Large beads of sweat trailed down Aurelius’ dirt-stained face as the young prince stood ever obediently within the boiling tent that served as his mother's temporary residence. His fingers danced around one another as his hands continued to remain behind his back while he waited for his sorcerous half-mother to finally move on from the weathered notebook that she always kept on her person since the prince's expedition first began. As the sorceress continued to turn the pages within her notebook, turning each of its pages with glacial speed, the elven prince could do nothing more except to stew in the filthy quagmire of sweat, blood, and freshly dug up dirt that coated his worn-out body. Yet even though he knew that tomorrow would bring him more exhaustive work to toil under and wear out his body, he savored that his seemingly endless punishment was slowly coming to an end for the day.

At first, he had been fine with the notion that his sorcerous mother had transformed herself into his warden as she doled out the back-breaking punishment that ran him ragged around the encampment—forcing him to toil beneath the burning rays of the mid-spring sun as he worked alongside the various goblins that made up Ruined Home’s recently established workforce. Yet the patience he had for his punishment had slowly started to wear thin as he learned at just how lazy his new companions truly were. As he worked from dawn to dusk, the hours turned into days, which slowly ticked over into weeks, and Aurelius had done nothing except play catch up towards what was to be expected to be accomplished for any particular day.

So it came to no one’s surprise when Aurelius had finally had enough and tackled one of the overseers after they had made a joke at the prince’s expense. After having won the fight and gifting the unfortunate overseer with a black eye, Aurelius had felt as if he was on top of cloud nine with such a minor victory under his belt.

Only for a sudden sense of dread to drown his elated emotions as he had finally realized that his lithe and stern-faced mother had been towering over the pair of struggling teenagers for quite some time.

Ever since then, the mother and son pair had remained inside of the sauna-like tent as the elven woman was seemingly contempt in ignoring the plight of her exhausted and emotionally fragile son as he continued to stew in his own filth while the whirlwind of emotions that enveloped his mind continued to eat at his sense of purpose.

Feeling as if a layer of stone had enveloped his aching body, Aurelius craned his neck and rolled his shoulders as he attempted to remove the kinks that had started to form within his tired muscles.

“Aurelius," Came Velicion's calm voice as she continued to pour over the contents of her journal, keeping her back towards the blonde-haired prince as she spoke to him in an authoritative manner. "On who's authority was it made for you to move from your spot?”

Aware of the fact that there was nothing for him to say towards his mother’s inquiry, Aurelius let out a frustrated scowl as he brought his hands back behind his back while keeping his back ever so slightly slouched forward.

Even though it was in such a paltry manner, the elven prince wanted to rebel against his mother with whatever method he knew that he could get away with.

‘It’s been almost three hours, and that’s all you have to say?’ The frustrated prince bemoaned to himself as he decided to take his act of rebelling several steps forward by twisting and turning his wretched back. Bringing great joy to his ears as the sound of his shoulders and spine popped out their knots and kinks.

“If that’s how you want it,” The stern tone of his mother called out to him as the sound of a multitude of pages echoed around the spacious tent. Aurelius could do nothing except stare in wide-eyed worry as the lithe form of his mother turned around to face her wayward son. “Who will it be then?”

Aurelius’ eyes looked around the tent as he attempted to feign ignorance towards the true meaning behind the elusive question.

“I’m sorry?” Beads of nervous sweat rolled down his dirt coated neck as he spoke those sheepish words.

His mother, whose well-groomed hair flowed down the tiny confines of her back, stared with a heavy glare towards the distressed young boy who was finding it increasingly difficult to retain his act of defiance towards his powerful mother.

“Do not make me repeat myself young man.”

With his act of strength becoming increasingly difficult beneath the burning gaze of the sorcerous elven woman, an increasingly nervous Aurelius remained silent as he watched his mother cross her legs before gently placing her hands over her knees.

A hideously nervous smile cracked the surface of his otherwise handsome features as Aurelius recognized the telltale sign of the proverbial disciplinary hammer hovering over his head.

Over the many years in dealing with the nearly two dozen mothers of his as well as the untold number of siblings that made up his increasingly growing family, Aurelius had learned to take great care in recognizing the many parental ticks that his various mothers have continued to use when dealing with any troublesome children. For Velicion in particular, crossing her legs was always a subtle move of hers when it came to letting her children choose between a specific set of choices.

