Fast Feet

Writers: Chelle, Eimi
Date Posted: 15th February 2012

Characters: Parale, Ioven
Description: The two of them dance at the gather and end up going home.
Location: Sunstone Seahold
Date: month 5, day 28 of Turn 6

Ioven held out a glass of wine to his wife as he closed the last few
steps. "Naria should be awarded some kind of commendation from the Hold
for her heroism. She has _four_ girls staying with her tonight in addition
to her own two. They have mattresses from the storerooms spread across
their floor and they're all just going to sleep in one giant bed. It's
quite a sight."

She took it and sipped. Parale had been having an interesting day.
It was good to finally have time with her husband since he had been at
the booth working. Taking the girls around had been fun, but this
was what she needed. "I imagine it would be fun, though. I always
wanted a lot of brothers and sisters, you know."

"Brothers and sisters are one thing, that many girls sleeping on your
floor is quite another. Oh, and don't forget, I promised them we would
take their girls tomorrow night." Turn around was only fair.

"Aye I know. I've got games and things for them to play. We'll make a
party of it." After all, it wasn't that often. She finished off her wine
glass and set it down. The harpers were playing a sort of lilting tune
and Parale found herself humming it.

"I just hope I'll be able to get some sleep before my shift in the
morning." Ioven loved having his girls around, but he wasn't accustomed
to other people's children invading his home. That was another new
development after his marriage to Parale. "You can tell these glasses
were made in a hurry, can't you," he said, lifting one up to the light.

"There are some imperfections yes. Still, if they're meant for sitting
on someone's cabinet, then it shouldn't matter." Listening to the tune, she
turned and put a hand on Ioven's thigh. "Let's go dancing."

Ioven was about to comment that it should _always_ matter if one took
pride in their craft, however the strategically placed hand cut off that
thought. "Ah, yes, let's do that," he said, remembering that was why
they had arranged an evening alone in the first place. Setting the cup
aside, he stood and offered her his hand. "Shall we?"

For the gather, Parale had certainly gotten dressed up. She was easy to
spot, in a dress that was layered with different colors. The skirt was a
light green and the top was a light sea blue. Her head was coifed into
a boned plait and her earrings shone with the moonlight. Putting her
hand in his, she followed Ioven to the dance floor. Taking their place
on the floor, she followed his lead and enjoyed the music.

It was nice to have real Hall trained harpers, Ioven mused, enjoying the
music immensely. "I hear the Hallmaster wrote some of the dance music
we're listening to tonight," he commented as he turned her under his hand.

"Oh? Well that's grand enough. Do you think they'll play any of the old
sea tunes?" Parale knew that there were a lot of visitors here, but the
people of Sunstone were seafolk that liked that sort of thing.

"Who knows," he shrugged, not quite able to read the minds of the Harpers.
"Maybe they'll leave it for tomorrow when the locals have a turn."

When the music got slower, she got closer to him, swaying with the beat.
He smelled so nice. Thanking Faranth for that bottle of cologne she'd
managed to bargain for, Parale realized they were in public and pushed
thoughts of licking him out of her mind. "The lights are pretty."

As she moved closer, Ioven noticed that he could see straight down the
line of her cleavage from that angle. "Yes... They are..." Had she
changed the sweetsand she was using? Whatever it was she was using, it
was going right to his head. He shifted slightly to see if he could see
even more of that tantalizing line. "You look very nice tonight as
well."

"Thank you. I got you something today," she told him, remembering the
gift she had found.

"Oh?" Shards... Was he supposed to get her a gift? He had been in the
stall half the day before the ceremonies had started and hadn't even
thought about it.

"Mmm I'll give it to you when we get back. I hid it." Faranth knew the
girls would get into it otherwise.

"You hid it?" That was rather a coy thing to do, he thought. "Well,
what is it?"

"I can't tell you with people around." Something in the way her eyes
glinted should have hinted to Ioven that something was up. Parale had found
something she had ideas for. Ideas that didn't involve anyone else knowing.

Ioven's opened slightly wider and his jaw dropped for a split second.
He shifted very close to her body so he could whisper into her ear,
"Just what did you buy?" It was almost torture thinking of all the
possibilities!

"Well some oils and...there was a..costume." She really couldn't
describe it in public. Her cheeks flamed at the thought.

There were moments when Ioven couldn't imagine how he had ended up
married to this woman, and others, like this one, when he just thanked
the Egg he had. "And you're telling me this _now_? At the _start_ of
the dancing?" Shards, was she really going to make him wait the whole
night, his imagination running wild at the thought of her... and oils...
and a costume... Thank Faranth she was standing so close. He was
pretty sure how turned on he felt in that moment would be quite obvious
to the other dancers otherwise.

