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Leo

As Leo said his goodbyes, he walked out of the guild and waited for Elaria, since she told him that she wanted to talk to Kessa about something in private.

Leo broke into thought after about half an hour of mindless waiting. 'I wonder what she's talking about… Hopefully not about my endurance, I've pretty much forbid her from discussing it with anyone after Allis's reaction. I may be able to go for quite a while, but death by a snoo snoo zerg is…. Actually…..' His train of thought was interrupted by Elaria exiting the guild.

The both of them started heading for the blacksmith and carpenter to pick up his orders, but Leo noticed that Elaria was a bit more ‘reserved’. He assumed it was because of whatever she spoke to Kessa about, so he didn't want to pry because she specifically didn't want him there for the conversation.

At the carpenter he picked up two bags of fifty wooden tiles, one was full of one inch tiles, and the other was two. The tiles were for Leo to better workshop enchantments by modulating the runes, so he didn't have to keep making and dispersing them on a single surface.

‘Ah modulation, the foundation of peak efficiency.… And laziness….’ Leo thought in a bit of amusement while putting the small bags into his satchel.

The carpenter also pulled out a mildly ornate staff that was five feet long with the top half of an owl carved into the head.

Leo smiled wide at his new staff as it was handed to him. 'May not be one hundred percent accurate, but with the role I'm most likely going to take up, I might as well commit to the bit.’ He thought as they left the carpenter and headed for the blacksmith that was just a short walk away.

“That's a nice looking staff, are you gonna enchant it?” Elaria asked with interest, though her tone was soft.

Leo shrugged, because he didn't actually need it. “I don't know… Some utility maybe? I don't really need a staff, but I figured that if I’m holding one, then any one who wants to force some fun out of me will have second thoughts about attempting it. So it's mostly for show.”

Elaria furrowed her brow. “Huh, good idea. Though it will draw some more attention from onlookers.” She remarked softly.

Leo raised an eyebrow, wanting to ask her what was wrong, but a gut feeling told him to do that in private.

“Let it, at this point I'd rather let people know that I'm a mage up front. With their reputation, I don't think anyone will go out of there way to be social with me unless they want something. So it's just another level of deterrent.” He remarked indifferently.

Leo signaled to the head smith for his order, and the dwarf went a little wide-eyed at Leo’s staff before he sent his apprentices to get them.

A few moments later the smith carted out a few items. A metal box about a foot in dimensions with a thin lid covered in holes, for a magical steamer. Two six inch iron grill plates, for a magical panini press. A toaster casing, for ‘magical’ toast. A one inch /two foot long metal pipe, to create a prototype for a magical weapon.

‘And a lightweight dagger, for my own added protection.’ He thought as he looked over the last item.

Leo smiled as he equipped the dagger. “Thanks, and here's a coin for your troubles.” He said while tossing the smith a gold coin.

The smiths jaw dropped. “I- wait, what?”

Elaria looked confused as well at his massively generous tip. “Um Leo, I'm with the dwarf on this. Why?”

“Elaria, I'm starting to make more money than I literally know what to do with. I'm not gonna sit on it like some cheap hoarder, and a little goodwill can go a long way.” Leo explained with a casual shrug of the shoulders.

The smith crossed his arms. “Uhhh, Is yer staff just for show? Because yah sound noting like a mage….” He questioned critically.

Leo smirked while gesturing his staff toward the items. “Float.” He said, and a moment later all of them started floating toward him.

The smith arched a brow. “By my fokin beard, the north must train’em differently.”

Leo frowned at the way too spot on accent. ‘Alright, I need to confirm something….’

Leo asked the smith to say a few things before taking off his translation necklace.

The smith smiled before saying. “Rug ish ka dull's nad ishk”

Leo raised an eyebrow, much to the dwarfs' amusement. “That's definitely not english, and sounds no where close to the original accent. So It’s adding the accent because of my perception from media back home. Wait, does that make ‘me’ or the ‘necklace’ racist…’ He thought as he put back on the necklace.

