Stuck Midst the Peasantry (Non Canon, R, for Aviaris)

Elise laughed lightly, then sighed. "I'm sorry, I think I've given you enough to process for the night. We can talk in the morning if you feel like it, okay?" She stood, "Now go to sleep, and have good dreams this time." She went up the stairs and back to her bed.

After she left, Lucas sank into the bed and buried his face, groaning. Oh, his dreams were going to be good, that was for sure. The morning would likely be bad... and sticky. Considering how Elise had just acted though, she likely knew that. Hell, maybe she did it on purpose.

Elise came downstairs the next morning, wearing her pale green tunic and riding breeches. "Good morning." She went to the cupboard, poured some dried mixture into a bowl and added water before setting it over the fire and building up the embers. "You can freshen up with the water basin over there," she nodded to a small cupboard where a pitcher sat in a large bowl. Scruff whined at the door, so Elise let him out and sat to braid her hair.

Lucas was sitting up in bed when she came down, and staring at his cot. As he'd feared, he'd indeed had a wet dream, and now was not only too embarrassed to get up, but to even look at her. The 'morning wood' didn't help things. He couldn't even speak at the moment.

Elise eyed Lucas, then sighed. "I'm sorry, Lucas." She stood, "If the pot starts boiling, grab a towel and take it off the fire. I'm going out to use the outhouse." Elise headed outside, not coming back for fifteen minutes.

When Elise came back, Lucas was just setting the pot down after taking it off the fire, though looked nervous while doing so. He'd indeed cleaned himself up a bit, and changed his clothes, but had something on his mind. When he saw Elise, he immediately turned to her, looking worried. "H-hey, I'm sorry, I wasn't mad at you or anything, I swear! I was just embarassed because I-... um... that... that is, I..." He quickly turned red again, realizing he'd almost told her exactly what he did NOT want her to know. It was likely in poor taste to inform a woman that you had an erection and had had a dream about her that caused you to make a mess in clothes she had lent you.

Elise pondered a moment as she checked on the porridge. "I'm glad you're not mad with me. I never meant to make you embarrassed. How's your horseback riding skill?" She had an idea what he was so embarrassed about now, but didn't want to say so for fear it'd just make him more embarrassed.

Lucas actually smiled a bit at that question. "That's actually something I can do. My older sister is better at it, but I'm fairly good, I think. Not the best, or even one of them, but I'm... competent, I guess. Why?"

"Glad to hear it," Elise smiled, "We have to go check the fence line today. Shouldn't be a difficult ride and I think I know the perfect horse for you." She frowned as she sat to her breakfast, "You have to let me know if your wound starts bothering you though. We don't want the stitches to get pulled."

Lucas sat down as well, smiling a bit more. "Don't worry, I will. I actually don't have so much pride that I'll pretend I'm not bleeding to death." He laughed slightly, tucking into his own breakfast. He was still a bit jittery about things, but as he'd changed his pants and his erection had calmed, he was able to simply enjoy the morning and Elise's presence.

After they'd finished cleaning up for breakfast, Elise led Lucas to the barn. Scruff ran around, running around in the woods and farmyard, but always keeping in eyesight of his mistress. Reaching the barnyard, Elise let out a sharp whistle before going into the first stall and saddling the tobaino mare inside. While she did this, a stallion galloped up to just outside the stall, eyes on the elf. He whinnied a greeting, prancing in place and showing off his perfect form. He seemed small, but it was just the perfect proportions that created this illusion. Elise smirked, "That's Ghost. And this," she indicated the mare, "is Rhonda. You'll be riding her today."

Lucas nodded at that. "Alright. Um... nice to meet you, Rhonda?" It was odd to him, greeting a horse, but he felt it was right, in a way. Why, he didn't know or understand. Seemed better than just hopping on like he usually did with the horses owned by his family.

