#krastos

[glyllena]

She let out a bellow and drove the heavy sword into the hastily made training dummy. It fell over, and so did she, bouncing backwards. Sprawled on her back, her tail pinned at an uncomfortable angle under her butt, Lena blushed a deep blue, embarrassed for herself. Krastos wasn't helping. He was laughing, and setting the dummy upright again, then reached for her hand. Again. It wasn't her first folly.

"The yell was a nice addition, little Lena, but your sword handling is still sloppy." He hauled her to her hooves, brushing the dirt from her back and legs. Lena pouted, huffing and blowing her bangs out of her face. Her hands jammed against her hips as she looked indignantly at Krastos. His idea of courting, she supposed, taking her out for a training session. 

They'd spent months together, long walks, quiet talks, shy smiles, probing questions, gentle touches. A few very intense kisses when he walked her back to her quarters. And he'd tagged along, obligingly carrying her books when she planned a picnic for them, where she leaned against his chest and read to him, myths and fairy tales of the various worlds they'd visited. Everything thus far had been so proper, a perfectly coordinated dance. So, maybe, she owed him this. Besides, he had said, tracing his thumb along her jaw, I can't have my little Lena be defenseless.  Her knees buckled as he looked at her. That was the first time he had called her that.

And so she'd agreed, ducking into her quarters and changing into an outfit that she generally wore on archaeological digs, a tunic and snug pants, stained with mud and dirt and ink. She was to meet him at the treeline, where he was setting up the training dummy. She flicked a finger, sending a bolt of arcane swirling around the lumpy figure. "Why do I have to learn this, when I can just do this?" The arcane bolt solidified as it curled around the dummy, tightening, turning to ice before shattering and ripping open the canvas covering it. Krastos sighed. Always showing off, she was. 

He shook his head and rubbed his face with a big hand, streaking dirt across his crest. "That's not necessarily going to help you if someone tries to physically overpower you." She tipped her head and made a querulous noise, her eyes shining in amusement. Something about the way he said that sparked a visceral reaction. Besides, she thought, he hasn't seen a fraction of what I can do. Indeed, she had defended herself quiet proficiently ever since the escape from Argus. 

He started talking - lecturing, really - yanking the sword out of the dummy, pointing to various parts and naming them, describing them, showing her different holds and stances. She barely heard heard him, so caught up in watching his eyes, his face, the flick of his long black ponytail. She muttered the parts of the sword as he quizzed her, one corner of her mouth threatening a wicked smirk. 

Krastos handed over the sword, and purposely, she held it incorrectly, blushing and smiling apologetically - playing the little lost girl who needed help with everything - not a role she relished or ever relied on seriously. A complete ruse, of course, and she closed her eyes as he wrapped his arms around her, showing her how to hold, his low voice rumbling in her ear. His big hands gripped the hilt, and she slid hers out from under them, turning her body as his arms encircled her.  She kissed his cheek and ducked spryly under his arm, stepping away. "Show me," she said, crossing her arms. 

He peered at her curiously, then let out a chuckle. He demonstrated a few stances, then gave the dummy a charge or two, showing her proper strike points. Meanwhile, Lena dropped one hand to her side, slowly rubbing two fingers against her thumb as she listened. She wondered how long it would take. Probably a bit longer than usual, seeing as he was passing the hilt of the sword between his hands.

Suddenly, Krastos yelped, dropping the sword, glaring good-naturedly at Lena. "Clever little Lena." She had focused the magic on the item itself, heating it until it was near-unbearable to touch. She had stopped before it would have hurt him, of course. She grinned at him. He took two giant steps to scoop her in his arms, kissing her forehead. "Ya, ya, little Lena, I know you are talented." Brushing her bangs back from her face, he turned serious, "I just want you to be safe." His voice rasped, and the arm around her waist clutched her tighter. 

Lena bent backwards, looking up at Krastos, reaching around his back and giving his ponytail a tug. Before he knew what had hit him, she'd wrapped a leg around his and swung him around, flattening him in the dirt on his back. She quickly straddled his abdomen and flicked the dagger she always carried out of the hidden holster she kept it in, gently pressing the tip into his breastbone. She grinned evilly, reveling in how his eyes bulged in surprise as he looked at her. 

