One Night in Hommlet

"No," I fumbled for a moment for a good explanation. "Mom just gave it to me and told me to call you."

"Ah." Belinda made some sounds that came across over the phone. I was guessing, but it sounded like she too was getting into bed. "So was there anything specific that she told you to talk to me about?"

"No."

"Well... " I heard her take a deep breath. "That could make this an awkward conversation between us unless we can think of something to say."

"Yeah, that's possible," I said after a second.

We both held onto the phone for a long moment.

Belinda made a sound that could have been a laugh. "And full of awkward silences."

"Um, we could talk about the game?" I suggested a bit hesitantly.

There was a pause.

"That would be a safe topic."

I nodded even though she couldn't see me. "Yeah."

"Do you want us to stick to safe topics, Richie?"

Now it was my turn to let the silence linger while I thought of an answer.

"I'm not sure," I said, at last.

We both spent a moment dancing around one of those awkward silences she had spoken of.

She broke it, finally. "I'm not really Willow, you know?"

"Um ... huh?"

"If you think you ... well, like me ... because you think I'm like the character I play, then I have to tell you--"

"No it not that." I broke in. "I mean I'm no brave ranger, ready to take on the wilds all alone." I laughed. "I hardly like walking hiking trails if they go too deep into the woods."

"Then why play a ranger?"

"I... " I took a deep breath. " ...well, I guess I wanted to be someone that I wasn't."

"And that's why I play Willow."

I had to laugh at that. "You're a lot more like Willow than I'm like Kyle Umber."

"Oh, I disagree." I could -- from the sounds -- envision Belinda moving around, settling herself in a pile of pillows. "I've known you for a few months now. I watched you play, mostly, hero-type characters in Philip's games. But, I have to say, before tonight you've never been the one to take the lead. You were ... well, you were Kyle the Ranger."

I tried to deny it. "Well, I don't know-- "

"Well, I do." She chuckled. "When you led us into the marsh, and then when we fought those frogs, let me tell you ..." she made a low sound that wasn't a word. " ... that shit was hot. The passion on your face as John described the fight. The eager gleam in your eyes."

"You were the same," I protested.

Belinda gave a snort. "I fake it more than I feel it. I told you, I'm not the wild barbarian girl."

"Oh, no, no, no. I seem to remember that when that frog at the wagon got me, you dove right in. Sword swinging."

"Well, yeah, but--"

"But me no buts. I was looking at you when you were attacking that frog. Your lips were parted, your breathing was rushed." Rather the way mine was now, in fact. "And your pretty eyes all but glowed. You were in the moment. You were Willow."

And you were beautiful.

Damn it you fool, say it! Tell her, don't just think it.

"And you-- " I began but my tongue stuck to the roof of my mouth.

"Yeah?" she asked when I didn't say any more.

I gave a silent sigh. If you're not going to talk to her why did you bother to call?

I heard her chuckle. "Richie, you still there?"

"You were Willow." I let it hang for a second as I gathered my courage. "And you were beautiful."

The pause this time was much longer. It was about to be my turn to ask her if she was still there.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome." I suddenly felt the need to giggle insanely. "Um, now that I've kinda crossed a line into an 'unsafe' area, what should we talk about now?"

Some of it slipped out and Belinda joined me in giggling.

"Well... " She managed to get her laughter under control. " ...I guess we shall have to talk about 'unsafe' things now."

Shifting around on my bed, I looked over at my pile of books with my character sheet. The dice bag chose that moment gave a shift, drawing my eyes. Time to roll the dice, huh?

"I thought about kissing you tonight."

I could tell I caught her off guard with that one. "Really? When?"

"Before my mom walked in. When we were in her bathroom."

She gave a tight giggle. "Me too."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I was kind of thinking about kissing at that moment too," she said. I could tell she was grinning. "In fact, if she had walked in about a minute later, she might really have found us making out like she said."

That left me all but speechless. After a good long moment, I finally found the words. "I wish she hadn't shown up when she did, then."

She giggled. "Maybe the next time we play."

"I'll remember you said that."

"Hey! I said maybe." She shifted around a bit. "Besides, we might be playing over at Philip's and there is no way I'm spending more time in those bathrooms, at his house, than I have to. I swear I feel like I want to get a tetanus shot after every game night."

"Maybe we need to find a better place to kiss than in a bathroom," I gave a feeble attempt at a flirty reply.

