Private Hylands Ascent Getting Ore Galore with Mi Amore

[Brutus Dahlgren]

"I made sure to make it up to him." In truth he'd been quite the nuisance that day, and he'd even caught an earful from Stankins later about "being a hero is about more thank killing goblins and drinking ale Brucie, you can't be a bother to the people of the town with your zany fire flying antics."

It would appear that the Rabbit had read his intent, her face growing redder ever moment he spent with her cradled in his arms. As she looked up to him, she would find his gaze matching hers, his eyes narrowed into slits as he grinned in his trademark Cheshire smile back down at her.

"Dear me, are you okay there Bun?" He would ask in faux concern, his voice practically purring. "Your face is so red, did the wind bother it? Or are you perhaps sunburnt?" He would raise an eyebrow and waggle it at her teasingly.

"I should definitely carry you to the wagon then, just to make sure you're okay of course."

@Toko

 

[Toko]

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"You better have... otherwise you'd have to deal with Mabelle-obasan, and she can be quite fearsome when she wants to."

Toko had personally seen the way the woman had handled a pair of rambunctious Travellers once in the dining section of her inn, the hare hadn't even needed to step in and help the Lander... Mabelle certainly knew how to take care fo herself, and was a force to be reckoned with.

"Dear me, are you okay there Bun?"
"I'm f-fine...!"

The shit eating grin on Brutus's face told the Lepus everything she needed to know, the Felis was definitely enjoying teasing her once more—but this time around she was determined to not let him get to her... or well, there was an attempt being made towards that goal at the very least.

"... dunno what you're talking about, my face is perfectly fine."

A poor one, sure, but an attempt nonetheless.

@Brutus Dahlgren

 

[Brutus Dahlgren]

"... dunno what you're talking about, my face is perfectly fine."

In response, the Lion would lean down, bringing his face closer to hers as he squinted, peering over her and tutting slightly as he did so. His breath would tickle across her cheeks before he would cock his head to the side.

"Dunno bout that one Bun," he would retort. "Your face is clearly crimson, and it seems to be trailing up to your ears too. You're not running a fever are you?" Without waiting for a response, he would rest his lips against her forehead as if to take her temperature. Pulling back, he would mock frown.

"You feel flushed, have you been drinking enough water? You're not thirsty are you?"

On one hand, he truly felt a mild amount of guilt for putting the Rabbit through all of this teasing, but on the other hand, her red face and panicked heartbeat sent his own heart a flutter. He would continue down the road, keeping a leisurely pace as he did so, careful not to jostle the bunny too terribly much.

"Are you going to make it to lunch? Or should we stop and have some water and a little snack?"

@Toko

 

[Toko]

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.

It wasn't fair... and he wasn't playing fair, a thought that quickly crossed the hare's mind when the Felis leaned his face down towards her own. He would squint, faking through all the motions of a supposedly concerned lion over her well being... when Brutus damn well knew he was the reason her face felt extremely hot right now, and causing Toko’s heart to beat a mile per second.

"T-That's just the way it always looks..."
... thanks to someone around here that I won't name!

Her gaze quickly adverted away from his face and towards the road he was taking them through, suddenly finding the pebbles that littered the surface very interesting... until she felt his warm lips softly pressed against her forehead. "N-Nanda...?!" Toko was fairly certain her heart might've just skipped a beat, perhaps two, right there and then—the blush now coloring the very tip of the rabbit's ears as the words stuttered out of her mouth.

"You're not thirsty are you?"
"H-Hai—I m-mean, nooo!"

The Lepus mouth ran itself before her mind could catch up, the double meaning of his choice of words caught just a second too late, causing Toko to backpedal on her words as a result. By now her hands had long since caught a bunch of her snow white strands of hair, the rabbit pulling at them just enough so she could cover the lower half of her face with them as she refused to look back up into those mischievous blue eyes of the lion.

Zurui...

@Brutus Dahlgren

 

[Brutus Dahlgren]

"Flushed skin, stumbling over your words and confusion?" He would raise an eyebrow. "You're not suffering from like...overheating are you? Im not too Hot for you am I?" He would purr rocking her slightly.

