Tristan was no longer surprised by the strange beings that appeared at Derweg. Between traffic from The Forest and the patchwork found family residing in the castle, he was privy to nearly all manner of intelligent life forms. As such, his familiarity afforded him a muted sense of curiosity, and allowed him to see to his responsibilities without much distraction.
Of course, when a strange creature physically bars his way, he is left with little choice but to acknowledge her.
“Excuse me. I need to get to the straw you are sitting on,” he announced after clearing his throat.
He was an unnaturally quiet creature, so Tristan had assumed the young woman had not heard his approach. She was nestled into the tarp that was thrown over the top of the straw heap and appeared to be deep in thought or even sleeping. Regardless of her state, the small, odd Night Elf didn’t so much as flinch when he spoke. Annoyed, Tristan opened his mouth to repeat himself, intending to be a bit brusquer with her, when she finally reacted to him.
“Why don’t you come up here and lay with me?” She asked without looking at him.
Tristan’s mouth dropped open and then snapped shut. He was instantly conflicted by the invitation, but not for any of the mortal morals he was still learning.
“I beg your pardon?” He managed to utter. He was seeking clarification to turn the tide of the battle within him.
The woman rolled over reluctantly and met his eyes. He was accustomed to Night Elves with silver or gold glowing eyes. The foul lout Olivia once dated had a silver glow to his eyes. This woman’s, though, were not bright at all. They were dark and deep, even a bit cold, like the endless expanse of the night’s sky.
Or the Void.
“Why don’t you come up here and lay with me,” she repeated, this time, though, it was more statement than request. “Don’t you like the stars and the moon?”
Tristan was always careful to keep his hunger in check, but he was still twisted by its pangs as he rolled her words over in his mind. Did she desire him? Was she asking him to sleep with her? Is this what ‘romp in the hay’ meant?
He snapped out of it after a breath of hesitation. His expression soured purposefully and he gestured over his shoulder.
“Come on, now. Get down. I need to line Spectre’s stall so I can get back to my cottage,” he grunted. No matter how much he wanted to take advantage of the woman’s inferred offer, he was controlled enough now to know that it was a bad idea to feed from strangers on his Mistress’ lands.
“Spectre?!” The woman exclaimed, her small voice transforming with her excitement. She scrambled down from her cozy nest and stood directly in front of Tristan. So directly, in fact, that the demon forester took a concerned step back.
“Yes…my companion…” he muttered as he studied her with an expression creased with confusion.
“That means you are Tristan, then. I am Trinity!” The elf thrust her hand out enthusiastically, only to pull it back before Tristan could consider shaking it. “On second thought, no handshakes. I don’t want there to be a miscommunication. Can I meet Spectre?”
“Trinity. Right. Kent’s friend,” Tristan sighed as he put the pieces together. Kent was part of his family, or rather he was a part of Kent’s family, but their interactions had been rather limited. He appreciated the other man’s crafts, but they had little in common. “Uh, sure. Carry an armload of straw with you and try to calm down. Spectre’s still not entirely fond of strangers.”
Trinity fell in behind Tristan, drawing up a large armload of the straw and following him into the stable. “You really aren’t as grumpy as I thought you would be.”
Tristan arched a fair brow as he turned to look at her from over his shoulder. He took a moment to process the implications of her statement and ultimately smiled. Kent likely told her he was a grouch, and the assessment was fairly earned.
“Thank you. I think. I can be, though. You caught me on a good night,” he chuckled.
When they arrived at the stall closest to the paddock exit, Tristan tossed his armload of straw over the gate and spoke softly to the animal within. He then turned to take the straw from Trinity.
“Go ahead and step back against the wall. Over there. I am going to let him out while I spread this out. He won’t hurt you if you are respectful.”
Trinity did as instructed and stepped back. Her eyes were glued on the figure moving within the stall. When the large, dark Shadowrunner came into view, she audibly gasped. Her naturally large eyes got even larger as she watched the beast approach. Tristan watched carefully, ready to intervene if the woman spooked the courser. He let a relieved sigh loose slowly, though, when he found that she knew exactly how to conduct herself around intelligent beasts.
“Hello, Spectre,” she said softly. “My name is Trinity.”
She offered a hand out to his velvety muzzle as he got closer and he took several deep, snuffling breaths of the empty offering. Then he went a step further and extended his neck out so that he could sniff her face and hair. His lips extended outward and exposed teeth that had no business in an equine creature’s mouth.
“Spectre,” Tristan warned, taking a step towards the pair.
“It is alright,” Trinity exclaimed softly. “He isn’t unlike the unicorns I knew in my homeland. They experience the world in a complex layer of sentient and animalistic ways. I know he isn’t going to bite me.”
“Yea? And how is that?” Tristan scoffed. “He bit me without warning plenty of times.”
“I can speak to him,” she replied in a cooing voice. “Telepathically. I can speak to most creatures that way.”
Tristan only grunted in response before turning to his work. It had taken him nearly a full year to understand the desires of his companion, so it was irritating that an odd little outsider could do it with such ease. He gave his full attention to preparing the bedding for Spectre, and privately hoped the woman would get bitten so he could gloat just a little.
He would not get the chance, though.
“He has a lot to say about you. He is grateful,” Trinity laughed.
Tristan paused and looked back at her with a hesitantly hopeful expression. “Yea?”
“Yes. I wanted to know what his homelands were like and he conveyed to me that these forests are his homelands. He also conveyed that anywhere you are, he feels secure, like he is home.”
“Oh…” Tristan replied dully. He wasn’t sure how to accept such a deep honor, but also, he felt a little annoyed that the Shadowrunner was conveying such things to a stranger. “He only ever tells me he is hungry. Bloody bottomless pit, he is.”
Trinity giggled and gave Spectre a kiss on the muzzle before moving around to talk to Tristan instead. She could sense his annoyance and did her very best not to exploit it further.
“I am not going to pry and ask you about your past, but I do want you to know that I would love to hear your story sometime. I will share mine with you in return. I can tell, though, that tonight is not the night for that. Would you like me to go?”
Tristan shrugged, but then recognized he had a preference. “It would be for the best.”
Trinity studied him for a moment before nodding slowly. “Because I asked you to lay with me? I didn’t know that would have such a strong effect on you. I am sorry,” she offered before taking a step back and starting to leave.
“Wait a second,” Tristan called, coming out to the doorway. “Are you reading my mind or something? Because if you are, you should stay out of my head.” He was chewing back his anger, but the last statement still came out like a threat.
“No,” Trinity tittered. “No, you do a very good job of appearing human. I read your body language. I could tell that you were conflicted and I could tell you felt guilty about it. I wasn’t asking you to sleep with me, though. Just so you know. I realize that my intention has very little value to your interpretation, but I want you to know that I do mean to respect you. You are a part of Miss’ family and I have promised to extend respect to all of her family.”
New conflict surfaced in Tristan for a moment. It was nice to know he was passing as a human, even when encountering one so sensitive to the existence of otherworldly beings. On the other hand, though, the guilt still remained, and he wanted to seek reconciliation.
“I should get back to the castle,” Trinity stated as she once more read the hesitation in the man’s expression. “Another time we shall share stories. Thank you for introducing me to Spectre. Have a nice night.”
She turned on her heel and left quietly out the stable doors. She was already bathed in the moonlight again when Tristan managed to reply.
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