Riva's Drink

[Aleron Carle(Retired)]

Smiling, I led Riva into the Cockerel and let her look around for a second, watching her reaction. "Is this busy enough for you?" I asked as I led her over to a side table. I was hoping I'd made the right decision.

[Riva Carle (R)]

I looked around. The place was a wonderful swirl of noise and people.

"This is perfect," I told him, leaning over and kissing his cheek.

[Aleron Carle(Retired)]

Smiling widely I led her over to a table and sat down on a bench, pulling her down next to me and kissing her temple. "I'm glad you like it," I said quietly as I hugged her close to me.

[Riva Carle (R)]

I was glad I could sit close to him, for my eyes were too busy looking around still.

"You get to do all the ordering," I told him. "I trust you."

[Aleron Carle(Retired)]

Nodding in aquiesence, I kissed the back of her neck and asked quietly, "How strong of a drink do you want?"

[Riva Carle (R)]

"Whatever you think is best to start with," I told him, smiling and looking back at him.

I kissed him lightly, nothing to make him blush in front of all these people.

"I will drink whatever you put in front of me," I said.

[Aleron Carle(Retired)]

Smiling a little mischeviously I raised a brow. "You may regret that statement, though I promise I'll hold your hair back if you need to vomit."

Looking over to the barmaid I ordered some wine, then turned and pressed my lips back to hers, a little more firmly than hers had touched mine but not enough to make a scene. It took no time at all for the wine and the glasses to arrive and I poured some for both of us. "You can start on something easy," I said teasingly.

[Riva Carle (R)]

I took the glass and raising an eyebrow in mock challenge I took a long drink, emptying half the glass. I tried not to cough as I swallowed.

"Told you I'd drink anything," I said, chuckling even though I felt my eyes watering.

[Aleron Carle(Retired)]

Stifling a laugh I drank my glass and poured her another. "Well, I'm glad I didn't get you the brandy."

[Riva Carle (R)]

"Looks it may not take a lot for you to find my limit," I said, after drinking half of the second glass. I was beginning to feel warm and slightly fuzzy around the edges.

I scooted closer to him and, under the table, I slid my hand up his thigh.

"Aren't you lucky, on top of everything else I'm a cheap date," I teased.

[Aleron Carle(Retired)]

Eyes flashing, I put my arm around her and pulled her close. "I don't know if that's such a bad thing," I whispered as I ran a hand down her curves.

[Riva Carle (R)]

I purred softly as his hand moved over me.

"Careful, or I'll end up making a scene in the middle of a pub and it'll be your fault for getting me drunk," I said, laughing and then leaning in to kiss him again.

[Aleron Carle(Retired)]

After kissing her back deeply I whispered, "I suppose you're correct- I guess I should stop doing that," and pulled my hands slowly away, working up the curves as I did so. Reaching over, I poured myself another glass and watched her, taking her in. She called to me as she always had, as no one else ever had, and my heart seemed to beat only when she was near me.

[Riva Carle (R)]

I looked around again, enjoying the mill of the crowd. There were enough people that it was impossible to pick out individual thoughts without concentrating, it was like listening to cricket song in the evening - calming and peaceful.

It made it possible not to pick Aleron's thoughts out too, to be able to ask him things and wait for the answers instead of knowing them.

"Do you get to come out to places like this often?" I asked him, and, because I liked being able to make him react honestly, I slid my hand the rest of the way up his thigh and settled it over his cloth covered phallus.

[Aleron Carle(Retired)]

With a charming smile that said I knew what she was up to I said, "Well, it's a way to get out of the house, but I'm too busy to have much time for being out and about very often." In truth, my plan for Jaiden was taking up much more time than I thought it would. With another drink of wine, I asked in return, "What do you do when you're not in classes?"

[Riva Carle (R)]

"I go outside and spend time with the plants and the insects, listen to the water and the stone," I said, before taking another long drink of wine.

"You know what I've been up to since you were with me last, what have you been doing?" I asked him, my hand starting to caress him softly and slowly through his breeches.

[Aleron Carle(Retired)]

"I can only imagine the stories the stones of Gentian can tell you," I said with a smile as I tried to keep from leaning closer to her teasing hand. Closing my eyes for a moment to gain composure I downed the rest of my glass of wine in an attempt at bracing myself against the urges that were already beginning to stir within me. "As to what I've been doing most recently, Jaiden has me working on a contract for her. It's really tedious and mostly involves sifting through a lot of paperwork for most of the hours of the day."

[Riva Carle (R)]

I finished another glass of wine and set the empty vessel back on the table. It was odd, I could swear that I could actually feel the wine moving through my veins.

I added gentle squeezes to my caressing ministrations.

"That can't possibly be all you have been doing," I said.

[Aleron Carle(Retired)]

Managing to keep my hand steady enough to pour us both another glass of wine- I needed something to distract me from her touches and she would want one soon anyway- I tried to keep very still. If I moved too much, it could ignite my blood more, and taking her in a tavern was definitely a very bad idea.

