminded Jorin of the day they first met, how she was so shy and self-conscious, and how Jorin had so badly wanted to make her smile. It was one of those things he liked about his wife, the fact that despite them being married and how intimate they had become, she was still the shy, socially awkward girl he knew and loved. But the truth was, any time spent with Rinya was well worth the effort, at least as far as Jorin was concerned.
He somewhat groaned when Rinya confirmed his suspicions that the 'real' test was moving targets. And he thought he was doing well, too... it seemed he had a long way to go before he could consider himself even halfway good. Despite her not saying so, Jorin suspected that the shots he'd been missing were probably easy shots too; but then he hadn't exactly been practicing archery for years either.
And apparently, his shot had veered. Rinya had been nice and said it only veered a 'bit' but Jorin knew it must have veered a lot for it to have missed so completely and hit that tree behind it. "Well, given how little accuracy I had to begin with, I guess I'm not surprised," Jorin chuckled, giving Rinya a bright smile.
It wasn't really all that upsetting that he'd missed. He'd been training in the quarterstaff for a couple of seasons now and he still couldn't beat any of the people he sparred with at the Kendoka (though that might be because Sohryn kept deliberately matching him up against superior opponents). Rinya just commented that stance was important but that aim simply took time to learn.
That rather figured; each person was different, as she said. Different height, different eye-dominance, different ways of judging distance and wind and all the other factors that could prevent an arrow from reaching its intended target. Jorin figured he'd have to simply feel the shot. He'd have to instinctively know how to aim those shots. It likely wasn't anything Rinya could actually teach, more something he'd have to feel out over the course of several (hundred) shots.
But he knew by now that Rinya never resisted any of his kisses. He'd been so afraid the first time he initiated this. Was worried that she'd think he was too forward to simply kiss her because he could, because he wanted to and loved her. He knew she'd feel his love for her, and hoped that would help convince her to let him, but the truth was the first time he did it, Jorin thought there was a chance she'd recoil or push him away.
Over time, he'd realized just how silly that fear was. Rinya was many things. Independent, beautiful, loving. But she was also honest and sometimes shockingly blunt, and for all that his beloved wife changed over the seasons, she was still the same blunt girl he'd always known. If she didn't like his kisses she'd tell him on no uncertain terms, quite like she did to that understudy during the afterparty.
But Rinya's instant reaction to his touch and kiss told him without words that she'd accepted that he loved her. Not that he had any doubts, but every single time he did this, it just reaffirmed and validated his choice. Rinya had expressed in the past that she thought she wasn't the best choice for a mate. Jorin couldn't understand that. As far as he was concerned, she was the only choice.
Despite the tender nature of the contact, Rinya's hand on his heart would find that it had sped up as he kissed her. It was an automatic reaction to their intimacy; no matter the circumstance Jorin would always be excited and happy for the contact. Rinya's groan just caused his heart to beat even faster, and despite the fact that he knew they had plenty of time, the kiss was just too enjoyable for him to stop.
Jorin could feel Rinya's slight disappointment when the kiss ended, and truth was so was he. When he embraced her, she continued to stroke the back of his neck gently, and Jorin enjoyed the feeling as she did so. Rinya perhaps did not realize that her touch was just as calming to him as his was for her. In fact, Jorin seriously felt he couldn't get a good night's sleep without it. Just the scent wasn't enough; he needed her person there, all of her, before sleep would come.
With a nod, Jorin acknowledged his understanding as Rinya explained the rapid fire technique in a bit more detail after their hug ended. It was certainly a very interesting technique, and clearly a quite difficult one. Jorin was actually very proud of his wife for having been able to utilize it to the extent that she did, even if it was only a stationary target. In his mind at least it was an impressive accomplishment.
Her own quick kiss made Jorin flush a bit. It wasn't that he was embarrassed or shy, in fact he was extremely happy. Rinya had reached a point, it seemed, where she was no longer hesitant to simply kiss him as well, and that pleased Jorin to no end. Despite the fact that it was short, as usual it held the same amount of intimacy and love all their kisses had, and he made sure to return it before her lips disengaged from his.
Leaning back, Jorin watched Rinya's lithe form take her position again. Whether she knew it or not, she was quite good at distracting him as well, even unintentionally, simply by being herself. Jorin found himself paying more attention to her form than to her stance as he watched her get into her element. Even despite the heavy cloak he could still see the hints of her toned muscles underneath, and the soft and smooth skin that he knew so well.
Jorin gave himself a slight mental shake. Now was not the time to be thinking of that. He could admire his wife when they got back home. Jorin redoubled his efforts to pay closer attention. Rinya's stance, as far as he could tell, was as close to perfect as Jorin was likely to see. And despite the fact that he figured everyone's stance is subtly different, it was still good to at least copy the basics from someone who at least knew what they were doing.
Rinya's technique, however, seemed a bit different from last time. Instead of holding the arrows in her bow hand and transferring it into her firing hand one-by-one she opted instead to simply grab the arrows from the quiver one after the other, firing them and then almost immediately retrieving another. Jorin did note that this strategy, while probably better for aiming because the bow was no longer burdened by the extra weight of the subsequent arrows, was a bit slower than the other since she had to reach all the way to the quiver to get the next projectile.
