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 Posted: Sun Dec 09, 2012 2:46 pm
"Am I to presume it's not sore anymore then?" Bereck asked with a little smirk and a sly slidelong look at Alina. He didn't mention that he was glad that it didn't involve his lap; he loved the Starcrafter but he was under no illusions about her grace, especially when trying to be alluring. If she tried to do a provocative dance in his lap she would either manage to knee him somewhere very sensitive or daze him with a flailing limb.
"Nice as your 'booty' is," the quotation marks were audible, "I would rather you stayed where you are for now. This is nice." He was relaxing more as he spoke, tiny degree by tiny degree. Seen as she still had his hand up by her face he caressed her cheek with his fingertips, tracing around the ink stains at the corner of her mouth. "You still chew your pens then?" he asked rhetorically with a fond little smile.
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Posted: Sun Dec 09, 2012 3:09 pm
"We moved from the couch and I'm half sprawled on you. Of course it doesn't hurt anymore. If I didn't like your hands where they are right now, I'd even encourage you to make sure." Her cheeks tinted pink with that sly little look and she bumped her nose to his palm in revenge. "Don't mock my slang, Masterhealer. If one is going to discuss lapdances, one can't use terms like 'rear'. It sounds awkward."
She chuckled, though the noise died at his pets. Alina pressed closer to his fingers, eyes shut under the now-askew glasses. "Mm? Oh. Of course. It helps me think." Her smile softened, the crafter nuzzling her cheek against his hand again, fingers flexing. "I can't promise it won't rub off. It's been an odd day."
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Posted: Sun Dec 09, 2012 3:39 pm
Bereck gave one of his short exhale laughs and half shrugged. "Butt it is then. I've never really liked the word though, it sounds so... abrupt. Butt. Well, nevermind, it will suffice."
Sweet and so very her though the ink stains were he was struck by an urge to wipe them away, to leave her skin fresh and... lined, lightly lined but still soft, taught and lovely. He closed his eyes and Vena vanished abruptly. A soft cloth, easily found, and then to the baths to soak it in hot water. A trip between would chill it and so he set her to travel back on the wing and nudged Marrow to go and open a window to let her in. He opened his eyes again the, smiling a bit and having no intention of telling Alina what he intended just yet.
"Do you know what I thought of women, quite pretty women once you left?" Bereck asked as the thought floated to the top of his now pleasantly relaxed, slightly wine-fuzzed mind. "Legs," he continued before Alina could reply, "short legs, and small hands." Objectively there were lots of women more classically beautiful than Alina. She didn't have a face that could launch a Weyr of dragons, nor curves that would make a poet weep but... but she had become everything he wanted, and other women though they might be nice to look at had rather paled in comparison. Where was the disorderly fluffy hair and the ink stains on her face and elegant fingers, his mind had demanded. Not present, and so not enough to make him want more than a covert appreciation for a moment or two.
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Posted: Sun Dec 09, 2012 3:53 pm
She enjoyed his half-laughs, the things that could be mistake for a hitch of breath if one didn't know him or how his amusement sounded. Alina grinned, her hand squeezing at his wrist. "Neither one of us are Harpers. I'm sure we'll be forgive for using such a harsh word. Although if you ever start discussing my backside in public, I may have to go between in embarrassment. Keep the drunken discussions to things such as noses. Measure angles of other things in private."
Eyebrows arched. Alina almost made a catty comment about his thoughts on other, quite pretty women, but caught herself before she snarked. A good thing, since he brought up legs - the short ones and hands not like hers. She smiled, bright and happy, and pushed her cheek closer to his hand.
"We have the hands part in common," she sighed. "And all other men were much too tall. It was unappealing." She paused for a heart beat before adding on: "I wed him because he asked and we were friends. Didn't resemble you at all. It wasn't love. I just wanted to tell you that."
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Posted: Sun Dec 09, 2012 4:03 pm
Given she had dismissed her marriage he had tried not to think of it. Tried was operative. There had been another man, another lover and that and once rankled and ached. Her reassurance though was... reassuring; not an eloquent thought but a true one.
"Thank you."