Turning to look at her, I cocked my head slightly sideways and asked, "What do you want to know?" I was wondering where she was going with this.

[Riva Carle (R)]

I was suddenly annoyed by his deliberate obtuseness. I took my hand from his lap and placed it on the table, fiddling with my wine glass.

"I care about you and what you think of me," I told him, though not meeting his eyes. "Because of that, I try very hard not to let myself into your mind, to respect your thoughts, especially since your mind has always been such a sacred place for you. That means, I have to ask about things, like what you have been doing and how you spend your time because I want to know. I miss you and if I know what you are doing then it feels like I'm not some secret that you are ashamed of and trying to hide from others you know, but an actual part of your life."

[Aleron Carle(Retired)]

Brow wrinkling slightly I let her words sink in. After a moment I quietly said, "Is that the impression that I give you, that I'm ashamed of you, or that I don't want you to be a part of my life? You already are!"

My gaze became a little more intense as I looked at her, tried to guess the gist of her dodging questions. "I work for Jaiden and I train, and I'm trying to repay a debt to her and Elton at the same time- is that the secret you want? Or the fact that I'm still taking patrons- is that what you want me to say? Yes, I do- no matter how little I enjoy it, I do. And I do it for you."

Fighting down the confused mass of emotion I was feeling I drank the wine in one gulp and decided to work up to something stronger once the barmaid came back around.

[Riva Carle (R)]

I pulled my knees up, bending them and squeezing them in the space between me and the table. I rested my chin on my knees, feeling as if I might cry. I hadn't meant to make him angry. I was completely inept at personal interactions, I had no skill at saying things in a way so as not to hurt someone's feelings.

"I don't think you're ashamed of me," I said, my voice just above a whisper. "I didn't mean that. I just… I just… I just miss you so I wanted to know what you had been doing. I ask and you tell me you've done nothing but shuffle papers for weeks. I'm sorry."

[Aleron Carle(Retired)]

Feeling like an ass- after all, it wasn't her fault I wasn't happy with what I'd been doing when away from her- I reached over and wrapped my arms around her shoulders. Drawing her against me I took one hand and turned her face gently so I could look emphatically into her eyes. "I'm sorry Riva, I forgot the one most important thing I did- I thought about you. I missed you so much and I wondered how you were doing every moment."

Smiling a little wanly and very apologetically I pressed my lips to hers.

[Riva Carle (R)]

I returned his kiss, trying to hide the ache I still felt inside. I guess that's what it was to care about someone, to hide the things that made you hurt because it would hurt them too. I never gave a second thought to whether or not my words would hurt anyone else, they were what they were, never meant to hurt, just the truth.

Maybe it would be better when we could be together more, when there wasn't these awful voids of being without him.

I closed my eyes and laid my head on his shoulder, no longer interested in wine or drinking, just suddenly feeling very small.

[Aleron Carle(Retired)]

I could almost physically feel her pulling away into herself and it made me angry at the whole situation. "Riva, stop this- tell me what you think. I won't snap again, I promise. Holding things in won't make them any better, only make it hurt more." Smiling wryly, I added, "And I know, because I have spent my whole life doing it. Don't hurt yourself for me."

[Riva Carle (R)]

"I don't know what I think," I told him, my head still on his shoulder and my knees still pulled up. "I'm just not very good at being with people. I haven't had much practice and I seem to get it wrong. I didn't mean to make you angry."

I wish I could blame it on the wine, I knew there were people who lost their social skills when they were drunk, but I had always been bad with people.

I leaned more weight against him, feeling his warmth.

[Aleron Carle(Retired)]

"I wasn't really angry, more frustrated. I'm not very good at talking to people either; I never really cared to. I don't think I was really cut out to be an adept, but it was the only choice I had, and so I did my best at it- I'll do the same with talking to you, I promise. You deserve that much from me, and a thousand times more."

Leaning over I kissed the top of her head and held her against me, hoping that I could make amends for this somehow. I could be so stupid about things like this..

[Riva Carle (R)]

"I want to go home," I told him. The crowd was too much any more and my head hurt. The wine sat like soured milk in my stomach and I wasn't sure that the rest of my day wouldn't include me being sick.

[Aleron Carle(Retired)]

Pulling out coins for the wine and a sizable tip I lay them on the table and stood, holding out my hand to her. I had the distinct feeling that I had done something very wrong and I couldn't think of a way to fix it; part of me reeled in despair.

"This entire trip has kinda been sour, hasn't it?" I asked with a wry grin as I led her out by the hand. "I wouldn't be suprised if you never want to go anywhere with me again. I wouldn't blame you for it either."

[Riva Carle (R)]

No, you'd blame yourself, I thought.

"It's not you, it's me… like you said before about why I don't go out of my House very often, I guess this is just one more reason," I said. I was holding his hand very tightly, as if afraid I might loose my grip and float away.