C H A M P I O N

"He gives orders.                   I stab people.                             I think our roles are clear."

[solumtaguel]

Some humans are full of surprises. She almost feels ready to chuckle. Hands resting carefully on his waist, she leans in to nuzzle his neck the way he had with hers before she startled him.

"It’s funny to me." She speaks quietly, words just for him. "I dislike the scent of humans, but yours now does not bother me."

[mirmidonets]

                    "I suppose I should be flattered. Thank you."

                    One hand came to rest upon the back of her head, petting through her dark hair and circling around to toy with one of her fuzzy ears coiled in her locks. A slight smile rose to his face, and he chuckled.

[fourthwielder-archive-blog]

                              Lucina said, with a nod. After the two were finished setting up, she went into stance and she brought out her practice blade. Taking a deep breath, she gripped onto it firmly and comfortably. "I’m ready when you are." she said, looking at Lon’qu as he held his blade as well. Could she be able to defeat him again?

[mirmidonets]

                    This time, he would not allow defeat. Holding his own practice blade out in front of him steadily, he eyed her up and down. Suddenly, his hands broke out into a sweat. He cursed himself. No, he couldn't do this while looking at a woman.

                    Standing up straight, his arms dropping to his side, he inquired, "Do you still have your mask?"

[solumtaguel]

"Should I…not?" Her eyebrows rise. Panne blinks, then looks down and points out to herself, "Taguel groom to show affection. Humans do not. I apologize."

[mirmidonets]

                    "You... you have nothing... to apologize for. I understand." Then he took a step forward once more. He was going to get used to these strange Taguel customs, no matter how hard it might be! So daringly, his own tongue came out to swipe over the tip of her nose.

[solumtaguel]

It’s been a long time since she was so close to anyone. She’s not sure what to do now, if anything needs to be done. What do humans do? …What do taguel even do? Oh dear. She decides to follow instinct and licks his ear.

[mirmidonets]

                    The feeling of her tongue against his ear makes a chill run up his spine. Immediately, he tears away, beet red in the face and eyes wide. He supposes if he's going to be with Panne, he'd have to get used to her mannerisms, but that came out of the blue!

                    "I didn't know you did that," he mumbles behind his hand, looking away in embarrassment.

[viago]

by 子マメ

[solumtaguel]

She’s never been one for blind optimism, but if they repeat it enough, maybe it will come true.

Without knowing what he means to do, she has no way of compensating, and his lips miss their target. Hopefully he won’t take offense at the giggle that follows.

"You may try again, but I can hear your heartbeat. You’re giving it quite a workout. There is no need to rush." His hand is sweaty. She squeezes it anyway. "Long and fruitful lives."

[mirmidonets]

                    In that moment, he feels much like a child being comforted by his mother. It brings about the thought that perhaps, just perhaps, Panne would be a good mother after all. It is himself he was worried about when it came to children. Maybe he is too scary, too stern, too cold to be a father.

                    "Panne," he mumbles, pressing ever closer, feeling much braver than before. Though his heart still pounds against his ribcage, he nestles his face against the soft fur of her neck. Whatever he had been going to say, he doesn't say it.

[solumtaguel]

"It’s not an urgent issue," she reassures him. "I only thought you should be aware of it… We have long lives ahead of us, don’t we?"

He’s come a long way in one meeting, from having to throw her the bag to kissing her hand. She wonders how long it will take to think seriously about repopulation.

[mirmidonets]

                    "If we are lucky, another war will not happen in our lifetime," he responded, "and we will have long and fruitful lives." Lon'qu takes a step closer. They are just about the same height, though he noticed that Panne seems just a bit taller, only by a little.

                    He had never let go of her hand, but he couldn't stop fidgeting. Eventually, he says, "Let me... attempt to..." Lon'qu doesn't even finish his sentence--he just goes in for the kiss instead, but only captures her top lip in both of his by accident.

                    Lon'qu shrinks away in embarrassment. The hand that held Panne's is growing sweaty, and she can probably feel it. "M-my apologies."

[solumtaguel]

"For you, and for all taguel," she murmurs. That gives her pause—that is perhaps one thing that should be made clear from the start.

"Lon’qu… I am still the only surviving taguel. Repopulation is…a concern, to say the least. If we are to be together, it will become your concern as well."

[mirmidonets]

                    He just about chokes on his spit at that, having no considered in beforehand. Yes, if they were to be together, it would have to be a concern of his. First, he had to get used to touching her at all.

                    "I suppose so," he mumbles quietly, reaching out to brush the backs of his fingers over her side. His eyes move along the curve of her hip, then tear away out of embarrassment to look her in the eye.

[solumtaguel]

Panne swallows. If his heart is pounding, she can’t hear it over her own. Humans are not nearly as cute as rabbit-wearers, but the look Lon’qu gives her now could perhaps compete with non-rabbit-wearer taguel. He doesn’t need to know either of those things.

"Yes, warm and fuzzy describes what I’m feeling now." She rises to her full height, barely taller than Lon’qu. Gently, she squeezes his hand and draws it back to leave her own kiss on the back of his hand. As far as she knows, human women do not return kisses to the hand, but she is no human woman.

