This really wasn't working.

Leon was currently sitting in the tent they had set up and as staring intently at the piece of parchment Lira had laid out on a small folding table. On said parchment were around a hundred words scribbled on it.

Lira had laid her head on the piece of paper in frustration.

She was trying her hardest to teach Leon the language, it simply wasn't working however. Every word that came out of her mouth was auto translated for him to understand, so she had tried to sound them out, but that was translated aswell, even when she took a pause between the syllables.

So they had attempted to write the words, only to find his characters and hers were entirely different. There was even a different amount of letters in the alphabet he knew than the one she did.

In short it was impossible for now.

She lifted her weary head up, and looked over at Leon who had spent the entire night listening to her patiently, and calmly. He was staring at the parchment with a focus that excluded anything except the thing in his eyes.

The text was, strangely ornate, much more artistic than the one he was used to. With a sigh he shook his head and looked over at Lira, when he did he realised she had not just laid her head down in frustration but had actually fallen asleep.

Smiling softly he picked her up and carried her over to the small raised wooden cot they had set up for her, it didn’t sit more than a foot or so off the ground but it served the purpose of keeping the covers off the cold lumpy earth.

Once he had sat her in her covers however he realized the ink from the paper had left large black marks on the right side of her face. Reaching out he tried to rub the ink off of her face, but it only smeared a little, causing a long black streak to be there instead of the pretty character.

With a laugh he licked his thumb and started to rub off the ink, but he found he would need more liquid than just a little of his saliva, and seeing as spitting on her seemed a little to rude he did the next best thing.

He licked her.

His tongue ran up the length of her cheek and ended just under her eye. She wrinkled her face cutely but continued to sleep. With this thumb he rubbed off the ink that was on her face, it looked like he would need to do this once or twice more however. He pulled back slightly and was going to lick her again when her golden eyes fluttered open.

He froze, his face was a few centimeters at most away from her own and he was leaning over her.

“Ehh?-EHHHHHH?” she screamed slightly, her cheeks dyeing red as she realised how close he was to her.

“Hi” he simply stated.

“What, eh what are you doing?” she asked there was a tremor in her voice.

“This,” he licked her from her chin and up over her lips. Her eyes went wide. She made a small strangling sound in the back of her throat, and honestly he doubted she could blush any deeper.

“Emm, if you're going to… properly please...” she muttered, looking away from him.

“What was that?” he asked.

“If you're going to kiss me...” she said softly, still not looking at him. “Then do it properly please.” she forced herself to look up at him. He really was a handsome man, what with the red hair and beard lining his face like a lion’s mane. And those eyes, those deep ruby eyes, every time she had looked into them she almost feared falling into their depths.

And he was nice to her, listening to everything she said, helping her, teaching her.

But most of all he never treated her like she was under him, like she was just some bastard child.

If it was him, she didn't mind.

“Are you sure about that?” he asked her. “If I kiss you it will be to claim you as my own, and once I do that there will be no other men in your life.”

“Nn-” she nodded, “I have already said I would give you my everything.”

“You did? When?” he asked, a look of confusion crossing his face.

“You don't remember?” she asked.

“Repeat them for me...”

“Doing that...” her cheeks much to Leon’s surprise did indeed become darker. “I do not have riches to give, nor anything else material. However I need your help so I will give you myself, everything I am and will be is yours, and all I ask is that you help me achieve my goals.”

“Is that what you said when you first met me?” he asked looking at her.

She nodded, “That is why I cannot order you to do anything, you are not my slave, but my partner.” she looked up at him.”How could you have forgotten?”

“Before you kissed me I was unable to understand anything anyone said.” he said softly. “But since you said that, let me return the sentiment.”

And with that he leaned in and stole her lips.

He pried her lips apart, sending his tongue into feel about her mouth. She opened her eyes widely as she felt it come into her mouth. It was not long before her tongue responded back. He smiled and lightly bit the bottom of her lip, listening to the sweet music that was her gasp of surprise.

Pulling back he looked down at her panting below him her eyes were hazy and she was not focused on anything anymore, with a smile he leaned down and licked her cheek again, wiping off the rest of the ink with his thumb.

That was enough for tonight, he thought to himself. There was no need to rush things, they had all the time in the world. With a smile he tucked her in and stood up to leave, but as he did she caught the hem of his robe and held him in place.

“You're going?” she asked, there was a slight hint of desperation in her voice.

“You're not thinking clearly, get some rest.”

“Could you atleast sleep here with me? I don't want to be alone.” she asked, covering her mouth with a han, almost as though she was surprised at what she had said. With a sigh he motioned for her to move over, and crawled into the cot with her.

It was warm from her body heat, and the narrow cot made it so if they both were going to fit they would have to spoon, he wrapped his arm around her slim midriff and pulled her close to his chest.

It was not long before she drifted off to sleep, a lazy smile on her lips.