Between The Bars

drink up, baby, stay up all night the things you could do, you won't but you might the potential you'll be, that you'll never see the promises you'll only make ~ Elliot Smith

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The smell of brimstone hung in the air near the forge, a sign that he was in to those who knew the area. An orange glow through an open door cut into the darkness of the night. Heat blowing lightly out of the place and carried that sulfurous odor with it. Inside was the sounds of the hammer strikes and something more, a voice singing softly, chanting perhaps. He was there, standing over an anvil carved like a man kneeling. Across his back a flat plate that looked ready for the weight of the world. One arm of that cast man out to form the horn of the anvil. The other arm reaching for the woman that was carved from the wooden base upon which the anvil rested. The hammer dropped in a ringing staccato of notes that had the singer changing his tones at intervals. Coming from the inn Nilan took the long way home back to the docks. Cutting through the market didn't really make the path any shorter but there was a sense of restlessness under her skin tonight. Walking always did make that feeling easier to go to bed with. The massive black rune blade strapped across her back, easily almost a foot taller than its wielder did nothing to slow her stride. Nilan moved as though she had been carrying that sword all her life. Her mind moved at its usual pace thoughts of her children, her grandson. She wished she'd gotten something a little harder in her system than a bottle of wine before leaving the inn. For a moment that internal monologue was paused, instead Nilan's attention was captured by the light coming from a short way down an otherwise dark street. Her pace stilled, her head tilted from one side to the other, thinking, considering, a forge. This was actually rather useful. Strides resumed and Nilan followed her feet to the entrance of the forge, breathing in the scent of brimstone for a moment - it was almost nostalgic. Nilan's eyes fixed on the smith at work, she cleared her throat. She tested the waters, seeing if he was aware of strangers afoot, or if he was too engrossed in his work as most craftsmen were inclined to be. Kruger's eyes never left the glowing metal on the anvil, his lips moving in words that would be clear to those who understood the language of the elements. The song remained uninterrupted, even as a bead of perspiration rolled off the tip of his nose to sizzle on the heated steel below. He heard her entry; the soft clearing of her throat was picked up by the parabolic ceiling. It filtered down to him and the piece upon which he worked. Had she heard that' Understood it for what it was" Few really did though he was always happy to explain the process, the need for the acoustics to be just right. That of course complicated things from time to time as well. It was nice when they could really understand. He changed the song once again, turning to deposit the steel into the flames. The leather apron that covered his chest left the back bared to the newcomer, a crisscrossing network of scars that could only be caused by a whip covered his back in white stripes. "Mind the circle." She wasn't near it but if she weren't paying attention she might not see it on the stone floor. He turned to her then and offered an amber eyed smile that sent the wolf branded beneath his left eye into a kind of bow as his cheek creased. "Welcome to my forge, I am Kruger." He gave no accolades of rank, they mattered less to him than the work itself.

He traced the letters down along the handle with a callused finger and laughed, before looking back at her. His fingernail tested the depth of those carvings, a nervous habit that he had taken up recently enough with his own weapons. "It's funny isn't it?" He laid the axe aside onto a workbench releasing it almost guiltily as he looked at Nilan hoping she didn't think him overly odd. "It'll be a couple of days, I need to get it apart and see how deep the damage is. Worst case I think is I will need to fold back the blade and reform it, it depends on any fracturing in the metal. Fractures can be welded but you don't want those welds to be on your edge. Then it couldn't do what it says." He stroked the letters once again. "Nota bene...Mark Well, your maker was a joker it seems." She watched him as he studied her weapon, blinking as the translation came, how long had she gone without knowing what that axe actually said" Decades probably. A light chuckle escaped her and she bobbed her head slightly, nodded in amused agreement, "a joker" I am ashamed to admit these had a script I could never find the translation of. They were given to me a very long time ago - a sort of commendation of service well rendered." Again she shrugged taking the axe's twin and holding it out to him. "Would having this one be of any assistance to you? I might be motivated by selfishness, in the hopes you might tell me what this one says as well. It has been too long to not know." Kruger looked to the handle of the second axe. "I have what I need from it for the first, though I can tell you what this one says." His brows furrowed a bit as he looked at it though. "I don't find this one quite as funny, dura mater. Tough Mother, do you find this one hits the head more often than the other?" He turned his head to look at the other axe briefly before finding his eyes on Nilan once again. It was also the name given to the outer covering of the brain. If it were so he would find it much funnier indeed.

Nilan's head turned towards Kruger and she studied him as he spoke, a faint smile tugging at the corners of her mouth, she could tell that he was somewhere else, a time long ago and faraway and she hardly minded the nostalgia, it was a comfort to know she wasn't alone in occasionally delving into the past. "You can continue your conversation with yourself all you like - we have all been stupid children I believe." Again she smiled faintly, perhaps now thinking of her own long ago and far away, "pride and hubris can be very addicting after all. There is no sweeter intoxication then when we are drunk on our own glory." She lifted her hand in a silent gesture that seemed to say 'oh what can you do"' Clearing her throat and departing from her own private reverie, Nilan looked at the axes, and tilted her head; it was her turn to get a faraway look in her eyes as she ruminated on that question, "far, far from RhyDin. A stronghold called Dunadzak," the Dwarven name pronounced effortlessly by the woman before she remembered herself and looked back at him almost sheepishly, "you are not the only one who can be lost in the past. It was far from here, very far." He pretended not to notice her look, turning as though it had been his intention all along to start to work on the axe laid atop the work bench. He looked to the head watching her peripherally while discovering the best way to free it from its handle. "Time teaches, sometimes ruthlessly no?" A pair of smooth jawed pliers were taken and placed, the smith gave a twist that had his forearms bulging for a moment before pulling a long metal rod from the top. It tapered downwards like a cone. "Nilan is an interesting name..." He was working away from the stronghold, anything to keep her talking, comfortable. "Is it from as far from RhyDin?" She wasn't as discreet, choosing to watch him as he turned away to begin work. Craftsmen, smiths especially, were horribly fascinating people. "Further, so far it's likely not on a map," her voice was quiet, she did not often speak of her homeland, at least not while so sober. "Nilanoch is my full name, but no one has used it in a long, long time. Nilan does me fine, when I had friends, they would call me Nil." A pause, "and Kruger" Where are you from?"