I swear I heard a purr. "Muumm, where?"

Um, okay you need to respond now, asshole. "Um, well pretty much anywhere would be better."

"Not at Philip's."

"Agreed, not there," I said. "But I'm sure, if we tried hard enough, we could find a place with some privacy."

"Uhumm. Maybe... "

Damn it! Again a silence tried to capture the words away from us. Before it got too deep and swallowed this phone call, I threw out the first thought that came to mind.

"Hey?"

"Yeah?" There was a soft tone of hope in her voice.

"What exactly did you have in mind when you said Willow wanted to 'molest a ranger to within an inch of his life' because that had some interesting possibilities to it?"

Belinda giggled. "Oh, I just tossed that out there to make everyone laugh. I wasn't serious."

"Why not?"

"What?" she asked, after a second.

My mind was running faster than my conscious thoughts so I let it lead. "Why not have Kyle the Ranger and Willow the Barbarian, well, get together? I mean surely after a wild night like we just had the two of them would be pretty keyed up still."

"Well, yeah but they would be tired, and dirty." She gave a deep evil chuckle that made me grin and at the same time set my heart to pounding. "Besides there is no way I'm going to ask John to let us roleplay out a wild night together. And most certainly not with Philip, Todd, and your Mom sitting there."

An idea came to me in a second flash of inspiration. "What about now?"

"What? How do you mean?" She held the phone for a moment.

"Well, I was thinking... " Oh, Lord give me the courage to say this. " ... I was thinking we could kind of play that scene out ourselves. I know I don't need John, or anyone, telling me how my imagination can work. Kyle and Willow were tried, right?"

"Yeah. Tired and filthy." I heard her wooden braid beads rattle. She was nodding. An eagerness crept into her voice. "They were both covered in frog blood and swamp mud."

"And they had just arrived at the Inn of the Welcome Wench." There is a certain manner that I speak when I'm roleplaying Kyle Umber. I found myself slipping, unconsciously, into that tone and half-hinted at accent. "Makes sense they would ask about the bathhouse."

"True, but ... together?"

I thought that over. "Probably not intentionally, but bathhouses were public. Everyone used them."

"True." She gave a pause and I envisioned her biting that bottom lip in the way I found so sexy. "So we could just play this out? I mean just us ... pretty much saying what we would do?"

"Yeah."

"Well, okay. Umm... " She gave a long-ish pause. " ...well, I guess Willow would go to the bathhouse. By herself, and certainly, after Liam returned. She's a barbarian, so showing skin doesn't bother her, but she really doesn't trust the thief. He's weaselly like Rowan said."

I could picture that.

"Right, well, umm, Kyle will, of course, see to the condition of the horses. And we just got that new gray stud." I could all but see it in my mind. The tavern, the stables, the stable boy helping me getting the horses put away, brushed down. "It's been mistreated, and then we drug him through the swamp, weighted down with that wine, and with all those frogs chasing us the whole way. He would spend a lot of time with it. Getting him calmed and settled down."

"Yeah, that sounds like Kyle."

** ** ** ** ** ** **

A young stable boy and a groom handle the draft and riding animals, and themselves live in...

Rubbing a piece of rough cloth down the leg of the gray stud, I gave it one last swipe and decided to call it a night. He was already asleep with his head in his empty nose bag. The poor thing had woofed up his hot grain mash and then eaten a belly full of dry oats as well. The terrible visibility of his ribs wouldn't vanish with one meal, but it was a start. And a damn good one.

I glanced over at the stable boy and smiled. He too was asleep. I have admit, he had been a good sport -- roused from his bed of straw in the middle of the night by our sudden arrival -- he had jumped to his duty and not shirked an inch when it came to helping me and the others unload the wine and brandy, then our meager supplies and personal baggage. He had even run inside, roused the innkeeper, and did his best to help tote everything inside the Inn of the Welcome Wench. Then, to top it all off, he had stayed awake and helped me with the mounts.

Well, mostly he had.

Walking over to him, I took a few of my precious coins from my pouch and tapped him on the head. When he startled awake I dropped the coins into his hand. "Get to bed, youngster. Tomorrow will be here before long."

"Yes, sur. Thank ya, sur."

Jumping to his feet, the boy took several sleepy steps back deeper into the stacks of hay and collapsed into an old blanket-covered corner that must be his normal bed.