He would stop by a large tree and gently set her down as he would go through the motions of attending to her, offering her a waterskin and a grin.

After giving her some space, he would swish his tail idly and let his heart, and by proxy hers calm down a bit. He would sip his own waterskin replenishing his own hydration. His skin was still warm to the touch, and he still felt hot.

Once he was propperly hydrated he would shrug his jacket off and banish it to the shadow realm of his Ui. Then, running a hand down the center of his shirt line, popping button after button until half his shirt was undone baring his chest to help vent the heat.

"It is a hot day after all so I cant blame you, I am hot too."

@Toko

 

[Toko]

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.

She opted to remain silent when a new round of teasing arrived, the Lepus not trusting her words to not betray her if she tried to speak up once more. She did narrow her eyes in his direction however, a pout on her lips present—even if it was barely visible for the Felis with all of Toko’s hair in the way.

"U-Urusai…"

It really wasn’t fair how easy it was for Brutus to rule up her poor little bunny heart…

Eventually the lion walked over to a nearby tree, carefully setting the hare back on her own two feet at last before he offered Toko a spare water skin from his UI inventory—and of course a familiar shit eating grin. The first was accepted, while the second was denied as Toko placed an open palm to the lion’s face and gently pushed him away. A few gulps of water were taken from the water skin Toko had been provided, mostly to help calm herself although she had been a bit parched after their deep cave diving and exertions from battling.

Once done she capped the container once more, before her ears perked up at the rustling made when Brutus decided to banish his jacket into every player’s personal bag of holding. It was then she noticed the giant was now unbuttoning a decent portion of his shirt too, before her eyes quickly glanced away like a guilty child caught trying to steal a cookie from the kitchen jar when he’d spoken once more.

"Y-Yeah… I suppose summer’s just around the corner."

@Brutus Dahlgren

 

[Brutus Dahlgren]

"Sure is."

He would let those words hang in the air for a moment, giving her some time to adjust to the new situation. He would stretch a bit, cracking his neck and rolling out his shoulders which were slightly tense from carrying the Lepus around before turning his gaze back to her as she continued to avert her gaze from him. Frowning, he would clear his throat and turn to her.

"You're uh...allowed to look you know."

The idea seemed absurd, but the way she averted her gaze from him like this made him feel silly. Sure, the teasing was all well and good, but he wanted her to plant her feet and charge into their attraction like he'd seen her do with the earth elemental. Perhaps it was early in their relationship, but he at least wanted her to look at him with half the intensity that Ilya had shown him.

But that could wait, Toko/Nao weren't the type of person to crash into him like that. There was a reason Japan STILL had a population crisis in this day and age, and he doubted that her own cultural roots would allow that sort of affection. Instead he would simply hold out his hand.

"As for thing two I would like to do for our date, I would like to hold your hand for the rest of this walk if you don't mind."

There was not grin, no smirk or chuckle from his lips as he looked her dead on. This was a serious request, something he truly wanted from her, not in any form of tease or jest, and he wanted her to be sure of it.

@Toko

 

[Toko]

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.

"You're uh...allowed to look you know."
"I k-know that...!"

Did she though? Did she really? 'Cause she was doing a fantastic job at not looking...

At least her heartbeat had mostly calmed down, the blush on the Lepus' face and ears having also reduced to just a rosy coloration of her cheeks. She kept the waterskin in between her hands a while longer, fiddling with the object, before it was finally banished into the depths of her own UI—a mental note made to remember fishing it out later and returning it back to the Felis.

There was a part of the hare that knew perhaps she was being childish and silly, after all she'd seen plenty of travelers around the bustling cities like Finweald and Stokbon have little to no issue showing attraction—or even affection—to other players and Landers alike... hell, even the night club she had frequented a while back had been a clear display of that very thing. It only served to remind the woman how terribly inexperienced she was, getting flustered over even the smallest of things at her age...

"As for thing two I would like to do for our date..." His words brought Toko back from whatever thoughts had the rabbit frowning ever so slightly, her eyes finally turning to look at the Felis' face properly since he'd finished his teasin, before a look of surprise crossed her features as Toko noticed the serious expression in the lion's face. "...I would like to hold your hand for the rest of this walk if you don't mind."