He wouldn't tell her he never wore a nightgown, he thought he understood the implication. He couldn't help to grin at her laugh, she wouldn't see it because he turned and pushed the axe head deep into the bed of coals. "You're saying if I keep saying it you will get used to someone wearing your nightgown?" Saying it brought images that he shook away. "You understand that in order to make the blade even, I first have to damage the whole of it." He schooled his face before turning back to her, his eyes catching the carved woman that was the base of the anvil and lingering there for a moment. He held up his hand flat except for the pinky which he left bent. "I'll fold back the outer edge." He curled his fingers at the center knuckle as he talked about it. "Then weld it and redraw out the blade's edge." When he straightened his hand this time all the fingers were fully extended. "I'm saying that if you continue to call me by my given name, at times I will not realize it is me you are addressing." She paused and chuckled lightly, "and perhaps I will continue to imagine you in a loose shift, off to bed." Her posture straightened in spite of herself when he turned again, explaining what would happen to the axe before it would be repaired at last, she gave a single nod at his description, "I trust that my tools are in good hands, do as you must." "A couple of days should suffice, that will give me time to do the work, polish and sharpen....him." He pouted a little at her jest about him in a shift, though he couldn't say why that was his first reaction. "Perhaps that is how I will keep from being too arrogant then....Nilanoch. As for the notebook, I would be honored to be able to read it." He squared his shoulder, a twist to his neck to set it cracking. "Would you like it delivered or would you prefer to stop again? I don't mind bringing it, gets me out from time to time." A grown man pouting - now that wasn't something you see every day, or ever really, if you happened to be Nilan. The sight had her laughing quietly, raising her eyebrows at him in amusement. "If you bring my axe to me I will have the book on hand for you, you shall have to give me a name to call you as well, if you mean to go on with this Nilanoch silliness," she nodded, that smile lingering still. It had been a while since she'd simply conversed with another person, and Nilan found it to be most enjoyable indeed. "I live at the docks, my boat is quite small it's called Tanelorn. It has a clothes line; you'll know it when you see it." How ridiculous. How many of his customers lived in opulent homes, while she made her base of operations a little boat" "Tanelorn, at the docks. I'll remember." He was being closed mouthed at a name to call him. There were plenty around that were less than complimentary. "I wouldn't have picked you for a sailor, I have no name to give that would allow me to see you wearing a shift and off to bed." He chose that moment to be looking elsewhere, that spot on the wall, he'd been meaning to get to sanding that. "Fair is fair though I suppose. Aristotle is my name." His nose scrunched at the saying of it. "I don't know why my parents insisted on it." He did return his eyes to her and a callused open hand for her to take. "I'll bring it when it is completed." The corner of his mouth rose on that left side once more. The remark about her wearing a shift silenced her for a moment, and while she didn't blush - Nilan simply wasn't the sort for such things - she did smirk, just at the corners of her mouth, and was indeed most grateful the gentleman was looking elsewhere and didn't catch such a thing. "If I must be Nilanoch, then you must be Aristotle," nodding again in a very businesslike manner she took a step towards the door, "I will see you then." He watched her all the way out, a bare nod before turning back to the circle he had been working in. "Be careful."

Pushing open the little trap door and hoisting herself through she looked down towards the docks for the visitor. "Well met, Aristotle," she said with a small smile as he was spotted and she went about picking up a long wide plank of wood she kept on deck for the purposes of boarding. "Please, come up and inside, it's too bloody cold out here for my old bones."

A wry smile at his own name fired back at him. Fair he supposed, he had after all started it. "It's me, or as me as I tend to get." Kruger traveled along the dock to the plank that linked it to the ship. The pack on his back was nearly empty, it hadn't been earlier but he was saving this particular delivery for last. The long handles of two hammers hung down the sides of his thighs. The heads couldn't be seen beneath the leather coat he was wearing.

He crossed the beam slowly as though lacking trust in its ability to hold his weight. He hit the deck and moved a little closer to her, His eyes showing a certain amount of baggage from lack of sleep. "I found a little time to work in your axe. I hope I am not intruding." He looked from her to the fading light. "I can come back if you would prefer." He kept a distance between them, though if that was for his comfort or if he meant it for her he wouldn't be able to answer easily.

Watching him with a faint touch of amusement as he crossed the plank onto the deck of her home she gave him an appreciative nod once he reached the other side. "Intruding? Yes. Roasting potatoes does require the most intent of focus," she smirked although tried her best to sound serious. "Please, come inside." Without waiting to see if he would follow, Nilan headed back through the trap door and back to her quarters, hanging her cloak on a hook as she reentered the warmth of her home. The place was modest really - and strangely enough one might note that the boat looked bigger on the outside than it was on the inside, how strange indeed.

There was her cooking fire and a small table piled with various ornately decorated books and scrolls opposite a single chair, which was where the woman was headed now. Unlike the previous evening she wore a shirt without sleeves, as she had not expected company, and the dark skin of her arms were peppered with scars of various sizes and shapes, a testimonial to the fact that she had survived much. "I believe I promised you this, did I not," a pause, "Aristotle." Lifting one book bound in sky blue leather, silver lettering on the outside cover in an Elvish script. "It is the journal of a weapon smith, his entire study on the purification and imbuing of metals."

"I'd enjoy a little wine, and a seat." The food was not claimed, was he hungry' He really couldn't say for sure. He had a vague memory of the last thing he ate, that ought to be enough right' "I'll try not to be too much of a disturbance to you. Are you here for long or just passing to the next port?"

"You'll have to excuse me, but all of my fine crystal doesn't exist." She spoke as she took a cup more built for coffee and filled it with wine, holding it out for him before she gestured towards the chair. His question made her shake her head, shoulders lifting in a little shrug. "I can't say. I've been here for a few months now, and work is very thin on the ground so I expect I will be here for a few months longer still." Pausing a smirk curled the corners of her mouth gently, almost feline in nature, "why' Do you wish to be rid of me already?" Tsking at him, she filled her own mug with wine and had a sip. This was a definite improvement to getting drunk alone.

He gave a silent laugh and took the ceramic mug. "I look like a man who drinks from crystal" Give me a stout wooden cup something I am not afraid to break." He had considered refusing the seat since it would leave her standing but sat anyway not wishing to insult her hospitality. It wouldn't do to flip flop on the issue either. "Is it okay if I feel guilt over sitting while you stand?" He lowered himself into the chair and smiled up at her. "Since I am now kicking you from port out of hand that is."

