after work

	As the fey party ate, Linus worked to dry his gear and items.  The watertight bag in which he kept his books had held, but some of his spell components were ruined.  He tsked over the damage and chucked them off into the woods, while separating the rest to dry.  He set his weapons aside to dry, as well – he would need a new bowstring, he noted unhappily.

	At least his dreadlocks were intact, if slumped.  He wondered if it would be possible to just get rid of them – they did nothing but slow him down, and the tribal tie patterns his family had taught him weren’t exactly popular in the frozen north, a thousand miles from Chult.

	Oh well.  He fished dryer undergarments from his pack and pulled them on.  He set his other items against trees or stretched them out across the wind to dry.

	As he settled back to enjoy a bit of food himself, he became aware of Viri walking towards him.  He waved her over as she took in the sight of all his gear.

	“How do you carry all this?” she asked in wonder.

	He chuckled.  “Decades of practice, a bit of magic, and determination.”

	She knelt beside him and looked at the huge spread of equipment.  “It’s amazing.”  Viri snuggled up beside him and lowered her head to stare at the moss beneath them.  “I’m glad I don’t live on the Prime.  It seems so… strange.  And I don’t mean the environment, I actually like that part.  I mean the threats.  Illness, Gorgons, armies.”

	Linus shrugged.  “The monsters part I’ll give you, though this area is particularly bad for it.  Most of the world doesn’t have as many monsters as this part does.”

	“Well, okay.”  She looked over at the pit, with its whorls of slow light.  “That’s pretty scary too.”

	He looked over.  “Yeah, I’m not quite sure what it is.”

	Viri looked over at where the rest of the fey were still enjoying the food Linus had provided.  “I’m glad you’re okay,” she said.  “We thought you had died.  We were about to go report back.”

	“Well, I’m sorry I scared you,” Linus chuckled.

	Viri gently nuzzled his cheek.  He blushed.  When she didn’t pull her nose away, he leaned away to look at her, but she caught his chin and kissed him.

	He flinched in surprise, but to his own chagrin, couldn’t quite break away for a moment.  When she did, she licked her lips and smiled, sliding a hand under the fabric of his undergarments.  “Let me make us both happier, for a while,” she said softly.

	Linus sighed and caught her wrist.  “Viridian, please,” he said.  “I appreciate it, but I don’t want to have sex.”

	“Then let me touch you, at least,” she insisted.  “I gather this is unusual for Primes, but this is how we show each other our closeness.  Life, dance, pleasure.  It’s who we are.”

	He hesitated, but propriety won out over lust.  He gingerly removed her hand from his manhood and released it.  “It’s not just unusual, it’s invasive and presumptuous, and wrong without consent,” he said firmly.  “And I do not consent.”  He raised one hand as she started to protest.  “You are lovely and we are friends, but I do not want this.”

	She gave a pointed glance at his iron erection.  He chuckled, embarrassed.  “I mean, yeah, I’m aroused, but I suspect that the two of us are going to be working together for a while, and this would make things more difficult.”

	“How?”

	“Because if I have to go into battle in your defense – again – then it will be harder for me to do so if I have some extra affection for you over your flock mates,” he said.  “It would be a distraction.  Also, and correct me if I’m wrong, but don’t acts of first sex between people in the Feywild have some cultural meanings that they don’t here?”

	“No.”

	“Ah.  Well, okay.”  He took a deep breath.  “Thank you, though.”

	She looked back at the others.  “The others won’t mind joining, if you just don’t want to play favorites,” she suggested.

	The idea of three fauns cavorting on his manhood distracted him quite pleasantly for a moment, but he shook the vision aside with some effort.  “No, thank you.  I hope I haven’t insulted you, I truly do, but I can’t do this.”

	She made a frustrated noise and crossed her arms.  “Hmph.  Honestly, I am insulted.”  She blew out a grumpy sigh.  “Would you have said yes to Capricorn?”

	“Absolutely not.  I know what happens to Primes who wind up consorting with Fey Court officers,” Linus said with a shudder.  Then the actual meaning of her words dawned on him.  “And not because she’s Eladrin and you’re a faun.”

	“And Slicce?”

	Linus felt his stomach clench in fear.  “I wouldn’t sleep with a satyr if you paid me.”

	Viri cocked an eyebrow.  “Really?  They’re the best of all.”  A silly little smile crossed her lips.  “Incredible.”

	“I’ll take your word for it.”  He patted her shoulder.  “I’m sorry.”

	“Hmph.  Fine.”  She climbed up.

	“I’d like to still be friends,” Linus said.  “I promise, this isn’t an insult.”

	“No, I get it.  It’s just… I dunno.”  Viri dithered.  “I guess between your reservations over the Dance Lord doing what he’s always done, and this, I’m starting to wonder if you have some mental reservations about sex.”

	Linus opened his mouth to deny it.  Instead, he said “Well… I admit, in all confidence… and I mean that… I am quite inexperienced.  That doesn’t mean I can’t recognize a bad idea when I see one, though.”

	Viri giggled at his frankness and sat back down.  “I won’t tell, though I suspect the others can see it as clearly as I can.”  She snuggled back up next to him.  “Promise you’ll keep an open mind, at least?  I’d really like to make you smile someday.”

	“Is that a euphemism?”

	“Sure is.”

	He sighed, glad it was over for now.  “Yes.”

	“Okay.”  She looked over at his gear.  “How long does that take to dry?”

	“Another hour for the spell components, another two for the armor.”  He forced his arousal to a minimal state and rose back up to his feet.  “I may as well join the rest of you, then.”


	After the rest of the party had fed and Linus’ gear was dry, he quickly reassembled it.  The party moved out south as the shadows grew longer, and the path was a hopeful one.

	Castinuve led the group at a good pace, with the fauns behind and Linus in the rear, with Noble walking contentedly behind.  The huge Pegasus was unconcerned by the afternoon’s activities.  Every so often, he would walk up beside one of the fauns and nicker conversationally, and the fauns would giggle and pet its muscled flank.

	Xuriis took up the rear, mind whirring.  Home?  He could go home soon?  Why were the others so unconcerned by this?  And who was this Tumnal?  He had never heard of him.  Any why was he so upset by what he had seen Viri doing to Linus?  He had felt a surge of jealousy as she had stroked him, and shock when he had stopped her.  He didn’t fancy Viri, beyond her pretty backside in a good revel.  He barely thought of her before all this.

	Was it just Viri?  He didn’t know.  He had felt sick to his stomach when Hircce had fallen in battle.

	He hung his head and walked in the trail of the others, unable to voice his concerns, and equally unable to explain them.  He clutched his panpipes in nameless worry.  What was this?  Why was he scared?


	As evening fell, the party broke for a quick meal before they resumed walking.  The two warriors got a fire going as Linus cast his spell again, producing another generous spread.  Hircce felt as good as new, and she happily danced with the other fauns in the clearing as Xuriis piped a simple tune to pass the time.

	Castinuve and Linus sat at the other end of the clearing, discussing the trip Linus had taken.  “I’m glad you ran into my cousin,” Castinuve said.  “He’s a good man.”

	“He seemed as such, yes.”  Linus idly rolled his holy symbol across his palm.  “It’s funny, but he seemed much more ready for what was happening than we were here on the Priime.  How close to a major city is this Oldest Glade island?”