Her gaze shifted then to look at the extended hand he held out for the hare, blinking for a few seconds before the intensity of the rosy shade on her cheeks seemed to grow slightly brighter once more. Still for once it didn't look like the lion was just trying to rile her up, and after a moment of hesitation the rabbit finally extended her own hand out towards Brutus' own.

"F-Fine..."

... badump!

@Brutus Dahlgren

 

[Brutus Dahlgren]

"Do you? Cause you're treating me like I'm the sun or something. My abs won't blind you."

The giant would raise an eyebrow as she extended her hand into his, his fingers instinctively curling around hers. Smiling warmly, he would give it a gentle squeeze and tug the hare along onto the road. He would have to shorten his stride, allowing his Lepus Lover to keep up along with him.

"There we go. It's not like its some sort of Faustian bargain."

He would chuckle slightly as he spoke. "I just want to hold your hand, you know, the most basic form of affection one could show another?" Another squeeze would accent his speech as he would peer down to her, trying to hold her gaze for more than a fleeting moment.

"And I can get that you might think that this is all some elaborate tease, but like..." he would give her hand a little shake back and forth. "This right here? Gods if you could hear my heart right now you would be the one mocking me."

@Toko

 

[Toko]

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.

"U-Urusai yo...!"

There was a pout on her lips now as the Lepus walked besides the lion, the blush on her cheeks increasing once more as his larger hand easily wrapped around her own as they walked down the dirt path. "Faustian... nanda?" For a few moments she almost forgot about her current flustering, the rabbit's head tilting to the side in confusion as she looked up at Brutus.

Another squeeze was given to her hand then as he spoke,causing her blush to return once more as Toko listened to the Felis' words. Toko still found it hard to believe whenever he claimed that his heart was raising as much as her own—after all Brutus certainly didn't act like it most of the time—but there was something heartwarming and comforting at hearing how much such a simple action seemed to delight him.

Words failed her, however, so instead the Lepus decided to return the gesture in kind as a soft squeeze was given to Brutus' hand in return while the pair made their way down the road.

@Brutus Dahlgren

 

[Brutus Dahlgren]

"Faustian is..." He would pause.

"The original deal with the devil sort of trope originated in a german morality play called Dr. Faustus. He made a deal with satan for 24 years of magic in exchange for his soul. The notion is I'm not gonna bite you." A smirk would cross his lips.

Unless you want

Instead of spoiling the moment he would bite his tongue and enjoy the Lepus' lovely company. He gentle squueze was all he needed at the moment, hell it could have satisfied all of his need bars he was sure of it.

The wind would rustle through his hair and feel like bliss across his still sweaty form. For a moment a slight bit of a panic crossed his mind. What if his hand was sweaty? Would that bother her? He couldn't pull it away and wipe it off not that would be weird, and rude? Definately rude.

Quick, distract her from your sweaty hands!

"What should we have for dinner?"

Genius

@Toko

 

[Toko]

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.

She had certainly known of the popular phrase, though Nao couldn't say she'd ever heard of the German play that had been the inspiration behind it. "I s-see..." However she couldn't help the faint stutter in her words as Brutus assured her he didn't bite... the mismatch of his words with the smirk on his face enough for the hare to not fully believe him.

The wind caused Toko to close her eyes slightly as it ruffled through her hair, allowing the warm hand of the Felis to guide her instead as they continued to walk down the road, before her free hand was finally able to brush back enough of the hair strands that had clouded her view.

"What should we have for dinner?"
"Eetoh... I suppose Finweald would be the closest city from here. We could look around and see if something catches our eye?"

Truth be told the Lepus had yet to explore the city as much as she would've liked, often finding herself simply passing by the place on the way to a new adventure... and most of her downtime was usually spent back on Honeyhome.

"Did you have a place in mind, Brutus?"

@Brutus Dahlgren

 

[Brutus Dahlgren]

"Depends on what you want really."

The giant would rack his brain for ideas for places. Truth be told he only knew three places in Finneweald that served food.