Those choices were always one of two options: having her bring in their father or if need be, allowing the child to let their blood-mother become aware of their misbehavior.

On most occasions, however, both options were chosen on behalf of the nervously begging child as they pleaded with the soured love of their mother.

“Father doesn’t need to come here for this,” Cornered and left with no avenues of escape, Aurelius could only look down to the ground in sorrow as he desperately hoped that the woman before him wouldn’t escalate the situation any further. “I’ll apologize to Vorinth and quietly accept any other form of punishment that comes my way from now on.”

“So then,” Velicion clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth as she arched her back against the makeshift desk behind her while planting her head over an open palm. The bored gaze that the elven woman’s eyes burned through her son's pleading form was all that needed to be said about her feelings towards the current situation. “You wish for Mori’Anna.”

“No!” Screamed the blonde-haired prince as he dropped down to his knees with a defeated air around him at the mear mention of his blood mother's name.

Half-shocked and half-scared by what he had done, Aurelius sucked in a breath of air as he watched his mother’s face scowl in anger at his frightened tone.

“So the both of them then?”

“Anything but them, please!” Aurelius clasped his hands in front of his face as he walked with his knees towards the disciplinary figure that sat before him.

While he was unsure as to what sort of punishment his father would concoct when having learned about the truth behind his son’s expedition, Aurelius was loathed to admit it, but he would happily throw himself before his family's supreme patriarch and pleaded for him to design any manner of punishment for his wayward son—especially knowing that his mother, the terrifying Arch-Mistress to all Dark Elves, had never disciplined her son beyond confining him to his room while having lectured him over whatever small slight that the oftentimes obedient child had done to cause ire within the family.

When faced with the truth behind what he had done to make his paltry expedition become a reality: by not only forging his blood mother’s signature when signing a decree allowing him to create a small expedition but as well as the fact that he had stolen and misused his mother’s seal when forging said document. Aurelius dreaded to face the uncertain future that awaited him.

“Please Mother Velicion,” Aurelius’ nervous voice cracked as he looked up into the elven woman’s eyes, allowing the hint of tears to glint in their ducts as he cupped his hands together, desperately hoping that his usual method of appeasing his many mothers was enough to quell the unrest in Velicion's eyes. “I’ll take on whatever it is that you want me to do. Just don’t tell mother or father.”

“Oh Aurelius, you haven’t called me that in years.” Velicion placed a loving hand over her heart as a more gentle, soothing tone was sung through the air after hearing the desperate teenager call out to her in such an affectionate manner.

Filled with such unfiltered joy at having won against the whims of the sorceress and reversed the course of his punishment, Aurelius beamed out happily and gave his mother a loving smile.

“However, if you’re going to be like that,” The contempt for her son that was held within her tone spoke volumes about the sorceress's true intentions as Velicion placed her hands over her knees once again as she crisscrossed her legs for a second time. “Then I’m left with no other option except to decide for you.”

As the rising anger boiled up inside of him, Aurelius let out his frustrations with a fierce growl while simultaneously casting his right fist into the front flap of his mother’s tent. The fabric's rough surface coiled along the length of his sun-kissed arm before being swiftly tossed towards the ground due to the boy’s chaotic emotions.

These hasty acts committed by the young prince were in error; however, as a nasty jolt of pain shot upwards into his arm, forcing the star-seeing teenager to yelp out in pain.

Velicion called out towards her son as he silently cursed himself for what he had done, but the young prince chose to ignore the lithe sorceress's words as he gathered up his still burning fury and bolted out of the tent with the fiery embers of his hatred still fresh in the back of his mind.

With his eyes cast towards the ground and his snarling face concentrating on the pain that pulsed through his arms, Aurelius left the confines of his sorcerous mother's abode with such a speed that the angered prince called out in surprise as he nearly tumbled to the ground after something soft and squishy had plowed into his enraged form.

“Who-” Snarled Aurelius as he shot a piercing glare towards the newfound target of his rising anger. Yet despite being overcome with rage, the young prince’s emotions were quick to cool themselves upon discovering as to just who it was that had dared to get in his way.

Sprawled on the dusty footpath that led towards the very tent that the blonde-haired prince had just left was none other than the curvaceous teenager, Iskra.

