angst, and also porn: the keys to a balanced diet

[forkedroad]

Annabelle has been combing the shelves, more excited than worried about the word of a planned attack tomorrow evening. Both she and Lauren were unable to sleep, though their nerves were alive for two totally different reasons. And she got it, she really did! She just didn't relate; Lauren was such a pessimistic worrywart, she and Susan constantly agreed.

She understood why, of course. She just didn't agree.

She's found and neatly stacked a couple of books on some magic she thinks will be useful, and she's already dreaming of the coin they'll be rewarded with for their heroics to this nice village. It's got lux, which she hasn't encountered with the Tanners much. It's not unaffordable, but kind of cushy; the fact that their inn has a dining hall, upstairs halls of rooms, and a library is a testament to the town's hospitality. The library is beautiful as well.

Annabelle turns a corner from behind a book shelf, catching Lauren. He's leaning over a desk, pouring thoughtfully into some text. She grins ear to ear, throwing herself beside him, elbows hitting the desk. Unlike Lauren, Annabelle is not blessed with elvish grace. She beams at him, looking just a hair beneath demonic.

"Fiiinally found yourself a good one, have you?" She leans towards him, bumping her shoulder against his. She's mostly bothering him because she's growing bored.

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[mylastchance]

He startles abruptly as she moves to sit beside him, pulled from the book as a man from the water. She's beside him at the desk and he's acutely aware of the fact. Immediately his face begins to flush, hastily trying to move the book aside, away from her notice. He also tries shifting his legs to hide something else from her attention.

"Uh, nothing! No it's, it's nothing. Nothing right, sorry, uh. I mean what was it you were saying?" He's not even looking at her, just blushing, face red as he stares into space.

[forkedroad]

The suspicious behavior is immediately the most entertaining thing this entire building has to offer. Sorry, Lauren. Her grin widens wolfishly, and she slams a palm down on the desk, leaning away from Lauren a little.

"I wasn't saying a thing!" She laughs, then squints. His face is red... Lauren isn't difficult to embarrass. Her guess is he must be distracted from what he was originally so worried about, having picked something up for pleasure.

She doesn't realize how, er, accurate that assumption is. She assumes it's just a trashy thriller.

"Why do you hide it away?" She leans back into his space, twisting sideways to loom in his way, in front of him as she tries to peer at the book, leaning hard against the desk. Her hip bumps his. She realizes she can't read it, and glances at Lauren from where she leans against the desk.

"It's Elvish?" It's easy to forget that Annabelle is from another world, sometimes; she's not familiar with his people, certainly not enough to recognize their text very easily. "What is it, the forbidden language of gentle flowers?"

[mylastchance]

He smiles, just a bit. A forbidden language of flowers there was, but elvish is not it. Despite the bit of humor, she's caught him at literally the worst time possible. In the book they had just started, well, it didn't matter what they started, but what mattered was it had put Lauren in a rather compromising position. He takes in a breath as her hip bumps his and she leans over him to see the book. Although his first instinct is to pull it further away, he actually pushes it forward so she can see the text easier. After all, it wasn't as though she could read it, although in his panic he had forgotten.

"Yes. Uh. Elvish... But not anything like that..."

[forkedroad]

"Well, what is it?" she asks, gazing at the text. She rolls her eyes up to him, smiling darkly as she rests her chin on her palm. "I'm bored to bits and I found you here so immersed, but you just seemed so flustered I can't imagine it's what you came here for..."

[mylastchance]

He hesitates, blushing more as she looks first at the book and then at him. Though she can't understand it, what's written on the book is something that he'd rather not repeat in front of a lady.

"It's well... It's a story of love. Of certain kinds."

[forkedroad]

Annabelle almost looks bored—until he implies some sort of slight scandal. She laughs, suppressing the giggle beneath her thin, curled fingers. "Certain kinds? What in the name of Gods does that mean? The love between beast and man?"

She laughs, a little less suppressed. She looks charmed. "You were pacing upstairs from the worry of tomorrow, and now here you are reading unusual love stories."

[mylastchance]

"They are not-!" he cuts himself off rather abruptly looking around the library before continuing in a softer voice. "They are not between beast and man. They are between... Man and woman."

He can barely finish the sentence.