"There's Breakfast shack, which despite its name is open twenty four seven. If we went for dinner we'd get Boaris' cousin Tauris on the grill." Chuckling he would shake his head.

"There's a really fancy bistro called Dorsia, very ritzy and exclusive but we're plat adventurers and could practically waltz in and get a table. I hear the chef does some really cool tableside service."

They would need to dress up for that, however. The idea of Toko in a dress was enticing, but that seemed like a hard sell.

"If you're not feeling black tie we could always explore? Walk the square? Take in the sights? Follow our noses? That sounds romantic as hell eh?"

He would give her hand a squeeze to accentuate his question.

@Toko

 

[Toko]

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Toko couldn't help it as one eyebrow rose questioningly, her face serious as the Felis revealed the cooks of the 24/7 breakfast dinner were named Boaris and Tauris. "You're kidding me... are those really their names?" Absolutely no way that a Lander would name their piglets something like that... were they perhaps Starcalled then, like Brutus and her?

The rabbit decided to not delve on that thought too much... she didn't really need to know if they were UI locked.

"Yeah, I like the third option the most... besides, with both of our noses combine we should definitely be able to find something worth our time."

Getting dressed to the nines wasn't something that particularly called out to the hare after all, in the real world or in this game fantasy they enjoyed, but taking time to discover Finweald now that today's objective had been cleared sounded like a very nice idea... and it seemed to be enough for the Felis too.

"Uun, let's do that then."

His squeeze would be lightly reciprocated as the Lepus assented with her head, allowing the Felis to continue leading the way for the both of them. It still felt awkward to walk hand in hand with someone else... but hopefully between now and whenever they arrived to the city Toko would become slightly used to the feeling. She'd like to not be permanently blushing throughout the rest of the day...

@Brutus Dahlgren

 

[Brutus Dahlgren]

"There are three cooks, Boaris, Tauris and..." He would pause. "Bill." A chuckle would escape his lips as he explained the trio of cooks. He'd been amused when he found out, and anused when he spread the information, and he'd most likely die amused by it.

He would listen as she explained her reasoning nodding along with her. "It sounds like equal parts adventure and romance, a perfect date ne darling?"

His tail swished idly as they walked hand in hand. His only worry was watching his stride and if his hand was sweaty. His heart was over the moon and his head in cloud nine. He was holding hands with his best friend [move over Tony Toko's cuter] and getting ready for a date.

Soon the site of their wagon pick up spot was approaching, and the lion could feel his anticipation growing. How long had it been? He couldn't even tell.

"Just a wagon ride away..."

@Toko

 

[Toko]

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"... Bill? Reaaally?"

She couldn't tell if the Felis was just pulling her leg, which would honestly be quite on brand for Brutus when the rabbit took a moment to think about it, or if the lion was actually being honest to all the Gods in this very moment. Toko's eyes narrowed just slightly as a result, the Lepus trying to get a better read on the man, when his next comment caught her off-guard and caused the hare to blush in response.

"U-Urusai..."

Yeah, she had a feeling the heat around her cheeks wouldn't be fully dissipating any time soon... though she had to wonder if his verbal bluntness was just a normal thing for Westerners, or simply a Brutus exclusive. Perhaps it was a mix of both, or maybe it was just heightened by the man's own French ancestry? Whatever the case was Toko knew it would take some getting used to... though she couldn't say she actually hated it, it was just a new experience that the rabbit hadn't thought she'd ever find herself in.

"Just a wagon ride away..."
"Mmm? Nanika?"

The Lepus had been distracted by her own thoughts, her ears unconsciously perking up at the sound of Brutus' voice as it brought the hare back to reality. However she had entirely missed the meaning of his words, her ears having focused on the voice instead of what was actually said, before her head tilted to the side in light confusion.

@Brutus Dahlgren

 

[Brutus Dahlgren]

"Really Really."

He would chuckle a bit as they arrived to the wagon stop where they'd first departed to the mountain on foot. The weird seemingly never ending migration of wagons as Landers traveled from place to place in a semi convenient way for Starcalled to hitch a ride to and fro. A strange result of a strange quirk of the game, the starcalled, and the needs of said starcalled.

