• Closed • Domestic Bliss

[Wendell]

20 Vhalar 716

It was rare that Wendell got a night off, and rarer still that he would have the energy to spend it making love into the wee hours of the morning. The pair of them must have only gotten three hours sleep before the noise of a new day saw them wake, early morning sunlight streaming in through the gap in the curtains. Outside people were going about their day, the distant call of merchants bartering at the marketplace could be heard, and horses towing wages over the cobblestones was difficult to ignore.

Wendell felt hot under Rei’s bare form, her leg crossed over his midsection and the top of his right arm trapped under her side. He drew his hand up and down the length of her lower back, coaxing her from sleep. “You have work in a break or two,” he reminded her. “Let me make you some breakfast?” He smiled and kissed her sleepy mouth, wrapping his arm around Rei to roll her onto her back in one swift, well-rehearsed move. He kissed her again, almost tempted to stay in bed rather than dress and get ready for the day.

After pulling on his pants and wandering into the kitchen, Wendell found a few eggs and some bread he could toast. He mixed some diced spinach and corn into the eggs before pouring it into a hot pan to cook a basic omelette. The egg was served on the toast and partnered with a hot cup of tea, all set down at the living room table for Rei to come out and join him for a bite.

“I got the day off, but I'm working tonight,” he admitted. “I was thinking of doing some work around this place for you. Windows could use a paint, and I can fix those broken bricks in the back of the fireplace if you like?” Wendell didn't want to impose, just do something nice for the woman. The apartment looked at if it could do with a man around to fix up some of the more neglected areas.

Wendell ate his breakfast while the tea cooled down and looked across the table at Rei as she spoke, wearing an easy smile for her. He hadn't put his tunic on yet, as the item was still lost somewhere in the bedroom. His shoulders and neck were dotted with scratches and bite marks, and he dreaded to think of what his back looked like, because it looked how it felt, he might need to cover up before venturing outside to sand down the windowpanes ready for painting. “Will be good to get those jobs done before winter,” he encouraged, and took a sip of the tea, his bare foot finding Rei’s under the table.

[Rei]

Rei should have gone home alone that night, should have gotten some good rest like the responsible woman she was. But when Wendell, in a minor fit of jealousy, had picked her up and thrown her over his shoulder in the middle of the bar, she couldn't resist. Thankfully he had the good sense to keep her dress covering her backside. She had laughed, nearly to tears, as he hauled her out of the bar. It wasn’t the first time she had been tossed over his shoulder, but it was by far the funniest. No doubt it gave Pat and the others a good story to tell.

They had come back to her home- it was a bit closer than his- and had a passionate night of love making to the wee hours of the morning. She had only been sleeping peacefully for a few hours before the sunlight filtered through the window and the sounds of the town coming alive disturbed them both. Her eyes opened slowly, fluttering, though she remained laying on Wendell’s warm body, groaning at the thought of getting up. “I know, I know,” she complained, wishing she did not have work to attend to. She smiled at him as he artfully rolled her onto the bed and off his body. “Breakfast sounds nice. It sounds even better that I don’t have to cook it.” She wanted to pull him in for a longer kiss but let him go.

She sat up in the bed, reaching her arms high above her head, her back and other joints cracking a bit from her exertion the night before. Her feet touched the cool floor as she got up, finding the dresser and pulling out a pleated, flowing wine colored skirt and a very pale yellow blouse. She slipped them on, tucking the blouse into the waist of her skirt. She slipped her hide shoes on as the smell of breakfast floated to her from the kitchen.

Quickly brushing her hair out, she braided up a few strands, tied in a few colorful leather straps, and adding a few painted wooden beads. “Tonight? What does a builder do at night?” She stepped into the kitchen, taking a seat across from Wendell at the living room table where he had set a delicious looking omelette over a piece of toast. Rei got them some light, fruity wine and poured it into two wooden cups. “This place could use some work,” she admitted, glancing around at the ceiling and the walls where there were cracks and problem areas. “If you really feel like fixing it up on your day off, go for it. I don’t know anyone else who can.”

Taking a bite of the omelette, it really hit the spot. The night before had left her practically starving. She ate hastily, perhaps a little more so than was polite. “I worked up an appetite after last night,” she said sheepishly. Rei felt his foot toying with hers under the table, so she ran a toe up his leg beneath his pants as far as she could reach before the garment impeded her progress. “I like you with no shirt on.” She smirked at him. “But those marks… oh what would my neighbors think!” She laughed as she took a sip of the piping hot tea. “This is really good,” she commented, taking the last bite of toast and egg. “Do I have to go to work?”

[Wendell]

Wendell took his time to enjoy the tea and listen to Rei, she had a point, what would the people next door think after all of the noise last night? A slow, devilish smirk saw him smile like some naughty teenager, and he got up to go in search of his shirt, finding it on the bedroom floor. Wendell slipped into the tunic and returned to the living space to find Rei in the kitchen. He ran his fingers up the back of her thigh, tickling the skin with his rough digits to make a cheeky grab from behind. Her attire made her too tempting to touch, but the man managed to restrain himself and instead press a warm kiss to her neck before finishing the tea.