"You have distinguished cheekbones," Nilan said simply, "I'm sure sometime, somewhere, you've drank from crystal." Again that smirk came into view for just a moment before the expression was hidden behind the rim of her mug. "I do not know - you should ask yourself if it is okay or not." The smirk widened into a smile as she met his eye. "I sit all the time, standing will not kill me." She was a good sport about it though, leaning against the wall beside her fire as she took a look at the potatoes still roasting in the embers before her attention returned again to him. "I suppose if it does kill me my daughter will be stunned to silence that I met my end so quietly, which is almost worth it."

It wasn't her place to pass judgment on another, her own sins tallying in the high hundreds. As he spoke of his children any amusement melted from her face, and she seemed to be pensive instead, sipping her wine in silence as she listened. Complex lives were sadly too common, and far too painful, although his mention of having no honor caused an eyebrow to rise. "I do not know that you have no honor, only that you have told me you do not, which may be pain speaking." Studying his face she spoke again, quietier this time. "Pain lies." Refilling her wine, she moved towards him with the bottle, refilling his own without being asked. "You sound like a man who needs to drink his wine to me, so it would be a crime to turn you away with you not having done so."

Kruger looked to the cup and the wine within it. "Pain? In some things that may be true. I thought I ought to let you know....early on' that I walked out on a home a wife and child. That I did so without being provoked and having little more reason than I couldn't stay there anymore." He watched the cup as it rose to his lips. She would judge him or not, he wasn't sure what he hoped for out of Nilan. He liked her enough to be honest with her. "It's hard to say it sometimes and I have been looked at in ways that I would be tempted to as well. No one has called me to account yet though." He expected to be of course, always on the edge and waiting to be judged by everyone. The sip and swallow preceded his look back to her, wanting to see if she held anything different in her eyes.

His openness surprised her, and if he chose to study her expression now perhaps that would be the only thing that had changed at all about the way she was looking at him. After another, large sip of wine was had Nilan's hands went to her leather supply pouch, usually at her hip but since she was home it had been waiting by the fire, her nimble fingers rolling a cigarette as she spoke. "My son's father, he was brilliant, but he was power hungry. He was also the consort for a queen."

Nilan's lips twisted into a humorless, bitter smirk as she spoke. "She was a fool. Her kindness made her stupid and she would permit her enemies to walk through the front door. I was in her employ, protecting her children as her stupidity caused near fatal error after fatal error until one day," she lifted her gaze to him, bringing the cigarette to her lips as she moved towards a porthole window, opening it to let a slight chilly breeze in, "I just left them. I abandoned my duty as a petulant child might after not getting their way."

"I'm fortunate I think, the girls are close though I don't see them much. I do try and see Nikolai as often as I am able. The snow isn't always a friend to me." He was neglecting his drink on purpose, giving him reason to stay longer. "I can only try to equate your experience with that mage as selling a weapon that you know is going to do questionable things. Daggers with poison wells for instance. There is only one reason to own one of those." He wet his lips and looked at her seriously, wondering how much she would tell him if he asked. "Did your queen ever discover what happened?"

"If she did, I never knew of it." Another pull of the cigarette taken as she strode across the room, breathing out smoke as she returned to the fireplace to toss the rest of the cigarette in. "If you ask me things I do not wish to tell you, I will tell you so - women do like their mystery at times, as I imagine you must know." Nilan chuckled, daggers with poison wells - to her it seemed as though some people just wanted the weapon to simply do the work for them.

Of course, her own broadsword did pack an extra punch all its own but that was entirely different. Or so she liked to think. Another sip of wine was taken and Nilan studied her visitor with interest. "I do not care if she held me accountable for my betrayal. She would invite those who tried to kidnap her one week to court the following week." She gave another somewhat annoyed sigh and a shake of the head. "I suppose when your resources are seemingly limitless it does permit you to be a fool to some degree."

"I've heard that about women a time or two, liking mystery I mean. I'm not sure I am any different. It may just be the question hasn't been asked yet." He moved out of her way to let her by. "Perhaps she knew and preferred to pretend she didn't, I am no judge of such things. I am not so sure I can agree to the permission to be a fool. The fool with power has a responsibility to listen to those around them. Not simply depend on them to make it right when all goes wrong." Finally Kruger took another slow sip from his mug. "I'd think that knowing your enemies is a good thing, putting them in the ground may be better though." His fingers tightened on the mug as he spoke, a subtle movement except for the slight whitening to his knuckles. "You do tend to find other enemies then though."

Oddly his mind hadn't gone in the same direction until she mentioned keeping her clothes on. "I..." The smallest flash of her in that role swept through his thoughts as she laughed. The color at his cheeks reddened slightly, though he managed to pull it under control quickly, probably not quickly enough to have avoided notice. "It's interesting, I have travelled, though I tended to pay for passage in trade." Another awkward statement had she not known his trade already. "Fixing things, I mean I won't claim that I always stayed dressed, the fires can be hot. The embers get caught in fabric." Kruger considered his position smiling slightly, he retrieved his cup and rather than rise sat closer to the hearth. "Some of that isn't so bad in the winter months."

No, it hadn't gone unnoticed, although Nilan said nothing, smirking slightly. A reaction like that, however slight was flattering for someone who didn't exactly plaster their feminine charms out there for the world to see. "You would have been an asset on any of our quests - for your skills of course, not being in a state of undress." Her dark eyes narrowed in a moment of playfulness before Nilan sipped her wine again. "The best work I've had was when I could find it accompanying adventurers, a cut of the spoils, and simply to learn something new, as I was always going to some dusty corner of the world where no one had gone for ages. When you are a bodyguard, as I've spent recent years, you often find yourself protecting people who don't deserve to be kept alive."

Smiling inwardly and looking up at her. "That's good of you to say, most of my duties were broken wagon wheels and mending cutlery. A nice change of pace for a while, I wouldn't wish to do it all the time. As much as I know what my creations do, I wouldn't see myself....can't see myself doing anything else." Kruger's bottom lip found its way between his teeth and his brows dipped as though drawing an urge to say something. A deep breath and the words came out. "Please sit, I feel rude being the only one, and I have to say I am getting a crick in my neck."

There was a single chair, she did not entertain often, and her quarters were ordinarily only for her use, still she laughed again when he asked her to sit and looked around her. The options where the bed all the way across the room which was immediately vetoed due to just how awkward that would be for the both of them. Reaching up she pushed her hair over her shoulder and nodded once, "alright, if only to save your joints from further damage Aristotle."

