The villa seemed quiet as Vardala headed downstairs from her room. After the events of the previous night, she had slept in, and was surprised to discover how high the sun had been in the sky when she finally awoke. By this time, she would normally expect the villa to be bustling with morning activity, but there was no sign of anyone. Perhaps they were outside, clearing everything up.
Suppressing a yawn, and running her fingers through her hair, she walked into the villa's main living room. It looked like everyone else had finished their breakfast, and there wasn't that much left, even for a gnome's smaller stomach. She picked up an apple that had been left over, and took a bite out of it, as somebody quietly stepped into the room behind her.
"Can I get you something? There's plenty in the kitchen."
She turned, to see Horvan standing there, polite and self-effacing, as always. "No, it's all right -- I can wait until lunch. Perhaps it is a little late for breakfast, anyway."
"Of course."
"Where are the others, anyway?"
"They're all out, clearing up, or just checking on things. I believe Lady Tarissa is at the temple, and Calleslyn has gone to check on her friend from the scroll shop. I'm not sure about Almandar and Dolrim; they didn't say."
"Perhaps I should be seeing how things are, as well," she conceded, "instead of sleeping in. Last night's disaster seemed quite widespread."
"You have already done much!" blurted out the young man, more animated than his usual self, "everything you did in the temple -- so many people are alive because of you. You can't feel guilty for not doing more!"
She smiled; it felt good to know that she had really helped people, even if she was ashamed to recall that it hadn't been her first thought at the time. She had become an adventurer for her own ends, of course, not out of a desire to right wrongs, as Tarissa had done... but to think that, sometimes, she did anyway, gave her a pleasant warm feeling that she was somewhat unused to.
"Thank you, Horvan," she said, "that's kind of you to say."
He shuffled, casting his eyes down to the floor, "it's the truth. I know that you are an adventurer, and you face such things all the time, but the rest of us do not, and you saved my life, along with those of the others. I am very grateful for your deliverance... I don't know what would have happened if you had not been there."
"Well," she said, feeling a little embarrassed by the praise, especially considering who it was coming from, "you showed bravery, too. Considering, as you say, that you're not used to such things. For that matter, after the demon attacked you here, you didn;t try and leave us, as others might have done. So we owe you thanks as well."
"It's hardly the same. Besides, I couldn't leave you, not what after everything you've done. All of you, I mean. And to see you in action -- slaying that undead thing with your sword, and not flinching! You are truly beautiful."
She froze, the apple half way to her mouth. Had he just said what she thought he had just said? Or was her mind playing tricks?
"Uh, I mean..." he said, suddenly flushing red, "it was... it was beautiful the way that you... the... I mean... I don't mean that you are... uh, not that you aren't..."
"So you do think I'm beautiful?" she asked, barely avoiding stammering herself as she tried to make sense of what he was trying to say.
"Well... yes... but really, it isn't..."
"But you're human," she said, pointing out the obvious.
"Well, obviously, it would never work." He gulped, going quite red now, and avoiding looking in her direction.
Vardala herself was standing still, apple still held in her hand, as she tried to digest what she was hearing. It had seemed so obvious to her that there would never really be an opportunity to test her fantasies. The barrier between their respective races had always seemed so insurmountable, and it had never even occurred to her that he might feel the same way. But that was what he had just implied, wasn't it? That he, too, had wished there were some way around the obstacle?
Which there wasn't of course, no matter what she sometimes dreamed about. But then, did it really make things impossible, or just... anatomically awkward?
"I think I should go now," said the young man, looking more flustered than she had ever seen him, even when faced by an invading army of undead.
"No!" she said loudly, holding her arm out, not wanting to let the moment pass.
He looked back towards her, puzzled by the urgent tone of her voice. Vardala struggled to think of a reason to detain him. One came to her, out of the blue -- it had worked on Fentik, after all.
"I have some washing," she said, "up in my room. If you could collect it, please."
