A Surprise at the Market

"I...I'm not sure really," he smiled, and could feel himself blush a little as she grabbed his hand, Eldunar had never felt this way. He had also been cool, calm and collected, and all of a sudden this woman showed up here and he was acting like his brother Erolass. Eldunar took a deep breath and looked over at Init, and for a second their eyes locked. Then he laughed, "I'm sorry, I'm not used to company, that's all."

He didn't want to admit his feelings for her, he didn't want to tell her he loved her, or liked her, or whatever the term for it was. She would probably think he was a freak and a creep if he did, and she would never talk to him again. Then she would leave the palace, and Eldunar would loose a friend and an ally. It was then that Eldunar realized he was still holding her hand...and he panicked. Before he could even think he let loose all control, his mind shut down, and his body took control. The next minute still felt like a dream to him no matter how long after the fact. Eldunar leaned forward and kissed Init. Not hard, or passionately, but just a nice soft kiss. And then when he pulled away--his face beat red--he turned away from her without another word and walked down the hall. He had never been more embarrassed in his whole life....what did he just do?

((OOC: Lol I based this off of a personal experience of mine, so sorry if it's awkward. Btw, I dunno if this topic is gonna 18+ or not, I'm okay with it either way, but if it does I'll add it to the title lol...))

(( OOC: Not awkward at all, I totally understand. We'll see how the story goes on.
I suggest they retreat to their rooms, and when you post we jump to the next morning? ^^ ))

Init felt shocked when she felt his lips press softly against hers. She was shocked. This was her first kiss ever. When he turned around and walked away with a bright red face, she still stood there, wondering if she would have to say anything, but her tongue didn't seemed to work. So she just raised her hand in a vague gesture, almost as a wave goodnight.

After standing in the same spot for about five minutes, she turned around, and walked into her new room. She was stunned by it's beauty. She looked in the large mirror and untied her hair, so that it fell in a thick layer of dark brown, almost black silk on her shoulders. She undressed herself, sleeping in her bindings, as always, and crawled under the thick beautiful sheets of silk. This was the most comfortable bed she had ever been in. She felt quit good, but what she also felt confused.

So this was her first kiss, given by Eldunar, royalty. She didn't really know him. But somehow she couldn't manage to feel bad about it. His lips had been soft. At least she now knew what lips felt like. His lips had tasted a little bit bitter, probably due to the wine. He had been so adorable, fumbling and fiddling with his hands, warm under her own palm. He had been blushing.
He was a very handsome man.

The only thing she didn't quit understand was that he had the reputation to be a cold, lonely, serious man. And while puzzling about that, she fell into a deep sleep.

((OOC: That sounds totally fine lol. And I wasn't asking for an 18+, lol just wondering if it was gonna get there. But kk we'll see how it goes no worries lol.))

Eldunar entered his room, right across the hall from Init's, in retrospect a very awkward thing now. But he did not try to move her, he had promised her that room and he was not one to go back on his word. He simply stood in front of the mirror and watched his face slowly loose it's red colouring, as he fixed his hair and removed his robe.

As his robe slid off he placed it on a nearby chair and sighed. His well chiseled pecs and abs reflected back at him in the mirror. He wasn't all that bad, but before now he never took vanity in himself, or saw himself as relationship material.

Eldunar sighed again and washed himself with a bowl of warm water and a cloth that lay on his dresser. Once he was finished he fixed his hair once more--tying it up in a pony tail, as he, his siblings and ancestors always did, as their hair was always fairly long--and then lay in his bed, pulling the sheets over his legs. He sighed again and looked up at the ceiling. In the matter of one day, a woman had entered his life, and changed it. He was unused to this...but at the same time didn't mind it. With all these thoughts, it wasn't long until Eldunar fell off into sleep, to dream about things he would forget in the morning.

(( OOC: I'm gonna let the tailor stop by so she can stun Eldunar with a new stunning robe if that's ok? ))

Init woke because of a gentle knock on a door. She vaguely remembered something about the Palace of Ember Island, and the Regent Lord kissing her. She woke up immediately when she found herself lying in silk sheets in a large soft bed, in a room that clearly was ment for royalty. This wasn't a dream, and Eldunar..she smiled as she thought about him, Eldunar had kissed her. Someone knocked on the door again. " Come in" She spoke. A servant opened the door, " Miss, the tailor is here to see you at your request." Init looked at him, astonished that he had called her 'Miss.' " Thank you." She simply replied. " The tailor can come in anytime."