"I've lied so gravely to you by calling myself flawless and you ask for my forgiveness?" Nilan looked at him in disbelief and shook her head slowly. "We are all friends here, do not worry so intensely about these things," she gave him a small encouraging smile and reached out with one hand, gently resting it on his shin in a slight comforting gesture."At least, I think no less of you than I did when I first made your acquaintance." Pulling her hand back to lift her wine once more it was Nilan's turn to avert her gaze to somewhere, anywhere else, the wine was a good starting place, but her eyes skimmed towards the little porthole window, clearing her throat before she attained the gumption to again look his way.

He listened as she talked of lying, it didn't matter really. He knew it for what it was meant. He nearly flinched at the unexpected touch to his shin. He couldn't stop his heart from skipping though. "You, say things sometimes and leave me thinking others. This perhaps is another of my flaws, but it is the one that allows me to be creative I think. I'm learning I suppose, finding something within that used to just come to me."

He pulled his vision from the mug to Nilan. "And I suppose I make no sense either. Do you ever just get lost in a swirl of thoughts" They wind inward and down and somewhere at the core it hurts." He watched every movement of her discomfort and felt guilty for that too, though reassured at her offer of friendship and esteem.

"Of course I do," fixing her eyes on him, her smile returned, "I believe that is the price everyone pays after living too long and through too much," another sip, "it's one of the reasons why I am happy to have you keeping me company right now - if you weren't, my memories would be. But tell me, what have I said, and what has it made you think?" Curiosity had gotten the better of her, and the question was out before she had a moment to think. Nilan's moment of awkwardness was perhaps due to not having someone to be even faintly close with for a time. She certainly had not spoken of her life and her children with anyone in quite a while. Whatever the reason was, it seemed to have evaporated like smoke within the span of seconds.

He shook his head just a little, leaving wheat colored eyes on her face. "You speak boldly about yourself, and that has an appeal to it. If I don't keep myself in check though, searching for flaws can easily become much more."

"Men can be as bad, and as beautiful at times. It would be a shame to believe that all people are like this. Perhaps it is because I wish my daughter and her husband to be very happy for a very long time." It was also hard to imagine sweet level headed Athena unleashing anything terrible on to the world, but perhaps as her mother Nilan was biased.

"Without question men can be as bad, though I perhaps see them as the river." He liked her grin, it told of as much hidden as was on the surface. "I make no claims that we are not as dangerous. Still we follow a predictable path and believe we are able to stand no matter the burden. Let a rainstorm come along though and we lose control, overflow our banks and do damage to anything in our wake." He stretched his legs forward letting the heat to the souls of his boots and adjusting his seat some. "I do believe we are all this way, the right push will send us in a direction. For most it is the same, if something came for Athena's child she would ignite would she not?" He shrugged a little before placing a hand behind him for support. "I don't know her, so all my ideas are simply assumptions. But her mother is strong, and that is handed down."

"If something came for him, she would not have to ignite alone," the teasing grin drained out of her face, her eyes growing dark and serious in that moment, before the moment had gone. Nilan puffed out a breath and looked at him. "Men can be, they are certainly as unpredictable as the river. Swelling in the good times and shriveling in the bad." After Nilan had realized she'd made the most horrible metaphor ever for the waning and waxing emotional availability of the opposite sex she looked at Kruger, mortified, and then she just started to laugh, hiding her face in her hands, unable to stop, managing a hurried apology between giggles, "it's my turn, I believe, to beg pardon isn't it?"

"No, truth is to be applauded." He reached forward, lightly touching the inside of her wrist in an attempt to see her face. "I'll stop apologizing if you will, we'll just agree to be direct even unintentionally. I promise not to stop blushing though, if that appeals to you as a concession?" Kruger's hand fell away, he had barely registered her skin beneath the callused fingers, the heat was something else though. His thumb slid across his fingertips absently. "Of course if you were looking to keep going with our game, I'll be happy to say something embarrassing to you."

He looked at her, shedding amusement even as she topped off the cup. "Perhaps not, maybe I am just seeing what isn't there." Her hand on his knee was hard to work around. He was as aware of where her fingers ended as he was the width of her palm. He let out a breath at once relieved and uncertain. "You have a hunter's pretty eyes, and a fighter's body. I don't know that I would call you beast though. I'm just promising you there will be no unexpected struggle from me. You determine when I have overstayed my welcome."

"Perhaps you are, but we are free people Aristotle, so please be at ease." His compliments did not go unnoticed, not by a country mile and Nilan flushed a bit, a soft laugh escaping her lips, "a fighter's body in more ways than one I'm afraid." She lifted her hand, gesturing towards the scars that were visible on one arm, "sometimes I am compelled to wonder what exactly holds me together after all these years." Her arms weren't the only parts of her skin marked by the blows of an enemy, she had been at war for a long time in one way or another, and her physique reflected that. "You continue to be welcome, and your lack of struggle is noted. I myself also seem to be failing to put up a fight." He could take that statement how he wished, wine made her rather mouthy it seemed.

He did relax some, though he looked at the spot where her hand had been. He followed it with his eyes and gazed intensely on her scars. He couldn't help but reach to trace a few of them with his fingers, as well as his eyes. He frowned a little before looking back to her face. "Force of will keeps you together. You can't look at the brand on my face and believe that a few scars will mar you in my sight can you?" He let his fingers slide down her arm and take her hand to raise it to the wolf with the all-seeing-eye in its mouth." Our scars are what make us who we are.

Stretching her fingertips out as he lifted her hand to his face, she touched the brand on his cheek, leaning forward in her seat as she studied his face, not staring at the brand mind you, just taking in the whole thing, almost seeming to look at him like she'd never seen him before. "How do I look then Aristotle, in your eyes that is?" Lifting her fingers away from the brand she instead brushed his cheek lightly, her lips curving in a small smile. "They certainly tell a story and a half; a very strange, very long story." Realizing she'd been sat there, leaning in and touching his cheek for all of that time, Nilan pulled away slowly, with just a twinge of reluctance.

He smiled a bit at the old comment, he had expected that from her. "You of course would be the only one who knows, you don't seem like an old woman to me." The questions weren't unexpected either, a way to throw attention away from herself. Kruger didn't' mind, especially when her head found his arm. "Me" I am chaos incarnate I think. I see things happening, a normal day on the street, people walking and minding their own business. Today I do nothing, tomorrow perhaps I run out of the shop and yell fire, just to stir things up. That's really a more innocent way of putting it." He looked at the top of her head for several moments before continuing. "I see myself differently moment to moment. Now I see myself enjoying your company, in another I may see myself wanting to kiss you." Perhaps he should have thought before saying that. He had promised to be direct though.