"I've got more than just magic, my love." 

[glyllena]

Dreamer

Lena sat up in the unfamiliar bed, a little light from the moon shining into the private quarters of the Shadows of Argus barracks.  The dream had unsettled her, but she gave herself a quick pat-down, looking down into the shadows of the sheets and blankets, finding everything seemingly in order.  Her eyes landed on Krastos, snoring on his side beside her, his mouth hanging open.  She smiled at her mate and reached over, her fingers running through his hair as she laid back down and settled into the dream once more.

A tiny, dark haired boy toddled toward her outstretched arms, squealing with joy.  She grinned and scooped the boy into her arms, a tiny mirror image of Krastos, and cuddled him to her chest.  He threw his arms around her neck and scrunched his face up as he rubbed his nose on her cheek, obviously their personal greeting.

Lena stood in the long grass outside their Nagrand home, the bright sun warming both their faces as she had a chattered conversation with the boy, wandering around the property, finally alighting in a cozy patch of grass, speaking their own nonsense language at the bugs.  As the sun lowered in the sky, Lena stood and grinned as she saw the figure of her mate along the road. She raised a hand and waved, receiving a wave in return. 

But as he approached the gate of their home, he disappeared.  The landscape changed.  The earth twisted, and Lena ran back to the toddler, scooping him once more into her arms as the wind picked up, whipping violently around her and the boy.  She turned to run into the house, only to find it missing.  Pressing the child's face to her chest, Lena looked up and peered through the sudden storm, finding nothing familiar about Nagrand.  The landscape had changed, warped, the familiar landmarks no longer where she remembered them...Until...

This was Talador!  Lena's heart seemed to explode in her chest.  Their home in Nagrand had been close enough to Shattrath that in the old days, before the siege, it would have been in Talador.  Tears filled her eyes as she held the boy snugly against her body, quickly setting off in the direction of the city.  The boy, when she looked down, had simply fallen asleep, a sweet, pleasant smile on his face as he snuggled into Lena's chest. 

The dream stuttered, cutting her into darkness for what could have been hours or moments, before starting again.  Lena sank back into the bed, letting her unconscious take her where it would.

Lena stood by Krastos, their fingers loosely entwined as they held hands, smiling proudly.  The boy from the first scene was older now, an adolescent, nearly an adult.  He bore such a striking resemblance to a younger Krastos that Lena's heart skipped in her chest.  They were all standing in the Light of A'dal, in a shining Shattrath City, seemingly restored - or perhaps never destroyed.  The younger man knelt before - Lena's brow furrowed as she looked on - Maeorra!  She couldn't hear the words being spoken, but mouthed along, the long-memorized oath of service to the Shadows of Argus, her entire being swelling with pride. 

Lena stood taller, squeezing Krastos's hand, then looked to her other side, eyes widening at the somewhat smaller version of herself, dressed in her old robes.  The girl seemed to sense Lena looking at her and smiled up, leaning into the older woman's side.  Lena's eyes filled as she draped an arm around the girl, holding her close. 

When Lena woke again, it was nearly dawn.  The sun just beginning to peek through the window of the barracks.  Lena quietly got out of the bed, stealing her way outside and to the edge of the Rise.  She touched her fingers to her lips as she gazed in the direction of A'dal, the Light of the Naaru warming her to her core.  Letting her hand drop to her lower belly, she touched the fingers she had just kissed to the area, her eyes on A'dal.  Murmuring softly, she nodded to herself, "Light, if this is to be, I am more than willing."

[glyllena]

