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There he stood, outside the Brothel like he had said. Two trials after their meeting and the weather was still perfect for a nice sailing trip. Still, he refused to enter and even went as far as to send in someone else to inform her of his arrival. He had not set foot in a brothel in 70 arcs and that was not about to change now. So he waited for her to exit as he had requested from the young Biqaj he had asked for the help off. Of course he had been forced to give the lad some nel, not enough for him to ever afford a woman from this establishment but the kid didn't know that.
When the golden locks and blue eyes of Zana exited through the door he smiled at her and stood up straight from the wall against which he was leaning. This time his fine body was graced with a simple white shirt, albeit an undone shirt but more than the previous meeting. A straw hat was also perched on his head, protecting him from the hot midday sun. "Good trial little Miss Delroth." His hazel eyes flickered with amusement clearly he found himself some what funny.
"Busy morning?" He had no idea if brothels were busy in the morning, did people even go to brothels in the day time? He thought it seemed unlikely but then again the world was a weird place. "Boss been riding you to work harder?" He looked even more amused then, the pun somewhat coincidental but mostly purposeful.
He gestured to the street in the direction of the docks and stepped away from the wall in order to leave. "Whenever you are ready, Miss." He curled and uncurled hos fingers with a roll of his neck as he began to walk, assuming she agreed to follow him. He could see no reason why she would change her mind and at their last encounter she had seemed quite interested in meeting his fickle mistress.
"The ocean awaits, Zana. Lets not dissatisfy her by keeping her waiting when we have the best weather for it right now. A storm is likely to roll in some time soon, all this hot weather a storm always follows and I have no doubt it will be a killer." His hands dipped into his pockets as he walked and he played with the fabric of his shorts.
Zana exited her home and place of work and she looked at Elijah with a smile. She was wearing a knee-length skirt and a red one-shouldered top. Atop her head was a wide-brimmed red hat. Walking up to him, Zana looked at Elijah with a mischievous grin and shook her head. "Were you worried that if you came in, you'd see the delights on offer and be unable to resist?" He thought he was a funny man and there was something endearing about that, although Zana had no sense of being amused by his jokes. Mostly because he wasn't funny, but then he was happy.
When he asked about the boss riding her, Zana glanced at him and shook her head. "We don't open to clients in the morning. In the morning, we practice and train." Somehow, she had an entirely innocent expression. "So, no, this morning it wasn't him riding me hard," with a slight smile she added, "this morning the boss and two of my colleagues have been helping me perfect a technique." She adjusted her hat to what she considered an appropriately jaunty angle and then turned to start walking with him. Cheeky boy.
As they walked, Zana glanced at him and frowned when talked about a storm. "Will it be safe, Elijah?" She had no intention of doing anything like break a nail or any physical labor so if he thought that he was getting a deck hand, then he could think again. When he had answered her, though, she gazed at him with obvious appraisal and she smiled. "Whilst it would be quite lovely to be stranded on a deserted island, I'm afraid I have plans this evening."
Glancing at him, as they continued to make their way to the sloop, Zana considered what he had said. "So," she spoke softly and with a teasing tone. "When do I find out the answer to my question, Elijah?"
Mercy, please, I'm on my knees. You're my temptation
"Not exactly, more like trying to up hold a rather old tradition." He knew this might set her mind back onto her old question from before but he did not mind, he had promised her an answer after all. There was no point ignoring that fact, it was not something he could really take away now. He was just unsure how she would react when she found out he was almost four times her own age and yet looked barely a year or two older than her. He could only cross his fingers and hope really. "Tradition is important." He smiled merrily and walked.
Technique? He shook his head and sighed, not even thinking about the necessity to practise the art of sex. So far he had yet to leave a woman unsatisfied so it seemed easy. Although, he as sure there was much more possible than what he found pleasure in, he was a surprisingly simple man with simple pleasures in that aspect of life. "I suppose practise makes perfect," of which he had plenty, "you can never be too well trained." She adjusted her hat and the walking continued.
He nodded and looked ahead towards the docks. "Don't you worry about the ocean, I can handle her and there will be no storm anyway, not today." He glanced up at the clear skies and wondered, one would come soon and he knew it. It was like he had developed a sixth sense for it after so long. "Unfortunately no lonely deserted islands for you to pass the time with me any way we can." He was clearly still playing the game, a dangerous game that, at the time he did not know, he could not win.