She jumped out of bed and looked in the mirror, she saw a brush lying next to the mirror. She grabbed it and brushed her hair, it had been months since she last done that, so the locks got evenly spread out and her hair started to shine. A servant apparently had brought a bowl of water when she was still sleeping, it was still warm, but not hot enough. She bended it to a nice temperature and washed her face.

A second knock on the door. " Come in." Init said again. The tailor walked in. " You must be the tailor." Init said "How fast can you sow?"
The tailor looked strangely at her.
" Well, I would like to surprise our lord with a beautiful new gown." The tailor smiled and nodded. When she had explained her wishes the tailor started to sew. Using a wonderfully printed yellow fabric, that looked like silk. After half an hour the tailor smiled at her " Finished, I've used a robe that was already partly sewed, and I have something that goes with it perfectly." He handed a large white see-through shawl, beautifully decorated. Init held it in her hands and felt surprised. " Thank you."

The tailor left, after she had told her her other requests. All of her new clothes would be done in about a week. She looked in the mirror, pulled her hair back into a tight topknot, and slipped into her new robe. She smiled at herself, the yellow suited her well. What she really hoped though, was that Eldunar would like it too. Should she kiss him? Did she have to hold his hand. She blushed. She liked him. At least she knew what it all felt like, being in love. She stood up and opened her door, ready to go down the hallway.

((OOC: Sounds good to me! lol. He's gonna love it.)

Eldunar woke up, and began his daily routine. Wash his face in the warm bowl of water, comb some water through his hair and then groom it properly, and finally get dressed in his usual set of regal robes, washed hours before. The only different from this morning's routine and the others, this morning he had only one thing on his mind, and it wasn't the day before him. It was Init.

All Eldunar could think about this morning was Init; the kiss he gave her, the way she looked, her silky hair, her smooth skin, her soft eyes, her soothing smiled...Eldunar sighed several times, having felt like he made a major mistake kissing her. When he was finished with his morning routine, and was properly dress, he figured he would need to go apologize to her, and he had a feeling she was with the tailor right now.

Eldunar left his room quietly, and walked across the hall, and just as he was about to knock on the door, it opened and Init came out. Or at least she tried, and only managed to bump into Eldunar's chest before realizing there was someone there. "Uh...hi," he said blushing, "Good morning that is."

Eldunar stepped into the room, figuring it was safe to do so as Init stepped back. Eldunar looked at her, and then noticed her new robe. He loved it, he truly did, she looked as beautiful as he had ever seen her--even though he had just technically met her. "You look," he started nervously, "You look quite stunning, very stunning--" What was he saying? Why was he so nervous? Is this what love did to him? "--How did you sleep?"

It was killing Eldunar, he had to say something, he had to apologize, but before he could think over how and when, he blurted it out, "I'm sorry!" he said, "I'm sorry about last night....it was unprofessional of me, and I'm sorry if it startled you. I guess I just....well it's not important, but I'm sorry."

It struck Init. He didn't have a clue that she felt the same about him. "It's ok." She said, her voice turned silent " I just never kissed someone before." It came out as a soft whisper.
After that she looked at him and leaned forward. She kissed him on the cheek. It lasted for a second and then she pulled back.
" You're a strange man Eldunar. " She muttered. " she refound her voice and said with a slight laugh. " Before you I was a perfectly rational woman, grown up, and after all that time not in need of love. You however make me unsure and nervous." She smiled nervously.

He looked so well. She found him to be quite adorable, they way he was so vulnerable.
She smiled and took his hand. Hoping that the gesture itself would be enough to let him know that she felt the same about him, to tell him about the butterflies, the warm feeling. the love.

Secretly she hoped that he would lean forward and kiss her again. But she was too scared to do something like that herself. It was a true dillema, she made a compromise with herself by looking at him and said " Maybe we can try the kiss again, without me being startled?"
She hoped he would say yes. Agni, make him say yes. If he didn't she would make a total fool out of herself.

