#its quite a delicious treat for folly

[swagstar]

IM GONNA SLEEP CUZ YOU LIVE IN MY DAYDREAMS

overall based on the Big One. yknow. since you follow me

[starswornoaths]

Starspun Kaleidoscope

This is a commission for the lovely @windup-dragoon of her cutie patootie goobers, Kirishimi and Hien! Under the cut bc it is NSFW in the second half. Thank you so much for your patronage! \o/

Commission info!

To plan a surprise for one such as the Warrior of Light was, to many people and for many, many reasons, folly. Even if one could plan around Kirishimi’s duties as a Scion and Dragoon both, the unforeseeable, looming cataclysms that seemed to dog her at every turn were sure to thwart any attempt to steal her away for a moment not already allocated to her duty.

Brimming with obstinate optimism as he was, Hien did it anyway.

The Kami themselves must have intervened to keep the realm stable long enough to plan around an upcoming festival in Kugane— the Enclave was running smoothly, on the Lord’s end of the planning, and the world seemed to pause for the last moon or so, meaning that apart from the clockwork schedule he could more easily plan around, Kirishimi was actually available to be surprised.

And what a festival to surprise her with! An annual solstice celebration, meant to ring in the fishing and farming season, where the boats bring in their fresh catch and those in the fields harvest the season’s crop. A celebration of the bounties that the Kami have blessed them with, with food, fireworks, and offerings of prayer that the newly planted seeds that will be planted on the morrow will bring just as bountiful a crop.

Planning around both their hectic schedules and when the festival was coming up was, at least to Hien’s mind, akin to discovering a new circle of hell, and had he not had the foresight to distract her with wearing his hair down and well groomed out of its usual ponytail, the whole thing might have been spoilt for her before they had even arrived, but when he gallantly helped her down from their boat onto the docks and watched her eyes grow wide in amazement and joy at the sights, sounds, and smells of the festival, it was all worth it a thousand fold to see her so happy.

“What— how in th’ hells did you—?” Kirishimi gawked at him, then out to the bustling streets with energetic vendors and crowded stalls, then back to him.

“How did I plan a day out for us?” He guessed, smiling wide. She nodded. “An excellent question! I’m still half wondering, myself!”

They shared a laugh as he offered her his arm.

“Now then, let us have some fun while I think of a better answer to your question!” He suggested, the arm not being offered sweeping out toward the stalls.

“How gallant of ya,” she beamed up at him as she looped her arm through his. She sniffed the air with a deep breath and sighed blissfully. “I’d love to know what smells so bloody good…”

Following her keen nose, they wound up at a stall selling grilled skewers of various meats and vegetables. The moment the kebabs came into view, they shared a look, wordlessly agreeing on what their lunch was to be.

It was silly, Hien thought, to be so delighted that they had a moment of playful fighting over who would pay for them— and Krishimi cheered victoriously when her gil was used for the meal. Delighted, for how mundane it was. How normal they could be in this moment. Delighted, for it was just her, and just him, and just them eating festival food and pressing close in crowded streets, arms unwound in favor of twined hands as they wove their way through the crowds. 

And it still amazed him, how profound his joy was at just watching her, marveling at how happy and carefree she looked. Merriment sparkled in her eyes of sapphire and ruby, of sea and fire, her whole face alight with a smile so wide her eyes crinkled at the corners. Her happiness bubbled over, too much for her body to contain, and her shoulders shook with laughter as they watched how faire attendants dazzled the crowds with tricks, music, and dancing.

When he tugged her hand to wordlessly ask her to stop, she peered at him curiously as he held up a finger to ask her to wait. He disappeared in a gaggle of people grouped around a stall he spied off to the side selling mochi, and Kirishimi watched from her place off the side of the street. He could feel her ponderous stare on the back of his head as he ordered a batch of freshly prepared mochi. Upon his return with a beautifully piled mound of little mochi bites, delicately wrapped in a large banana leaf, it was his turn to grin triumphantly.

“Repayment for our lunch!” Hien said with a belly deep chuckle at her fondly exasperated smile, handing her one of the small wooden skewers with which she might pick up dumplings of mochi for herself.

“Oh, you would, ya sweet man, you!” Kirishimi flushed, though she took the offered skewer and speared a fresh, soft mound of mochi. When she popped it in her mouth he watched, hopelessly enraptured, as her eyes closed in bliss while she chewed around her bright grin.

“I gather it’s to your liking?” He asked, grinning like the cat that got the cream.

Still chewing, she gave an enthusiastic hum when she nodded her head. 

“Delicious!” With a flourish, she artfully speared another little mount of mochi on her skewer and held it up to his lips in offering. 

Though her smile was warm as the sun, there was a mischievous twinkle in her eye. He recognized that look of hers— she wanted to get a rise out of him. Well! He thought with a grin. Two can play at that game.