Smiling a gentle smile and with a warm, intimate light in his eyes Bereck reached up to gently remove Alina's hair tie. Slow languid movements of his hand settled her thick hair into its natural fluffy near cloud around her face; the healer's gaze didn't move from hers as his fingers worked but when he had finished his bright blue eyes roved over her face.
He smiled again, and lent up to kiss her.
"Their hair wasn't as... enthusiastic as yours either."
Ah, and here was Vena; the little green zipped neatly through the window and dropped her cargo into his waiting hand.
Still smiling that soft personal little smile Bereck raised the damp cloth. "Would you mind if I took care of that ink for you, my Star?"
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Posted: Sun Dec 09, 2012 4:19 pm
Oldest tale in the world, really. Many married or weyrmated for love but even more tied themselves together out of loneliness and the desire for intimacy, to wake up not alone. She, personally, hadn't wanted to grow old alone. Alina thought she would turns ago but now...
With Bereck smiling as he did and that look in his eyes, she knew she'd not grow old alone. They had lines on their faces and white in their hair but when he stroked her hair, looked at her like all he wanted was right in front of him, Alina didn't feel a day past twenty-eight. The first time he looked like that, she had a swarm of glowbugs in her stomach. Twenty-one turns later, it resulted in much the same. All she wanted was to close her eyes and lean into that touch. It seemed too much effort to break eye contact and her hand tightened.
then he kissed her and her eyes slid shut. The Starcrafter pushed in closer, returning the loving gesture with all she could. She chuckled against him, murmuring. "I knew you had a fetish for the hair." Ah, and -- firelizard? Hazy, half closed eyes followed the drop of the cloth, gaze going straight back to bereck and his smile. It took her back to soft words in her hair and lazy afternoons when both managed to get off of work around the same time. Of grumbles in the morning with elbows and flailing, smiling because even that didn't involve anger.
Alina cocked her head down and to the side for him, lips parted. "Do your worst, love."
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Posted: Sun Dec 09, 2012 4:25 pm
He kissed her again. Soft lips. He had missed this; expression more eloquent than his words managed to be, and a gentle intimacy that gave all and demanded nothing save a return of the warmth and feeling.
Opening his eyes he pulled back with a soft sigh and smiled at her. "I can't do my worst, 'Lina; I always do my best for you. From now on I hope that is enough." With nothing more to say he raised the warm damp cloth to her face and started to wipe gently at the ink stains. "Don't say fetish," he added as he worked lightly, deftly. "It's... it had more feeling than that. I love it for you, no more and no less."
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Posted: Sun Dec 09, 2012 4:35 pm
Alina leaned closer, chasing the soft kiss with another before she let him start with the ink cleaning. The chore may have become more difficult when she smiled, slow and warm, face lit up only with love for him. "It's more than enough," She assured him, or tried to, voice soft. "Your worst is better than anyones best to begin with.Your best is simply phenomenal."
She could have made the comment dirty with a smirk or twist of her tone. Alina just smiled, soft, continuous. She touched his hair with her free hand, sifting her fingertips through the bright strands. "Bias, maybe? Proclivity? I know you like touching it." Her lips twitched in an effort not to smile again, to not make it more difficult for the ink to come out. "It's why I never tried to tame it. There was always the ruffling and petting."
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Posted: Sun Dec 09, 2012 4:56 pm
"Of course I liked it. Like it. It's so... you." Bereck shrugged and started work on the ink; he knew all about how best to bathe skin, even if such basic nursing hadn't been a part of his routine for decades he remembered. With her though he was not detached or making his awkward attempts at light conversation (he had never had the best of soft bedside manners). No; with her he said nothing with his lips and everything with his sharp eyes, now softened by warmth of feeling.
The ink came away from her mouth easily enough and from there he moved up her cheek. As he worked, and thought of her, the relief that he didn't need this kind of treatment anymore (albeit more detached and professional) floated across his mind. He was better. He was not strong but he could care for himself, and that was a huge load off his shoulder and heart.
"Did I worry you? Confuse you?... I mean when I was less myself," Bereck queried as he worked. "I hardly remember our first conversation anymore... but I know I remembered it during some of the subsequent ones. I have a theory of the links between your memory and state of mind... as in perhaps if you learn something when you're drunk you remember it better next time you're drunk. If you say something when high on fellis, you might need fellis to remember it once more." With Alina's cheek clean he moved the cloth up to wipe at the ink on the bridge of her nose, just below her glasses.