As she sat there with a dumbfounded expression spread across her dusty face, Iskra let out an unwomanly growl in anger as her mind slowly dealt with what had just occurred. The girl opened her mouth to shout out in anger towards the perpetrator of her assault, but as the unique features of her assailant dawned over her face, the curvaceous teenager's emotions were quick to simmer as the young girl gave the handsome elven teenager an awkward, but pleasant smile.

As his eyes lingered over the softening features of her face, Aurelius was quick to notice the softening features of the young girl's growingly flustered face as a confusing array of emotions overwhelmed the young prince. At first, confusion overrode the elven teenager’s cooling anger as his sight remained captivated by the reflection of the early evening sun's light that glinted within the raven-haired teenager's emerald-like eyes.

But as time painfully crawled its way ever forward, the blonde-haired prince's confusion turned into something completely different. Something that was beyond his descriptive capabilities as he remained captivated by the alien emotions that were now burgeoning within his youthful body. Aurelius was unable to help himself as he stood there, staring deeply into the young girl's mesmerizing eyes with a dumbfounded look upon his face.

Yet the strange emotions that now yearned to escape his confused mind didn't last for very long. His eyes, with the silvery oceans of his iris' swirling within the endless black pits of his sclera, drifted ever so slowly towards the girl’s right arm as it moved cautiously along her curvaceous body. As it moved upwards along her body, the young girl's delicate limb brushed itself along the very edges of her hourglass curves before plunging themselves between the cavernous depths of her heavy breasts.

Unable to look away from the incredible sight before him, Aurelius watched on with bated breath as the young girl's slender arm lifted her mountainous flesh up into the air before ultimately pushing them together in such a manner that the young prince was unable to focus on anything else.

While his ears struggled to hear anything that was outside of his reach, the young prince's eyes willingly bounced themselves alongside the captivating motions of the girl's fleshy bosom. His silver orbs took great care to capture every ounce of movement that occurred because of the meticulous breathing from the raven-haired girl's plush lips.

Despite being unwilling to break away from the bountiful feast of flesh that lay before him, Aurelius was shocked to find his eyes slowly drifting towards the girl’s equally impressive bottom half.

Yet it was at that very moment when his eyes were struck blind by the jaw-dropping hips, and thunderous thighs of the young girl before him did a dreadful voice ring out with such power that it sucked the very life-force from his lust-ensnared soul.

“What are you two doing?”

Jolted back into reality, a ghostly pale Aurelius let out a frightened gasp as he clamored for an answer but could only find himself stumbling over his words as none came to him.

“S-Sorry.” With nothing more to be said, the elven prince offered a gentle hand towards the young girl who gave her thanks by way of a soothing smile.

Embarrassed by the warm emotions that flowed through his body as their hands clasped together, Aurelius remained quiet as he helped the human teenager onto her feet. Desperately hoping that she wasn’t able to notice the nervous sweat that now soaked his shaking hand.

Only for their situation to be reversed as Iskra tumbled forward, forcefully pressing their bodies tightly together as the elven prince grabbed ahold of the small of her back before taking a step back in order to stop themselves from falling onto the ground.

As she mumbled something incomprehensible to Aurelius, the young prince could only manage to look away in embarrassment as his face grew red hot while the sensation of the young girl's fingers danced along the flesh of his chest.

“Iskra!” The angered cry of Velicion called out towards the clumsy girl as she rushed towards the pair of awkward teenagers. The elven sorceress was quick to grab ahold of the raven-haired girl’s arm as her motherly prowess developed into a bear-like grip before tugging at the teenaged girl and pulling her away, separating the two of them from their uniquely strange embrace.

Aurelius could only watch as the pair of women disappeared into the confines of their shared tent. The elven woman making it impossible for the young prince to follow along with their conversation as she had already switched over to the human girl's language, continuously lambasting the teenaged girl for whatever slight had managed to draw the ire of the dominant figure that was his mother.

After having watched the display that had developed before him, Aurelius remained standing where he was. Sheepishly looking towards their shared tent as he clutched at the spot on his chest where the still lingering warmth of Iskra's body had previously pressed against his. The young prince couldn't help but grin as he quietly admitted to himself that the spot was of an impressive size.

Only for confusion to strike at his face as the sound of crumbling of paper reached his ears.