Wordlessly accepting the mochi and challenge both, Hien’s fingertips were a whisper on her skin when he guided her hand closer by the wrist, and peered sidelong at her through his lashes as he pulled the mochi off her skewer. At the sight of Kirishimi bringing her bottom lip between her teeth to bite down on it, his grin only grew more lascivious. Just before he let her hand go, he bent low enough to press a kiss to the inside of her wrists before standing upright faster than she could properly react.

“Delicious.” Hien echoed in agreement once he’d chewed the mochi, even as he made no effort to hide the fact that he was not talking about the sweetmeat at all.

Kirishimi flushed prettily— though when someone in the crowd accidentally bumped into her from behind, it startled them both out of their little world. 

“Crowds are gettin’ worse.” Kirishimi lamented.

“Unfortunate, but I am confident we can manage!” Hien insisted. He handed her the leaf filled with mochi and wound his arm around her waist. “Hang on to our treat— I’ve got you.” 

So they maneuvered with care through the crowds, steadily growing denser than when they had first arrived. Kirishimi readily huddled closer to him, and he was all too happy to curl closer to her. It was so easy for them to make such cramped streets something more intimate, feeding one another bits of mochi and sneaking affection in between.

Hien steered them as gently as he could for how packed the intimately crowded the market streets had become— he hoped that the bridge would be more open, that they might get a good spot in time for the fireworks. His hopes lifted momentarily when the street opened and the crowds thinned again, only for them to be dashed at a turn of his head: the bridge he’d hoped to have her watch the fireworks from was even more crowded than the street. Enough that he faintly wondered if the weight capacity was a danger to the crowd atop it.

“Hmm...this won’t do.” He muttered.

“What, the bridge?” Kirishimi asked once she’d followed his gaze and saw the veritable barricade of people. “Why’re you aimin’ for the bridge?”

“I had hoped to get a good vantage point.” Hien lamented. “I had wanted to surprise you with the view, but it would seem I was not the only one with the idea.” His shoulders slumped. “I hadn’t expected this. I’m sorry, I’d hoped we might see the fireworks from the bridge.”

It stung his pride to admit to his secret plans to her, though he wanted her to at least know he’d intended for this to go better. Rather than the disappointment he expected, he watched her blinked owlishly up at him.

“Oh hells, was that all?” She laughed brightly and seized his hand. “C’mon, I know a spot with a great view!”

For some reason, the thought that she was so familiar with the city had not even occurred to him to draw reference from as inspiration for a back-up plan. Where he had been disappointed at the thought that his best laid plans were coming apart, he could only laugh alongside her as she guided him down the steps to the pier. Somehow, she always made it better.

When they descended the steps into the alleyway beneath the bridge, he was at first skeptical that such a closed off space would have a noteworthy view, but as she led him down the alley and around the corner, he marveled at how the pier opened up to a wide, sparsely populated shipping dock. The water and sky both were so blue in the rapidly approaching twilight that he almost couldn’t tell where they met on the horizon. 

She ushered him to a bench not far from the alley they walked down to get here, and happily pressed herself flush against his side. He readily moved his arm around her to tug her that scant ilm closer and snuck a kiss to her hair as she resumed skewering one of the last mochi.

They had scarcely finished cuddling close before the first firework went off. Even as far away from the crowds as they were, that low din of their shared voices hushed in an instant, everyone peering up at the sky.

Well. Everyone save for Hien.

How could he look anywhere but his beloved, her moonlight silver hair aglow in the ephemeral, colored burst of each firework, eyes brighter than any star he had ever seen. How could he stare at anything with the same awe that her breathtaking smile inspired in him? Impossible. No firework could compare to her radiance.

“See? What’d I tell ya?” Kirishimi asked brightly after a dozen or so fireworks had gone off, looking up at him.

“Quite the sight,” Hien replied quietly, beaming at her through his lashes.

He made no effort to pretend he was looking anywhere but at her, and he delighted in the flush that bloomed on her face.

“Not as nice as the one I’m seein’.” She said quietly. 

“No?” Hien asked as if in genuine interest, hand coming up to smooth his thumb across her bottom lip. 

“Nope. Can’t be. Yer too handsome.” She insisted, though the way she was looking at him was far less innocent than her words.

He opened his mouth to retort, but then she tucked her head an extra ilm down to press a kiss to his thumb— and then nibbled it, very, very gently. His mouth ran dry at the contact, and he shuddered bodily; it had been some time since they had been able to indulge in one another— too long. He felt every second he’d gone without her touch keenly, watching her fan her lashes at him so.

“I am...suddenly reminded that I reserved a room at the Inn.” He rasped against the way his tongue swelled, at the way his heart thudded against his ribs. “And given the fireworks are planned for the whole night, I am fairly certain that the view from there would be spectacular.”

“Oh?” She mused, half leaning into his lap, her fingers delicately tracing his exposed collarbone. “Y’didn’t tell me. Sounds lovely.”

