Brain Fog Central

alts!

alts!

Navigating the waters of being in a relationship hidden away from the others was…interesting. It was interesting to Nomin whenever she and Estinien stole away for the quiet hours of the night to merely spend time in each other's presence. Had she told herself in the past that this was where the two of them would be, her younger self would have baked in laughter at the absurdity of the claim.

But now, it was far from being absurd. The most absurd thing for Nomin now was imagining her life without Estinien in it in any capacity.

"What is it?" Estinien asked when they had paused upon the bridge that overlooked one of the rivers that ran out into the Scholar's Harbor. His attention was set upon Nomin, this quiet curiosity only an apparition in the way he looked at her.

Nomin drew her hands behind her back and paced in large steps toward and then past Estinien. Then she turned on her heel and looked at him. In return, there was this prying sense about her.

"Words dance behind those lips of yours. Speak." It was a gentle demand from Estinien, but a demand nonetheless.

A chuckle bubbled from Nomin, muffled by still yet closed lips. Estinien's steely gaze narrowed.

"… It's nothing of import," Nomin replied, walking up to Estinien and moving her hands back to her sides. Tentatively, she reached up and rested her fingertips upon his forearm. "Merely…thinking. About us. Now that the star is no longer under the threat of the Final Days, and we…"

Nomin trailed off after a moment, her fingers dropping slowly from Estinien's arm. There were no lies that were shared between them the night before they took to the stars and beyond — only a discussion of passion shared between the heat of their bodies. However, now that they were both there — alive after everything — there was the question of where they would go from there. These were new waters to navigate, and they may have started tumultuous, but now there was this…calm. It was calm, and there was uncertainty for what future laid ahead in their uncharted course.

"Sounds like it is a matter of import," Estinien commented, catching Nomin's hand in his gingerly. His thumb ran over the smooth scales that lined the back of her hand. "Are we to pretend it didn't happen? Move on now that the star may turn in peace?"

The tone of Estinien's voice just then as well as the tug of his aether upon Nomin's Echo made it clear that he was not a fan of that idea. He came up with it, though.

"Nothing of the sort." Nomin moved her hand to be laced with his. Lifting her gaze, Nomin's cyan limbal rings cut through the darkness when she flicked her eyes up at him. "I suppose this is new. That's all… I fear I've never found myself in this situation, nor have I ever really fantasized about such a life. But…what I told you then — about how I grew to love you? That was all true."

Nomin's hand slowly tightened.

"I suppose that unnerves me in some way. When I think about myself beyond the time that is now…I wish only to see it with you at my side. While I may have had that sentiment with others I've developed bonds with, none are in the way I think about it when it comes to how I imagine it with you," Nomin explained, closing some distance between the two of them to where they were now sharing in the gentle warmth they both exuded.

"'Tis much unlike you to be so shaken over something so…mundane," Estinien chuckled.

"And yet your aether tells me that you share in this sense of unease," Nomin teased, her smile widening a fraction. With a tiny scoff let out through her nose, Nomin bobbed her head to the side momentarily. "Despite that, I…find myself oddly comforted by that. To know that I am not the only one navigating such a new path in our lives."

A quieted grunt came out of Estinien, and he finally curled his fingers to grasp Nomin's hand in turn. In an uncharacteristically softened tone, Estinien responded: "Aye, well…'tis as I said before: there is nowhere I'd rather be than standing shoulder to shoulder with you."

A flush crept up the back of Nomin's neck and into her cheeks, and her tail flicked a couple of times behind her. To have heard it then felt grounding and gave Nomin a surge of courage to actually prevent Estinien from leaving after he had bared part of his heart out to her. Hearing it now made her feel like she could be blown away by the gentle breeze that sung soundlessly over the island colony.

"… And I, you…" Nomin returned, her voice just as soft.

Cricket song and the whisper of leaves being disturbed by the wind became their companion along with the gentle chorus of water babbling its way to the harbor. It was like this for a time, and Estinien's forehead slowly came down to rest against the top of Nomin's own as they simply basked in each other's presence. This quiet companionship was something they both sought out — not so much like this, but the two of them had simply shared space before in the past. Hells…they had even sought each other out, not that either of them voiced this, or even consciously really acknowledged it for what it was.

