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Miret's fingers found Zarina's and intertwined them. [color=9e0039]"In my heart, [i]always[/i] just for you, luush'elar."[/color] She began leading Zarina over to a picnic basket she'd hidden, and she took a moment to extricate it from the bushes. [color=9e0039]"Work, too, though,"[/color] she sighed. [color=9e0039]"Always work, even when I'm on leave."[/color]

Unceremoniously yet with incongruous grace, she plopped herself down on the grass and patted a spot beside her. [color=9e0039]"I forgot the blanket,"[/color] she remarked sheepishly and, for a moment, there seemed to be something small about her - [i]vulnerable[/i], even - as she looked up at Zarina.

[color=#E5E4E2]“Well, it's an honour to have your scarce break time dedicated to yours truly.”[/color] answered Zarina, choosing to not dwell on either subjects. One made her far too many butterflies and the other forced the dregs of anxiety she bottled up back up.

A seat was taken on the dry grass, announcing the end of Dorrad and the hottest days having yet to come. [color=#E5E4E2]“Luuchi.”[/color] a gentle hand remained over the Yasoi's and a mellifluous voice beckoned Miret's attention. [color=#E5E4E2]“How are Tyrel and Chad? Without you around ...”[/color] then, a light squeeze of the hand. [color=#E5E4E2]“Are you alright?”[/color]

Miret leaned in. [color=9e0039]"No,"[/color] she whispered. [color=9e0039]"They're watching me, so smile as if I've just told you a funny secret."[/color]

[color=#E5E4E2]“Pfft.”[/color] Zarina immediately blurted out, even letting a few spittles bombard her unfortunate luush'elar. Bent over as if getting over a flabbergasting joke, she passed her hand over her hair to comb it over her ear. [color=#E5E4E2]“If you want to talk seriously, I know a few places.”[/color] she whispered, eyes narrowed to feign some foxy look, suggesting she had teased or something equally as playful. [color=#E5E4E2]“Or we can just enjoy.”[/color]

Miret forced a blush, for such was her control over her face. [color=9e0039]"We totally [i]should[/i],"[/color] she squealed. She pulled back, standing and twirling on the spot. [color=9e0039]"Just me and you and not a care in the world."[/color] She breathed a deep breath in and out, extending a hand. [color=9e0039]"Let's do it!"[/color] For a moment, her eyes told more: [color=9e0039]"Please,"[/color] they said, [color=9e0039]"right now. I really need this."[/color]

Zarina sighed, just to put up the facade as the one in control. An attempt at reassurance in a time where many felt like their fates were held in the palms of men they never met. After a tap on her knee she hoisted herself up, reaching for Miret's hand half-way there. [color=#E5E4E2]“Thanks, love.”[/color] a quick pelvis thrust with her hands on the small of her back prompted a light crack of her spine. [color=#E5E4E2]“You and me. And my hippo. I need to feed it, actually.”[/color] she shrugged. [color=#E5E4E2]“Did I tell you how it almost saved a platoon's life?”[/color]

Miret arched an eyebrow in curious amusement. [color=9e0039]"Oh [i]really[/i]?"[/color] she chirped, [color=9e0039]"Do [i]tell[/i]."[/color] With that, she squeezed Zarina's palm and made to follow her wherever she might lead the pair.

[color=#E5E4E2]“It put the King of the Sea to sleep.”[/color] answered Zarina with a whimsical and dramatic voice. [color=#E5E4E2]“I would likely not be in one piece either if it weren't for that nascent warrior.”[/color]

With a quick glance to both sides, she made both herself and her lover zip through space-time to land in her bedroom. [color=#E5E4E2]“As comfy as it is, this isn't the place.”[/color] the Virangish rushed over to the opened cage where a sleeping house hippo was plucked out to instead sleep in a handbag loaded with fresh lettuce. [color=#E5E4E2]“Biby - check. Now then, hand!”[/color] this time she offered it whilst keeping up with the inherited habit.

This time a portal was opened and ... They were on a mountain and behind them a lonesome cottage. [color=#E5E4E2]“Welcome to my Dorrad villa.”[/color]

Miret's eyes widened and she turned on the spot. [color=9e0039]"W-where [i]are[/i] we?"[/color] She sucked in a great big breath of the fresh cold air. [color=9e0039]"I mean... it's gorgeous!"[/color] She seemed, at least momentarily, at ease.

[color=#E5E4E2]“Sawand.”[/color] Zarina smiled cheekily, tugging at her partner's hand as they approached the building. [color=#E5E4E2]“I'm willing to bet even Tarlon doesn't have folks in this little prize I've won.”[/color] and soon they were inside the warm, homely establishment.