"Well," Obviously she hadn't thought that far ahead really. As it was,
she was doing all she could to keep her own mind on the dancing. She
nodded to some of the couples they knew before turning her face back
to Ioven's. "Apeline always said anticipation made it better when you
got it."

"Anticipation, hmmm?" Ioven was already half way to making a serious
fool of himself. Leaning in again, he murmured softly in her ear, "When
I get you alone, I am going to run my tongue all over your breasts and
tickle my fingers up your thighs to the very place they meet and then
I'll really get to work on you. Just how long do you want to anticipate
that exactly?"

She almost cursed out loud just then, but caught herself. "Oh you..."
Taking a look at the rest of the bunch of people around them, she decided
that dancing wasn't all it was cracked up to be and there would be more
the next few evenings. "How fast can we get through all these people?"

"Not nearly fast enough," was his reply, though he was already
surreptitiously dancing towards the edge of the crowd. Just a few more
partners to get around... "Anticipation doesn't sound nearly as much
fun now, does it?"

"Well there's still some anticipation. After all, I know what it looks
like and you don't. And we have to get through the people and up the steps
to the Hold." Parale could run pretty fast in these light skirts. Plus
her dancing slippers were easier than sandals. "Then I have to get dressed."

"And then undressed..." Someday Ioven would have to ask just how she
knew where to get such a costume, let alone what gave her the idea to do
so in the first place! Right now, though, he just had to respect her
forward thinking. Finally! The edge. "No running," he said, still
holding her hand. Ioven could feel her straining at the bit. "We will
walk quickly, but naturally." They had their dignity after all.

She was acting like a child, but it was interesting that he was the one
holding her back and not the other way around. Then again, Ioven had
been married longer than she had. "Okay, walk fast. Be natural." She
kept muttering to himself as she nodded to people they passed.

Ioven, on the other hand, was realizing how interesting it was that
Parale seemed to be the one taking the lead in their little adventures
in marital relations. This intrigued him for two reasons, first because
he had been married before and had experience where she, supposedly, had
none. And second, he was the man and therefore _should_ be taking the
lead. Shards... He must be doing _something_ right! "So are you going
to give me a hint about what this costume looks like?"

"It's red lace," she offered, seeing their door at the end of the hallway.

Red... A very passionate choice. Not surprising. "Low cut?"

"Well it's cut in a lot of places actually," she reached the door and
opened it, shutting it behind them. "Um wait here?" Parale ran to
their bedroom to hunt down the hidden box and dress.

This was where the anticipation was fun, Ioven thought, pulling off his
dress jacket and throwing it over the chair. Thinking ahead, he pulled
off his boots and socks and set them carefully by the door while he
waited.

It took some doing, but she finally got out of her gather dress and into
the skimpy lace frock she'd purchased. Looking at herself for a moment
in the dressing mirror, Parale was a little unsure. **Is it too much?**
she asked herself then sighed. "Close your eyes," she told him before
she walked out.

"All right," Ioven called out, already out of his shirt as well. He
couldn't trust himself not to peek just by closing his eyes, his
imagination already running wild. So he turned around to face the door
just to be sure he didn't see her before she was ready. Red and
lacy... cut in a lot of places...

Walking out of the bedroom, she picked a spot in the floor and sighed.
A little nervous, she remembered this man had seen her naked three ways
from a sevenday so that wasn't an issue. "Okay."

He turned around and looked at her, and for a moment he forgot how to
breathe. Every curve was accentuated. Her stomach flat, her breasts
round, and her face just vulnerable and unsure enough to make him
feel... like a man. "That's amazing," he finally squeezed out, knowing
he should at least say something a little more sophisticated than a
feral grunt. Taking a step closer, he reached out to wrap his hands
around her hips, his thumbs caressing the skin that was bared just above
them.

She had pleased him and that was all she'd done it for anyway. Leaning
into his arms, she gave into the urge she was having at the gather.
Reaching, she kissed his neck, licking it a bit.

Ioven reached down to hook his arm behind her knees and lifted her into
his arms to carry her back through the door into their room and the bed
they both shared. Music from the Gather drifted up the hill and could
easily be heard through their bedroom window. Looking down at Parale,
the heat of desire glowing his eyes brighter than the lamps that ringed
the dance floor, Ioven reached for his belt buckle. This was a dance
they were still learning, but so far, they seemed to be getting all the
steps just right.

Last updated on the February 16th 2012

Welcome to Triad Weyrs!

Fast Feet