"Of course," he said, looking relieved, and headed out of the door, towards the staircase. Vardala put down her half-eaten apple and rushed after him. "I'm sure I can find it," he said, presumably surprised that she was following him.
"Just let me show you," she said, breathlessly, trotting up the stairs as fast as her short legs would carry her.
Once inside the room, Horvan looked around, searching for any discarded clothes. When, naturally enough, he failed to see any, he headed to the cupboard, but, by that time, Vardala was right behind him, pulling off her leather jacket.
"Here you go," she said, holding it out, "I think it got dirty after that business with the undead yesterday. Some of them did smell a bit."
"Oh, right," he said, uncertainly, taking the proffered item from her.
She was wearing a light linen shirt underneath, with long sleeves and a collar that tucked up around her neck. It has hardly the most feminine of wear, but then, she had never been one for dresses and long skirts. It wasn't just that they were inconvenient while adventuring; they just felt awkward, as if she was dressing up as someone else. Much better to wear her usual leather jacket and trews, as she had been this morning.
Vardala turned away from Horvan, and pushed at the door, so that it closed with a soft click. Then she pulled her shirt loose from the belt of her trews and pulled it over her head. She wore nothing underneath, of course, and modestly held her left arm across her chest as she turned back to Horvan, holding the shirt out with the other.
"This too, I think. The contamination seems to penetrate everything, don't you find?"
The young man's eyes were wide, and clearly focussed downwards toward her, hovering over her bare belly, arms, and shoulders. She glanced down and saw, to her growing excitement, a bulge beginning to form in Horvan's own trews. The fact that the bulge was level with her head brought her up temporarily, forcibly reminding her of their apparent incompatibility. Humans were just so tall, for all that they looked similar to gnomes in other respects! How far would she able to push this?
Horvan was evidently struggling to find words as he gingerly reached out to take the shirt, a blush spreading to his cheeks again. "Will that be all?" he asked, nervously.
"Hmm," she said, as if pondering the thought, before teasing him, "you think I should take off my trews as well? What about my panties?"
"That's not what I..."
Vardala failed to suppress a giggle at his shocked expression. "Oh, lighten up!" she said, noticing that he was, rather obviously, now holding the shirt and jacket so as to hide her view of his crotch. "You just said you find me beautiful, so how bad can it be?" Her voice softened a little, "did you really mean it?"
He nodded, mutely, before regaining his composure and adding, "I should probably be getting back to work."
"You've been around the house. Are you saying you've never caught a glimpse of me undressing?"
"No!"
He seemed to be being honest, which would, she reflected, be quite typical of him. She decided not to tell him that his own privacy had not been so sacrosanct.
Instead, she grinned, and said, "well, now's your chance," and raised both her arms over her head, stretching herself up on tip toe, arching her back to thrust her bare breasts outward. Even so outstretched, she estimated that she would barely have been able to reach his chest, had they been close enough for her to make the attempt.
Horvan's eyes almost popped out of his head. "Vardala!" he gasped, "please don't tease me like this!"
"Do you still think I'm pretty?" she asked, moving one hand to cup a rounded breast, sliding her fingers up to stroke a rosy nipple, then taking a few steps towards him, hips swaying seductively.
"Oh, goddess, yes..." he moaned, "but you know that we can't! You're so tiny and delicate, and I know that you can't possibly think a human is..." He trailed off.
"Tiny and delicate?" she cried, actually a little offended. Just because he was a human! She dashed towards him, yanking her abandoned clothes from his nerveless fingers. "I'll show you 'tiny and delicate'!"
She grabbed him by the hips, turning him round, and then giving him a sudden shove. Taken aback, and perhaps finding that she was stronger than he had supposed, Horvan staggered, his legs banging into the bed behind him, and then fell flat on his back onto the mattress.
Vardala immediately jumped up after him. It was a human-sized bed, which made it luxurious for her, although that fact was now beginning to present other advantages as well. She clambered up over his prone body, hands pushing against his clothed chest, until she brought herself face to face with him.
