A Gut Feeling

Log Info

• Title: A Gut Feeling
• Emitter: Venom
• Characters: Venom, Aryia
• Place: Lower Markets, Private Abode
• Time: February 1st, 2022
• Summary: Venom has overworked herself in the workshop, and Aryia goes to check on her. Finding her dozed off yet in a rough dream, the mute relocates Venom to a better resting place and rouses her to the land of the wake. They check on one another, Aryia more worried about V's hyper-vigilance. Again. They speak of languages, which ones they know and which they don't, as well as Aryia's capability to get the gist of things when she shouldn't. After reminiscing over some adventures they had together, they work on getting something to eat.

It's been a long few nights. The errant weapon has been continuing tinkering and doting in equal measure by time and fervor.

Ultimately, the Acanian, as close to au natural as her shop clothes allow, succumbed to fatigue. Unlike her attempts to break her respite into shorter chunks, this has been a longer torpor of deathly stillness for some hours.

Aryia as of late, has been training very, very hard. Her recent routine taking her to the mountains to, quote "I'm not fucking kidding, I'm punching boulders to dust at this point," end quote.

So, she's been resting quite often in the abode, as she's been pushing her limits as much as she can without injuring herself.

The shop door opens after a little ta-tata-tap as is custom, a moonlit eye peering in. It had been quiet for a bit too long, and the mute was growing a little worried about what has transpired. She knows that Venom has been running herself hard just as she has. So has the enigma fallen asleep? And would the pugilist have to tuck her in?

Who knows.

Checking the floor for any errant caltrops, Aryia slips into the room deathly silently.

Venom is bonelessly slumped at her worktable, her left arm dangling nearly to the floor while the right is folded under her cheek, and the knot she had secured her hair with had given up the ghost at some point, spilling dark silk over table and shoulder alike.

The floor hasn't grown any new patches of accessories, thankfully, though the ones that were there previously have been rendered somewhat... er... spicier, which the human was nice enough to mention to her paramour.

Near to hand, beside the gunsmithing jigs and tools is a large bucket filled with the tapered steel cyllinders both of her guns employ. Weapons, freshly honed hang in sheaths along the wall.

In the dark silence, there is the swell and falter of the brunette's torso, rythm unbroken for the new arrival.

Ah, yes, the ol' spicy floor decorations. The amount of times she's had to emergency pick those up from people coming over is currently: one.

A pair of glowing eyes observe everything for just a spell, before there's a soft sigh that comes from her.

Familiar scarred arms encircle the gunsmith. One around the torso. One under the legs and- oh.

Lifted with ease.

"To the couch, sleepyhead," the mute intones in her nary whisper.

Ah yes. A couch. A recent addition. And one that was used a lot for midday Aryia naps.

One hundred, thirty pounds of fatigue are scooped up effortlessly by the one they love with nary a complaint.

Venom's face, and to some extent, her table, are a little wet as revealed in their parting.

While it's entirely possible any inclination toward snoring had been beaten, cajoled or otherwise conditioned out of her.... well... she still apparantly dribbles in her sleep on occasion.

Some glistening, high upon the contour of her cheeks, however, would suggest perhaps a secondary source of hydration.

Sometime after the transition begins, several steps beyond the doorway, comes broken, plaintive note.

Aryia herself wasn't in much aside from smallclothes. Au natural tended to be the attire choice. She cradles Venom against her, not spotting anything out of the ordinary as she uses her foot to open the door. But once they get into proper light of the hearth in the living room, her footsteps slow.

She blinks. The note makes her ears droop. "V...."

The human is carefully laid upon the couch, Aryia kneeling down beside her as a tough hand gently brushes away the wet stains. Worry is etched on her face, but she doesn't ask any question or prods for what is wrong. One hand cups her face, the other brushing through the black hair.

Venom settles into the couch as Aryia lays her down, arms crossing over her midriff. The cleansign touch to her face, prompts a quaver in her breath, and the subtle knitting of her brow.

As the fingers stroke through her hair, there is a ghostly word murmured, as her hands curl half shut upon her belly.

A feeble, "Mmerrrrcyyy..." <Kulthian>

The protective curl, the guarding of the gut, the cry.

The mute sighs, and leans in close to intone, "Wake up, Night Blossom," dulcet notes rouse as she continues to soothe the human. <Sildanyari>

The words, newer to experience than the reminiscence that currently rules her unconscious mind, do, in fact, manage to latch onto something within her.

The touches, gentle, likewise incongruous, are sufficient to yank Venom to wakefulness with a start, and a wild look in her eye: confused and terrified and she momenntarily recoils from her salvation.