Then the moment was over. Estinien slowly removed himself from Nomin, only looming over her with this tender look in his gaze.

"… Shall I accompany you back to your quarters?" Estinien inquired.

"Not absconding to only The-Twelve-knows-where?" Nomin playfully poked back at him, her tail curling up ever so slightly at the tip.

"If you would prefer the aching cold of your bed, I could leave you to it." That was when a smirk tugged at Estinien's lips. He knew full well that Nomin despised the chill air — that much had been gleaned during their ventures throughout Coerthas and the Churning Mists together. His jest, however, earned this pout from Nomin, even if she could feel how his aether indicated he was not serious. At least not within that moment.

"I'd like your company," Nomin replied simply.

Estinien's head bobbed in a shallow nod. "Very well."

Their time was silent in the hours of the night they spent together going back to the Baldesion Annex to make use of the Andron. The scent of parchment and ink filled their nostrils upon entering, and while it had become something of a comforting smell to Nomin, she stuck close to Estinien to get a hint of this smell of pine (or was it cedar?) that seemed to stick to him ever since they had met in the Central Coerthas Highlands. Either way, when they took pause before the doors that led to what were effectively Nomin's chambers during their stay in Old Sharlayan, Nomin found herself pinching the sleeve of Estinien's shirt between her fingers.

"You…are going to stay…right?" Nomin quietly asked.

Estinien stayed silent for a time. Ever since the events of Ultima Thule, he knew that Nomin seemed to struggle with the idea of being left again. Left permanently. If the events of Ultima Thule played out another way, she would be here. On her own. Carrying only the memories of him. Him and everyone else. Or perhaps she would not be there to carry them at all, and Etheirys would be naught more than erased from the cosmos.

"As long as you require," Estinien finally confirmed. "Till your eyes have closed. Till you open them again on the morrow."

Nomin pushed the doors open with Estinien's reassurance, her hand at his sleeve moving to take his hand. Once inside and situated with their shoes off, Nomin took to sitting on the edge of the bed. Estinien joined her as soon as he had made sure the doors were locked. Though Nomin was tired, she leaned her head — her horn, mostly — against Estinien's shoulder, a contented sigh falling from her.

"Mm…seems you still need your rest…" It was an observation made. Though Nomin had been free of the care of Sharlayan's chirurgeons for a fortnight now, there were still aches and sores that wore her out if she was up and about for too long. Now was no exception.

A pout formed on Nomin's face, and she directed it upward at Estinien.

"… What? Upset I dare to show concern over your well being?" Again, Estinien offered a jest, and Nomin only rolled her eyes, shaking her head as a smile flickered across her lips.

"No…I was thinking…perhaps I'd be more amenable to rest if I were to get a goodnight kiss?" Nomin ended her statement in question.

Had Nomin not felt that flustered tug of aether to her Echo, the only tell that Estinien was flustered by this notion was the dusting of rose that fell across his cheeks and even traveled into the tips of his ears. Still, a smile forced its way onto his face before he shook his head. Lifting a hand, Estinien ran the back of his fingers across Nomin's horn, his blunted nails scraping across the hardened surface. "And here I was thinking you'd be more taken were I to engage in your auri way of affection."

Nomin's tail slowly curled closer to her body, the tip of it pointing upward when Estinien did this. Bouncing her leg to push away the sudden tingling sensation that flooded her, she huffed. "I am also keen on trying other ways of affection that you'd be familiar with."

Again, Estinien gave this brief and quiet laugh. His voice was soft yet again, "… Very well."

Reaching for Nomin's chin, Estinien gently cupped it and pointed her face toward him. He had the more difficult task of 'threading the needle' here for Nomin. However, if it was what she wanted, then it was what she would get. Her horns only gave Estinien an ilm or so on either side to press his lips to hers comfortably, but he still managed it. He managed it, and he made sure to give her a kiss that was tender. Hopefully it would have pleased her.

Estinien could feel Nomin's lips curve into a smile, and when he pulled away, he saw it in full. Just a happy, warm smile on Nomin's face — her eyes reflected it just as much.

"Good enough?" Estinien questioned.

"Mm…" Nomin nodded. "More than good enough. I believe I may finally rest easy this eve."