"I could tell you now but then what is to stop you running off before even setting foot on my boat." He lifted his hat and brushed his hair back before placing it once again down. "Besides, aren't young ladies like yourself supposed to be attracted by mystery?" He looked at her with a questioning gaze, knowing that was all a load of rubbish in reality.
The sloop came into sight, moored on the city docks and ready for use. He had prepared the whole sloop before picking Zana up in order to speed thing along. "When you are ready." He motioned towards the gangplank that would take her aboard the cosy vessel. Once she had crossed he would follow, hopping down and pulling the board onto the boat with them. "70." He said it and hoisted the sails while keeping his gaze ahead as he steered the sloop away from the dock.
"Elijah, you wound me," Zana said, her expression teasing as he asked what was to stop her from running off when he told her his age. "That you think I would break my word is but a pin prick in comparison to the pain I feel that you think I'm accompanying you only to find out how old you are." Shaking her head, Zana said no more than that, but she managed to pull of an air of bemused, amused and hurt all at once.
"Mystery? I am fairly confident that the only thing I still find mysterious about men are obscure diseases." Zana quipped back at him and walked. She resisted the urge to make some quip about the sloop but instead she walked across the gangplank and looked around with interest. "You are sure that you can make this thing go in the direction you wish?"
Then, however, he told her that he was seventy arcs old. Now, it might be that he was joking, teasing her, but Zana didn't think so. It had been something which was obviously important to him from the time they met and she frowned. "Really? The only person I know with that kind of lifespan is me." She gave him a cheeky grin and watched him as he unfurled the sail. "How do you make it go in the direction you want it to?"
Looking at him, Zana waited for a few moments as she thought about it and then she shrugged. "No, I give up. You don't look like you're some obscure race. Mortalborns like me look young because we live a long, long time. What's the punchline?" She quirked an eyebrow and sat back, having to admit that, once she'd gotten used to it, this was quite a pleasant sensation.
Tell me we belong together and I'll dress it up in the trappings of lust
Somehow he could tell she was not impressed with the sloop, likely due to it being relatively small. Yet, it was not designed to be a huge passenger ship but instead his home and means of transportation. "Of course, its not that hard really and you can try if you like." He finished hoisting the sails and sat back resting his arm on the tiller. He tapped the wood and pushed it to the right to steer them away from the shore and towards the harbour walls.
She clearly struggled to believe he was 70, the few people he ever told his ages all had the same reactions at the time. They all could not believe it, however, Miss Delroth seemed to understand it more. She claimed she was the only person she knew with such a lifespan. "Really." He smiled at her disbelief. "As for steering the sloop, well, its quite simple really." He tapped the wooden arm again. "This here is called a tiller and it is connected to the rudder. The rudder steers the boat by directing the water in different directions below us the tiller just makes it easier to steer comfortably."
She still did not believe his age and questioned him as if he were making some big joke. He steered the sloop out of the harbour and into the open sea, not too far from the coast though. The waves grew a little larger their, still comfortable and easily glided over by the light sloop. The water gave off a cool spray as the sloop went a little faster and rode over a wave.
"Well, you are only 26 so how do you know that Mortalborn live a very long time if you have yet to see it yourself?" He liked to question people, especially her as she was appearing to be quite fun to converse with. "As for me well no punchline, I am 70 arcs old and that is the answer to your question." His eyes were now the ones full of mirth as he looked at the daughter of Delroth to further judge her reactions.
He didn't know why it was the case though, if he were a mortalborn that was news to him and he doubted it. He could not imagine his father being the type to entice an immortal to his bed. "In all honesty, I don't know why I have lived so old yet aged so little. I believed I was Biqaj for the greater part of my life and that I just lead some kind of extra healthy lifestyle. I have noticed more recently that's not the case." He smiled simply and looked at the ocean taking in the feeling of the boat moving over the waves the slight spray cooling to his skin. "Would you like to try?" He gestured to the tiller.
"So it's all about gentle handling and riding it just right? I'm impressed." Zana grinned at him and noted it. Tiller, rudder. Right. Moving one made a difference to the other and it was the tiller which made steering more comfortable, but the rudder was what did all the work, really. "So, the rudder is like a woman. Unseen, unnoticed but the one who affects real change. The tiller, on the other hand, is just something that pokes out and you grab to steer?" Her ice blue eyes lit with mirth as she looked at him and her lips lifted in a smile.