Nilan laughed as he described his chaotic tendencies, imagining him charging into the marketplace shouting fire and sending waves of customers and shopkeepers running every which way. Lifting her head to look up at him, Nilan looked both surprised and somewhat pleased at that comment about wanting to kiss her, her eyebrows raising as she watched his face, "in moments past I considered kissing you already." They were being free and open weren't they' "But I believe I am not very good for anything beyond friendship to a man. Most men do not wish to hear their woman discussing how in their younger days they became efficient at disemboweling trolls and offering to show them. It is a bit of a bother, because if you were to kiss me I would not stop you." She shrugged again looking up at him plainly, her honesty punctuated by a sip of wine.

He refused to look away from her, the corner of his mouth twitching upward a couple of times. The first came with her admission and again at describing her relationships. "Perhaps it isn't the discussion that puts them off but a fear of the showing?" He twisted his torso round to face her better, the last space between them finally taken. "If I were a troll show me how would you disembowel me?" He took her hand once more and placed it on his abdomen, though he only looked away from her long enough to find her hand with his. He swallowed once before leaning close and claiming her lips.

Really, that might've been the most romantic invitation Nilan had ever received, but she had already explained that she and other women were quite different creatures indeed. Nilan's eyes grew wide as he took her hand and rest it on his stomach, but as she already said, as their lips met she did nothing at all to stop him, her fingers curling into the fabric of his shirt, pulling him closer to her as her other arm wrapped around his neck.

He nodded, and laughed about the fire mage. "I don't know, those fire mages tend to cause blisters if you get too close. I'm not looking for more Nilanoch, truth is, I wasn't expecting to be where I am right now. I could use a friend, so long as you have a place for me." He saw that bottom lip catch between her teeth and fought the urge to kiss her once more. "Tell me what you want, what you need maybe. Someone to remind you that you are still alive" To hold to when the hard thoughts come along?" It wasn't clear in his head anymore if he was asking her, or himself. "Maybe just a little warmth when the world feels cold..."

She sighed as he listed the things that were perhaps, exactly what it was she could see herself wanting around. The arm around him loosened a bit, but she did not let go, instead Nilan let her fingers brush at the hair just above the back of his neck. "A friend," she began, her brows knitting together as she pondered her words and where best to go from a beginning like that, "the things that you said yes, a friend, someone to split a bottle of wine and laugh with, who quite helpfully is also quite nice to look at with no clothes on." Nilan laughed at herself again, realizing for the millionth time that she was in fact - a most ridiculous person indeed. "And you?" Again she studied his features for a moment before leaning up to bridge the gap between them and brush a small, quick kiss to his lips, "what do you want?"

He swallowed at the question, the touch in his hair drawing a contented sigh. He pulled her into his lap and smiled at her. His arms circled her waist and he held her to him almost desperately. Kruger's cheek brushed along hers lightly, as he breathed, and whispered into her ear. "Someone to fill that emptiness, who doesn't judge and can help me to forget even for a little while that there is a world beyond this....beyond us."

Falling Slowly

Falling slowly, eyes that know me And I can't go back Moods that take me and erase me And I'm painted black

And you have suffered enough And warred with yourself It's time that you won ~ The Frames

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He looked back at her lying quietly while attending to the fire. There might have been a moment when they knew they should have added fuel, but at least for his part he was content to share his own warmth with her. Now though the chill was seeping through. The bright side about running a forge, starting fires was easy. The not so bright side, the floorboards were cold, and he could see his breath in the air. He did his best to stay quiet, sunlight had yet to think about touching the city, let alone breaking through a porthole.

Waking up to a freezing cold cabin was something Nilan had grown used to in the months that she'd made the Tanelorn her home, and the winter months had only made the problem all the more worse. While Kruger had gotten out of bed to solve the problem of the pervading cold, Nilan dozed on for the time being, one foot sticking out from beneath the blankets. The sound of his weight against one floorboard was enough for her eyes to open, and she sat up abruptly, forgetting herself and what had transpired for just a second until Nilan looked over and saw him by the little hearth, a sight which certainly made her smile. "Ah, good morning Aristotle," she said, all smiles as she sunk back to laying down, propping her head up on her hand to watch him from the nest of blankets.

He didn't turn at the sound of her voice, the only evidence of the smile that hit him was the rising of his ears. He struck a match and set to lighting the fire in various places. As the flames spread he added more wood that grew in size. "You caught me, Nilanoch. I meant to be back long before you opened your eyes so that you would think a miracle had transpired." He settled a grate of chain in front of the heart to keep sparks from hitting the wooden floor and jeopardizing the ship. "I'd say there are potatoes done but, I fear they have seen better days."

She was nothing if not a brave woman, demonstrated by the fact that now her bare feet padded across the wooden floor carrying her across the short distance between her bed and the hearth he stood at. Reaching up to brush her fingers through his hair Nilan dusted a quick kiss to Kruger's shoulder before she came along side him, crossing her arms over her bare chest as she peered into the fire, nodding her approval. "You're quite the useful naked friend you know," she smiled slowly, watching him from the corner of her eye, "I'm glad you stayed."

Approaching what seemed to be a solid wall Nilan pressed in a certain place on the wood and a door swung out, her little larder. Getting the kettle and the coffee out Nilan set about getting the water ready to boil, although not without a sad look at her languishing charred potatoes before hurrying off to join him, hopefully somewhere with blankets. "You keep expecting me to ask you to leave - have you done something horrible that I have yet to discover?"

He didn't respond right away or move for that matter. He was content to watch her as she moved away from him. He did move like, it was sudden like waking from a dream. He sucked in air having forgotten for a moment to breath. "Right, I'll go back to bed. As to the asking me to leave. You are used to a certain amount of space. It has less to do with things I have done than me believing that at some point you will tell me you want to be alone and come back later." He did his best to straighten twisted blankets, wondering how at what point they had gotten so tangled. He propped an arm beneath his head and watched her. He hadn't been lying when he told her he could see how graceful she was. "You began as a maid then" When does that training begin?"

"All I've had for a long time is space," she lifted her shoulders and shrugged, "the company is a nice change, change - is nice." Nilan climbed back into bed, cuddling up against him as she pulled the blankets up around her shoulders. "It is not one that requires much training, a step above slave really," she stretched as she spoke, arching her back and rolling her shoulders, looking almost feline as she did. "But I was pretty, so they sent me to be Cyrmoil's maid. Dress the consort, follow the consort about, this and that. When Melnibone fell I was free, when I reached the young kingdoms I learned anything anyone would teach me about the sword."