Holding out his hand, Aurelius looked down to spot a folded piece of parchment that slowly began to unravel itself as the young prince continued to clench and unclench his fingers. Despite its ordinary appearance, the parchment was repeatedly flipped over at such a rapid pace that Aurelius feared that all that he would succeed in doing was shred the piece of paper before he had the chance to discover its contents.

Taking a deep breath, Aurelius took control of his actions and waited for calm to return to his nerve-rattled body.

Only for his emotions to run wild once again as he unfurled the crumbled note and slowly read the crudely written contents within it.

Ever since he had read the mystifying contents of the letter handed to him earlier in the day, Aurelius had waited impatiently for night to come. Each second that had passed since that moment had felt excruciating slow to the young prince and as dusk finally arrived, Aurelius had felt as if he had aged over a thousand years.

Now, however, the time of rendezvous had finally arrived, and the nervous young prince took the last remaining steps that lay between him and the visibly elated Iskra. Her smile beamed brightly beneath the moonlight as Aurelius' golden blonde haired shimmered brilliantly beneath the cool rays of the very same moon that appeared to have cast a beam of light upon the human girl's awaiting figure.

With that very same smile that had just greeted the elven prince, Iskra clasped her hands happily together as she spoke in the tongue of her not-too-distant homeland.

As he finally closed the gap that lay between them, Aurelius stopped at just a scant few inches in front of the raven-haired girl. He looked at the pleasant smile that continued to greet his close presence, unsure as to how he should feel about reciprocating the emotions that dwelt within the girl’s smile.

Dark clouds rolled across the light of the full moon, allowing for a gentle breeze to caress their youthful bodies. Silence enveloped the pair of teenagers as the two of them were more than content in allowing the awkward atmosphere to remain until one of them found the courage to be the first to speak.

Eventually, it was Aurelius who was the first to break free from the quiet aura that surrounded the pair of teenagers, and he quietly fumbled through his pockets for the love confession that been given to him earlier that day.

“U-Uh,” The prince’s voice cracked as beads of nervous sweat formed all over his body as he failed to find the letter that was supposed to be in his pocket. Aurelius’ hands stumbled around his body as he desperately searched for the missing parchment, but grew increasingly nervous as he failed to find the target of his search. And through Aurelius' failures, the realization of his error finally materialized itself into reality. Somewhere within the confines of his sleeping bag was the crumpled up note that had been given to him by the very girl that now stood before him.

Cursing himself for being such an idiot, Aurelius could do nothing more except laugh nervously as his hand reached up behind his head and scratched at the back of his head. “Sorry,” His sing-song voice danced through the air as he looked into Iskra’s emerald eyes with the best captivating smile that he could offer. Drawn by the sound of his voice, the young girl offered up her own gentle smile as she looked up into the ocean of silver that was his eyes.

It was at that very moment that Aurelius realized that even though his eyes were always drawn towards the more fleshy portions of her body, he couldn’t help but feel captivated by the moonlight that glimmered off of her gem-like irises. “I wanted to bring it with me, but I guess I was too much in a hurry to get here.”

As he spoke those words, Aurelius broke away from the girl's gaze as embarrassment overcome his handsome features. He was well aware of the fact that Iskra was unable to understand what he had said, and that there was very little reason to have believed that she had written the letter herself. ‘What am I doing,’ Aurelius quietly chastised himself as he straightened himself out and looked towards the girl with an awkward smile on his face. ‘She can’t understand what I’m saying. She’s probably been wrangled into doing this by mother.’

Wishing to end the moment before he could become further embarrassed, Aurelius spoke up for one last time before his mother came out of the night's shadows. “I’m not sure what’s gotten into my mother to wrangle you into these punishments of hers, but you shouldn’t let her force you into these embarrassing situations like this. Once she shows herself, I’ll talk to her so that this doesn’t happen again.”

Just as the last of those words left his lips, the rolling clouds that roamed above their heads allowed for bright rays of the moon's light to bath the young girl in its shimmering presence. Forcing the young prince to take in a deep breath of air as his heart skipped several beats as she looked into his eyes and offered up another loving smile while her fingertips brushed along the top of her right ear.

“It’s alright,” Her speech was slow as she spoke in the elvish tongue. Her words were heavy with the annotations that she was so familiar with when speaking in the language of her people, but Aurelius was able to understand her perfectly despite the young girl's heavy accent. “She doesn’t know about the letter.”