He questioned how she knew her lifespan and Zana smiled. "My mother. When she realized that she was having Delroth's child, she learned everything she could about my kind." Zana's expression softened as she spoke about her mother. The still-young mortalborn knew exactly how lucky she was to have a parent who had given up so much for her. "She found out everything she could so that she could ensure that I had the best start possible." That her mother was an amazing woman, Zana could not deny it and she watched Elijah with a wry smile. "So you don't know why, you just know that? Well, I tell you what, in twenty arcs if you still haven't aged, maybe you'll start to think that you are a mortalborn too and that's the only possible explanation."
She nodded at what he said though, that he'd thought he was just aging well. Apparently, so her mother had read and then told her, that was quite common. She shook her head, though, at his offer of her having a go with the tiller. "I am the passenger, not the worker. I know your tricks," she smiled, teasing him gently, "lure me on to your sloop and then put me to work. Not this girl." With a quizzical expression, she raised an eyebrow. "Would you show me around? Do you sleep here?"
She couldn't resist it when she asked that question. Stepping just a little closer to him, Zana wondered. "I mean, you and your boiled potatoes must get quite cramped. But I imagine the rocking motion, the gentle sway of the sea well..." Her lips lifted and she looked utterly mischievous at him. "That must make even a potato rather more appealing."
Tell me we belong together and I'll dress it up in the trappings of lust
His eyes rolled involuntarily at her words. "That would be true, however, the two must work together to be effective, neither one is more important than the other." He kept his eyes forward in order to make sure that the sloop was going where it should be, the last thing he wanted was to get distracted from keeping his course and run ashore or worse into rocks. "You will find me to be far from a male elitist, in fact I love women and they are far better company than most men." He smiled and steered the sloop a little further from the coast.
"Sounds like your mother really cared for you." With the way he said it there was a chance it sounded like his father had not. That was not even close to the truth as his father had loved him more than anything, even if he was the reminder of his greatest betrayal. "I wish my father had told me more about my mother but I understand why he did not." At least from what he had heard about his fathers wife he thought he understood.
He was not sure if it was the only explanation but it was better than anything he had tried to come up with before. It was a possible answer to his questions about his past. Although, he had never really wondered hugely about it before, he had just enjoyed it and relished in hat fact he was lucky. Still, the questions were now rising and the possibility he was the son of an Immortal was not something he could just ignore forever. "Perhaps that will convince me."
Work? He laughed and shook his head, the idea she thought this to be work was too funny for him to ignore. "You think steering a boat is work? No, this is for enjoyment. I do not sail only for work but because it gives me joy, I thought you were the kind that would like to be in control but as you wish." He retracted his offer for her to try the tiller and instead remained on course. "I do sleep here and if you wish I can show you around, not that there is much to see though."
He stood up and moved over to where the ropes were tied, pulling the knot free he watched as the sail lowered and once down he quickly tied it in place. Then he climbed up to the front of the boat and dropped the anchor, the chain rattling as it rolled out until it reached the sea bed. The sloop came quickly to a halt and instead sat, rocking on the waves as the sun beat down on them. It felt much worse without the light wind that moving offered them.
"Nothing wrong with a potato, miss. Whether that potato is on dry land or out on the sea." He smiled and dropped himself down into the cabin. "Are you coming down?" He called back towards her sticking his hand out through the hatch. He was doing his best to seem uninterested in her now, the next step in the game. Make her want him to want her, look like you have moved on from the immediate attraction felt.
He rolled his eyes and assured her that he wasn't some kind of an elitist and Zana wondered at the change which had come over him. He had been flirty and full of innuendo, eyes twinkling with amusement and now he was much more serious and almost stern. Was he focusing on steering the sloop or was this some other difference, she wondered? It might be that he was just one of those people who sulked when he found he wasn't getting his way, or this was part of his ongoing game plan.
Either way, Zana did what she would always do and took it, apparently, at face value. She nodded, though and smiled when he spoke about her mother. "She adored me, and she understood what a responsibility it was, what a privilege that Delroth chose her. She knew that I needed as much information as possible, so she gave me the best start she could." To Zana, that made perfect sense. For any mortalborn's mortal parent not to behave in such a way was selfish and egocentric as far as Zana was concerned.