“Anyway, thanks for the merchandise.” Leo told the smith.

The smith smiled. “You are very much welcome. Please come back again for any more work that you need done.” He said, and not a trace of the accent was present.

Leo suppressed an irritated eye twitch. ‘I’m blaming the necklace…’

Leo gestured to the remaining items for them to organize into a neat floating stack. After some polite farewells, Leo and Elaria departed from the blacksmith, heading back to the inn with the stack of items floating close behind. Leo felt more eyes on him, but they looked more like they were weary than lustful. Leo was unsure how to feel about the shift in perception, but at least this confirmed that people wouldn't mess with him any time soon.

When they finally arrived at the inn, Leo had a silent dinner with Elaria before heading down to their room. Leo was sure that Elaria would pull him into the bed the second he entered the room, but she didn't. They took turns in the shower before crawling into bed, and Elaria remained silent the entire time.

Leo figured that now was the time to ask. “Elaria, is something bothering you?”

Elaria shifted in bed to position herself closer to him. “Can you just hold me for a moment?”

Leo obliged, snaking his arms around her stomach from behind to become the big spoon.

Elaria felt tense for a moment, but relaxed after a bit of silence.

“Elaria?” Leo asked again.

Leo could hear her begin to softly cry. “I- I'm sorry…”

Leo was confused and very worried. “For what?”

Elaria tensed up again before speaking. “I didn't know, how much you care…” She responded while sounding like she had to force the words out.

Leo scoffed playfully, trying to lighten the mood. “Elaria, I wouldn't be holding you like this if I didn't care.”

“No! It's not the- it's- I-” Elaria yelled, then broke into incoherent stuttering that was mixed in with her light crying.

Leo immediately started consoling her, realizing that this might be way more serious than he thought. “Shh, just take a moment to think.” He told her while running his hand across her soft scaled stomach.

After a few minutes of silence, Elaria spoke, and her voice was shaky. “It wasn't love, what I felt toward you in the beginning. Hell, I'm not even sure it was anything close to that for the past few days…” She told him, and Leo could feel her start to tremble, like she was expecting some kind of rebuke.

Leo just held her tighter. “I’m still here, so go on and let out all you want to say, I'll listen.” He said with as much sincerity as he could express.

Leo could feel Elaria attempting to speak a few times before she actually managed to start. “I-... What I did with you is what I thought was love. I didn't actually feel the way you felt, much less the way you cared for another person…. Looking back, I was just convincing myself that what I felt was affection, but it wasn't even that. I was just attaching myself to you….” She paused, and curled slightly in his arms.

Leo curled himself to keep closely pressed against her, and she continued. “The only other person that I would come close to the care that you could share with a complete stranger, might be my sister. I grew up in a family that was cruel, manipulative and devoid of that kind of love. It was all about blood, everything for the family, the family above all. Many of us had fun and enjoyed each other's company, but we never had that kind of connection that was deeper than just being related….And what we did….what I did…” Leo could feel her begin to shake, it didn't feel like sorrow though, but actual fear.

Leo held her tight, trying to pull her away from whatever she was starting to recall. “It's alright, I'm here. You're safe.” He reassured.

Elaria snapped out of the moment of fear, taking another minute to collect herself before continuing. “After seeing how you acted towards Slessi, and my talk with Kessa, I realized that I never acted even close to that with you, It was all sexual… And I-I just acted like it was all a fantasy, like I was going to get my happy ending. Fuck, I believed I deserved it….But after today I cant help but hate my self for going on like this... For just using you-” She started to fully break down as she sobbed heavily into a balled up part of the bed sheet.

Leo was at a loss for words as he processed the situation. ‘I knew the relationship was way too fast to be normal, and that she was very eager for sex, but I chalked it up to the ‘Fucked ratio’. Man I suck at this.... I've only ever had a few flings, and never been in anything close to resembling a long term relationship. Hell, the last physical experience I had back on earth was at a party, and that ended with an unfortunate blowjob and a permanent apprehension to anything alcoholic, and that was years ago.’

