"Ahhhh post cum clarity is a beautiful thing!" Aiyanna grinned while stretching her arms overhead.
The new pair walked back across the field, both dressed and reasonably in order after their intimacy in the barn. She was in her gambison, the metal armor belted to her side, she offered to carry his but he declared she wasn't a pack horse and he could handle it. They did promise to give each other a shoulder massage later though.
Aiyanna was giddy, she had passed the ceremony and had a new partner, that he was attracted to her was but a bonus, a great one, but she would have been satisfied even if not.
"Aiyanna," she turned her head to look at him, not drifting through some lusty fantasy for a change. "I mentioned before, that I'm just a low-level knight. Is that going to be okay?"
"It will be for me," she nodded. "I cannot say for my father and older sister speaking honestly. But, and I don't enjoy admitting this, I
am
lucky to even have a partner. There is supposed to be some kind of mystical connection as well as physical." she waved her hand through the air, not knowing one way or the other. "I was starting to think there was no one for me since I'm so...different," she started to say ugly, but in the short time she's known this man, he already took offense at her saying so.
She told him how she was usually looked at by the other Centauri, that she was seen as a malformed runt. That it was only her father's rank that let her live this long and the best treatment she could expect at home was to be ignored. Easier now that both her sisters had moved out to be with their partners. However she wanted to stress that she was on good terms with her older sister.
Marik seethed. Despite having the rank of high society, that they treated her so terribly. He seemed like he'd get violent with the next person to insult her. It was touching, and she leaned over to kiss his lips.
"Thank you, but calm yes?" she smiled warmly.
"It pisses me off that you'd be treated like that." the kiss had surprised him and brought him back to his senses. "Not just because we're together either. I'd be pissed anyway." she tilted her head in curiosity, wanting him to explain.
"My father killed himself working so hard to purchase a knighthood for me. And when I became a squire, and then came here, I was pushed down and harassed because I wasn't born into rank. What pleases these people?" he hissed in anger.
She wrapped her arms around his shoulders to draw him into her side and remained silent. She wanted to comfort him but didn't have words that would do the task justice. After a moment he lifted an arm to place around her waist.
"Right now, let us focus on getting ready. You said you had ideas?"
He nodded, forcing his thoughts back to something constructive. "Yeah, when I was watching you in that melee. I was thinking. Your gear wasn't suited for you at all. That spear gave you reach, but not enough power. Your armor was too heavy and didn't fit right," he glanced at her chest plate. "Though what was under it was good on the eyes."
She lightly smacked him with her tail.
With a grin, he continued. "So I think you need better equipment. A weapon suited for you and lighter armor that you know, fits you. I wouldn't mind some form-fitting black leather." staring at her chest.
She blushed red and punched his shoulder, causing him to laugh and rub the spot. He liked her reaction but damn did she lay on the pain.
"Okay not so tight." taking the hand and kissing its back. "And for your upper half probably not leather at all, but I'll leave that to experts."
"Maybe not in public," she muttered, unused to the attention still. "So, is that where we are headed?" she looked around.
They were headed away from their academy. Beyond which lay the royal capital. Sprawling neighborhoods dotted with tall towers of different shapes and heights. She knew from experience there were parks, plazas, and various shops.
They were walking in the other direction, leaving through the back gate the merchants used. Smaller houses began to appear and eventually formed a village. She had never been this way before, hadn't even known it existed.
She stopped dead in her tracks, right outside the stone wall of the village. Her eyes got a little bigger as her tail whisked back and forth. "I-I don't know. When they see me-"
"-they will wonder who the beauty is and wonder how I got lucky enough to be at your side." he kissed her hand again, and she smiled shakily at him.
She nodded and began moving forward again. He watched her for a time, noting how spooked she looked, and how on guard she was. Marik had to wonder what the hell happened until now. She pushed herself forward, and he thought her brave for it, seeing as her hand was quivering in his, her grip tightening. But for this, why was bravery needed?
"You...you have me now." he blurted out, feeling his skin heat up.
She looked at him with a surprised expression, then smiled at him and nodded.
Winding their way through the quaint village they came to stand at a large, low house. Smoke puffed out of the chimney, and Aiyanna noted there were two.
"Here we are," Marik spoke up and knocked on the door. "Vlad! Sarika! It's Marik!."
"Around the side for business!" came a heavy voice.
Marik smirked a little bit and motioned with his head to Aiyanna to follow him. He walked to the side building to see a large centaur man.