Lay to Rest

Krastos lumbered into headquarters, staring daggers at Maeorra, who was sitting at the table, her back to the back wall, about to reach for her hookah. His voice was stern when he spoke loudly, heads in the building oscillating between the shaman and the Watcher. "Where is she?" Mae rolled her eyes and waved a hand to the couch nearby in the main room of the Shadows' headquarters. Lena was nestled there, her face burrowed into the back of the couch, a talbuk fur blanket wrapped around her body, draped over her head. "Got her off the floor, at least." Mae stated this dryly, lighting the hookah. Kras sighed heavily and scooped her up, holding her tight to his chest and lumbering back out, "We'll be in the private quarters of the barracks." He looked down at her exhausted, sleeping face, "Perhaps for a few days." Once the door had closed, he laid Lena on the bed and sat beside her. She barely stirred. He gently caressed her cheek, then touched his fingers to her crest, and let her sleep. He walked slowly back to the main building, looking into the infirmary, seeing Haevah curled up next to the bed on which lay the Broken. Krastos shook his head and finally scooped her up, too, carrying her back to the barracks, finding her a free bed, and tucking her in. As with Lena, he stroked her cheek, then touched his fingers to her crest, then leaned down to kiss her nose. He felt it lucky that it was so dark in the barracks as he swiped at his eyes, standing and returning to Lena's side. She stirred slightly when she heard him, and then felt him, return to the bed, coming to the surface of her dreams just long enough to roll over into his arms and hear him mutter, "You have a lot to learn about leading by example, my little Lena." ((Note: Krastos is most definitely not my character, but my RP partner has given me godmodding privileges with him since Kras is rarely ever actually played.))

[glyllena]

Practice

"You can't handle this!"  Lena called across the field, grinning wildly.  Krastos could see it from where he stood, fully armored and shielded.  It had just finished raining, so he didn't worry about Lena setting the plains on fire.  He summoned a totem on the ground beside him, one that absorbed magic, to help take the brunt of her spells.  The water elemental beside him seemed to burble anxiously, but Kras shushed it, waving a hand. 

"Are you ready?"  Lena yelled.  She seemed to be fiddling with her outfit.  They were practicing, as always, taking turns hurling the elements at each other and seeing who could go the longest before succumbing to exhaustion - or possibly burns. 

"You can't even get a fire ball halfway across that distance," Krastos taunted, grinning behind his shield.  He knew damn well she could - but he liked to tease her anyway.  He saw her tip her head, lifting her left hand and flicking her fingers at him.  SHIT!  His body curled on itself as, with that simple gesture, she unleashed a torrent of icicles and arcane bullets all around him.  Blue and purple swirled around him, barely grazing his skin, but enough to make him grit his teeth. 

"Gotta do better than that, honey!"  The words no sooner left his mouth than he was laid out on his back, the magic still swirling around him, his shield dented slightly, and... DAMMIT!  Did she melt another shield?  Grumbling, he pulled himself to his hooves as the water elemental splashed at the shield, hot steam assaulting his face, "Dammit, Wellington!  She doesn't need help!  Who's side are you on today, anyway?"  The elemental shrank by his side, burbling apologetically. 

Krastos suddenly noticed how warm he felt.  He glanced up at Lena, who was staring at him intently, a cocky smile on her face as her hands moved slowly in front of her body, palms down.  Palms down... palms down...what did that mean, palms dow - OW!  Kras looked at his hooves, seeing the ground visibly grow warmer under them, the wet grass quickly drying and withering as he danced clumsily away. 

And promptly fell on his ass again.  What the...

Ice.  Of course.  She had heated the ground in one spot, then laid a circle of ice all around it.  Clever girl, he smirked to himself.  He knew she only cast these spells at about a quarter of her real power, but as he hefted himself up again, rubbing his behind, he knew she was onto something.  He held up a hand, their signal to pause the play fight, and thought for a moment, stroking his tendrils.  There was indeed something to these spells, in this order, in this layout.  If he could figure out where his work with the elements fit in, they could down an enemy in no time flat...

[glyllena]

Has any other male draenei attempted to hit on Glyllena, and if so, where did Krastos hide the body? ;)

Many.  Apparently, men of all races seem to go for her librarian thing. 

Kras hasn't actually killed anyone for making eyes at Lena, but he has definitely threatened bodily harm, or at least got himself all manly and puffed up about it. 

[glyllena]

When was the last time someone said something hurtful to Lena? How did she (or DID she) recover?

Not many people say hurtful things to Lena.  She makes it a point to be fairly invisible and diplomatic (mostly invisible) as much as possible, ensuring that the order runs fairly smoothly and that relations between SoA and other orders are secure.  She doesn't develop deep and meaningful relationships with many outside the order, and her logic is that those who do not know her cannot truly hurt her.  It works.  Most of the time.