It only actually took around a chime or two for her to fire off ten arrows, but to Jorin it seemed like it took only a few ticks. As always, Jorin was very impressed by what he saw, though he could tell from the rolling of her shoulders and the small wince she gave that the technique had put quite a strain on her muscles. She tossed him a weak grin, and Jorin tried to encourage it by smiling warmly back at her.
"Well, I still think it was extremely impressive," Jorin insisted, walking over to Rinya after she'd retrieved her arrows. He honestly had no idea what he was doing, but he knew her muscles must be very sore at that point and he wanted to help. Rinya had walked over to him and handed him an arrow, which he took and carefully set aside.
Walking around behind his wife, Jorin gently placed his hands on her shoulders and rubbed gently, working his thumbs a bit to try to give her as good a massage as he was capable of. He'd seen this done once or twice at the Moonstone, though he never really paid all that much attention and had never had it done to him. But he'd often done this to his own shoulder when he'd had a few sharp blows at the Kendoka. Sohryn had said once that there was a difference between stoic-ness and stupidity, and then insisted he learned basic techniques for relieving sore muscles. A sore warrior was simply less effective than a fresh one.
"Someday maybe I should learn how to do this for real," Jorin mused, as he continued to rub Rinya's shoulders. "I know it's supposed to be done to... ah... bare skin," Jorin confessed, turning a bit pink at the admission. With a slight cough he continued.
"But even through clothing, I hope it helps a little. I know how difficult it can be to deal with sore muscles. I just hope I'm doing this right..." It wasn't really even strictly a massage, more just rubbing her sore shoulder muscles to try to relieve tension. Nonetheless, if her muscles were as sore as his had become after his own attempt at rapid fire, she'd need to relief.
After a few chimes, Jorin stepped away, snagging the arrow Rinya had offered him as well as his bow. Break time, as Rinya had so succinctly put it, was over. Taking a breath, he gave her his most confident look. He couldn't say he wasn't confident. After all, he had Rinya there and her very presence often gave him a boost he otherwise wouldn't have. Still, of all the shots he'd fired in his entire life, he'd only really hit once.
Taking up his stance, Jorin tried to adjust it as Rinya had suggested. Now no longer pointing his toe directly at the target, he found that his waist did not twist nearly as much. Leaning forward had been a bit distracting as it somewhat threw off his aim, so for the time being he kept his back as straight as he could, almost unconsciously trying to mimic his wife.
He fingered the fletching of the arrow, glancing down as he observed the guide fletch then ran his thumb over it. He closed his eyes briefly and continued to rub the guide fletch, then ran his fingers over the rest of the fletching. He knew he was looking a bit strange so he opened his eyes and gave Rinya an apologetic smile.
"Just trying to memorize the different feeling of the fletching," he explained sheepishly. "I don't want to have to look down every time I nock an arrow..."
Which was exactly what he ended up doing anyway. He just wasn't confident enough in his ability to tell the difference by touch alone. He figured with enough practice he would but for the time being he wanted to make sure the arrow nocked properly.
Taking a deep breath, Jorin lifted the bow, setting his right shoulder and squeezing shut his left eye. He drew the arrow back to the corner of his mouth as he lined up the shot. Before, he'd hiked up the bow a little too much, and he knew the higher up he aimed, the more severe the arc of the shot.
He figured for very long distances, aiming quite high would be required in order to achieve the necessary arc. But this wasn't such a distance, so he decided to aim a bit lower this time. Just a tad; he figured if he treated the arc as essentially straight he'd probably undershoot by a fair margin like before. His muscles had recovered some during their little break, and despite the burn in his shoulders, chest and core, Jorin was able to hold the bow steady with no shake or wobble.
With a whoosh of breath, Jorin released, watching the arrow sail across to the target. It landed with a small thunk, quite far from the bull's-eye and a bit far to the right, but nonetheless it hit. It seemed Jorin had difficulty with both precision and accuracy. Still, he was clearly improving as at least he was now hitting the target instead of trees or the grass.
"Well, it's harder than it looks, that's for sure," he mused as he walked over to retrieve his arrow. As he walked back, a sudden thought struck him. Looking over at Rinya's smiling form, he handed the arrow to her as he asked the question that had just occurred to him.
"I was just curious," he began, "Why did you choose the bow? I would have thought that your father would have probably wanted you to learn a sword of some sort, given that he was a wolf Kelvic..." Jorin shrugged. Truth was, he didn't actually know Rinya's father except through the things she'd told him about the man. From those stories he sounded a lot like Jorin's own father Rosik: hard, harsh, but still loving in their own unique way.
But a man like that would almost certainly favor some sort of close-up and personal weapon like a sword of some description. He couldn't imagine Rinya's father suggesting a distance weapon like the bow, so he wondered what made her choose it. Was it out of defiance to her father? Or was there some other purpose? Of course, Jorin realized it might be something Rinya might not want to talk about, so he hurried to add, "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to," even though he knew she knew that already.
Spacer