The world began to spin around the blonde-haired prince as Aurelius’ eyes grew wide with shock. The reality of the situation had finally crashed into the elven prince.

“You-” The boy gasped as he pointed to himself while attempting to untangle the flurry of questions that popped into his mind, but the young girl gave him little time to gather his thoughts as she rushed forward and pressed herself against his body.

“Of course!” Iskra smiled as her full lips furled themselves into a giggling-smile as she slid one hand up along the span of his chest while the other caressed the side of his left arm. “Did you really think of me as the sort of vile person that would willingly take part in whatever twisted schemes you think that that mother of yours has concocted for you?”

The girl let out a deep sigh as she gently placed her head onto his chest, allowing her arms to reach out and wrap themselves behind his back. As she pulled the two of them together, Iskra nuzzled her face into the increasingly confused elven prince as she scratched her fingers gently across his back. “After feeling so distressed by how much you’ve been hurting lately,” Her words felt hot against his chest, and Aurelius couldn’t help but struggle to hear what she had to say as he felt his heart pound itself mercilessly against his chest. “I should be the one who has to apologize.”

Unsure of what he should say or do next, Aurelius remained as he was. Standing awkwardly in front of the very girl that was embracing his body as he gave nervous glances towards their immediate surroundings, fearing that the pair of teenagers would somehow become caught by a nearby patrol or any other wayward individuals.

Yet as his fears continued to remain as nothing more than fictional scenarios, the flustered prince chastised himself for having such cowardly thoughts and slowly wrapped his arms around the girl's waist. Finding himself becoming increasingly flustered at the discovery as to just how small the girl's waist truly was and although he didn't wish for the raven-haired girl to think of him as nothing more than a pervert, Aurelius couldn't help but feel his lower body awaken itself.

‘She probably already thinks I’m a pervert anyway, since I keep staring at her all the time.’ Aurelius awkwardly patted the girl's back as he desperately tried to convince himself to come up with some words or actions that wouldn't make him out to be the type of person who was only interested in the physical aspects of the human teenager's body.

“Why do you have to apologize?” Aurelius dared to ask as he felt his body being forcibly pressed against hers, hoping with an increasing sense of desperation that the girl was uneducated in the ways of a male's body.

“Because you haven’t received your reward.” Iskra said with a sultry tone that gave the elven prince a momentary sense of surprise as she looked up into his eyes and offered a tender smile that was in direct contrast to the trembling, awkward half-smile that slowly crept up onto Aurelius' face.

“Reward?” Aurelius repeated as his metallic, silver eyes locked onto the girl’s gem-like emerald green eyes.

“For saving me,” Iskra spoke with such conviction in her voice that it made it sound as if it should have been painfully obvious as to the meaning behind her earlier words.

“But-” The prince opened his mouth to speak as he thought back to the time when he had bribed a tribe of goblins to attack the human caravan all those weeks ago. Unfiltered guilt and unwashed misery over his actions rolled over him like a tidal wave as he found himself unable to answer the girl without revealing the full truth of the matter. “I never saved you.”

Eventually those words were whispered from his lips, but the sins that he had committed weighed heavily over his shoulders. Especially now that the girl was offering up her praises for the elven prince, utterly oblivious towards the real reasoning as to why the goblins had attacked her in the first place.

The girl tilted her head in confusion as she gave the elven prince a strange look before allowing him to gaze upon a gentle smile.

“So modest,” Iskra said with a loving laugh as she brought one hand down towards her leggings before allowing her slender fingers to fumble through her pockets. “But no matter what you say, you saved me from the sinister fates that the gods had deigned me as being worthy of having the misfortune of falling into. And for that, I need to offer you a reward.”

Iskra had placed a heavy emphasis on those last words as she placed a closed fist over the top of her breasts, covering up a small amount of the ample cleavage that Aurelius had been so accustomed to over these past several weeks.

As the sense of guilt towards her undeserved praise and hero-worship became too much for him to bear any longer, Aurelius grabbed ahold of the girl's shoulders and pushed her away. “No, listen!” He blurted out as the frightened girl jumped slightly backward, forcing her fist to open and drop to her the side of her waist.

Worry wracked the girl's face for a brief moment as she felt along the top of her breasts, desperately looking for something no longer there.

Iskra could only look around their immediate surroundings as she mouthed out a few chastising words towards her own clumsiness at having dropped whatever it was that was once in the palm of her hand.

