A Place To Bloom

Touch

"What the hell do you expect me to do with this?" The man in charge of the kitchen was Herali. He was about my height, a bit older, maybe thirties, and wore an apron over his otherwise bare chest with his long, dark-green hair tied behind his back. His skin was covered in various scars and tattoos, including a falcon on his left shoulder and a crescent moon on his right, and around his left arm was a cluster of scars that looked awfully familiar to the wound around my wrist. He wore a black eye-patch over his right and glared at me through his left.

I shrugged. "I don't know? Make a ham or something?"

The man blinked his left eye and stared at me, then stood up straight and crossed his arms.

I glanced back down at the pig carcass with the tenderloin carved out of it. "Um..."

Two more men came up, one on each side of him. One of them looked down at my offering while wiping his fingers on a wet rag, then looked up at me. "What kind of Falcon doesn't know how to clean a pig?"

"I know how to clean a pig! I just..."

The other man leaned down to look at it closely. "Are those teeth marks?"

Miyani leaned in close to the man in charge and set her hand on his arm, looking up at him with pleading eyes. "I soly. Uh... we need... uh... ha to say, uh..." she shook her head. "ʃʊsi vʌ maðaseða. ɣʊdʊ pozowa ʒogu'uviði. ʃʊsi... 'uŋi bʊ'apesedu ʃa ʃʊsi ʃʊsi, ʃʊsi ʒʊʃavesexa? Uh..." she scratched her head and looked up at me with an embarrassed smile.

I had nothing, but the man with the eye patch bobbed his head back and forth and lifted the pig's foot, then leaned down and smelled it. "Sure. Why not."

My eyes went wide. "Thank you!"

I couldn't help but laugh as we walked out of there. We'd got a few steps when Miyani turned to look back and nodded with a big smile, "thank you! Thank very much at you!"

The man with the tattoos over his arms stood and nodded. I echoed her, "thank you!"

And so we walked. Towards the library, she led me across the grass. She was quick; I had to run to catch up to her and take her hand. She looked up at me and smiled, then slowed to a more leisurely pace. "Where are we going?"

She echoed my words quietly to herself before looking up at me. "I is... uh... you are hungry, yes?"

"Yes," I blurted out. "Oh, I mean... ti, dowa ɣʊwode."

She nodded vigorously and smiled wide, god she was adorable. "tixe! tixe!"

We walked around the library towards the direction of the tall towers of the inner sanctum by now cast in the shadow of early dusk with dark clouds behind them. My eyes refused to exert one ounce of self-control. I looked up and down her curvaceous body, allowing my eyes to linger on her muscular arse and thighs, her pert little breasts and toned shoulders, she was insane. She watched my eyes explore her and grinned wide. "You like?"

I did. I most certainly did!

I stopped and turned to look at her, holding my hands out in urgency. "Wait! I forgot something!"

Miyani stopped and looked at me with concern.

"This is very, very important. This is urgent. I need to tell you something right now. I completely forgot; this is important!"

Miyani leaned in close with her eyes fixed up into mine in deep concern.

So I tapped her shoulder and said, "touch."

I backed off quickly, but she launched herself at me. I tried to dodge, but she wrapped both arms around my body and squeezed tight, laughing, "I touch you!"