"Let me help you with that," Alethiro said as he came to her side.
She gives him a smile, "Thanks love. Sometimes it's hard to tell about these things, especially where muscle definition is concerned."
Juhi yawns. "This weather makes me tired. Maybe you should read to me and I'll take a nap."
---
"Five silver," Halfpocket tells Drago.
---
Marla opens the door. "Hello, Elsa. Is everything okay?"
Arista and Alethiro determine that Celine's legs are at a good point in their development and the braces will be unnecessary.
Arista starts crying as she takes Celine in her arms and holds her close. She just couldn't believe that her legs had already gotten to the point that she didn't need the braces anymore. She knew that Michael had said that their use might just be temporary, but she never thought that it would happen this fast. She supposed that all that exercise she got while playing with Hjorr really played a big part in their development. Looking up at Alethiro with happy tears streaming down her face she just shakes her head, "I just...I can't believe it. She doesn't need them anymore....I just...I don't even know what to say. I'm just so incredibly happy right now." She says giving Celine another hug.
Pulling back from mommy she looks at her for a moment before putting her hands on the side of her face, "No crying mommy, no crying."
She laughs a little as she wipes her eyes, "It's okay honey...it's okay to cry sometimes. Everyone cries sometimes and that's okay. It's okay to have feelings Celine, as long as you keep talking to us okay?" Feeling the pain of having Celine pressed into her tender area she hands her to Alethiro, "Can you watch her for just a minute while I take care of something. I just...I need to take my bag to the bedroom and do something. I'll be right back."
She nods and gives her a smile, "You want me to tuck you into the bed before I get a book? Which book would you like me to read to you?"
Juhi shakes her head. "I can manage the bed part. How about you surprise me with the story?"
She smiles and goes to the bookshelf and pulls out one of the children's books she had recently found at Halfpocket's after one of his latest shipments. Once Juhi is settled in the bed with Shamara next to her, Rajni sits on the edge of the bed and starts reading the story about the troll princess and the lima bean.
Halfway through the story, Juhi yawns and falls asleep.
Rajni reads for just another minute or so to make sure she's really asleep before quietly closing the book, getting up gently from the bed, and putting the book away she pets Shamara before giving her the stay command and leaves the room, quietly shutting the door behind her and goes back downstairs.
Ylrhea holds the door of the tailor shop open for Celia.
Stamping her feet to get rid of the snow, Celia enters the shop with a smile of thanks at Ylrhea, reaching her hand back to hold the door until the gnome is inside as well.
Gerard nods. "I think she will be a good addition to our ranks."
He holds Amélie close as they make their way back home.
"Oui," Amélie says resting her head against her wolf as they head home, smiling as Milo happily bounds through the snow.
Savoring her delicious scone and hot chocolate, Rhadaya beams as she watches the sheer joy on her love's face as they enjoy their perfect morning.
Today was perfect days for a romantic pass through town.....and to spend the day in bed, she thinks, the patterns on her skin deepening and swirling.
Taking a moment to find her footing, Sādhanā’s breathing slows, settling into the familiar combat readiness that was a natural state for her. Magic was so much a natural part of her fighting style, that she was acutely aware of hot using it, like having and arm tied behind her back, the thought of which makes her smile.
Stepping forward she takes a few preliminary strikes, getting a feel for Ammon’s defenses, adjusting to the difference in approach. Her traditional stance usually presented her sword arm, her free hand carrying out arcane gestures as needed. With Aroden’s shield and the ritual she’d come up with, she could present her shield side, requiring rapid shifts of footwork and balance for many of her attacks.
As the exercise progresses, she falls into a rhythm, striking, advancing, her shield not just defense but setting up her next attack, screening her strikes, counter balancing her more risky maneuvers as she presses the attack, continuous and unrelenting, increasing her intensity as the ring of steel echoes through the quiet of the falling snow.
As Tesia sits there enjoying the rest of her scone and hot chocolate, thoroughly caught up in the bliss of the delicate sweetness of the scone paired with the rich chocolate goodness of her hot beverage she opens her eyes and almost chokes when she sees the deep flush on her wife's face. She knew what the deepening colors of the patterns on her wife's face and neck meant, and had an idea if what she had been thinking about to get that look on her face. Taking a drink of her hot chocolate she swallows the bit of scone she nearly choked on before taking a deep breath and looking into her wife's beautiful stormy eyes. She thinks about how wonderful the day had been so far, and how nice it would be to just spend the day together at home...however they wanted to. As her thoughts start moving in another direction, a light blush starts to spread across her cheeks. It deepens and spreads to the tips of her ears as she pictures her love in their bed at home. She sits there for a few moments until another sound pulls her back out of her thoughts. Her ears twitch at the odd sound for such a peaceful and perfect morning as this. The sound somewhat muffled as they sit in the cafe, she tries to ignore it as she finishes her delightful morning snack and drink.
Gerard chuckles at Milo's antics as he and Amélie reach the house. He opens the door for his fiancee and lets the bounding wolf inside after them.
Ylrhea lets out a sigh of relief of the warmth of the tailor's shop starts to take out the chill of being outside.
Asha approaches the gnome and Anizari. "Good morning. What can I do for you?"
Rhadaya's eyebrow raises, questioning the slight shift in her love’s expression. ”What’s on your mind? I mean I know what was on your mind a second ago….mmmm….but…did you hear something?”
"Good morning. We were looking for some warmer clothing, given the weather." Celia says with a polite smile.