Then the cogs slip back into mesh, dark eyes glistening wetly, locking onto the moonlit patches of her North Star. Panic drops to a haunted bewilderment, and she shakily asks, "A-aryia... sstatus?" <Kulthian>

Aryia startles slightly from the sudden wakefulness, her blinking before she gets a handle on herself. She smiles, tries to keep the worry out of her visage, but she's always been a terrible liar.

"All systems nominal," she replies in turn, quiet and soft. She reaches out resuming her gentle affections. "Status?" <Kulthian>

Venom brings a hand to her face for a moment, even as the other curls more tightly still across her middle. She gives a soft groan, then, "Mnemonic error." A deep breath, "Recalibrating." <Kulthian>

The subtle tension that spiked in her frame as she work slackens in fits and starts over the next few moments, before she lowers her hand to look into her lover's face again, "I'm sorry... if I woke you, North Star." <sildanyari>

A blink, and she looks around, then at the furniture she is currently lain upon, "When did...?"

Aryia glances down to the arm at the other's midsection, and she reaches out to a put a hand on that limb, gently stroking it to break up the memory of old. "You didn't," she mumbles back, smiling as best she can. <Sildanyari>

A white brow raises, one ear drooping while the other presses against her head. "When did... oh, the couch? That was a few days ago. You've been... really working at it in there... shit, even Ravenstongue was here yesterday."

She sighs. "V... you're... really working yourself to the bone."

Venom's hand lifts to stroke back through the pale hair, still seeming somewhat out of sorts, though certainly closer to clarity than she had been.

A sigh, then, "I.. Ravenstongue, wait, really....?" she blinks, looking back toward the door.

She facepalms once more, then, "I just can't... I feel like.... it's just...."

Aryia closes her eyes from the gesture, a soft sigh leaving her. "Yes, really."

The mute searches Venom's face for a moment overlong before raising a brow once more, her ears switching sides, one raised and one drooping again. "... breathe. Like I showed you," she gently instructs.

Venom gives a little shake of her head as it seems things have been getting... away from her of late.

She sighs long and slow with the tiny dip of a nod as Aryia tells her to breathe, and so she does, trying to redouble her efforts of recalibration.

Aryia sits there, kneeling in front of Venom. Watching. Waiting. It's times like these were her being an elf really shows, where her patience for long periods of doing nothing was quite obvious.

Then, when Venom was ready, she requests softly, "What is it?"

"I don't know. I just..." Venom begins softly, "Something feels wrong, and I can't be certain what it is."

There's another sigh, and she reaches up to gently rub behind Aryia's ear, "I'm... sorry for worrying you, honey."

Aryia draws herself up once Venom starts talking, her taking a seat right next to her on the couch. A soft breath leaves her, and her eyes flutter closed from the touch. "... feels wrong. Is it because you've been in one spot for too long?" she throws out there.

A light shake of the head. "No, don't be sorry. I'm sorry for not checking on you recently, I've been... training even harder."

Venom takes a few moments to process that, then, "I'm not sure. It... could be?" her brows knit a moment or two, then, "Maybe it's like Stedi says, 'all in my head'." Larger, though less powerful arms move to scoop the smaller woman to her in turn, now, so she can plant a kiss on the Mul'niessa's forehead, "I'll try to refocus..."

Ahem, "How is your training coming?"

And now there's a mul'neissa in the human's lap. Aryia sighs softly at the tender kiss. "Stedi...?" she questions, before continuing. "Probably something you have to meditate about."

The mute glances to the side, pursing her lips for a moment before admitting, "Well. Very... erm. Well. I can, uh, punch boulders to pieces. And I can make magic have a hard time working one me. And... not to mention I've gotten a hell of a lot faster running around," she checks off. "I also... uh... I don't really get this one. But ever since I had my little acceptance. I, er, can understand people. Like... Ravenstongue's bird apparently talks, but no one can understand him except her. And, well, me."

"Could it be tied to this... Celestial thing?" Venom wonders, shifting slightly to try and be as comfortable for her lover as possible. Her fingers gently tend to the little happy spot behind the ear, and she wonders, "Does he talk about anthing but food?"

Aryia leans against Venom, the smaller woman easily curling into the embrace. There's a faint shrug of her shoulders. "I.. really don't know. Maybe? It'd make some sense. The star pool at the Temple of Eluna liked to glitter when I touched it."

Her expression flattens. "Pothy, basically, is a whiny bitch."

Venom rests her cheek against the smaller woman's hair, continuing her gentle ministrations as they talks.

"I don't have a lot of experience with divinity. Maybe one of Eluna's minions did something to you at some point?" she speculates uncertainly.