The most recent, but easily brushed off, was when she and Maeorra attended a summit in preparation for the Arathi Basin campaign.  Lena and Mae were both against it (IC and OOC which is why SoA did not attend), and the leader of said summit (a human paladin - BIG SURPRISE!) looked Lena in the eye and basically said, "be quiet, eredar". 

Lena does not take kindly to those who use what her people once were against them, as an insult.  Lena is technically old enough to be considered "eredar" - but upon their escape from Argus, she, like all the others, and with respect to Velen, began calling herself "draenei" to lose the association with the Legion.  But, most of the time, she can let such things go, especially from younger, more naive races. 

While in the Sha'nash, Lena had been entranced by the pretty words of a human mage from an allied order that has since died out.  Krastos was pretty mad and rightfully jealous (himself not being the poetry sort), and they fought fairly bitterly. 

When she discovered Krastos's work with the Underground, they also fought pretty hard.  Kras and Lena get along beautifully and are perfectly in sync about 93% of the time (even though they spend a lot of time physically apart due to their work).  The other 7% of the time, they are flinging lightning bolts and fireballs and terrible insults at each other. 

But it never lasts long.  Lena simply cannot run that hot for that long, and Krastos never really wants to hurt her.  They just need to express themselves and get everything out in the open and then they go back to being Kras and Lena. 

[asklyra]

1) Lyra: THE MORE YOU EAT, THE MORE YOU TOOT! THE MORE YOU TOOT, THE BETTER YOU FEEL! BEANS, BEANS, FOR EVERY MEAL!

Bon-Bon: I thought you didn't like beans.

Lyra: I don't.

2) I'm sorry to hear about what happened to your mother. Sub work itself isn't so bad, but low pay/few hours is definitely a downer.

I wish this was the first time I'd heard this story before. Seems to happen too often. School systems seem reluctant to hire somepony who's highly qualified because they can just hire somepony else for cheaper. And I've seen positions never get filled at all, and the school just take a sub for the position everyday for the entire school year. It's criminal, or should be.

3) If I may make one point: when you bring up child pornography with me, remember who I am and where I came from. That's not child pornography. That's a drawing. A drawing never held somepony down and caused irreversible harm, nor was it made during such a horrid event.

But this has reminded me that I'd grown tired of that tumblr a while ago. It just wasn't what I thought it'd be.

4) Yes! But it might be confusing. Boscov is Krastos. I just stopped calling him Boscov a while ago. Sort of grew out of it.

5) I had to look it up, but yes I've seen a few things about it on tumblr. However, I still don't know anything about it. Just what some of the characters look like.

[asklyra]

I think I first met him when he first made a tumblr. I was a little unnerved, but I gave him a chance and he turned out to be a nice bear. Until he was possessed by something wicked, that is. He was terrifying! He looked like a demon! I don't remember how, but somepony reversed that and he went back to normal.

But I'd read what he'd say and occasionally we'd talk. I think we first formally met at a party or two. I know he helped look for Sweetie when she ran away. He slowly became a friend.

But occasionally somepony would ask him a question on tumblr about having a crush on somepony and I thought "There's no way. Absolutely no way." But the more I rolled it around in my head, the more it seemed to make sense. I thought about just leaving it alone, but I sat down and asked myself, "What does this really mean?"

"A bear has a crush on me. Is this a bad thing?" I had no reason to mind. He's always been a sweetheart to me. I had went on a date with somepony else not long before hoof, but he was always really busy and it didn't seem to be going anywhere.

"Would this work... physically?" I had to look up some stuff I never thought I'd have to look up to answer that. Measure and calculate some things that almost seem comical at this point.

"If it doesn't work out, could we still be friends?" Admittedly he doesn't always come off that way, but for the most part he's more of the calm, logical-type. It's a good possibility we'd be friends even if we couldn't be a couple.

"Is it really worth a shot? Is there any reason why trying would be a bad idea?" I could think of only one or two, and I think I remember asking them when I first confronted him about a date. Which is what happened next- I just asked him if I was the pony he had a crush on and he said yes. Everything else just grew after that night. Slow at first, but here we are today.

It's strange thinking about it now. I don't know the exact date, but it's coming on a year now since we became a couple. ... So much has happened and yet I'm still left wondering where all the time has gone.