The summer heat couldn’t account for the way he felt set ablaze by her touch— and he couldn’t pretend it was anything but arousal and carnal need that made his pulse race and his breathing grow shuddered.

“Shall we?” He offered with the last of his coherence, and held out his hand.

She readily took it, and he pulled her gently from the bench to head back down the alley they had come from. With every step, he had to remind himself to have restraint— the Inn was just across the bridge, it was scarcely more than a jaunt to the aetheryte shard to avoid the crowd—

“This means a lot, Hien.” Kirishimi spoke up suddenly. “All of this, not just. Well. Y’know.”

He stopped walking and turned to look at her in that moment. Though they stood in the shadow of the bridge, she was bright as a star, looking up at him with such earnest ardor that for a moment, he forgot how to breathe. 

“You must know I’m only sorry I can’t do it more.” Hien managed to rasp.

“I know. We both have so little time— but I need you ta know how much it means to me that you did all this. I...I like being able to see what life will be like with you—”

Before he knew what he was doing, he’d hoisted her up on a stack of crates behind her, his hands gripping her thighs around his waist tightly. He slanted his mouth against hers in eagerness, before he had even thought to do so. Loving her was such a deeply rooted instinct, he could do little but act on it. 

She reciprocated instantly and eagerly, hands grabbing at his clothes, clutching him closer to her, close enough that he could feel her heartbeat pounding against her sternum. Letting go of her thighs to pull her impossibly closer earned him the sweetest moan against his lips he’d ever heard from her. Fire ignited in the pit of his belly, and the flames came alive when he felt her heat throbbing against his rapidly hardening erection, even through their clothes.

“I’m afraid the Inn might be too far away.” He panted between those deep kisses that sent him reeling. “Should you be of like mind...I fear I can’t hold back.”

“Th-this is, ah—” His Kirishimi gasped so deliciously against him as she pulled him in for more kisses between words, as if she couldn’t refrain from it either. As if she couldn’t refrain from him either. The thought drove him wild with want, and his hips stuttered against hers before he could even think to restrain them. “This is a bit public, yeah? We, a-ahh, might get caught.”

“As Yugiri is wont to remind me, I am no shinobi,” Hien mused as though he couldn’t feel the way her thigh nudged at his clothed erection. When he began to mouth at her ear, his beard scratching against her cheek, he found his voice again, rougher for his dwindling restraint. “But I can be discreet.”

“Well, then.” Kirishimi hummed, tapering off in a moan at the way he growled against her throat at her hands tangling in his hair. He could feel her smirk against his ear when she bent her head and answered, “Prove it.”

Ah, a challenge! He did so love to rise to the occasion— all the more where she was concerned. His hands cupped at her backside and slid her forward in time with him pressing flush against the crates she was perched on. It was only a scant few ilms difference, if that, but such distance needed to be unmade entirely: he could go no longer without her.

Hien’s agony was one further exacerbated by his blind palming to undo his hakama, and he smothered his hissing against Kirishimi’s lips to make good on his word to be quiet. Fortunate for him that he had; he muffled a groan into her mouth when she batted his hands away and shifted to untie the keeping his pants held up. Leaving her to take matters into her own hands, as it were, he occupied himself with slipping his hands beneath the soft layers of her yukata. He’d been glad to gift it to her before they arrived today, though he hadn’t necessarily thought of this particular benefit.

When his hand found her under the yukata, Hien couldn’t help but groan into her starspun locks when he realized she wore no undergarments and was already all pulsing, scorching heat. Even before he made a move to slip his fingers inside her, she was rocking her hips to try and coax him into filling her. The hand not waiting in anticipation to make her sigh let go of her to brace more fully against the crate she was sat on— his need for her was dizzying, he was so hard it vaguely hurt, and it was all he could do to blindly rut against her thighs to attempt to curb his own enthusiasm.

A poor attempt, admittedly, but it certainly didn’t stop him from trying.

Kirishimi managed to free him from his hakama fairly quickly, for a blessing, and he practically felt his cock swing down, free of its confines, heavy and aching, and he sucked in a breath through his teeth at the breeze brushing it. 

Hien sank his teeth into Kirishimi’s neck to muffle the guttural groan that escaped him when he hilted himself in one smooth push of his hips. The wet gasp he tore from her throat stuttered out in staccato bursts, her hands flying to grasp at his shoulder, to bury her fingers in his hair. Her chest heaved in time with the flutter of her around him, and he couldn’t stop his hips from stuttering in shallow thrusts in search of more despite their hips already pressed flush. 

“We will have to be quick,” he managed through laving his tongue over the marks he had bitten into her skin. 

“Yesss,” Kirishimi hissed into the fabric of his haori.

When he slid almost entirely out of her and snapped his hips back against hers with enough force to nudge her backwards on the crate, he nearly couldn’t swallow her cry of rapture, and only just managed to crush their mouths together in an inelegant kiss.

