The Archman

Chapter 40 - A Serendipitous Occasion

Eira's heart skips a beat. She looks back towards the door, using it as a convenient excuse to avert her gaze. She can feel her face starting to heat up for what feels like the hundredth time today.

"If you insist."

"Oh, well if I'm going to be an imposition then never mind." Adrulac shrugs and starts walking away.

"What?! No! I-" Eira grabs Adrulac's wrist with a sudden panic. He turns back and looks at her with a fiendish smirk. Eira blushes even harder, realizing that she'd fallen directly into his trap.

"I mean...I don't mind." Eira quickly snaps her gaze back to the door, rife with embarrassment.

"So you would like a tour?" Adrulac leans forwards and lowers his head, so it is directly in Eira's line of sight, forcing her to face him. His snide grin is still firmly planted across his mouth.

"Yes..." Eira murmurs. She couldn't remember any other time in her life where she felt simultaneously humiliated and excited.

"Alright then." Adrulac pushes the door open for Eira to enter. She steps into the shadowy chamber, the only source of light coming from the moonlight.

"May I-" Adrulac starts the question, but Eira quickly interjects, having already anticipated it.

"Yes, come in." Eira smiles, rolling her eyes momentarily. As always, Adrulac is perpetually consistent when it came to requesting invitations.

Adrulac walks in after her and navigates his way through the room with ease, lighting an oil lamp through sheer muscle memory. He walks back to Eira and shuts the door behind her, switching the source of light from the moon to the single lamp.

"Well, where to begin..." Adrulac posits sarcastically, as he looks around the bedroom, which didn't consist of much else other than the large bed, and the two bedside tables found on either side.

"That's the ceiling..." Adrulac points up.

"That's the floor..." He points down.

"Those are the walls..." He points all around.

"I never would've guessed." Eira giggles.

"Perhaps you can guess what this is, then?" Adrulac walks towards the bed, turning around to face Eira when he arrives beside it.

"A bed?" Eira walks over to join Adrulac. She can feel her knees weakening as she gets closer to him and the piece of furniture.

"Well done." Adrulac claps his hands with exaggerated congratulations.

"I've seen a few in my lifetime, I'll have you know." Eira sits down on the edge of the bed, feeling that her knees might give out at any moment.

"Is that so?" Adrulac sits down beside Eira. His additional weight on the bed creates a large divot in the side of the mattress, causing Eira to slide down the slight decline until her thigh comes to a halt against his.

"I've wondered, though..." Eira speaks slowly, trying not to let the contact of their lower bodies consume all her attention. "...it seems awfully wasteful having a bed you only use every seven years."

"You raise a good point." Adrulac nods twice, then turns to face Eira. She turns to meet his gaze, immediately captivated by his vermillion eyes. "Maybe I should make more use of it, then."

Eira and Adrulac close their eyes and lean into one another, their lips finding one another through nothing but kinesthetic sense. Eira can immediately feel her heart race. She is glad to be sitting down, as her legs would surely have buckled underneath her if she attempted to do this while standing.