The mare sniffed his hand before Elise handed Lucas the reins to lead her out. "How about you mount up while I get Ghost's tack on?" She joined them outside the barn, mounted on her stallion, in a few minutes. They rode along the western fence line, Elise stopping them to check on the fencing she deemed required a closer look whenever she saw it. Then she'd show Lucas how to use the tools to mend the fence. Most of the fixing just required adding a couple nails or so to keep a loose board in place. Around noon, she stopped them on a grassy knoll and took out a simple picnic she'd packed for them. "I don't about you, but I'm starving," she smiled and passed him half of the small loaf of rich grain bread. "Did you want to talk about that nightmare you had some more?" It was sunny, and they were alone save for the singing birds, grazing horses and snoozing Scruff. The grass around them was tall, coming to past the knee and it swayed in the breeze like a water current.

Up until then, Lucas had actually been enjoying the day. It felt good to be working with his hands, instead of having servants doing everything for him. That said, it was still a bit tiring since he wasn't used to it, but he managed well enough. Then, he flinched slightly at her question, but sighed. "I guess... there isn't really much to say though. It was about the attack."

"Was this your first taste of real combat then?" Elise was being careful not to watch Lucas too closely. One, she didn't want him feeling more uncomfortable under her scrutiny. And two, he just looked so at peace sitting out here in the field with her. Scruff came and lay next to her, so she combed through his beard with her fingers to remove tangles and debris. It kept her from thinking about the kiss she'd given Lucas last night and how she wanted to be running her fingers through his hair instead. She'd barely met the human after all, and he was so much younger.

Lucas shook his head. "Combat, no. I've been attacked before. But... they just came out of nowhere, and... they didn't just kill my guards, they butchered them. And when they were coming after me, they... they looked like they were really enjoying themselves, and it just..." He shook his head again, quickly.

Elise lay her hand on Lucas' briefly, "Some men are like that. They've done so much wrong that they enjoy slaughter." She paused, considering the intelligence of sharing her next words. "I saw my parents stoned to death by a human mob. They were jeering and so...vicious. I'd never seen violence like that before."

Lucas flinched away from her, looking at her in horror. "They... they did what!? S-surely they didn't get away with that...r-right? I mean, I know things are bad, but... there's no way that something like that wouldn't be punished..." He sounded hopeful, but uncertain. He wanted to believe that the people responsible were punished, but he had seen first hand how corrupt things could be.

"This was about fifty years ago. It was worse then. But I believe the mob got what was coming to them, eventually. We were most disliked form of elf, you see," she gave a bitter smile, "we were gypsies. If you hadn't already guessed by our field of vanner horses." She shifted, wondering if her confessing to her ancestry would affect Lucas' opinion of her. "I know myth states gypsies are thieves and tramps, but we're not. We were tradesmen mostly. Buying and selling goods across kingdoms. Frandir and I left that life though, afterwards."

Lucas could care less about her being an elf or a gypsy, to be honest. He was just appalled by what he'd heard... and then curious. "Over fifty years? Huh... I guessed you were older than you look, being an elf, but I wasn't sure. Guess fifty years proves it, though I won't ask your actual age. My sister once told me never to ask that of a woman, and I trust her advice."

Elise laughed, her relief at his non-reaction making the laugh stronger. "I think I like this sister of yours. And if it's any consolation, I'm still considered pretty young for an elf." Laughter subsiding, she posed a new question, "Lucas, when I kissed you last night, were you...okay with it?"

Caught off guard by the question, he went beat red, not looking at her. However, he had a small, rather shy smile on his lips. "I... w-well, that is, um... I didn't expect it, and... that... y-yes...?" Oh, how he hated his inability to speak to women about personal things. He always ended up making a fool of himself.

Elise was startled to realize she'd been holding her breath waiting for his answer. And his answer meant she couldn't have stopped her smile even if she'd wanted to try. She licked her lip, "May I kiss you again?"

Her question caused Lucas to freeze, eyes going wide. To say he was shocked would be an understatement. However, he managed to choke out two words. "Um... y-yes..." Shy, nervous, and out of his element as he may be, he was most certainly interested in another kiss from Elise. That had been something that had completely wiped the nightmares from his mind and made him feel.... amazing.

Elise smiled again, moving so she sat closer to him. Her lips met his ever so softly. She didn't want to startle the boy into having a heart attack, after all. She lay one of her hands on his cheek before deepening the kiss, her tongue flicking his lips and asking to be let in.