“Discretion, koishī,” Hien reminded her in a dark snarl against her ear, and repeated to motion.

He had to bite the inside of his cheek to follow his own advice: she felt so good, clenching around him as he moved, felt so good to touch her silken hair and her smooth skin and pull her closer, closer, it was never close enough—

“Please,” Kirishimi panted in his ear, and what control he had snapped at such beautiful, breathy begging.

Wrapping his arms those few ilms tighter around her, pressing that nonexistent extra ilm closer, he acquiesced to her pleas. There would be time for the slower, more intimate lovemaking they so adored to indulge in later; now, there was only the carnal need to quench the fires that wrought destruction to their senses and sensibilities.

Hien set a brutal pace, bruising their hips with every collision but he couldn’t bring himself to mind too much— in particular, for how tightly Kirishimi’s hands clenched in his hair, at his haori, how she clenched around him, all tight heat and agonizing bliss. It was almost too much, even when he began, but he refused to be the first to fall apart— it would not do to leave his beloved unsatisfied, or even to risk it. 

Kirishimi rose to the occasion, as she always did, her heels digging into the small of his back, slotted perfectly into his Venusian dimples, and she rocked into him at every thrust, rolled her hips to the tide of his tempo, and it was all he could do to bury his hand in her hair, to press his palm against her back and pull her in closer, to sink into her until he couldn’t tell where he ended and she began.

“Discretion,” she teased in a wheezing pant when he growled at that telltale pull in his gut that told him he was beginning to teeter off the edge. 

He gnashed his teeth in a feral smirk before quieting them both in a crushing kiss. It would not do to let himself fall apart now, certainly not when she was coherent enough to tease him for his enthusiasm. With a dark chuckle that rumbled in the deepest part of his chest, he carefully disentangled her hair from his fingers, and let his hand wander down, down, down— 

He chased her mouth when she broke their kiss in a startled gasp at the touch of his thumb against her swollen clit. The hand in his hair flexed at the swirl of his thumb around the oversensitive bud, and she whimpered against his lips in time with her shallow thrusting into his hand. 

Her enthusiasm, her mounting pleasure, was as a double edged sword: while she spiraled faster, closer to release, she was bringing him along with her, and it was, as always, a battle of wills between the two of them. Gods, but her little wanton gasps, the soft whining, her hands all over him, all orchestrated such sweet rapture for him that he could do little but cling to what fraying edges of sanity he had, even as he wanted to hurl himself into the abyss beside her.

“Close,” Kirishimi panted into his lips, and he groaned, low and guttural and primal, when her legs squeezed to bring him in deeper. “Close, close, Hien—”

Kami preserve, but so was he. His thrusts had lost all technique, all control, and he was pounding so hard into her he could hear the crate beneath her creak faintly every time their hips met but he couldn’t even bring himself to care. He broke their kiss to lean back enough to watch her fall apart, to watch the moment that his attentions pushed her over the edge.

Hien was not waiting for long. With a particularly dextrous stroke of his thumb and a well angled thrust of his hips, her mouth fell open in a choked cry of rapture. She managed to quiet herself even before the noise had fully left her throat, though she flung herself against him to muffle the rest of those beautiful noises she couldn’t quell fast enough. She squeezed so tightly around his cock, pulsed as rapid as a hare’s heartbeat, that he couldn’t quite silence himself in time before he groaned, long and loud, into her hair as the coil in his gut snapped. Instinct drove them both to cling together as they rode out the waves of their orgasm, his thrusts inarticulate, sloppy, desperate things as she shook around him. He emptied all of himself into her, and even as he finally felt the last of it fill her he remained sheathed, pressed close, basking in the afterglow.

Not for too long, sadly; they were still out in public, and poor Kirishimi was on a kami forsaken pile of crates, for heaven’s sakes. When she trembled a little less, he slid himself out of her with an agonized groan, over sensitive as he was from the stimulation. She whimpered at the veritable deluge of cum that followed after him, though he tried to be courteous and offer her a kerchief to at least attempt to clean up. 

Once they were disentangled entirely, he righted his clothes and hair as best as he could, and helped her down from the crates to do the same. Still giddy, still riding the hights of their high, they couldn’t help but stand on wobbly legs, leaning into one another, noses nuzzling affectionately and breathy laughter filling the space between them. 

“So much fer discretion, ay?” Kirishimi teased between giggles. 

“I said I can be discreet— it’s hardly a guarantee.” He admitted with a sheepish chuckle, and tucked the soiled kerchief in his pocket with a grimace. Once he made sure there was no mess left on the crate, he offered, “The fireworks are still going, for a blessing. Shall we retire to the Inn and keep watching?”

At her nod, they set off again. The kami themselves must have intervened to thin the crowds on the bridge enough for them to squeeze through to the other side, and managed to slip away, sequestered in their room with hot sake and dinner in bed, with the window wide open.