The notation about Pothy gets a little snerk, then, "Whiny bitch..." she parrots.

Aryia slowly becomes putty from the motions, Venom having sussed out all the little ticks that make the mute go slack. Her ears droop, evidence that she was doing a good job. "Neither do I. Well. I mean. I did talk to Vardama. That was... yeah."

She giggles quietly, nodding. "Yes. I called him out on it, and he shut up."

She glances up to Venom. "I can show you what I mean. Do you know a language I don't? I know... uh... You know. Regular shit, Undercommon, Sil, Kulthian, Celestial (somehow), Merctalk. Picked up a decent bit of Draconic, and know some basic Mynsandraal."

"I'm still assimilating vocabulary ." Venom begins in <Gnomish>

Continuing her little strokes, though slowing, as she doesn't want to relax her lover into sleeping mid conversation, "It does take time, a lot of it is from observation." <Khazdul>

There is a little sigh, then her voice takes on a sort of subtle growl, punctuated with syllibant hisses, "I expect to crack more, soon." <Abyssal>

Aryia's eyes open slightly to pinch in concentration. "... it's like... I get the gist of what you are saying," she starts out. "Even though I clearly hea-"

Blink blink. "Wait, what the fuck, why do you know /that/ one? Did you observe a demon or some shit?"

"Part of my training." Venom explains silently, pausing only to gently brush aside Aryia's bangs with a finger, "Very rarely did we ever get an explanation out of the Metal." <handspeech>

She shrugs and traces a finger along one of those gleefully interactive ears and continues aloud, "He could have been tracking a conspiracy, and waited for us to overhear something noteworthy to act upon."

The expressive ears do a little dance: press against her head, then quirk to one side, then both flick once to bat at the finger. Last one was intentional.

Aryia purses her lips. "Probably if you overhear some cult shit you can report on what they're doing," she gestures. <Handspeech>

"But... yeah. I can hear the words. But it's like... I get the gist of what you are saying. It's... odd. Cool, but odd."

She sighs and shakes her head. Before... she tilts her head to the side. Her lips move to speak a tone that sounded like soft chimes on the wind. Melodic. "Do you understand this?"" <Celestial>

Which... despite the tune which those lips played, that question could be answered. As the intention was relayed.

Venom smiles some as she gets some of the feedback she was seeking, and she snuggles into the Mul'niessa a little more as she answers.

"Proably" she concurs, then, "That would be useful to a fair degree." A pause and her eyebrow arches, "Do you.. just know what the language is as well, do you have to rely on the sounds to tell it's a different tongue?"

She gives a little shake of her head at Aryia's query, then, "You asked me that, before, sweetie."

A little shrug, then, "I recongnize the phonetic structure, but... I haven't heard enough to construct a vocabulary or syntax." <Kulthian>

Aryia shakes her head, inadvertantly returning the snuggle. "No, I've fought a decent amount of demons, they speak that. But, yes, sorta. Like, I hear what the sounds are, and maybe I know the language, maybe I don't. But I just kind of... I don't know, get the gist of whatever is said."

She raises a brow. "... Maybe I have. But you're still beautiful." Some new words. And yet... they're still understood.<Celestial>

Venom has the fond, earnest look in her eye at the end of Aryia's words, and she leans in to kiss her pate, whispering "So are you, my beloved North Star." with her lips brushing against the pale tresses. <sildanyari>

Then, she draws back to look for her eyes, "I love you." she says softly, "Thank you for... waking me up."

Her hand comes up to gently massage along her lover's spine and observes, "This is going to take some getting used to, but... it would likely make learning the other languages easier."

Aryia blinks at the gesture and words, her scarred visage burning bright all the way to her eartips.

Moonlit gaze crinkles with a smile. "I love you too. You're welcome. It just got too quiet and wanted to check on you."

The corded back tenses slightly before she relaxes even further into the hold. "... it is. It's... weird. Subtle, but not. I still can't read them if I have to, but spoken.. yes. Might be easier."

Venom nods and rests her cheek, nuzzlingly at first, against Aryia's hair.

"I'm not entirely sure when I fell asleep." she confesses, giving the Mul'niessa a little squeeze as her endearment is returned in kind. She shifts slightly at the sudden tension, then relaxes anew as she does, "I'll learn what I can, then we can go over the text as we go."

Aryia sighs contently. "I don't know either." The mute turns her gaze over to the hearth, her relaxing and sighing contently. "That sounds good. Though, feels like it's cheating."

"Succeed or perish." Venom replies thoughtfully, her eyes half lidding as she recites rote dogma.

SHe gives Aryia another little squeeze, "So... were there any problems with Raventongue's visit...?" she wonders.