“I don’t deserve-” Whatever Aurelius had left to say was quickly cut off by a hurried Iskra as she finally managed to recover her senses and embrace the elven prince for a second time that night.

“You do! No matter what you think, you’ll always be my knight in shining armor. Ever since I first laid my eyes on you, my miserable reality had brightened itself to the point where I only saw you and you alone. When I first looked into your eyes, I became so enveloped by their beauty that if you had wished for it, I would have reached into my chest and offered my still-beating heart. The smiles that place themselves upon your lips are so mesmerizing that I can’t help but feel jealous at how your royalty and beautiful grace oozes from their gentle caress. Your voice is so hypnotizing that I can’t help but worship them as the only gospel in the world, no matter how cruel the words that crawl out of your lips may be when directed towards me. I’ve become so blinded by the aura surrounding you that I feel as if I need to gouge out my eyes and write an entire saga that describes the inescapable ocean of love that I have for you.”

“Wow.” Unfiltered shock overcame Aurelius as he had no idea how to respond to the girl's words. With his mind slowly working out a plan for what he should do, Aurelius was struck by the thought that he should at least attempt to reciprocate the feelings that had been directed towards him.

“Listen,” Came the sound of Iskra’s voice as one of her hands caressed the side of the elven prince's face before gently running her fingers through the golden locks of his hair. “No matter what feelings you may have about your current self, just know that I wish to be by your side. Even if I have to take on the entire world to do it, I will always find my way to you. Always and forever.”

Aurelius remained at a standstill as he was at a loss for words as to how he should respond. Their situations were entire worlds apart in both a social and racial sense. He was an elven prince that, while destined to inherit nothing save for whatever dust had managed to collect itself atop the boot prints left behind by his family, was destined to be married to a political ally of the Arch-Mistress, his true mother. If he was to be that lucky, that is.

As for the girl before him, he couldn’t make heads or tails about her situation or where she stood within her people’s social circles. The prince could only tell that she must have been significant enough to be sent to the volcanic region that they now found themselves in, but any other information beyond that was a complete mystery to him.

Yet despite at how taboo the entire situation felt to him, the elven prince knew that he needed to respond to the feelings that had been laid bare before him.

“I hope that someday,” Aurelius began to say as he gave one of the very smiles that had so often mesmerized the raven-haired girl before him. “These emotions that you feel for me are the very same that I share towards you.”

The two of them shared a smile at the mutual confirmation of the start of their relationship. The pair of teenagers were now something more than just strange acquaintances who happened to be near one another.

“Would my knight like to have his reward now?” Iskra whispered into his ear as she pushed herself up onto her toes so that her lips brushed against his ears.

With confidence brimming as to what she had meant, Aurelius couldn’t help but wish to hear the exact meaning behind the young girl's words as her lips now brushed against the side of his neck.

“And what sort of reward is that?” His heart pounded against his chest as he felt her hands gently wrap themselves around his, leading them towards the hem of her shirt. Her lips continued to roam along the side of his face and neck as her slender fingers took control of his and forced them to entangle themselves around the frayed fabric of her oversized blouse.

Once they had done their duty, Iskra allowed her fingers to unravel themselves from his grip and tapped at the side of his arms with her fingernails. Before long, her nails moved along the length of the elven prince’s arms at a leisurely pace before eventually finding themselves around the hem of Aurelius’ own tussled up shirt.

After what had felt like an eternity to an awestruck Aurelius, the plush and tender sensation of having her full lips press against his had finally arrived.

With each heartbeat that followed, their kisses became increasingly eager for the next ones that came in rapid succession. Their lips were desperate to seek out the other as they moistened one another’s plush forms, leaving a string of their mixed saliva to hang from each other’s lips with each split second that followed every smack of their lips. Their breaths grew hot and heavy against the icy cold night as the lovers felt one another tug at their shirts, more than ready for what they were so eager to happen next.

It had happened in the blink of an eye, but their bodies had parted in just a scant amount of distance and with such ferocity that it could only be left up to the gods to whisper amongst themselves as they wondered as to whether or not the pair of lovers had ever been truly separated.

As their shirts floated down onto the cold earth below, the pair of lovers bathed themselves beneath the moonlight as they toppled atop of the other. Their entwined shadows painted themselves upon the growing pile of crumpled up fabrics as if they were a blank canvas.