“You were right— view’s amazin’ from here,” Kirishimi mused as they watched the fireworks once dinner was cleared away.

After a long moment, he set his sake cup down on the bedside table, and shifted to crawl over her. She watched him with those mismatched eyes of ruby and sapphire, glimmering with every kaleidoscope burst of light from the window. With a bright, enticing, inviting smile, she slid backwards until she could spread out languidly upon the plush bed.

Hien preferred to watch the bursts of color reflect on those silver locks of hers, splayed out on the pillow as they were. After a few moments of appreciative silence, he hummed, pleased. 

“Quite the view.” He agreed, and joined her in soft splendor again.

[skvaderarts]

Hiraeth Chapter 40: Virulence

Masterlist can be found Here!

Chapter Forty: Virulence 

Note: I just wanted to take a moment to thank you for something truly special. As of this chapter we have reached 353,930 words, 10,557 Hits, 292 Kudos, AND 100 CHAPTERS! Well, 105 if you count Saudade, but still! 100 chapters! I genuinely don’t know what to say to that besides THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH! I never thought my heavily procrastinating ass would accomplish anything close to this, let alone find anyone who would care to read it. From the bottom of my heart, thank you so much!

(-~-)

Breakfast so far had been a fascinating affair. The sheer amount of different confectionery treats and types of carbs and dairy products had been overwhelming at first, but after realizing that they could help themselves to practically anything they wanted from off of the menu, they proceeded unhindered. Anytime they took less out of politeness they were playfully chastised by the staff and encouraged to help themselves. A folly they would come to regret.

V had watched quietly as his brother and newfound friend had gone about the somewhat exciting business of tasting and plating just about anything they could want. Nero had naturally been more apprehensive, truly wondering if he was allowed to eat this much of their food, but fully willing to if permitted, while Sirrus had been more concise about what he wanted. He took small portions of several items, mostly the dryer options such as scones and freshly baked loaves of bread. He stayed noticeably clear of things with heavy herbed toppings aside from taking one small slice of a fragrant, buttery bread that admittedly drew V’s attention as he approached, considering a slice for himself.

“So… what kind of bread is that?”

The adjudicator looked over his shoulder at V, seemingly not paying attention to the fact that he was there a moment ago. He had been staring at the bread intently as though it were genuinely difficult for him to figure out if he wanted the piece that he’d picked up, looking down at the hand that had touched it as though he were waiting for himself to break out in a horrible, disfiguring rash, or something akin to that.

“And pray tell, why do you look so… concerned about it? I find it hard to believe that you're intolerant to gluten by any measure.” V said lightheartedly, gesturing towards the plate full of other grains ranging from the aforementioned breads and scones to some sort of pilaf that contained a variety of seasonal fruits. It looked delicious, actually. Perhaps he would try that.

Watching as V fixed a small bowel of the same fruit and rice mixture, Sirrus smiled gently. He wasn’t far off, to be sure, but he was aware that the actual reason might come as a surprise to him. It normally did when he tried to explain it to other people who did not have the same specific issue that he had. Most comprehended the concept, but that didn’t make it any less strange to them.

“Not so much that as it is that I possess an unfortunate intolerance to a few different herbs and spices that I suspect might be in the bread. Nothing toxic, but uncomfortable if I consume it in large quantities. A pity, considering how much I enjoy them.” He pivoted and followed V away from the serving table and towards the section where Nero currently sat. The younger hunter had been sitting there for a few minutes now, tucking into his well-deserved meal. A welcome sight, to be sure. “It is good to see you more coherent. Your brother and I were worried we’d have to carry you back up to your room!”

Smirking slightly, V tasted his food, pleasantly surprised by how pleasant the meal was. Dinner had given him no reason to suspect that his meal would be tasteless or bland, but this was considerably better than he had originally hoped it would be. Perhaps he would ask for the recipe for this one. He doubted that they would give it to him, but it was worth a shot. “Yes, our late-night research session truly did take it out of me. What little sleep I did achieve did very little, I’m afraid. But it wouldn’t be the first time. I’m sure I’ll manage.”

Glancing up from his now empty plate of food, Nero shook his head, clearly amused by the conversation that had found its way to the table. Just how late had they stayed up last night? “Since you stayed up as late as you did, did it end up being worth it? I mean, did you find out anything useful, or was it all just a giant waste of time?”

Looking back and forth between his younger sibling and their red-haired companion, V lingered for a moment on the question at hand before shrugging nebulously. “It’s hard to say. We believe that we might have something, but it needs to be confirmed by someone with more expertise on such matters. We were planning to seek out Aluta just after… ”

V trailed off for a moment, looking down towards the table. After staring at something they couldn’t quite see from their respective angles, the young summoner seemed to visibly pale, clearly distressed in some form or another. His breathing deepened as he seemed to attempt to bring himself back under control, but whatever had caused him such distress to begin with only seemed to amplify as the moments passed by, the lingering if not subtle look of alarm in his eyes clear evidence of his growing dread.