Asha smiles. "I see. Both of you?"
"No, I'm fine," Ylrhea says.
"Alright," Asha replies, leading the two women to her winter wear. "Feel free to look around. If you have any questions, I'll be at the counter."
"Thank you." Celia replies beginning to look at the clothing available. While she could use magic to withstand the cold weather, it would be a good idea to have some warmer clothing, especially since she was sure they would travel at some point before winter was over.
Shaking the snow off her boots, Amélie hangs up her cloak as she enters the house, moving to remove her sword belt.
Rhadaya's eyebrow raises, questioning the slight shift in her love’s expression. ”What’s on your mind? I mean I know what was on your mind a second ago….mmmm….but…did you hear something?”
She looks thoughtful for a moment as she finishes her hot chocolate and scone. Finally she shakes her head, "I'm not sure...I thought maybe I did....but it sounding kind of like...clanging. Like metal against metal....but I don't know. When we leave I'll listen and see if I hear it again. It might just have been the wind, or branches banging against a window or something." She says as she tries to shrug off the feeling she's having of something not being quite right.
Getting back downstairs she puts the kettle on the stove for some tea.
"Okay my honey" we can check things out on our way home.
"We have some time before we have to do our patrol," Gerard says. "Anything you'd like to do?"
Ylrhea looks over the cloaks and clothing. "Just pick whatever you like."
"Thanks." Celia says, going through the items. After a while she selects a couple pairs of warmly lined breeches in black and dark brown, three warm tops and a long fur lined dress, split up the side to allow freedom of movement. "I should probably try these on shouldn't I?"
If Ammon had the capability of smirking, he would have been. This woman was definitely well schooled in combat, and it certainly did take her long to learn how to handle the shield. But she didn't have the experience with it he did, and she knew it. A fact he used to his advantage as the magus probed his defenses. When she increased her tempo, he pressed forward, angling his shield in ways she didn't quite think were possible. A couple of times, Ammon almost managed to get her black blade away from her. However, when she began pressing forward suddenly, it caught him off guard, something that hadn't happened in a long time. It was time to pull the stops, with a quick shift in his thinking and stance, he leaped in the air over Sādhanā and behind her, then landed a solid blow, nearly knocking her off balance.
She nods and finishes her scone. Rubbing her belly she sighs happily, "Mmmmm...that was so good and just right. Thank you Yulia...it was delicious." She calls out as she takes out a couple of gold and lays them on the table, "Have a good day okay?" Standing up she holds out her hand for Rhy and helps her out of her chair, "Let's go and see if we can see where that weird noise is coming from."
Stepping outside with her wife she stops and closes her eyes and listens for the weird clanging noise again to try and tell what it is and where it's coming from.
Pulling the silver from his pouch and handing it to Halfpocket, "Have a nice day Halfpocket."
Drago turned and headed home quickly to drop off the blanket, then back to the Cafe.
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Taking Celine, Alethiro couldn't help but wipe a tear a happiness from his eyes, Such a strong girl, I couldn't be prouder.
Yulia smiles as Drago returns. "How was the shopping?"
"School's closed today, thought I'd come by."
"Would be a good idea," Ylrhea says.
"As to expected, pretty busy. Only managed to get one blanket though."
Kāma continues to pleasure her love, tongue dancing over her tender nub as she slips a finger inside of her wet folds, beginning to caress her soft flesh.
"Excuse me, is there somewhere to try these on?" Celia asks, going to the counter.
Hearing the definite sound of metal against metal she looks at her wife, "I'm not taking any chances this time. When I change, climb on and hold on tight. It's gonna be a fast ride." She says as she steps back and turns into a giant Cheetah.
Crouching down she waits for Rhy to settle on her back and feel her hands holding tightly onto her fur before taking off in the direction of the sound. In no time at all she reaches the place the noise is coming from and stops about forty feet away from the pair as she sees Sadhana up on some kind of board trying to fend off some kind of cat creature. How do these jerks keep finding us and why is she alone? She thinks in an agitated and annoyed state. She gets there just in time to see him jump up and land behind her, landing a vicious blow that almost sends her sprawling. In that split second all the thoughts of Charity and what she had been through went racing through her mind and the only thing she could think of was, No...not again! Without even thinking she summons a strong wind and with a swiping motion of her paw sends him flying back about twenty feet to land in a snow bank on his butt before bounding up to him and putting a massive paw on his chest. Growling fiercely at him she looks up at Sadhana with her huge cat eyes to make sure she's okay before changing back. Thunder claps in the sky as the clouds darken around them and lightning arcs through her fingers as she raises her hand above her head in a striking position, "Just who in the NINE HELLS are you, and what are you doing here?!" She yells at him over the noise of the rising wind.
As Tesia transforms into herself Rhadaya takes to the air hovering above the catman as her wife pins him down, her eyes flashing as lightning crackles along her arms. One wrong move and he would die painfully.
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While educational, it was also frustrating holding to Ammon's limitations as she was forced to ignore eighty percent of her arsenal, a myriad of spells, magical effects and defenses passing through her mind in response to his moves only to be discarded. The flipping attack genuinely caught her by surprise, and as she caught her balance, preparing to rush forward a rush of wind and blinding snow gives her pause.
In a moment she understood. Watching the Stormbringers in action was a thing of beauty, knowing they had her back bringing a smile to her lips, along with the realization that Ammon had a few moments if she didn't explain.
"Tesia, Rhadaya, it's not what it looks like, I'm okay!" she calls out loudly.