He lowered his head to the pillow with her return. There hadn't been much time for this in the dark. He held onto her, listening and letting his fingers slip across her skin blindly. They would stop here and there to follow the path of this scar or that. "You move well for someone who took to the sword so late in life." His brows knit up slightly, his voice as sober as it had ever been.

Kruger couldn't help but laugh at that grin. "A few hours ago, that wasn't exactly like, more along the lines of....need, though it happened very quickly." He lifted the blanket on his side and slipped out from under them. The air had warmed though it was still far warmer beneath the covers and in Nilan's arms. "I would say I remember her being very stiff, and perhaps a little superior." He moved over her, letting her take his weight for a moment before slipping from the bed. "Sorry Nilanoch....I am so clumsy." It was his turn to grin smugly. "Of course I was very young when I saw her last." He looked back over his shoulder at the dark haired woman. "You'll laugh perhaps, but I am thirty five." He found one mug easily, the other was buried beneath a dark shirt. He poured out two cups of coffee setting the kettle back to keep it warm. His crisscrossing scars puckering at her. He'd have felt self conscious with anyone else. "Do you take anything in yours?"

"Thirty-five" Gracious," she did in fact laugh, although refrained from telling him that her daughter was older than he was. Sitting up in bed she let the covers fall away, running her hands through her already rather tousled hair, shaking her head at his question about taking anything in her coffee. "Where did you come from Aristotle" I've told you a bit about me, it's your turn."

He brought both cups back to the bed, offering her one before making any attempt to find his way back to the other side of her. "I came from here really, kind of the only place you can really find so many intermingling races. I am of severely mixed blood, though I suspect you can blame my human grandfather for the aging." He held the mug carefully as he got back into bed. "By the time I got back here the first time, people had moved on or taken ill and passed. Honestly it didn't matter too much anymore. I had spent more years away from family than ever with them."

"Where did you go?" Nilan adjusted herself, giving him space to get comfortable and not spill his coffee as he did so. She settled sitting up, perched on the edge of the bed, her dark eyes intently watching him as that smile continued to linger on her face.

Kruger took a sip of the coffee and went silent for a long time. "When I was seven a man came to my parents, he offered to take me as an apprentice. He was in town, and I guess I had managed to pique his interest with something I did."

"Asking questions has always been a part of you then, I see, I see." Nilan let her fingers trace over his skin while she spoke, her gaze drifting from wherever she was touching to his face and back again. "Do you know what became of them' Grim and Donea, that is."

"Those questions I never wanted answered Nilanoch. In a way I think I broke him as much as he tried to break me. He hasn't ventured this way again that I know of." He set his cup on the ledge of a porthole, and held her to him. "I told you I thought I had it figured out young, at twenty, I took my work to the guild that elevated me. I thought I understood, was willing to accept that bit of magic which happens. There was no control though, no way to measure what was happening or how strongly. A simple enhancement of perception, and suddenly you see things differently, almost as they are happening. You carry it for years, never realizing that it has enhanced your perception of emotions too. Always a little too angry, or boisterous. Always too much." He smiled, curling his fingers into claws and grazing her skin with his nails lightly.

Moving easily as he pulled her closer to him she curled up against him rather snugly, her head on his chest, listening to him speak of his life rather intently. As he ran his nails down her skin she gave a slight shiver and sighed softly, her own fingertips running up the length of his arm, lifting her head to look at him. She noticed he did not say what became of his old mentor and the man's wife, but decided it was best to just leave it alone. Nilan had enough ghosts haunting her own past to know when things ought to be left to rest in peace. "You are a magical sort then? I admit I envy you. My lack of ability made me an outcast as a child."

He liked having her so close, the press of her against his chest. The touch of her hands on him was as eager seeming as his were to know her. "It's not so simple, I am an anomaly a freak in many ways, outside of the forge I am little more than a man." He would try to explain it for her. "If I were purely one thing or another, I might have more of an affinity for one element. To my people I was blind, except I don't really have people."

"Asking questions has always been a part of you then, I see, I see." Nilan let her fingers trace over his skin while she spoke, her gaze drifting from wherever she was touching to his face and back again. "Do you know what became of them' Grim and Donea, that is."

"Those questions I never wanted answered Nilanoch. In a way I think I broke him as much as he tried to break me. He hasn't ventured this way again that I know of." He set his cup on the ledge of a porthole, and held her to him. "I told you I thought I had it figured out young, at twenty, I took my work to the guild that elevated me. I thought I understood, was willing to accept that bit of magic which happens. There was no control though, no way to measure what was happening or how strongly. A simple enhancement of perception, and suddenly you see things differently, almost as they are happening. You carry it for years, never realizing that it has enhanced your perception of emotions too. Always a little too angry, or boisterous. Always too much." He smiled, curling his fingers into claws and grazing her skin with his nails lightly.

Moving easily as he pulled her closer to him she curled up against him rather snugly, her head on his chest, listening to him speak of his life rather intently. As he ran his nails down her skin she gave a slight shiver and sighed softly, her own fingertips running up the length of his arm, lifting her head to look at him. She noticed he did not say what became of his old mentor and the man's wife, but decided it was best to just leave it alone. Nilan had enough ghosts haunting her own past to know when things ought to be left to rest in peace. "You are a magical sort then? I admit I envy you. My lack of ability made me an outcast as a child."

He liked having her so close, the press of her against his chest. The touch of her hands on him was as eager seeming as his were to know her. "It's not so simple, I am an anomaly a freak in many ways, outside of the forge I am little more than a man." He would try to explain it for her. "If I were purely one thing or another, I might have more of an affinity for one element. To my people I was blind, except I don't really have people."

"Over The Hill and Far Away"

Many have I loved, and many times been bitten, many times I've gazed along the open road.

Many times I've lied and many times I've listened, many times I've wondered how much there is to know. ~ Led Zeppelin

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There was some reluctance in rising from the bed, he blamed Nilan for most of that though. He wanted to take her into that forge to give her perhaps a little insight into him as well. There was a hidden door beneath the old Jewell Ravenlock Community Center. The place had been abandoned long ago, which made it perfect for hiding in the dark. The corridor spiraled down into the earth, darkness making the first bend disappear into shadow. "I've been away for a few days." He looked at Nilan and offered as comforting a smile as he could. "I'll give us light when we close back up." He nodded to the door, and fought that urge he often had to leave and not come back.