[mirmidonets]

                    "I-- I'm glad you feel the same," he managed to say. His voice sounded a little hoarse, most likely due to nervousness rather than fear. He'd never been involved with a woman before, much less a Taguel woman. Certainly, he had many admirers for his swordsmanship and his looks, yet he never knew how to respond to those that courted him.

                    Perhaps because they were not like the woman who stood before him. The kiss to his hand tingled. Finally, he managed a smile, pulling her hand back to his face to nose against the soft fur atop it.

                    "Promise me one thing," he murmured against her, "To take care of yourself so we may grow old together. All right?"

[solumtaguel]

Momentarily, she’s speechless. Warm, fuzzy feelings aren’t generally a side effect of her brew, though who knows what it could do to a human. Her eyes sweep over him.

"…Warm and fuzzy. Bold words for someone who was so recently afraid of me," she mumbles, feeling ready to stumble over her own tongue. "And I…I may know the feeling you speak of."

She extends a hand to him, palm up. Her eyes focus on his face, only briefly flicking her eyes down. She can’t accept being loved by someone who’s afraid to touch her.

[mirmidonets]

                    It takes him a few moments to realize just what she wants him to do, so he'd been staring dumbly at her hand for those few moments until it finally hit him. He swallowed. If his feelings were real and true, he'd touch her, right?

                    Yet he is frightened--not by her, but at the prospect of possibly losing her. Just like with Ke'ri. He didn't want the same fate to befall on Panne, not at all. So he hesitates. It was best he held back and kept his emotions in, have Panne find someone else that wasn't a blasted coward, while he remained alone.

                    But he finds it in him finally to take her hand, curling his fingers around it and bringing it to his lips to kiss her knuckle. From where his head is, he glances up at her through his lashes, awaiting a reaction of some sort.

[solumtaguel]

There are certain dangers in handing things directly to someone, like the risk that Panne’s fingertips might brush his when she accepts the mug. But he’ll survive, probably.

After one first sip to judge its taste, it’s down the hatch with gusto.

"Well well! I assumed it would be empty bragging, but there may be something to this ‘no better tea’ claim after all."

[mirmidonets]

                    "... I'm glad you think so." His hands are clasped together, thumbs twiddling in front of him as he thinks. There's a warm feeling growing inside of him, not like the feeling he gets when he drinks Panne's tea--it's different. It always comes up when he thinks of the Taguel.

                    Clearing his throat, he speaks up, "You know, it's funny--whenever I'm around you or think about you I get this warm fuzzy feeling. I always thought it may be the potion, but I am beginning to doubt it."

[qtt-art]

Lon’qu’s too hard for me to draw @_@

Dedicated to Robodumpling because……Because…

[solumtaguel]

His heart rate has grown more steady than it was when he’d approached her. The tea may have steadied his nerves.

"You may."

[mirmidonets]

                    "Then, sit here while I make it." With that, he walks away, his heart beginning to pound in his chest yet again. A few minutes later, he returns with a wooden mug filled with sweet-smelling tea and hands it to her carefully.

                    Clearing his throat, he says, "Elderberry and tea leaves from Ferox. There's no better tea in all the lands. And, there's no medicine in it."

[solumtaguel]

"Taguel are varied, like you humans. The difference is that we Taguel do not waste time with polite but useless qualifiers."

[mirmidonets]

                    "I... see," he mumbles in response, though it's obvious he doesn't seem to get it very much. That doesn't matter. What matters is he's been subtly moving closer to her as time passes, and the shortened distance between them has grown shorter. "May I make you some of my own tea?"

[solumtaguel]

She nods. “Tell me something. Is it so uncommon for man-spawn to help others, that you humans must keep reminding me when I am not obligated?”

[mirmidonets]

                    He's still recovering from te tea. Its taste lingers in his mouth. "Only the Shepherds," he grunts quietly, "Are Taguel so used to helping others, they do it even when they are not obligated? Or is that just you?"

[solumtaguel]

Of course she doesn’t have to. Humans are strange, always needlessly reassuring her of her lack of obligations. She brings back a mug of the brew and sets it on a nearby table, but doesn’t take her hand from it just yet.

"If you want your nightmares back, you needn’t drink it." With that, she backs away to let him do as he will.

[mirmidonets]

                    He looks embarrassed, to say the least, but he says nothing about it. In fact, no words come out of his mouth in response. For a few moments, he looks at her, then he looks at the mug full of herbal tea which he can smell all they way from where he's standing.

                    Nightmares about Ke'ri's death would only plague him further if he refused to drink it. So he snatches up the mug and chugs down the repulsive liquid before slamming the now-empty mug on the table.

                    "Th-thank y--you," Lon'qu half speaks, half gags.

[solumtaguel]

Easily, she catches her bag of herbs. Humans are strange, but none quite so much as this one, who can’t even approach her without fear. In an odd—perhaps sadistic?—way, it’s endearing.

"You wait here." It’s all the warning he gets as she goes to brew the herbs into tea.

[mirmidonets]

                    "You don't have t--" But it's too late. She's already gone off to brew her tea. To him, it was like poison, yet it did have its benefits. The last time he drank it, he was rid of nightmares that usually plagued him in the night.

                    With a sigh, he folds his arms over his chest and waits.