[forkedroad]

Annabelle makes a face. That isn't interesting at all. That's normal love stuff. Aka boring.

Then her eyes widen with understanding, and she gasps, clapping a hand over her mouth with a surprised little laugh. Her other hand grasps his arm in surprise as she stifles her laughter, and she looks around disbelievingly. She gives his arm a little shake, staring at him urgently.

"You found dirty books? Dirty Elvish books?? Lauren!"

[mylastchance]

His red face spreads to the tips of his ears. He hurriedly shushes her, quite forgetting for the moment about the tent in his pants.

"Don't say it so loudly!"

[forkedroad]

"No one's around," she laughs incredulously, and yeah, with that movement, she notices Lauren's erection. And to be fair, it's hard not to notice. It's only a momentary glance, though; she's back to staring him in the face pretty quickly.

Unfortunately, strong eye contact is something Annabelle's good at it. She pauses, then her smile lifts on one side, amused by Lauren. It's understandable, given what she does know of young men.

"Read me some."

Is she joking?? Is she serious? Who knows. Annabelle's collection of horrifying talents.

[mylastchance]

Oh no, he can't be sure if she noticed it of course, but the flicker of eye movement is enough to make him feel self conscious about it. Then she says that and his eyes widen as he stares at her in shock.

"Read you some?"

[forkedroad]

"Yeah!" She answers simply, but with enthusiasm. Lauren's horrified reaction is just propelling her delight. "I can't very well read it myself. I mean, it's good, right?"

She can tell by, you know, the state of his pants.

Truthfully, she's only a little curious about the text—she's more curious about Lauren's reactions, and this fresh new opportunity to mess with him.

"You like it."

[mylastchance]

His eyes only grow wider, but then of course she has to point out his little, or perhaps not so little predicament. His closes his eyes, his nose crinkles distaste and he takes in a heavy breath. You like it. Oh... Fine then, he glares at her, before turning to the book once more. He begins to read aloud, but it's in elvish of course, the syllables are soft and strange to her and impossible to understand. Then he stops, working in his mind the proper common translation.

"Lady Seledine was not used to feeling self-conscious. A lady of her standing and beauty was always the center of attention. However, now Chizen looked at her with a different sort of gaze. Far from admiration or jealous, it was a look she'd never seen before on a man. He looked at her with lust. She did not think that he would be disgusted with her naked form now that she had revealed herself to him, but neither had she expected to see the desire written so plainly upon his face. And not just on his face either."

"His eyes followed her slender curves, admiring the slight curve of her... Breast and the way her... Her nipples grew hard in the cold..." He looks away as really he'd rather not continue.

"I'm... sure we could find you one to read..."

[forkedroad]

Annabelle is actually impressed when he reads it out loud, having not expected it—the Elvish is beautiful on the ears, and then she's further impressed that he translates it so articulately. Only clumsy at the...predictable parts.

She's never heard such words—and they embarrass her, but she's good at deflecting that kind of thing. Especially when there's someone else so much easier to embarrass present. She tilts her head, looking up at him, and crosses her ankles where she leans.

"The Elvish is so beautiful, though," she says sincerely, and she feels her face grow a little hot as she looks away. "I suppose it's fitting for that sort of story. I hadn't thought of it in that way before."

Or...uh, anything.

[mylastchance]

He hesitates, not sure what to make of her response. He's never seen her react quite like this before. Of course they had stories like this in every language, so whether or not it was particularly suited to elvish he couldn't say, but that isn't the statement that catches his attention.

"What do you mean you hadn't thought of it before?"

[forkedroad]

"I mean..."

She shrugs one shoulder, uncomfortable with her own bashfulness. She tries to shake it off, but she can't look at him quite yet.

"I don't suppose I would have any reason to, you know? Elvish is unfamiliar to me; I wouldn't have thought of it used in... that sort of context, is all."

She's choosing her words very carefully. Good job, Annabelle.

[mylastchance]

He shrugs a bit, looking away.

"I mean every language has those kinds of words." He looks back to her, and sees how she's avoiding looking at him. It makes him feel a bit more comfortable, being so embarrassed himself honestly.

"Elvish can be used in just as many contexts as common can really." The elvish sentence flows easily from his tongue. It's a language he's known all his life and very easy to slip into.