"If I wanted to be in control all the time," Zana purred with a wicked gleam in her eyes, "then I wouldn't be on a sloop with a stranger. It's your sloop therefore it's your bat and your ball. You, Elijah, are captain." He dropped the sail and lowered the anchor and she watched how he did both of those things carefully, but did not speak whilst he did. But nothing wrong with a potato and he called her miss? Zana's eyes narrowed imperceptibly at that and she wondered just what he was up to.
Slipping her hand into his, she accepted his help clambering down and looked around with interest. "This is cozy. You and your potatoes must have a lovely time." She turned her gaze up to him, ice blue eyes meeting his. "Have you forgotten my name, Elijah? How sad." She gaze a slight sigh. "So many men forget my name, I'd have thought that you would be one of the ones who remembered. They're always my favourite."
Welcome to the party, it's only me and you.
Tell the world to go away babe, and I'll tell you what to do..
"My bat ad ball hey?" He couldn't help the feeling that with her there was a constant struggle to be on top. So even as she implied that she was not in control he could not ignore the feeling that was what she wanted, him to feel in control. "As you wish, I will do slightly harder part and you can enjoy the ride." He concentrated on the steering for a few moments before he stopped the sloop and cast the anchor down into the blue depths.
She took his calloused hand, her own smooth and slender fingers encased in his rough ones as he helped her down below deck. The inside of the sloop was indeed cosy, a hammock hung on one side of the room and a table and chair were on the other. It was rather spartan in truth but then again it was only a small boat. He was happier with it feeling simple than crowded and uncomfortable. "It is only small down here but it serves its purpose and its home." He perched on the edge of the table as she looked at him and spoke.
His face formed into a soft amused smile. "Oh, Zana Delroth, you underestimate my memory. Many names are stored up in this brain and I rarely forget them." His warm hazel eyes studied hers, they were somewhat unnerving in truth. Although beautiful, her eyes felt foreign and otherworldly. "I just prefer miss, I think it suits you better." He smirked, offered her a casual wink and then turned around to face the table. "Can I offer you a drink? Some food maybe?" His back was too her but he could feel her presence there, the opponent in his territory. He supposed he had the home field advantage out on the sloop.
"So, how are you finding your first trip on the ocean? Not too dull for you I hope, you have a rather exciting life after all." He smiled again now, lifting the rouse of disinterest. Mixing it up could confuse those you sought to seduce, make their guards fall and rise eventually making them unsure where it should be. Normally it wasn't necessary but Zana was quite the tricky woman, a fitting match for the old and experienced mortalborn. "As you said the potatoes enjoy it, then again you are not a potato are you?"
He hated referring to the other women he had been with in such a way but in truth he did not think it mattered what he said to Zana but what he actually felt. Besides, in the end he felt it was likely that the woman stood with him now would be overselling herself, he had seen it before. Still there was the slight chance that she really was going to be the woman to ruin women for him, who could know for sure?
She should enjoy the ride? Zana looked at him and a grin touched the corner of her mouth. It would be too easy. The expression, so she believed, was like shooting fish in a barrel. So, she didn't take the bait, since she had to maintain some standards.
His hand was rough, calloused and large and Zana just allowed her thumb to gently stroke against it. "Mmmm. Rough," she said and her smile was pure delight. Still, looking around she had to admit that it was cosy and had everything he might need down here. "It's nice. Cosy. Tight, but then the best things often are." Glancing around, though, she could not quite hide a question, so she asked it. "There seem to be a distinct lack of personal effects. Have you not got any? Surely a man of your age must have collect some trinkets along the way?"
When he said her name Zana chuckled, but made no comment. "I'd have a glass of wine if there was one. Failing that, whatever you have available. Nothing to eat, though. I'm not hungry for food." Her icy eyes watched him and Zana had to admit that he was an interesting man. His assessment of her life raised another smile. "I find that the excitement, or not, of a trial is best judged by the company. Each one worthy of unique assessment."
She was not a potato, no. Zana stepped towards him, just a step and she spoke in a quiet voice. "No, I'm not. I am a banquet created by master chefs. An experience best enjoyed with lots of time, and tasting like nothing you have ever tasted before. Best accompanied by something robust." Her expression turned impish and she shrugged her shoulders in a perfect gesture of not being bothered.
"Does she have a name?" Zana asked with a smile. "I understand that every vessel should have a name."
Welcome to the party, it's only me and you.
Tell the world to go away babe, and I'll tell you what to do..