“I'm not going to make you go to work,” he smirked, “you can stay home and distract me.” It was official, he was now likely to get very little done if she took him up on the offer. “Or you can take the day off and help out around here, I got a sanding block with your name on it.”

His cup had gone into the skin where Rei had been rinsing the breakfast dishes, and Wendell had found his shoes before leaving the house to go home and collect his carpentry toolkit. He didn't know if he would find Rei upon his return, but a small part of him hoped that might be the case. His house was in even more of a state than Rei’s place and he would need to find a day or two to complete the work he had started a thousand times, never to finish. With toolkit in hand, Wendell returned to Rei’s house and got to work outside, taking a sanding block to sand back the tired and flaking paint that covered the window frame. He hadn't gone inside to see if she was still home, thinking the sound of him working would draw her out, and were she to stay, there was a second sanding block she could take up to join him.

[Rei]

Rei’s vibrant blue eyes generally followed Wendell wherever he went when he was around her. The curve of his jaw, the tautness of his muscles… everything about him made him hard to look away from. She followed his ruggedly handsome face, now sporting a devilish smirk that practically made her melt, only to see his beautiful body covered by his cotton tunic. She sighed to herself, disappointed that he would be completely covered now. She much preferred him at least half naked, though the real treat was when he was completely nude.

She tore her eyes away from him, taking another sip of her hot tea, before she felt a tickle on the back of her thighs. Rei squirmed a bit in her chair, feeling the familiar strong arms enclosing her, his friendly and soft lips pressing against the flesh of her neck. “Of course you won’t make me go to work,” she replied, getting up to go rinse the dishes that they had dirtied with breakfast. “I would wager a guess you want me to stay here. How selfish of you, all those poor sick people.” She teased him and watched him go out the door before returning her attention to the dishes.

It didn’t take long to clean up and put everything away in the few little cupboards of her small living space. She straightened the chairs as she considered whether or not she actually would be going to work, with such a tempting offer on the table. Not that sanding windowpanes, painting, or fixing bricks was so appealing, but spending time alone with Wendell always was, though it wasn’t as if they hadn’t seen each other much lately. Rei was looking for her book on herbs when she heard the clanking of a toolkit outside and the rough sound of the sanding block against the windowpane.

With a small smile on her lips, she opened the door to her home and saw her lovely companion scraping away at the paint. “Well, I’ve decided to stay, see what it is you do all day.” With a light laugh, she picked up the other sanding block and watched Wendell’s technique a moment before mimicking it on the other side of the windowpane. Paint flecks went flying like dust and drifted lazily to the ground. “So what is it that builders do at night then? Sand windows by candlelight?” Of course Rei was smart enough to guess that he must have another job and very curious to know what it was. A bouncer maybe?

[Wendell]

Rei moved to join him outside and Wendell slowed down to take the time to demonstrate what he was doing. “Don’t sand too close to the glass, you don’t want to scratch it, I’ll use a softer block for that.”

The woman had inquired about his work again, something he thought he might have been able to avoid answering. It was far too early in their relationship for him to spring this kind of news on her, and if it was a deal breaker, he would rather live in momentary bliss than ruin it all so soon. Instead, Wendell smacked the woman’s backside and pulled her into his embrace, kissing her hard on the mouth before he retreated a little. “Take off my close and please you?” he smirked, well at least it was a half-truth, only he took off his clothes for other women and pleased them instead.

It didn’t take long to sand back the bedroom window and Wendell left Rei with some paint and a brush to carefully go over the wood. He stirred the paint well so that the oil mixed in and left to her to it. Inside the house, Rei would be able to see Wendell working through the bedroom window and open door. He got down on his knees with a hammer and chisel and started chipping out the cracked bricks he had noticed that morning. Bricks like that were a fire hazard that might see the whole block of apartments go up in flames if they weren’t fixed soon.

The bricks were stacked nicely beside him with new ones ready to go in. In a bucket he mixed the mortar to the right consistency and used a gauging trowel to set some of the mixture down before placing the first brick. This went on for about half a break before the first two layers were left to set so that he could return to that job once the new bricks were strong enough to support the top layer in a few hours.

Returning to see how Rei was getting on, Wendell looked over her painting work and used a folded rag to wipe some paint from the glass, tidying up the edge. “Looking good,” he smiled, “paint job isn’t too bad either.”

[Rei]

“Well I wasn’t planning on trying to sand the glass,” she retorted, a half smirk on her lips. She didn’t know that much, or anything really, about building or working on a house, but there were some things that were just obvious in any profession. There was a pop and a little sting on the skin of Rei’s bottom, her mouth falling open a little at how bold he was being in making physical advances outside where anyone might see them. His arms encircled her and she returned his kiss with excitement, playing with the flesh of his lip before he moved away. “You certainly do that. And you do it so well.”