The manner in which Kruger had spoken of the forge had piqued her curiosity, for as keen as he was to give her insight into the sort of man he was, Nilan was just as keen, perhaps more so, to find out more about the gentleman who's company she had become so fond of keeping. He was a friend now, and while her own sense of self preservation prevented her from allowing herself to go beyond that term, nobody was too rich as to refuse a friend, and Nilan liked having him as her friend. The rest could be thought about or ignored later. A life spent traveling to the far corners of the map the dark didn't bother her, and when he mentioned the light she shook her head. Her eyes had adjusted, and while she couldn't see any better than anyone else in the dim light, she wasn't made uncomfortable in the least. "Lead the way," she said quietly, a smile given as she reached up to affectionately touch his shoulder for a moment.

The closing of the door shut out the moon too. There was something else in the dark though, the path had a dull glow. "I don't like to advertise this because it reminds me of things that have been done. The lines on the walls though, paint something I got from one of those magic users." He was about to say on the coven grounds but didnt' know if she was aware of them or not. "They only show when there is no light source. It's quite a distance down though." He took the hand at his shoulder in his and moved forward slowly keeping his free hand on the wall like any maze.

Staying close to him, Nilan peered through the darkness as best she could as they moved through the corridor. Lacing her fingers with Kruger's she stayed close, silently observing as they went further down. There were questions of course, but Nilan instead kept quiet.

"Give me some time, I'll have it running give us a little heat." He pulled his shirt off and took up a shovel, a fine coating of dust covering him by the time he was done. A wheel barrow full of smith's coal was retrieved the shovel used to put down a new layer of fuel. "I should have waited till all this was done to bring you." He wiped an arm across his brow and left a sooty streak.

For a moment she stood back, watching him as he began to get his forge running before slipping the woolen wrap she wore from her shoulders, leaving it by his shirt. "Why do you not permit me to help you ridiculous man?" she moved towards the shovel, ready willing and able to help him get his forge running for the evening.

The shovel was handed over, he took a long handled rake and spread the coals evenly. "Habit I guess. I don't normally get help." He poured some oil for the lamps onto the coals and lit them with a match. "Thank you, though now you look a little like I feel." He wiped a smudge from her face with his thumb. Behind him the fire spread though as oil burned off and the coals caught the flames darkened. The metal seemed to suck the light right out of them. "Ebonsteele, the forge is made of it." He ran a finger along the metal and took a nervous breath. "I'd like to show you something, or try to anyway."

She hardly minded, and after hefting the shovel happily got to work getting coals until he bade her to stop. Leaning on the handle of the shovel and looking quite pleased with herself she chuckled at the remark, wrinkling her nose as he wiped a streak of coal from her face - the expression making her look surprisingly young and girlish. She watched the flames spread across the cowls, catching the way the glow of the fire seemed to go dim in a way. Before she could ask he was explaining. "Ebonsteele," she repeated, although not familiar with the material she had heard it mentioned in books in the past. Nodding at him she gave him an encouraging smile, "alright. I'd very much like to see."

He patted the top of the anvil. "Sit please, and give me one of your axes." He backed away from the place and held out his hand. "I hear these things, but sometimes I get to see, and I can give that to you too." He could feel the temperature in the room rising. He closed his eyes a moment and could feel everything around him including her.

All of it was just so...strange. Beautiful and strange, when he stopped speaking Nilan realized there was nothing to really say - what was happening spoke for its self - and even if there had been something to say, this was astounding - silence was far better.

A slow pour and they were left to cool once more, they were one huge slab now, heavy and strong. Kruger couldn't tell if he still spoke into her ear, he was lost in a memory that didn't belong to any living flesh. Then there were great saws and little soft shelled insects breaking them up once again. Smaller and smaller they became and more vibrations and heat. The ringing of a hammer that they knew was shaping them. With each drop of the hammer though was seen the face of the man swinging it. A hard looking dwarf though every so often he would give a laugh.

They were the axe, the dawrven craftsman, the creator was working them into existence despite the fact that Nilan knew this man hadn't been alive for centuries. Part of her thought of her sword, it could not help but wonder what they would see if they were the ore that was Mournblade but the thought was chilling - she didn't want to see that. Instead she let that thought go, the vibrations that came from the smith's hammer resounding through her like heavenly music.

Events slowed, or seemed to. Often everything was muted by a leather covering. Sometimes though a hand would take them and hurl them. They would bite deep into flesh or wood. A face now and again familiar, a woman dark haired would pull them from the place they had struck. Time and again the scene was nearly the same. Then a different sensation, a part of them damaged on the throw. Nothing felt quite in balance, though the length of time was short, a few heating and cooling breaths before the bells rang again and the forge fires heated them. A different face to the sound of the bell, familiar again though he couldn't say why. The cooling liquids washed across them, binding them into place. The files across their edge, polishing stones and soft flesh of fingers flew across their surfaces. The dull satisfying thunk of their edge into wood....the parting of flesh brought the ooze of the sticky liquid over polished surfaces.

"Sail Away"

If you're driftin' on an empty ocean With no wind to fill your sail, The future, your horizon, It's like searchin' for the Holy Grail. ~ Deep Purple

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Kruger dropped his journal into the nightstand's drawer. He couldn't say why they had come to Warrior House, since it was further than the docks were. He was glad of it though. The room was large enough for two and it had that nice private shower to wash away ash and coal dust. The sun wasn't close to rising yet when he realized that it was the second sunrise in Nilan's company. The bed was larger than on the ship, though that perhaps took some of the closeness out of the situation. On the Tanelorn they had to be tangled. Here it was like she was in another room completely.

Time works with its own strange logic. It is perceived to move differently, there was perhaps a little evidence that made a case for time slowing the closer you were to larger objects. To Kruger's mind that wasn't a slowing of time so much of a gaining of distance. He did understand time enough to know how tied up it was with distance. Angles of perception, points on a pair of diverging lines that was the difference of course it took longer to get there. That was perceived time and perceived space. The thoughts swirled through his head getting caught in that maelstrom and dragged swiftly downwards. Time truly was funny, word from Belglade being what it was he thought he may need time as well.

He would take it as well, the time he needed. That had been the point of their talk this morning, his and Nilan's. He hadn't fully explained to her his needs but he would very soon. He couldn't think of a better time than when they were away. She would understand, he knew that from the moment she had gone out with Arlin that night. More precisely he knew it the moment she returned to him. Kruger had worried a little over what could have happened. Nilan had proven strong though.