His eyes traveled the length of his lower arm, lingering there for a moment as he seemed to process something that they had no hope of seeing from the other side of the table. He then slowly moved his free right hand over to space just below his wrist on the left hand, hovering over his skin but not daring to make physical contact. He shuttered slightly, seeming entranced in a state of awestruck, baffled horror that no one present including him knew the cause of. Needless to say, something was horribly wrong here, and he wasn’t in a state to explain if he even could. Judging by the look on his face, he probably didn’t have the slightest clue.

Both Sirrus and Nero looked at one another for a moment, visibly perplexed and concerned as to why V seemed to be so silently startled. After a moment, they came to the silent but unanimous agreement that they should probably try and figure out what was going on. Something told Nero that trying to get his attention probably wouldn’t work, but that didn’t change the fact that he was going to try to do so either way. What else was he going to do, wait for his older brother to tell him? He had the feeling that V wasn’t in a talking mood at the moment, if the sheen of dampness on his face was anything to go by.

“Hey, what’s wrong. You okay?” Nero asked softly, not trying to draw the attention of anyone present. A few other people had entered the room since they had sat down at the table, and a few others had been there since before they had entered, all quietly eyeing the strangers with a mixture of surprise and curiosity. They stuck out enough as it was. There was no need to draw even more attention to themselves. “You, um, seem kinda freaked out. Everything okay over there?”

For a moment, he looked up from his state of horrified shock and made uncomfortable eye contact with Nero before diverting his gaze. V then allowed himself a half glance before opening his mouth slightly. It seemed as though he were considering speaking for a moment, but then he closed his mouth and looked down at his arm again. After a prolonged period of silence, he finally spoke, albeit timidly and clearly under duress. “I-I… I don’t… Something isn’t right.”

Done wondering and seeking answers, Sirrus carefully stood up and came around the table, approaching V slowly as though he were worried that he might scare him off. The young summoner seemed to notice his approach, but did nothing to halt him, seemingly welcoming the assistance, but unsure of what to say or do. Nero stood as well but did not approach, waiting for Sirrus to take a look first. He was closer to him, after all, and it was probably best to give him some breathing room. It was unlikely that he would lose his cool and cause a scene, but he still didn’t want to make a situation that was clearly uncomfortable worse by subtracting from what little person space V already had. Nero knew from experience that V didn’t exactly thrive under such conditions.

As soon as Sirrus looked at V, his pupils dilated and he became visibly distraught, not so much jumping up and down in horror as he was clearly upset. He gave V a considerate look before gesturing towards his arm as if to ask if he could touch it. V didn’t move, but he blinked slowly, indicating that this was acceptable. Sirrus then knelt down and took a closer look at it, examining it intently before gesturing for Nero to accompany him.

Quickly and without hesitation, the youngest of the trio made his way around the table and to his brother’s side, clearly concerned in regards to what was going on. Was it too much to hope that V had simply managed to burn himself? Or was that in of itself cruel? “What’s going… on. Oh.”

Much to his surprise, he immediately located the issue. Snaking up V’s wrist from the upper middle of his arm was a series of thin black lines that seemed to be his veins, spreading out into an intricate web of thin hairs that absolutely no one would need to even contemplate the purpose of to know that they were unwelcome in a living being’s body. Whatever this was, it was clearly bad, and they all knew it.

“That… that wasn’t there a second ago, was it?” Nero asked, looking at V. He knew that he already knew the answer, but he had to be sure that he wasn’t just assuming things. After all, for all he knew this might have been an ongoing thing for a while now. He was relatively sure that it wasn’t, but he still needed to be sure.

“No. No, it wasn’t.” V said simply, turning his head slightly as a few of the Ludwig girls made their way over to the table, seemingly noticing that something wasn’t quite right. As soon as they caught sight of V’s arm, several of them gasped in shock and horror, and gestured for a few of the older girls. One of them, a lovely girl with long black hair in a navy blue and black casual suit jacket that stood out from the rest of the girls who were largely still in their pajamas hurried over to assess the situation as other members of the household peeped around corners and stepped out of her way.

Upon approaching, V pivoted so that she could see what was going on. He was clearly distraught, but he was keeping calm in spite of it. Sirrus and Nero looked on as she stared in confused horror, beckoning for one of the other girls to come to her side. One of the other girls, a young teen no older than fourteen approached, her curiosity quickly turning to concern as the older girl pointed towards the direction that the staircase was in on the other side of the door. “I need you to go and find madam Aluta. Quickly. Tell her it’s an emergency.”