Though she was smiling, Rei had to wonder why he was trying so hard to avoid telling her whatever this nighttime job was. Soon the sanding of the window was done and Wendell left her with a can of paint and a brush so that he could work inside the house. She watched him through the window, his image looking a little gritty through the dirty glass. She brushed slowly along the window and when the painting was nearly done, it almost looked brain new.

“Thanks. Maybe I could get a job as a painter.” She smiled at him and finished a few brush strokes of paint to finish covering the sanded wood. Rei dropped the brush in the can, taking her sticky, paint covered fingers and grabbing his face. It marked his skin up with paint as she pulled him close, placing a longing kiss on his lips. She was so tempted to drag him back to her bedroom, spend their time doing more than painting windows and laying brick. But he was probably right that she should get these taken care of before winter.

Rei slowly let her grip on him fall. “I’m going to go wash this paint off. I’m far too tempted to drag you into my bedroom.” She moved around him, smiling as she passed by him and into the house. She stood at her wash table and washed off the paint on her fingers, wiping her hands clean on a dirty cloth.

[Wendell]

“I’d hire you in a heartbeat to do painting for me,” he smiled and was taken by surprise as Rei grabbed his face with her grubby little hands and pulled him into a kiss. He was tempted to reach down into the pot and smother paint up the back of her leg, but thought better of it, instead lingering against her lips for a while before she disappeared inside.

The inside of the window looked near-new by the time Wendell was finished with it, and he returned to the fireplace to make sure the rest of the bricks went in, mixing some fresh mortar, careful to smooth the rough bits off between the bricks so that they all lined up nicely. With that job done, he washed up all of his equipment and put the tools back in his toolkit before tending to himself. The paint on his face was tricky to remove and clung to the individual hairs of his stubble. He stood trying to pick it off for a while before giving up, thinking that maybe if it had a chance to dry it would come off easier. There was no way he could go into work looking like this or Rose would take a cut from his pay.

Realising he had forgotten to wash out one of the paint brushes, Wendell sighed. He knew how important it was to get them clean before the paint dried and had failed to do so on this occasion, rendering the paintbrush useless. It was thrown into the toolkit along with his other things and left to sit, he could carry it home later, for now the man sought out Rei. He found her in the bedroom making the bed, something he never bothered to do at home, which would be a shock for the woman if he ever dared to let Rei see the inside of the place. The fact that he had taken one or two clients home in the past had been sloppy on his part, as it risked them coming back unannounced. Wendell hadn’t expected to meet anyone he would like as much as he did Rei.

Without saying a word, Wendell walked over to Rei and stopped her from what she was doing to kiss her. When he was done he smiled and fixed her hair behind her hair. “What you making that for?” he teased, “we are only going to mess it up again.” He left the room with a laugh and took up his tools. “I’ll come see you in a few days, got a lot of work on, will see you soon.” He lingered at the door a moment to take one last look at her and then left.

[Rumour]

Name: Wendell

Knowledge:
Rei: Playful
Cooking: How to cook a basic omelette
Cooking: How to cook a complete breakfast
Seduction: How to roll a woman on her back
Seduction: How to play footsies
Seduction: A slap on the ass can sometimes be well-received
Construction: How to sand off old paint
Construction: Use a softer block for sanding near glass
Construction: How to use a hammer and chisel
Construction: Cracked bricks are a fire hazard
Construction: How to mix the right consistency of mortar
Construction: How to lay a brick
Painting: Stir the paint well to mix in the oil
Painting: The importance of washing paint off brushes before it dries
Persuasion: Appealing to logic
Appraisal (Buildings): How to identify what areas in an apartment need work
Deception: How to deflect attention by being playful
Discipline: The importance of placing adult responsibilities before desires

Loot: N/A
Injuries: N/A
Fame: +2 for giving the gift of your time & effort in fixing up Rei's home

Story: 5/5
Collaboration: 5/5
Structure: 5/5

- - -

Name: Rei

Knowledge:
Wendell: Bold
Wendell: Hiding his nighttime job from you
Cosmetology: How to style a basic braid
Cosmetology: How to artfully style basic beads and straps into hair
Discipline: The importance of placing adult responsibilities before desires
Construction: How to sand off old paint
Construction: Use a softer block for sanding near glass
Endurance: Physical exertion can make you hungry
Seduction: How to play footsies
Psychology: Deflecting attention may be a sign that someone is trying to avoid telling the truth

Loot: N/A
Injuries: N/A
Fame: N/A

Story: 5/5
Collaboration: 5/5
Structure: 5/5

- - -

Comments: A lovely little social thread, you two! I really enjoy reading about Wendell and Rei's blossoming relationship. This thread was also a really good opportunity to get some skill knowledge, so well done there. Quick reminder for one of you to deduct the cost of new bricks off your ledger - I'll let you decide between yourselves who should do this. Other than that, nice work & I look forward to your next one!

If you feel I've missed anything or if you have questions about your review, please don't hesitate to send me a quick PM. Thank you!