Leo felt a pain in his chest begin to grow as he made out the occasional muffled ‘I'm sorry’ from Elaria crying into the sheets.

A building determination filled Leo as he felt for her. ‘I may be a dense piece of shit when it comes to relationships, but I'd be damned if I'm the reason for the anguish of someone who doesn't deserve it, and especially if that someone is Elaria. Hell, I'm no different. I was using her to some extent in the beginning too, but now...’ His thought trailed while he committed himself to his feelings.

Leo spun her around and hugged her tightly against his chest. “What about now?” He asked, and Elaria let out a confused ‘what’.

Leo tilted his head down to look at her. “What do you feel about me now, do you love me?”

Elaria held closely to his chest. “I- I don't know…” She answered with uncertainty.

Leo pulled back a bit. “Well, how would you feel if I left you and never came back?” He questioned hypothetically, and Elaria seemed to almost go into a panic.

Leo brought her in again to calm her down. “‘IF’, Elaria! But please, describe what you just felt.”

Elaria calmed down, but held onto Leo with a tighter grip. “I felt like something in me was about to break, I don't know what… Or a piece of me was starting to rip away…”

Leo could feel his heart start to ache, and he wanted to apologize for making her feel that way, but continued his momentum. “And how would you feel If I stayed with you forever?”

Leo could feel Elaria physically relax a little. “Warm, happy, like I feel lighter.” She answered, her voice noticeably more steady.

Leo Smiled, knowing that she might not ‘fully’ love him, but that her feelings are definitely heading there, and all she really needed was to better understand them. “Then what happened up till now shouldn't matter, since you care about me now.” He tried to reassure her.

Leo felt her tense again. “But I used you, I can't just forgive myself for that.”

“Elaria, you've cried your eyes out because of it, and you've felt like shit for not believing that you could ever be able to return my feelings. That's more than enough proof of your feelings for me. So please, for me, at least try to forgive yourself, because I already do.” He told her honestly.

Elaria slowly pushed away from Leo's tight embrace, and looked into his eyes. Her face looked a mess of tears, but in her eyes was something new, something genuine. She leaned in and kissed him, but this wasn't one of her usual kisses. There was no tongue, no escalation, no need for the physical. Only a pair of lips pressed together in a desire to just share the moment of simple, pure affection for one another.

When they broke apart they took a few silent moments to stare into each other's eyes.

Elaria moved closer to Leo, and leaned her head against his chest. “I still don't know if I truly love you, or if I will ever know. But… I would like to try.”

Leo closed his eyes. “And I'll be right there with you…” He said while running his hand across her back.

Elaria felt even more relaxed than she was at the beginning of the conversation, and they just held each other for a while, seemingly content to let the moment of intimacy stretch on forever.

Elaria shifted around a bit, interrupting the moment to say something. “By the way, I have a bit of a confession to make. My name isn't Elaria, I changed it to hide from my family and to be able to socialize with other people. My family is… Infamous, in selaria.” She explained with deep shame, and a little fear.

Leo continued to run a hand across her back. “It's alright. I've seen, heard and read some of the worst things that my race has ever done. And the one lesson it's taught me is that you can't let the past define you, only learn from it to better yourself now, so you can be proud of yourself later….. That and I know nearly nothing about this world.” He said, finishing the last part with a grin.

Elaria giggled. “My real name is Tessari Venomara Scarlet…. And my family….”

Leo could feel Elaria start to shake. “Isn't here, and doesn't matter.” He remarked as he tilted her head up to face his.

Elaria winced and avoided direct eye contact.. “But I don't want to hide anything… Especially…” She trailed off and Leo could feel her shaking increase.

Leo pulled her back into his embrace. “Elaria, I don't care what your family is or did, so we don't need to have that conversation right now if you're not feeling up for it. I'm not planning on going anywhere without you anytime soon, so just promise me that you'll open up to me about it when you're ready.”

Elaria calmed once more. “I...Thank you… And... When we're alone like this, can you call me Tessari?” She asked a bit sheepishly.

“Alright, Tessari.”

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