He towered over the two of them, Marik was sure he was over seven feet tall, around seven-five or something. He wasn't just tall, his muscles bulged and the man was thick with them. His short clipped tail whisked back and forth slowly as he set his large dark eyes on them.
He leaned a massive hammer on his shoulder and rested his glowing tongs on the anvil beside him. A back-length ponytail was the only hair on his head, the rest having been shaved off. A scar across his face from cheek to opposite brow dominated his face. He looked imposing from his sweat-slicked crown to the shaggy fetlocks of his hooves.
"Marik, Sarika is out with the kids getting things for dinner. Hey Casey! Tell your mom Marik is here with a centaur woman!"
"Alright, dad!." a loud female voice came back at him before they could hear a door slam shut.
"And how many times do I have to tell you to not slam the door?" he sighed, not bothering to shout after her. "So Marik, what brings you here?" he leaned forward and openly stared at Aiyanna. "And who's this? Found yourself a little woman huh? Nice of you to bring her around." he nodded slowly.
The 'little woman' tensed, her back going rigid as she prepared for the barbs coming her way.
"Dad? Mom says she'll pick up some extra then." his daughter bound over to see them, grinning at Marik before bouncing away.
Aiyanna blinked, maybe his comment wasn't what she thought.
The girl Casey wasn't what she expected at all. She was human, with four limbs and all that, but her lower legs were a centaur's, she even had a matching blond tail! Her ears were also long and pointed like her own. The girl was five foot eleven Aiyanna guessed, but looked fourteen. Pretty tall for sure.
She looked back at Vlad curiously, and he just nodded to her.
"Yeah, her Centauri came out strong, though her mom is human." he pointed lazily toward the capital. "They'd ridicule and abuse her there, but out here, it's nothing." he shrugged. "Not even very rare."
"Kinda like yourself miss."
Aiyanna looked stunned, "When you said 'little' woman I..."
"Yeah? Oh, sorry, wife tells me I shouldn't use the phrase but I forget all the time." he shrugged again, resting the long hammer against the anvil and placing the tongs on a workbench. "So Marik, what are you here for? Unless you just wanted to show off your lady. Some of the girls around here are going to get jealous I bet. Sarika and Casey will tell me all about it I'm sure." he sighed
Marik grinned lopsidedly and shook his head, Vlad could pretend, but his wife told him he always listened with rapt attention. "We paired up at the choosing ceremony today." Vlad's eyes went up but he quietly listened. "But her gear was all wrong. I think she was using the standard stuff.
"Most of it was equipment meant for one much younger than I," she grumbled. "To accommodate my height."
The blacksmith nodded and gestured to the chestplate. "That too? Doesn't look like it'd fit well. C'mere and tell me about the stuff."
She glanced at Marik who nodded and she stepped up.
The young man half listened as his new partner spoke of her gear, and with more prompting from Vlad, she went to greater and greater detail, showing him what she had with her. More than talking about the gear, Marik thought she was enjoying talking to another of her people so openly.
He half grinned at it and casually looked around at the finished weapons, swords, axes, polearms for man, and Centauri. Probably awaiting pickup or sheathes. One sword got his attention, broad with a curved tip, the handle had a broad knuckle guard as well. It still needed finishing and a proper handle, but he liked it.
"That was just for practice," Vlad called to him when he noticed. "Based it on this falchion I saw."
Marik nodded and Vlad went back to talking to Aiyanna. The young knight wandered off again and hearing their front door open he noted a few familiar voices speak up, and he went to meet them.
"Marik!" two little boys rushed over to him and hugged him around his hips. One boy was completely human, though without a doubt he looked like his father, the other looked much the same, but with a pair of hair-covered pointy centaur ears.
"Hey you two," he smiled down at the twins.
"So, I hear you brought a guest?" Sarika smiled and walked over to hug him in greeting. Vlad's wife and the mother of these three. She wore her auburn hair in a loose braid and had a lovely oval face set with bright dark eyes. Her lips were always in a sardonic smile from what Marik saw, brought together with a button nose. She had a curvy, thick figure from doing constant 'common' labour but he, and especially Vlad, thought she was very attractive.
"Aiyanna, we chose one another at the ceremony today."
He tried to play it cool, but she knew him well enough to know he was holding back his excitement. She hugged him tightly again.
"She's talking to your husband about new equipment, and I think she just likes talking to another centaur so freely." he half grinned.