Eldunar smiled, "I-I feel the same way about you," he said. As he said that he raised his hand to place it on Init's cheek, but hesitated, and only after moving quickly between placing it on her cheek and pulling it back, he placed it on her cheek. Eldunar smiled again as he hand felt her smooth skin and round jowl, and he looked deep into her kind eyes. No one had ever looked at Eldunar the way she did, but he didn't mind it so much, it was nice to be in love. Eldunar had always wondered why girls didn't come on to him, and he figured it was a mix of fear and respect, and notting his usual bad mood it was probably the first more and the second.

Eldunar placed his forehead against Init's, and as she suggested the two of them to try kissing again he smiled and laughed again. "Yes," he said, "Yes I would like that. Well, let's get to it shall we?" Eldunar smiled before closing his eyes and slowly moving in towards Init's lips.

Eldunar felt his lips touch against Init's, and he could feel the warmth of her blood pulsing through them. He could feel the slight wetness of her lips against his. He kissed her longer than her had before, but still softly and gently, not wanting to get rough. As he kissed her he wrapped his arounds around her, keeping them around her waist. He was tempted, by a passing thought at most, to try tonguing, he had heard of it before from his sister--much to his chagrin--but had never tried it. And he would have too, had he been more experienced, and had he known Init longer. For the minute that the kiss lasted, Eldunar was in bliss like never before.

The moment he kissed her, she never felt better before. His arms around her waist, she could feel the warmth of his skin so near. She was floating.
When the kiss was over she laid her hand on his cheek. She laughed, a tinkling sound, carried through the hallway.
" The first man to kiss me is a wonderful kisser, thanks to Agni."

She wasn't used to this feeling. It was nice, and not as akward as she had imagined.
But then she started thinking. He was royalty, and she was not. What would the people say. What would everyone say. Would she be forced to live as his mistress for the rest of her life if she stayed here with him.
She lifted her head towards him, her hand falling down from his cheek.
" This..You and me..is it possible..what will they say about us." she stuttered.

She didn't really know how to tell him what she was scared of. Maybe she would be found an unsuitable partner for Eldunar, and they would forbid them being together. He would have to spend the rest of his life alone, or choose another woman in his life. Or maybe she would have to be his mistress, living the rest of her life in the shades, stealing his kisses in hidden corridors and stolen moments. She sighed lightly. She would never tell him of her fears, he could not know.

"What would they say?" asked Eldunar with a smile, "No one can legally oppose our union. My ancestor, Fire Lord Kouzai I repealed the law that said Royalty must marry those of noble blood. Besides, now that we are an Empire, the Fire Sages have little real power other than governing the Spirit Shrines and religion throughout the Empire. They have no say in politics anymore."

Eldunar smiled, "That means you and I could be together without the disapproval of anyone else," Eldunar laughed, "Besides I think my siblings would just be happy that I found a girl who cares about me." Eldunar then realized something about Init, did she have a family? Should he ask about them? If she had them he would love to meet them, and then take them out of poverty too...well if they were in poverty that is. Init might have been a runaway, anyway Eldunar knew that asking right now wouldn't be the best.

He would wait until later, perhaps once their relationship became more serious...Eldunar didn't know why...but he had the urge to..."Would you, perhaps, consider-one day that is, it doesn't have to be now, depends on your preferences-well...spend your life with me," stammered Eldunar, "That is...marry me of course, you know...yeah."

(( OOC: Sorry that I didn't post, but my movie is finished, and I should have plenty of time now ))

" Ma..Marry you." She gulped. How could he say that, they didn't even know each other. Sure they had kissed, but that was something utterly different than committing yourself to someone for the rest of your life. She didn't really know how to say this, since she was sincerely afraid that she would hurt his feeling. she gave him a little smile and said. " Let's just see how we cope living together first, right."

Living with him was one thing, being kissed by him was nice, but marriage. She had never even considered that maybe one day she could be a married woman. She was an independent, strong woman. She didn't need anyone to survive. Although marrying him would be an even bigger leap forward for her.

She gave him a kiss on the forehead. "Maybe one day." she said with a soft voice. " We shouldn't be worrying about that right now."