The young girl nodded, turning to face a few of the other girls who ran off ahead of her. Whether this was to go and locate her as well or to escape the situation was unknown, but everyone was clearly on high alert. No use in trying to hide anything now. Before she stepped away to do as she was asked, she stopped and turned back to face the older girl, seemingly needing something clarified as she seemed to have a questioning look on her face. “Flora… What kind of emergency is it? You know she will want to know.”

Glancing over her shoulder and pointing again, nodding in understanding, the older teen, apparently named Flora, took another look at V’s arm, noting that the dark webbing seemed to be slowly spreading. “... An Osmos scenario. Tell someone to fetch Hydrangea while you're at it. I may need her assistance if madam Aluta does not arrive in time. Hurry!”

Heeding her advice, she and a few more of the other girls ran from the room, shouting that they would go and find Hydrangea while the other girls ran in the opposite direction after the girl sent to find Aluta. Flora then turned her attention back towards V, seemingly looking for something that she could stead herself with in order to get a better look at V. Nero quickly grabbed one of the chairs and pulled it out for her while Sirrus scrambled to get out of his way, seemingly unsure of what he could do. She nodded in appreciation before sitting down and continuing to assess V’s condition.

“My apologies for the fright. I’m Flora. I’m sure that more experienced hands will arrive soon, but until then… “ She stared intently at the spreading black threads, obviously baffled. Flora shook her head before clearing her throat and tentatively touching the mark, recoiling in visible discomfort. Neither V nor Nero knew what had just happened, but it clearly wasn’t good. “Well, at least my original guess wasn’t too far off. Do you feel anything? I’m assuming that this just started?”

V nodded and then shook his head, concerned but otherwise fine. Above all else, he just wanted to know what was happening to him. “You're correct, this just started. And I’m fine but… do you know what’s happening?” He sighed softly. V hoped with everything in him that this wasn’t bad, but he had a distinct feeling that it might be. “That term you used before… should I be concerned? It sounded rather dire.”

Flora shook her head, shrugging in a manner that did not inspire confidence. “Sorry, I don’t really know what this is. It presents as a sort of hex or curse to me, but I’m not experienced enough to know how to handle this. Still in training, you know?” She noticed the alarmed look that crossed both Nero and V’s faces when she said that, Sirrus raising an eyebrow in a manner that came off more curious than worried. Well, at least one of them knew what she meant by that. “Please don’t misunderstand. An Omni curse or hex is just a step above your usual run-of-the-mill spell. Nothing to be concerned about unless it’s discovered to be worse than that. My entire family has been under one several leagues stronger than this one for generations, and were all perfectly fine. Don’t get worked up over it. Might be one of the kinds that feed off of negativity.”

It was Nero’s turn to ask questions since V was clearly too distraught to do so. He stood at V’s side, hoping that his presence could offer him some small measure of comfort. “Could any of the books that we’ve been reading the last couple of hours cause something like this? V was okay until this morning.”

Considering his question for a moment, she scrunched her brow slightly before looking down and nodding to herself. She then looked back up at them, a more astute look in her eyes. “It’s possible, but in truth, I don’t think that’s what did this. The books in that section normally only hex you if read out loud without proper training, and they would do much more extreme things like incinerating you or turning you to dust. No one wants to be turned to dust. Trust me. Not a good way to go.”

V visibly flinched, drawing a sympathetic look from Nero and a slightly confused one from Sirrus. Flora stared at him blankly for a moment, unsure as to what his reaction could mean. “I assure you… I have no desire to be turned to dust. It is quite low on my priority list. I shall not read any of the texts out loud.”

Both Flora and Sirrus seemed to visibly pale as they realized simultaneously based on V’s thoroughly sarcastic tone that this wouldn’t be the first time he experienced something of that nature. How he could be here now if he had disintegrated was above her education level, but either way, she wasn’t going to ask, and neither was Sirrus. They were trying to keep things calm, not upset him even more than he already was.

Suddenly a small thump could be heard from the next room over as someone cursed slightly, footsteps thudding softly against the smooth hardwood floors as they continued forward and towards the direction of the doorway. Each of them shared a slightly relieved but anxious glance with one another. Was this Aluta?

Just a moment later, Nico rounded the corner and stumbled somewhat sleepily into the room, much to the surprise of everyone present. Truly, it couldn’t be possible that she had managed to sleep through everything that had just happened. The house wasn’t that big… was it? Surely she had to hear something right? The children hadn’t vacated the room very quietly after all, and there had been quite the commotion.

“What the hell is going on in here?! I was trying to get some sleep! You kept me up till the crack of dawn, and now you wanna tramps about making all this ruckus?” She seemed genuinely frustrated from what Nero could tell, and that would normally be funny if not for the circumstances they were currently in.

“Um… We think something might be going on with V.” Nero said tentatively, not wanting to talk about V like he wasn’t clearly sitting right there. But he didn’t seem to pay much attention to his words. He had far more pressing matters to attend to.