Aryia curls up in the lap, just a ball of mul. "Uh... not really. Had to make a dress for her, she was meeting her boyfriend's mom. Uh... only real issue was having to pick up the caltrops that were everywhere really fast before she came in." She shrugs. "Was fine though."

Venom's expression gets a little.... awkward, just a touch, then stabilizes, and she gives the hair another slow combing, "Did she need an exit strategy?"

WHich begs a plethora of questions about the meeting in the TaRaCe no doubt.

Aryia blinks. "... huh? No? She needed an *entrance* strategy."

She squints a bit. "Why would she need an exit strategy?"

"Always have en exit strategy." Venom replies simply with a shrug, "Ways in, ways out, potential weapons, willful obstacles, the basics."

Her head cants, brow arching, "Do you know how it went, after?"

Aryia just stares at Venom for a longer moment before she sighs and strokes her cheek. "Not every situation calls for such things. That sounds tiring to be, well, constantly vigilant all the time. That's why we moved out of the Fernwood, remeber?"

She shrugs up tp her jaw. "I dunno. I made a pretty damn good dress. The dinner is tonight. Shit, it's probably going on right now."

"It's... habit." Venom replies, continuing to stroke her hair, "I've been doing it since I was built." she signs with the other hand. <handspeech>

Another couple of strokes, then, aloud, she continues, "You're talented with making clothes, honey, I'm sure you made her a great one."

Aryia nods at the explanation, her reaching up to pat Venom atop the head. "A habit that probably needs to be broken just a little bit."

The mute grins, he getting out of the hold and standing up with her hands on her hips. "Damn right I am! I was one of the best fucking tailors in Aby'ssa."

Venom purses her lips a little bit, then softly notes, "It's part of why I looked 'together'. We might not have..."

A glance down at their embrace, and she continues, "gotten close if I wasn't this way."

As the embrace is escaped and Aryia gets to her feet, the Acanian pushes up to a sitting position, looking up into her face, "More memories?"

Aryia reaches out to tossle Venom's hair some. "Nah. I thought you were cute the second you took your mask off. I already liked you after the docks."

She nods some. "A few more fell into place, yes. I remember... being really good at tailoring. A lot of classes and trade shops," she mentions in that quiet whisper, her looking off a bit to the side in thought.

Venom smiles closed eyed at the ruffling, and a little color touches her cheeks at the compliment. She gives a little snerk, "The Docks..."

There's a little shake of her head, "Remember how I got set on fire?" a pause for the memory cued to returned, "Know that didn't hurt nearly as much as when that cauldron thing blew up all over Paenitia and I? That still baffles me."

Aryia chuckles in that breathy manner. Then, she smirks, a hand on her hip as she shifts her weight to her other foot. "I don't rmemeber, I got my ass kicked and was knocked out. Glad you wear all those things, so I bet it wasn't too bad."

She rubs her chin. "Yeah, that was weird. Not as weird as having to put on a show. Or dancing to get through a hallway." She colors a bit at that.

Venom watches Aryia's weight shift and sighs, "It was a little chaotic." she admits, "And, yes, the layers certainly helped."

At the musings of the Azahi teple, the human reaches up to gently finger boop her nose, "But you were so, so good at that part." she affirms, "And the stage bit, too. A lot better than I was."

Aryia blinks at the boop, her shining eyes going a bit crossed before she rubs her bare arm and looks off the the side, visage coloring. "... I already embarrassed myself in there, might as well go all the way."

"I didn't even remember how to dance back then. I can a little bit now. I remeber some. But... you did great too!" she tries to deflect.

Venom rises to her feet to gently encircle Aryia's shoulders with her arms, gazing fondly down into her eyes, "You were so graceful, then...." she croons softly.

She cants her head a little bit at the deflection, smiling wryly, "I was good at our bullet display... the.... play... thing I was... sooooo out of synch...."

Aryia sighs within the loose embrace, her teetering from side to side within it. "... but it worked well in the end. And we all did good!"

She smiles warmly. "And that's why we work in teams, to shore up weaknesses others have, right?"

Venom nods, eyes half lidding as her lips curl up in that way of hers, "Yes." she says softly, then looks toward the kitchen, "Did you eat, already? Do you want me to put something on for you?"

Aryia grins, her getting up on her tip toes to give the other a peck on the lips. "Not yet. I can help you! Let me put on some clothes so I don't burn myself."

Venom's arms slide down as Aryia goes en pointe for her kiss, curling about her waist to hold her close. The unveiled Acanian nods, gazing with warmth down into the moonlit eyes and leans in to chase the peck with a tender kiss of her own, "Alright! I'll stoke the fire while you do that."

-End Scene-