Lifting my jacket from a wooden peg, I reeled back at the stench of it as it got closer to my nose. I held it out at a distance as I walked out into the fresh air. Glancing up at the stars, I saw that I had been right about the coming day. The dawn was but a few hours away.

Well, I'm sure that it can rise without me watching it this morning.

I was about to head inside and see about my bed when the wind shifted and I caught a reeking whiff off the muddy coat again. If it smelled this bad, I knew the rest of me couldn't be spring flowers either. I walked into the dark interior of the inn, and moved toward the sound of voices. The soft golden glow of an oil lamp shone from the wide door across the room. Sticking my head into the tap room, I saw that Liam was sitting at a table talking to the innkeeper. Beside them sat the wine barrel, and the smaller brandy barrel was perched on the bar top, already broached and spigot-ed.

I moved to join them. Liam looked up, his eyes blurry. He gave me a drunken smile, then pointed at the stairs.

"Room...."

The Innkeeper, Ostler Gundigroot, turned to look at me, blinked his eyes open a bit and smiled. "Your room is all set for you, ranger. Clean linen, and a fire on the hearth. There is a tray with bread, broth, and fruit waiting for you. Go to the top of the stairs and then to your left two doors. Or shall I pour you a mugful?"

He gestured toward the brandy barrel.

I held up a hand. "Thank you, good sir, but first I think I heard mention of a bathhouse?"

He nodded. "Ah, yes. Well, if you go out that door, over yonder -- and leave my inn by the kitchen door -- you will see a path leading past my garden. Follow that and, within a hundred steps or so, you will be able to follow your nose to the town bakery. He has a right nice bath set up in the back, the water is heated by his ovens, don't ya know."

Shouldering my smelly coat, and instantly regretting it, I nodded my thanks.

"And I might add -- if you like -- his son's wife, Reyna, runs a fine laundry service from there as well." He eyed my filthy clothes, covered in ninety layers of different muck. "Although that particular outfit might have to be burned, lest it brings about a plague." I smiled at his joke, too tired to do aught else. "Here, my lord, let me give you a noggin to take along with ya, to help ease the aches and pains."

That I couldn't refuse.

Getting to his feet, Ostler Gundigroot grabbed up a wooden half pint mug from the bar and filled it with a good bit of The Urnst made brandy. I could smell the strong, sweet alcohol even before he passed it to me.

"Thank you," I said, I reached for my belt pouch.

"No sir, thank you." He placed a restraining hand upon mine. "Without the bravery of you lot, there wouldn't even be a cupful of this in my house. Besides, never let it be said I'm not a man of my word. A month's full room and board, and I'm as honest as my word. If it be within the house, and I can give it freely, let me know."

Nodding my understanding, I took a small sip of the fiery liquid. "Thank you, again. And good night." I looked at Liam. "Don't wait up for me, I've got bruises in places I hardly knew I had to try soak out."

Liam nodded, lifted his mug and said: "Drink."

The innkeeper held up a hand. "Sir, if you would, try not to wake my cook as you pass through the kitchen."

I nodded to him that I would be quiet.

Not that it was necessary for me to be careful. The snores from the cook would have been ample to the task of covering an orc raid, let alone me walking through. Stepping out the back door, I crossed the inn yard, moving past the herb and vegetable garden and soon, sure enough, the pre-dawn breeze brought me the smell of fresh bread baking.

Through a small apple orchard, across a narrow gravel and mud road, and then I could see the broad wooden sign with lettering that was too dark to read and a painted loaf of bread. There were multiple red clay chimneys stuck out the roof, with fluffy streams of white-ish smoke rising to be swept away by the breeze.

As I stepped up to the door a small, flour-covered woman came bustling out, nearly running me over.

"Oh, well, my oh my, bless me it's not another one. Must be a new habit among you young people. Night bathing." She shook her head, her wrist-thick blond braids flying, but then she pinched her nose. "Not that you're not in the direst need of it. You can leave your clothes by the door, I'll see to it my daughter-in-law tends to them. Mind you, it will be tomorrow, after lunch at least, before they shall be ready."

"Well enough. I have other clothes." I hosted my leather saddle bag off my shoulder.

"Well, I should hope so." She settled her skirts, brushing away flour. "Soap and bath sheets are by the door. Are you staying at the Inn? Then I shall bill Ostler for another use and you'll have to pay him. Enjoy, and don't be shy about using the soap. If ya catch my meaning."