“… Oh.” Said flatly, seemingly regretting her words almost instantly. Now she felt more than a little bit silly now that the situation had been brought to her attention. “Well nevermind then. Sleep can wait. Fill me in. What did I miss?”

(-~-)

I really enjoyed writing this chapter, especially since it meant that things really get to take off from here. Something tells me that you might be super surprised where this ends up going, or at least enjoy it. I’ve been wanting to implement this FOREVER! See you all next week on Wednesday, and in the comment section for this chapter. Take care!

[eatingexeter]

The Pig at Combe is far from the dusty, muddy, snorty (but intelligent) animal it is named after, it does however embody the essence of countryside. As you drive towards it from the a30 and through the villages, you see this warm glow illuminating in the distance, calling you into its warm belly.

I have heard many many things about the Pig at Combe- all positive; and having seen plenty of lovely pictures, have wandered what it would be like to dine there. Editor Chris visited late last year and thoroughly enjoyed himself with their 25 mile ethos, you can read his write up here.

On this occasion I was invited to enjoy their private dining option along with some other press. I was really looking forward to it and had not just my foodie/social hat on but also my corporate hat – as in my day job as a PA, it is good to have places to book for meetings or events as well as to add to my pool of knowledge to recommend to others.

To start the evening, I was led underground to the cellar. I was immediately taken aback by the cosy yet elegant atmosphere; white brick walls, stone flooring, wood, and loads of candles creating a sense of warmth. We enjoyed bubbly and canapés whilst chatting with other guests. Canapés included mushroom samosas, scotch eggs, pork crackling, lamb koftas, and fried kale with prawn salt. Everything was just delicious – little taste sensations.

We were then led up to the Georgian Kitchen; a hunting lodge type kitchen (could almost be in a National Trust house) with large aga/wood burning stove across the back wall and a scullery off the back left. A grand wooden table surround by 12 chairs awaited us, with more ambient lighting and candles. A few stags heads adorned the walls along with a dresser of country house crockery – nothing forced or kitch, just everything naturally belonging.

Rather than having a menu of individual dishes to choose from, the ethos is about sharing –  an option I loved. I struggle to choose from a menu when I could quite frankly eat it all – so to have a bit of everything is right up my piggin’ street!

Don’t for one minute think this is buffet style…it is banquet dinner style.  Wooden boards arrived adorned with starters of smoked organic salmon, cured meats, toast topped with mussels, crab and exmoor caviar as well as garden leek and blue cheese tarts.

For mains we enjoyed a whole cod with foraged sea veg, roasted and slow braised Dartmoor lamb and hay smoked BBQ Pipers Farm chicken – all meaty, succulent and cooked to perfection. Big knives landed into them, ready for serving the troops. On the side, our mighty feast was compimented by creamy layered potato, roast celeriac and lemon thyme, glasshouse leaves, foraged herbs and garden greens.

The pudding offering sent us all into ‘kids in a sweet shop’ mode. The most comforting and delicious rice pudding I’ve ever had, clear and wobbly gin and tonic jelly with tongue tingling lemon sorbet, a smooth ice cream parfait, sticky toffee pudding, apple and blackberry crumble and a trifle that would put your grandmother’s to shame.

  For coffee we wandered across the path to the Folly. This was a lovely outhouse restaurant, candlelit once more, giant wicker woven lampshades hanging down, it had an African/ethnic feel for me. Coffee and ‘piggy fours’ were served whilst we admired the pizza oven and outside seating, complimented by firepits. This space is open, serving more casual food and dining and can be hired for private parties. Ceiling height sash windows can be opened to let the outside in if the weather permits.

We had enjoyed the evening thoroughly and all the spaces we had been in worked well for their purpose. The Pig at Combe really is a flexible venue, and I can assure you they will be able to cater for your private dining or casual party needs.

It was hunting lodge elegance..big food, beautifully cooked, subtle service. It’s been a long time since I’ve enjoyed such casual, comfortable yet sophisticated dining, with professional and effortless hosting. I look forward to returning, and sending everyone I know!

Check your diary and find an excuse now – you’d be a silly little piggy not to; pigs are one of my favourite animals and this beauty is no different. A great venue for family dining, a couples treat, corporate entertaining or getting down to serious business – you still gotta eat, a deal can’t be done on an empty stomach right?! As a restaurant with rooms you could of course stay over and be happy as a pig in…well, bed.

Time for this little piggy to go wee wee wee all the way home.

Find them on wheels: The Pig at Combe, Gittisham, Honiton, Devon, EX14 3AD

Find them online:Facebook, Twitter or on their website

*Dinner in the Georgian Kitchen can be for up to 14 people,

priced at £32 each for a 3 course family-style sharing menu.*

      Private Dining at The Pig at Combe - by Lauren Heath The Pig at Combe is far from the dusty, muddy, snorty (but intelligent) animal it is named after, it does however embody the essence of countryside.