[forkedroad]

She's heard it before, of course. She likes hearing Susan and Lauren talk to each other in Elvish, sometimes, though it's not all the time.

She laughs a little, shaking her head. "I'm going to ignore what I don't understand," she clarifies, and resumes.

"I just mean that..."

She steeples her fingers, rolling her eyes. She seems to be at a rare loss for words, trying to explain her feelings.

"...Elvish is a romantic sounding language, so it makes sense. I wouldn't have expected it to be so well suited."

She's managed to find eye contact again.

[mylastchance]

It is rare, but it makes the moment somehow private or special to Lauren. He watches her try to explain herself and sees the way she moves her hands and how her body language shifts. Did Elvish sound romantic? He'd never thought so, but then again, he'd always grown up hearing it.

"Should I speak in Elvish around you more often?" he asks, smiling softly. Perhaps she'd enjoy getting that romantic experience?

[forkedroad]

"No," she answers immediately, unthinkingly, then laughs, shaking her head as she covers her face for a moment. "I mean, the amount you do when you do is fine!"

She straightens up, struggling for her composure. It's funny, and she isn't a sore loser.

She rests her elbows on the clean marble surface, glancing at Lauren, now leaning back on the desk. Her lip curls a little.

"That backfired," she admits with a laugh. "That's what I get for attacking on unfamiliar soil, I s'pose."

[mylastchance]

He laughs too. He wasn't even aware this was a challenge. This was just Annabelle being her ridiculous self. Of course the words unfamiliar territory make him color again, but just a bit. Of course he knew he wasn't supposed to read this kind of books, but it was here and it was written and published, so that means someone besides him must have read at some point. Still, he isn't surprised that someone isn't Annabelle.

"It guess it's more common to be unfamiliar with these kind of books than it is to be familiar with them." he admits reluctantly, marking his page before closing the novel. He knew it wasn't acceptable, but well, he'd be lying if he said he never thought about the types of things that had been written about in books like this.

"...I guess I was curious."

[forkedroad]

Annabelle doesn't think it's unacceptable, but it's unfamiliar.

"I think that's true more depending on one's age and worldliness," she contests.

Her eyes fall around her knees, and she kind of fiddles with the hem of her oversized sweater. She looks off to the side, rolling her eyes about the room, and glances back at Lauren.

"Seems natural to me," she says. "for a young man to be curious." She pauses, seeming to gain some of her confidence back. She grins at Lauren.

"What curiosities have you?"

[mylastchance]

For a young man, but not for a young lady. He notices the distinction and pushes him just that inch towards uncomfortable again. Of course all hope of composure is lost when she idly asks about his curiosities.

"Well... I've rarely, that is to say I never... I mean. Just the usual sort I suppose." he winces at his own poor wording.

[forkedroad]

She smiles with her teeth, shaking her head.

"I don't know what that entails," she says sincerely. She's never been preoccupied with those sort of thoughts, before—and she isn't right now either, exactly. But being around someone who is actively and presently supercharged with sexual energy is... influential, almost.

She just wonders about his perspective, and how he must be feeling, and how all he feels with this sort of thing to begin with. After all, Lauren's the only same age friend she's had since becoming adolescent.

"What there is to be curious about... Bodies, I guess?" She tilts her head, eyeing Lauren up and down with an inquisitive lean, purely to fuck with him. "Pleasure?"

[mylastchance]

And just like that his wilting boner is brought back to rigid life. He leans back away from her, as though afraid she might attack him. His eyes flick down, traveling over her body before he returns to meet her gaze once more. His face is red once more.

"Bodies... a bit I guess." She was right though in her teasing. It was mostly the pleasure of it that caught his attention. He didn't know what it felt like to do something like that with a woman, but of course he wanted to. Though he wouldn't say no to having a more intimate idea of what a woman's body actually looked like. He swallows hard, forcing himself to look away, it wasn't right to imagine such things about his friend just because she was here and because he was... Well because he was her friend.

"...Anna... I.. I think..." he mumbles, trailing off as he tries to think of a polite way to excuse himself from the situation. He can't think of any excuse though, and he saw the way she looked him up and down, part of his brain is telling him that's something. If he really was curious he could stick around, right? There wasn't any harm in talking with a friend, was there? He falls quiet, glancing back at her shyly.