Nodding, feeling as vile as I must look, I walked around to the large stone bathhouse. I could see steam rolling out from under the door to join the morning mist that was rising heavy and damp off the marsh. That foggy blanket muted the distant sounds of that swamp, for which I was grateful. If I never heard a frog's bilious croak again it would be too soon. Still, the fog was not entirely unwelcome for other reasons. The cool dampness also seemed to be keeping down the reek of the swamp as well.

As I opened the door, I saw that similar silvery mists were rising off the dark, wet, red skin of Willow.

This bathhouse was not a room of wooden tubs as I had envisioned, but rather a stone-walled chamber with a large sunken pool -- lined with blue glazed tiles -- that steamed. The far wall radiated waste heat from the baker's ovens.

Willow ducked her head under the water and then, reappearing with a splash, shook the water off her horns. They stood proud from her head, far more visibly displayed given that her hair was weighed down wet. "I wondered if you were going to spend the whole night with the horses. Are they okay?"

"They will be fine after a long rest and a few good meals."

She grinned, her fangs prominent, "The same could be said of us."

"True."

Leaning back against the warm tiles, she beckoned to me. "Come on in, Kyle. Join me. This bathhouse is a gift from the old gods."

Feeling a bit self-conscious, I turned my back without thinking about it and stripped off the filthy, swamp drenched clothes. I tossed them upon a pile that I could see included the muddy gear of most of our party.

Turning, I stepped into the warm water, letting it cover me.

"I see the others have come and gone already."

She nodded. "They left quickly. Chasing after food and drink, no doubt. Speaking of which, is that brandy I smell?"

Nodding I stood up, leaned over out the pool and picked up the wooden mug from beside where I had left my weapons. When I turned back she had moved across the pool and was standing very close.

Willow took the cup from my hand. Took a long sip, purred, and then a smaller second sip.

"Yummy. More than worth all that fighting."

This close to me things about her that I had always seem, but never truly paid attention too battled for my attention. The wet sheen of those twin horns drew the eye, but so did the deep red mahogany tone of her skin. Those dark sexy eyes, those full lips, wet with brandy. Even her fangs when she smiled.

"Thank you." She held the cup out for me to take back.

My fingers came to rest atop hers as I touched the cup. "You can have the rest if you wish."

She looked at the darkness of her fingers next to my own lighter skin. "Share it with me. You need it as much as I do, I think. It eases pain." She lifted the cup between us. "Makes the horrors of the battle fall away. Leaves only the more pleasant bits to keep as memories."

I took the sip she offered to me. And then a second.

Licking the sweetened wine from my lips, I looked down the dark well of her eyes. There was a hunger there, and it was directed towards me.

"Willow, I don't think-- "

Her fingers covered my lips, the delicate tips to her claws-like nails touching my nose. Then those dark red fingers were moving around to the back of my neck and she pulled me down towards her. To those fire-touched lips and those delicate fangs. As our lips touched she gave me a light nip. Then her brandy-heavy breath was hot on my neck.

"I feel a need, Kyle," Willow whispered by my ear. "There are better things than brandy to help celebrate a victory."

Then her lips were hard and hot against mine, her fury and urgency making the kiss almost a physical attack. Maybe it was the wine, or maybe it was the way my nerves were still keyed up but either way I felt my protests die almost instantly. I began to kiss her back with a matching passion. And within me, I felt a sudden hunger of my own.

And then I felt something curl around my calf muscle, tickling the back of my knee. At my startled reaction she giggled.

"Just my tail, silly. Never had a tiefling lover before?"

Somehow my hands had found their own way to her hips. The hard muscles and soft skin there was perfectly balanced. "No, can't say that I have."

"Oh? Ummm, well, you're in for a treat." She curled her tail more tightly around my calf, grinned. "And so am I." She licked one of her fangs. "Don't worry, I'll keep my more demonic urges in check. Wouldn't want to break you, after all."

Her tail left my leg and caressed up across my butt and then along my spine. Her claws dug into the skin of my neck, pulling me into her embrace and bringing our lips together again hard.

Bringing us fully together.

Her skin was hot to the touch, whether from the warm water or if that was her natural body temperature was unimportant to me at that particular moment. A question to answer later. Say on a cold night, out in the wilds, when the fire has burned down to coals and any warmth is a blessing.