The end result was what could only described as...a series of bus stops for Starcalled. If you were lucky you could wait a little bit and catch a wagon elsewhere with minimal wait. As they arrived, Brutus would chuckle a bit as he would turn to look down at her.

"I was just saying that we're a wagon ride away from our adventure."

His eyes would twinkle down at her, filled with a mix of mirth and infectious excitement. "Though a wagon ride together could be cute if you think about it. The two of us sitting side by side, maybe you fall asleep and lean your head on my shoulder?" He could hear off in the distance with his special ears the rocking of a wagon coming their way. It was probably...about a posting cycle away if he was a betting man.

@Toko

 

[Toko]

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It was always a game of chance any time Travelers tried to get around to distant parts, especially if they didn't have the GP to personally hire their own wagon for the trip. For westerners in particular it was probably very accurate too, although Nao in Japan couldn't quite relate considering things were always extremely on time back in her country.

"Ah, r-right...!"

The excitement felt by the Felis was almost palpable when one looked at him, Brutus was certainly on cloud nine it seemed, and while it was endearing to a point it also made the Lepus nervous inside. After all this was all very new to her, and there was certainly a sharp contrast in the way each of their cultures would often handle these things.

"Yeah w-well, maybe I'll drool on you t-too."

The blush was back on her cheeks, although a more accurate description would be to say it had never really left, as the Lepus tried to get past her flustered state to quip back at the lion... before her blush increased yet another shade as Toko became embarrassed by her own words now. As usual her heart was beating rapidly, the constant doki doki now almost becoming the default setting in her chest as the day progressed.

Far off in the distance the vague figure of a wagon could be seen as it slowly made its way towards their stop, though the rabbit hadn't really noticed it yet.

@Brutus Dahlgren

 

[Brutus Dahlgren]

The Lion would squint down at the Lepus with her scathing clapback, biting back a smirk. She normally wasn't this...bad at banter, and he had a sneaking suspicion that her constant flustered heart was keeping the blood from flowing right to her brain, causing a short or something.

"I mean, maybe you will maybe you won't" he shrugged, and did his best to bring his own emotions to bear. While he was overwhelmed with all sorts of emotions, he could tell she was OVERWHELMED with her emotions and it was beginning to take it's toll on the flustered bunny. If he teased her all day there was a high likelihood that her brain would be mush by the end of the night, and he didn't want that.

"Either way, as long as I'm with you I'm sure it'll be a good time."

The wagon would arrive, the driver waving to them from a distance as it rolled up. "Finweald?" The elderly man would ask.

"Yeah."

"Hop on back"

The giant would release the Lepus' hand, using both of his to brace his fingers together and offer a step up for the bunny.

"Ladies first."

@Toko

 

[Toko]

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.

Gosh, could the earth just open up and swallow her whole now?

There was a part of the Lepus that was certainly getting overwhelmed by the new experience, and in a way almost craved for things to go back to the way they had been when they had both set out in the morning towards the caverns—just two very good friends doing what they did best.

However the more logical part of her brain understood that simply wasn't an option, not when the hare was now aware that she did feel an attraction towards the Felis... even if the degrees between hers and his might be vastly different. Perhaps that was just due to the fact that Brutus had noticed his feelings towards the hare way earlier than the rabbit had, Toko was still in the process of figuring out her own emotions while also enduring the lion's teasing on the matter.

"Ah, h-hai!"

She barely caught the voice of the old man, giving a nod of affirmation as he asked the pair if they were looking for a ride towards the new capital city of Astorea. Once he confirmed their paths were aligned he motioned for the pair to jump on the back of the wagon, the Lepus following shortly after Brutus.

"Ladies first."
"Arigatooh..."

A makeshift step was made for the hare when the giant braced his hands together, a soft nod given in response by Toko before she used the assist to quickly climb up and into the wagon with minimal effort. Once inside she quickly seated herself in an available spot to the side, her gaze turning over to look back at the lion as he eventually clambered aboard too.

"Feeling better after all that pyromantic flying?"

Hopefully the walk had helped Brutus' body temperatures cool off enough as they'd made their way over to the stop.

@Brutus Dahlgren