Miret twirled about as she followed her luush'elar in. [color=9e0039]"Sawand,"[/color] she enthused. [color=9e0039]"Whew-ee."[/color] Her eyes darted one way and then the next, taking in the unique architecture, the cozy homeliness, and Zarina and her odd but adorable little pet. [color=9e0039]"Was this from the Trials, Luuchii?"[/color]

[color=#E5E4E2]“M'hm.”[/color] there was a front desk, unmanned and neat. [color=#E5E4E2]“Ashok is probably getting provisions.”[/color] she mumbled to herself, deciding that waiting was pointless and unhooked one of the keys from the board. [color=#E5E4E2]“The rooms are great, we get out own fireplace if it gets chilly.”[/color] again she held her luush'elar's hand, guiding her to room 3 of the cottage inn.

It was as homely as could be with a double bed, a kitchenette in an adjcent room, proper latrines and an expensive begemot rug. And, of course, the promised fireplace surrounded by stone. Zarina placed her bag on the rocking chair and sat on the bed. [color=#E5E4E2]“If you need a place to crash, this room is always kept vacant.”[/color]

Miret curled up beside her. [color=9e0039]"It's lovely,"[/color] she remarked softly, eyes roving about as she snuggled in. There seemed to be something of a wistful air to her. [color=9e0039]"A place of our - [i]your[/i] - own."[/color] She smiled at Zarina. [color=9e0039]"I'm sorry for being gone so suddenly and so long,"[/color] she sighed. [color=9e0039]"You deserve better."[/color] Her eyes darted about the wonderful room again.

No words came from Zarina, only a blush. And then a tight squeeze of her arm around Miret, tugging her close. [color=#E5E4E2]“You came back, that's all that matters.”[/color] she laid a peck on her luush'elar's forehead. [color=#E5E4E2]“What's been troubling you, Luuchii?”[/color]

[color=9e0039]"Heh,"[/color] Miret snorted. [color=9e0039]"I almost died."[/color] She shrugged and shook her head ruefully, cracking a sad little smile. [color=9e0039]"After all you've seen and been through and all that [i]I[/i] have, that doesn't sound like such a big deal, does it?"[/color]

She sighed. [color=9e0039]"I was doomed, to tell you the truth, and so was Chad and so were [i]all[/i] of us if Tyrel hadn't arrived."[/color] She bit her lower lip. [color=9e0039]"It got me thinking that, aside from you, what do I have to show for my life? What have I done with it?"[/color] She shook her head again, tightly, this time. [color=9e0039]"I'm tired of war. I wanna take my family, my friends, and you, and... get out."[/color] She paused and shrugged, shooting a hopeful glance up at Zarina.

Instead of giving her opinion or pushing back against the negative thoughts plaguing Miret, Zarina merely caressed the distressed woman's head, focusing on the minute little locks of hair to neatly straighten back behind the pointed ear. [color=#E5E4E2]“Mmm.”[/color] was her response to Miret's wants. [color=#E5E4E2]“But we can't simply abandon our homes, now can we?”[/color] her head tilted as she peered down at the curled up Yasoi.

[color=#E5E4E2]“I'm being called home. Likely because of what's happening in that Coffee Island - Palapar.”[/color] lips pursed and hands clenched harder. [color=#E5E4E2]“It's coming soon. The war. And all I'm worried about, honestly, is the same as you. What have I done of real note in my life? Not because I think I'm going to die ...”[/color] although the fear lingered, even as she put on her brave face. [color=#E5E4E2]“I owe it to my family to fight for them and become something. The same way you owe a lot to your family - Tyrel and Chad.”[/color]

Miret managed a quick, nervous smile. [color=9e0039]"You always know just what to say,"[/color] she admitted, forcing a deeper breath and then a second. She smiled again, a bit more relaxed this time, but it faded quickly. [color=9e0039]"Tyrel is being called there too,"[/color] she offered, [color=9e0039]"but it's a trap."[/color] She shook her head. [color=9e0039]"She disobeyed orders in Yarsoc and..."[/color] Miret trailed off for a moment. [color=9e0039]"She tore that queen - the one who'd toyed with Chad and I - apart like a plaything."[/color]

