#reven thorfie

[maikry]

Reven - The Last Night

When the ship docked, the first place she found herself was the local tavern.

It was a sailor tradition: drink and fuck as much as you can until your money is gone or your next contract is picked up. Those of the sea were a staple of any port city’s economy, and though Reven was now no longer a sailor, she still found herself winding down the familiar route to her own merriment. Her revenge had waited this long; another night would do her no harm.

Reven stood against the wall as she sipped her ale, glancing among the other patrons. Some of her most recent crew were in the same tavern as well, grouped together at a table nearby and regaling the tales of their last journey to drunkards and prostitutes alike, hoping the tale was worth a free drink or discounted lay.

Still, she smiled at their stories, exaggerated though they were.

"You’re full of shit." She finally cut in when Paulor, a middle-aged man with a bald head and black and rotting teeth, claimed that they had survived an encounter with a giant water beast. 

Paulor whipped around to see who dared call him a liar. When he saw it was Reven, his body relaxed and he held up his ale. The men and women around him who had briefly tensed began laughing and chuckling as they realized that there would be no brawl. Paulor began his own loud chortling along with them, already flushed from the alcohol he had consumed.

"Ah, there she is! Calling out an old man on a day of rest." Paulor turned to address the table. His tone and countenance were like that of a small child regaling the legend of their favorite hero, courtesy of his drunken state. "Reven. This woman commands the rigs. She can climb to the top of a ship in seconds. In the middle of a storm where ya can’t tell your ass from your hand, too."

This time, Reven made no effort to correct the man. 

With reactions at the table split between gasps of bewilderment and rolling eyes of disbelief, Reven bowed lightly to the group. 

"You humble me, Paulor." The merriment quickly continued, leaving Reven behind to watch from afar. Though she didn’t mind. She never truly fit in with the sailors she worked with. Sailing was her uncle's trade. And when her parents were killed by escaped aberrants, she was thrust into a life at sea with him. He was the only family she had left, and he was a kind man.

She had already said her goodbyes to him at the docks. It was time to fight the beasts that killed her family. She was ready.

Reven had spent years learning any skill set that would benefit her in battle. Sparring, sword-fighting, climbing the rigs—it was all for the purpose of one day traveling to Eirid to become an ameliorate. To fight the same monsters that killed her parents. To live and die by an honorable code and help to end the wars that plagued the nations.

But she wasn’t an ameliorate yet. She was an ex-sailor. And she needn’t worry about honor.

Glancing around the room, Reven caught the gaze of a woman sitting at a table.

She approached confidently, ale in hand. The woman was slim with red curls that were pinned to her head with wooden dowels. Her skin looked fair and soft, never knowing a day of physical labor in the unforgiving sun. As she got closer, the woman gave the smallest hint of a grin on the edges of her ruby lips.

"Milady, if I didn’t know any better, I’d say I had caught your attention over there." Reven bowed to the woman, scooping her hand tenderly and placing a kiss on the back of it. "My name is Reven. Might I have the pleasure of knowing what to call you?"

The woman glanced from Reven’s wrapped hands to her sunkissed face, a small look of shock and bashfulness hiding the smirk from before.

"Cozette." She blinked away her surprise. Reven took a seat next to her.

"Your beauty rivals the sea, Cozette." Reven said, shaking her head and taking another drink. "What brings you here, if you don’t mind my asking?"

She smiled sheepishly. "I am a secretary for a wealthy lord’s house. I come here sometimes looking for a little stress relief from the job. A place where nobody knows your name and people come and go."

"That does make this place attractive, I suppose." Reven tipped her ale back, taking a swig.

"And you," Cozette turned to face Reven, leaning in closer to whisper her question. "Did I hear that you’re a sailor?"

"I was." Reven nodded. 

The woman’s smile grew. "You must tell me of your adventures."

So Reven did. Retelling the stories that Paulor had told—adding her own flourishments, of course—and telling new ones. She told Cosette of the time they crossed through a pirate fleet, when she swam to save a man overboard, and the culture and beauties of all the ports at shore. For an hour or so, Reven talked.

And with every passing story, the two got a little closer on their bench. Reven’s hand made its way to Cozette’s knee, her other discarding the empty stein onto the table. Cozette’s foot had begun sliding up the fabric of Reven’s trouser leg. The couple glanced into each other’s eyes, Reven trailing off from a story about a seagull being loose below deck. Reven leaned in slowly and brushed her lips onto the woman’s, relieved when Cozette returned the kiss.

They sat there for a moment with their lips entwining, finding new ways to come together and apart. Reven’s free hand went to Cozette’s face, finding that her cheek was as soft as her lips. 

Finally, Reven pulled back.

"Perhaps," Reven’s hand trailed from the knee before giving a gentle squeeze to Cozette’s thigh. "I could tell you more of my tales somewhere a bit more private, milady."

Cozette grinned slyly, her face flushed red beneath her freckles. "I would like that."

The breathlessness of the woman in front of her nearly made Reven melt. Instead, however, she carefully untangled from the woman and offered her arm like a proper gentleman. Cozette took it and allowed Reven to help her from her seat, Raven’s fingers rubbing against the woman’s soft hand as they walked toward a private room.

As they climbed the stairs, Reven caught the gaze of Paulor at his table down below. He gave her a knowing smile and raised his glass, laughing loudly. A final goodbye acknowledgement. One last night of being from the sea. One last rowdy encounter before her life of service and work began.

With a giggling maiden on her arm, Reven stepped inside and closed the door behind her.