"You'll miss me won't you?" Nilan had chuckled as she said it, but it was perhaps truer than he was willing to admit without forcing himself to include a laugh in return. He would indeed miss her, but if he really was on this particular course he would need to meet with someone. He hadn't lied to her about seeing forges in his dreams. They were filled with splendor, shone like stars in a blackness unbroken by any light save that coming from the forges. Power was there, potential sat waiting for him. It was waiting, he had made the journey into those places, and found them empty. His hand swept away dust of the ages, and everywhere he touched the light shone through. He understood it though, how could he not, the potential within waiting for him. Two forges abandoned, and dusty with the need of their smith.

It was time to have his forges manned in his absence. "I'm afraid I might be drunk on you Aristotle." He heard the words echo through his head again and couldn't help the smile that came to him. He would begin his inquiries close to home, knowing one smith who could cover so long as there was time in her schedule. This could be a short search, or he could find himself searching all day. He certainly hoped not, he wanted to see Niko before the sun set.

He hugged her as tightly. "It is where I first met Angel too if I am not mistaken." It had been a while though since he had been here, cold that night and an entirely different mood had surrounded him. "In all honesty, I need a favor. If it is too much I understand, you have enough things going on that you don't need me mucking things up on you." He shook his head and started to laugh. "See there I go again, always afraid to commit to the questions, and offering you an excuse before I even ask." Savoring his warm embrace, Miranda couldn't help the chuckle that escaped her lips. "You are correct in your memories." It was good to see him smile so freely and she only hoped it would last at the very least for a little while. "A favor? I suggest you spit it out before I change my mind." Winking for she was well within her rights to tease him. How could she ever tell him no on a favor. He had been there for her and she would happily return his kindness if only he could ask the question. He gave a half laugh for her teasing, and the wink. "Fine, I'm leaving town, taking a vacation I suppose. Something you and so many others have been trying to convince me to do for some time." He couldn't really remember how long they had been suggesting it. Seemed like almost forever. "The problem is that it's sudden, almost immediately. I haven't given any warning to my customers. I was hoping to get a little coverage from a smith I trust." He resisted the urge to squish her too hard.

He nodded to her about the checking in on Niko. "I would appreciate that, the looking in I mean, and the explanation to Angel. It's strange to have so many things that need taking care of before an adventure like this. I remember when....I remember just hanging a sign and going." He turned to look at Miranda at her deep breath, he gave a small nod. "You are happy right?" "How could I not be happy for what is best for your heart?" Her smile was sure despite what she knew was to come. Like any sister she would miss her brother. "I want you to be happy more than anything. I promise I will take care of things." Miranda nodded her head setting a few curls loose about her face. He shook his head, still smiling. "I don't know what happens, I know that for the first time in a long time I feel like....moving forward. Where that comes from I can't really be sure. Nilan does have a boat, The Tanelorn, it's small enough to be run by just her really, I suppose I will be along for the ride. Oddly I think she needs me too." His tone was subdued with the last part, his head tilted slightly at Miranda. "Where are you off to?"

Time, the walk back from Belglade was full of that. Full of the thing that he hated most thoughts. It wasn't all thought he hated, it was the ones he could have changed. The problem with changing them is that it would put him back in that place he had found himself. Head of the household, of a growing community, it would put him in a bed that he had no doubt was warm. He couldn't be that though, he knew that even as he had walked out the door. He knew it before that, and stood by it even as she had said goodbye. Shai would take Nikolai, and she should after all. She was his mother and he would need her. His decision didn't stop the pain despite how she seemed to think him unfeeling. He'd been cruel perhaps, insisting that she make that final decision. He knew she would go though, and he didn't blame her, or at least he wouldn't in time.

Kruger lingered on the dock outside of Tanelorn. He had taken a seat, legs dangling over the edge at the end of the pier. His gaze strayed from the horizon, empty of everything but the island and the lighthouse that was perched atop it. The view was the same, only from a different angle, much like his life had become. The light wound its way around again signaling in the darkness, but was it pointing the way or simply accusing him. More likely it was just doing what it was meant to a showing the hazards of the bay. They had changed too, not in form but definitely in position relative to him. His hands were numb with the cold, a fact that only made him aware of what the sensation was. That awareness pointed in ways he likely wouldn't have thought of exactly how not numb he was inside. He wanted to be sometimes. He had begged for it more than he cared to tell anyone. Instead he found himself feeling more. A familiar feeling though it too seemed eschew in its place.

Nilan was waiting for him, he knew that much. Kruger wanted to be in there with her now. He hadn't known what to say though, how to talk about what had transpired. Perhaps if he knew how to define it the discussion would be easier. He'd left, and admitted that much to Nilan in the very beginning. Was that guilt or honesty' He thought perhaps a mixture of both, though the guilt wasn't in feeling like he should be there. To Kruger it was more like he was guilty because he knew he should want to be there and didn't. He pulled one leg back up to rest his heel on the boards of the pier. His arms wrapped around his knee by instinct. It was time, Kruger knew that much at least.

"I meant with your son and your wife, but it makes me glad to know you want to be with me," Nilan smiled a bit up at him and hugged his arm. "You should have a relationship with your son, as much of one as you want to. You should visit him as much as you possibly can, witness him growing up, be his friend. And, your wife is entitled to happiness, I hope she finds it wherever she goes."

"You're right, she does deserve happiness, I have tried to tell her that before. She chose to change the christening as well, which may be for the best. I am not one to follow the teachings that she would set before Niko. I am the last person who should be in that place." He felt like somehow it would be defiled by his presence. "I've spoken to another smith though, and I am free to go....I just want to go, now if the tide allows for it."

"It is hard for a woman, for anyone, to linger in a place she feels is full of ghosts, you will be a father to your son, and hopefully in time, when hurt departs you will find a way to be friends with her. If she needs to go, and to change plans, then this is what she must do." Letting his hand go she wrapped her arms around him, hugging tightly before looking up to plant a light, quick kiss to his lips. "Then we'll go. You deserve to be happy too."

When her arms when him, Kruger's went around her. He held on tightly, he wanted to go, but that would mean letting go. That was something he didn't want to do right now. Could she feel that in him right now? Could she know how much just being there meant to him' "I love you, Nilanoch..."

"I love you Aristotle," gently she rubbed at his back before hugging him tightly again, hiding her face against his chest for a moment before she peeked up again. "We don't have to set sail right away you know, we can relax for a little while." Maybe she could tell he didn't want to let go just yet, more likely she didn't either.

Kruger felt her face in his chest and felt better, more than that. He knew he needed her with him now, much the same as she had needed him when Arlin had shown up. She had become his anchor point the moment she said the words to him again. "If not tonight my love, then tomorrow early. I long for warmth and time with you alone....absolutely alone."

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