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Posted: Sun Dec 09, 2012 5:32 pm
Like it. It's so... you.
Alina sighed, eyelids fluttering. She relaxed into the soft touches, sure and efficient. Let Bereck say what he wanted to about not being WeyrHealer or at full strength; his fingers worked just as well as ever, comforting. Cared for. Shards, how long had it been since she'd been taken care of?
Her eyes opened slowly, watching him as he continued to wipe away the ink on her face. Note to self: Chew on pens more often. "You know..." She closed her eyes again, huffing a laugh. "I'm sure it's ridiculous with how much I love you. You always made me feel pretty."
Not what he asked but, like the comment about Nikkel, she wanted to tell him. Something he should know. Alina knew quite well she'd not stop a man in his tracks over her looks, nor was she the focus of anyones desire for looks alone. Bereck made her feel gorgeous, regardless, lovely from fluffy mop of hair to toenails.
"I was worried," She said, deciding to actually answer his questions. "You were remarkably coherent for a man that just had a bit of an incident. You told me you missed me and held my hand. I went there expecting maybe an argument. Twenty years of silence and me appearing but... they didn't say you were hurt. I didn't think you'd miss me."
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Posted: Sun Dec 09, 2012 5:52 pm
"I am sorry." Not 'I'm sorry'. No. Each word clear and distinct, because he was sorry and sincere and... everything. "It sounds as though I felt the same even insensible as I do now," he continued after a moment, finishing his cleansing and passing the cloth back to Vena to take away. "Sorry your were shocked too," he added with a hint of a frown. "Did they just send you over to see me then?" Not a pleasant surprise at all.
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Posted: Sun Dec 09, 2012 6:06 pm
"Insensible or not, it was good to hear. I couldn't bring myself to try and start any sort of dispute with you at that point." Alina smiled again, leaning down and dotting a kiss to his lips, soft and sweet. Another to the corner of his lips and a little nuzzle. "Yes, they did. I asked if there was a healer named Bereck in the infirmary and they pointed me to where you were. No mention of injuries."
Her hand found his again, and she squeezed. "I never thought of you of weak or small when seeing you wounded. I just thought oh no. Kept touching you too, and called you dear. Force of habit and I was scared you'd die."
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Posted: Sun Dec 09, 2012 6:28 pm
"I suppose I was probably frank, if not all that eloquent," Bereck mused, counter-squeezing Alina's hand. "I'm glad you didn't think... well, anything bad of me. I think I worried about that a lot but it's hard to remember." Past more than a couple of weeks ago everything was a blur to a greater or lesser degree. He was glad to have come out of that stage; even if the small doses of fellis he was still on did affect his moods somewhat he was more or less himself, just swinging to extremes more than usual.
"You have lovely eyes," said the glass of wine, taking liberties with Bereck's tongue to express his feelings where he might otherwise have kept quiet.
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Posted: Sun Dec 09, 2012 6:57 pm
"We're not Harpers, dearest," Alina chuckled, pulling his hand up once more for a kiss to his wrist, then his thumb, index finger, middle finger, ring, pinkie, and back again. Wine. She quite loved it at situations like this. Cuddles and quiet affection, Bereck cuddled close and complimenting her eyes. She smiled and leaned in closer, head tilting agaisnt his.
"You're a silly man, Ber. Everyone knows you win in the eye category." She touched his cheek with her other hand, thumb rubbing under his eye, as gentle as she could be. "It looks like the blue above a sunrise, clear and bright. I quite love your eyes."
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Posted: Mon Dec 10, 2012 2:28 pm
The kisses made his skin tingle and set his mind wandering back through the turns to a time when this would probably have led to rather more. Not today, but that was fine; he was more than content to take the intimacy for what it was, to wait.
Then she started complimenting him again and reached up to touch his face. Bereck flushed slightly and smiled as his much praised eyes skittered away from Alina's. "Well I suppose eyes are one thing that change little. I'm glad you still like them.... And I reserve the right to like your eyes too; it doesn't have to be a contest." Still smiling a soft little smile he made eye contact again and tilted his head, leaning lightly into her hand. "I love you." It was good to be able to say that again.
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