The Tarlonese shrugged. [color=9e0039]"She saved us all and won the battle and afterwards -"[/color] She rolled her eyes. [color=9e0039]"- it was retroactively sanctioned."[/color] She sat up and crossed her legs, running some fingers thoughtfully through the hair that Zarina had untangled. [color=9e0039]"You should've heard them: all the soldiers chanting her name."[/color] She scowled. [color=9e0039]"The emperor and the empress and high command will not like it. it is the job of the Avatar of Vyshta to die before her twenty-fifth birthday, and that is only a few years away now."[/color] She knit and unknit her fingers nervously. [color=9e0039]"I don't know what they'll do to my sister there,"[/color] she mewed, [color=9e0039]"but it'll be bad - another bad thing in a stupid conflict all about people's pride and money - and I have to find a way to stop it."[/color]

Zarina absently stroked Miret's hair and cheek as her worries and recounts were being aired out. Once again, there was only listening with the occasional little affirmative sound to show she was paying attention. A light inhale, stronger than her idle breathing, came in reaction to the revelation of Tyrel's presence in Palapar. A crucial piece of information, should Zarina actually go there.

[color=#E5E4E2]“You're hurting enough, Luuchy. It shouldn't always be you taking action. It shouldn't be you always getting hurt.”[/color] delicate brushes of her thumb over Miret's cheek slowly guided the Yasoi's gaze to Zarina's. [color=#E5E4E2]“But if you must take on the world itself like a raging bull, then I'll do it with you. At worst, we both die horribly together.”[/color] she grinned and chuckled halfheartedly. [color=#E5E4E2]“But, promise me one thing.”[/color] she stared right into Miret's eyes, digging to find her very soul. [color=#E5E4E2]“No matter what happens with this war, you won't hate me, and I won't hate you.”[/color]

Miret was a strong woman, or had always appeared so to the world at large. She had won the Trials of Ersand'Enise. She had ended the tyrannical reign of Queen Talit in Tanso and served with distinction in Yarsoc, all before her twentieth birthday. She had shared herself with many men and some women. She had spoken before crowds of thousands and embraced the empress herself. 

To be small, to be vulnerable, was not something that she ever got to do anymore, except with a very precious few she had known since childhood... and Zarina. [color=9e0039]"Speak for yourself,"[/color] she snorted weakly. [color=9e0039]"When I go, it'll be either out of boredom when I'm a thousand year old elder sanguinaire, or in a blaze of glory."[/color] She smiled softly, ironically. [color=9e0039]"You're welcome to join me in either one."[/color]

The fact that their countries were enemies was not lost on her either. [color=9e0039]"I could never hate you,"[/color] Miret replied softly. [color=9e0039]"I even love your laundry habits... or how you hog all the covers in bed."[/color]

A fire crackled in the hearth, picturesque mountains and blue sky filled the windows, and they were both away from conflict and politics and the worry of what others might think, at least for the time being. Miret leaned in and kissed Zarina. [color=9e0039]"Most of all, though, I love [i]this[/i]."[/color]

[color=#E5E4E2]“I do not!”[/color] Zarina protested without any real conviction to be found in her voice. [color=#E5E4E2]“I just move a lot when sleeping all comfy-like. Doesn't happen often.”[/color] with that, she tugged her lover closer as to actually lie down on the guest bed for some much needed cuddles. And then a kiss.

They were to stay like this for a while. Minutes? Hours? They didn't count. This was just too nice. [color=#E5E4E2]“What's the plan, then? If things do get worse and worse? When do we just ... Stop? Do we even?”[/color]

Miret shrugged. [color=9e0039]"I expect shit'll hit the fan, and a lot of it, and soon."[/color] She shrugged weakly. [color=9e0039]"I expect I'll fight back and I hope you'll join me."[/color] She took a deep breath and managed a brave smile. [color=9e0039]"I already know others who will."[/color] She shook her head. [color=9e0039]"Not gonna let a little cabal of beard-stroking old men tell me what to do my entire life. For now, though,"[/color] the yasoi concluded, [color=9e0039]"let's just spend some time. Let's just... love each other."[/color]

Zarina flinched. [color=#E5E4E2]“Why would shit hit a fan?”[/color] of all the things Miret had said, this just stuck. [color=#E5E4E2]“Is that one of your Tarlonese sayings?”[/color] a cheeky grin came with the remark. But soon she settled back into a tone-appropriate demeanor. [color=#E5E4E2]“Of course.”[/color] was her answer with conviction, even if she was ignorant to most machinations from the upper echelons of society. 

Hours passed. It had been dark out in Sawand for a while now. Zarina had fallen asleep with an ease she hadn't experienced in a long time. The Yasoi she clung to may have had a role to play in that. Very peaceful. It'd be the footsteps outside of the room that woke her up. [color=#E5E4E2]“Mmmm ...”[/color][/color]