A Sprouting Affair (Eranor and Krimie)

Eranor sits within the Vulkwasten Guard barracks in half of his uniform, wearing his guards and boots beneath a light blue shirt that held a few tears and rips, small blood stains throughout, and a waistband to tighten the shirt around his stomach. There is no longer anyone else around after Ser Krynger had left, leaving the Bosmer alone within the room. Dirt, scrapes, and dried blood was present in various places on the exposed skin of his arms, to which he had folded in his lap in his seated position on the chair at the side of the cluttered table. His facade appeared dark and downtrodden, physically and emotionally worn, evident by his low hanging eyelids, paled face, and dark bags under his eyes. His eyes were pointed down towards the table, but his gaze seemingly went through it, giving him a lost and depthless look on his face.

He would not have noticed any talking from outside, calling of his name, or the soft sound of the heavy curtains to the barracks opening and closing.

Krimie stood impatiently at the bottom of the ramp to the barracks, wearing her Vulkwasten Guard uniform. She was off duty but hadn't taken the time to change into casual wear. Her arms were crossed over her chest and her left foot was anxiously tapping the ground. She was waiting for Krynger and Eranor to finish their private conversation inside. She was displeased and annoyed with Eranor, after he had dissmissed her from the barracks. After waiting for what seemed like an eternity, Krimie saw Krynger walking down the ramp after exiting the building. She gave him a nod and received back a snarl. As Krynger's back was turned as he left, Krimie stuck out her tongue and gave him an unnoticed rude gesture.

Krimie quickly ran up the ramp and entered the barracks. There her eyes widened as she saw captain Eranor in a dreadful state of tattered clothes and wounded flesh. She rushed up to him, horrified at what she saw, she wrapped her arms around his shoulders as he sat there, a defeated man.

She let out a long sigh."Wot 'ave ya gotten yerself into dis time, love?" Her voice was soft and wheezy. Her vocal chords hadn't fully healed from a recent injury.

Having not noticed Krimie's entrance, Eranor tensed up in surprise with the suddenness of the hold around his shoulders, reflexively trying to wriggle free as his mind was brought back to reality. His eyes focused and went wide, heart pounding as he spun his head around, almost growling as he questioned his with aggressive, demanding tone, "Who is touch-...oh, dear Krimie..." He instantly relaxed as her words and the welcome sight of her face finally played into his thick head, hoping desperately that she wouldn't be pulling away from him because of her backlash. He would try to reach out and pull her into a tight embrace if she wasn't too far away and would allow him.

Upon closer inspection, it would be evident that his cuts and bruises were not immediately recent, and the dirt on his skin would appear dry. They were from his earlier oath-sparring initiation of Melane into the Vulkwasten Guard. The blood was try, the cuts were clotted, and the bruises had darkened.

Krimie was taken a bit back from Eranor's initial reaction, but her trepidation soon faded. She allowed the embrace he initiated. Eranor took Krimie around her arms and set her smaller frame side saddle on his lap. She felt exhilaration as he pulled her to him. Krimie had originally come in the barracks to express her dissatisfaction with how Eranor treated her earlier, but with this loving embrace her attitude changed to a warmhearted nature. She smiled broadly, poking Eranor in the nose. "Ya know love, Aye'm mad at ya, don't ya? "

"Aye...and I'm sorry I had to do that. Krynger had wanted to speak to me privately, and he doesn't like you like I do." He replied, turning his head to look up to her with a hopeful smile under his weary eyes, evident that she would forgive him for the way he had shut her out. "You should throw me in a cell -- I feel terrible for keeping you out like that."

He sighs, his smile fading as he rested his forehead against her shoulder, still holding firmly around her smaller torso and arms, forearm pressing just below her bosom, "He is not a friendly cat."

She gives him a cheeky grin. "Eranor...nobody likes me like you do." She minics taking a key from her belt and pretends to place it in her uniform collar, slipping it down her undershirt. "Dere's yer cell key..no way yer gettin' out anytime soon."

Noticing Eranor's forehead resting on her shoulder, Krime gently strokes his interwoven hair, running her poorly manicured fingers through his tied up locks. Her voice become increasingly consoling. "Aye know love..Krynger's da type of stubborn Khajiit dat 'olds a grudge far too long...Ya think he'd fergivin' me by now fer tryin' ta eat one of his kin....Elsy's fergivin' me fer tryin' ta eat her." She says earnestly.

Krimie noted the multiple superficial injuries and dirt throughout Eranor's body. She shook her head. "Aye've seen goblins in better shape den ya, dear...Aye don' offen say dis, but ya should take a bath."

He let out an ironic, breathy chuckle as she told him about her previous eatings, and allowed her to massage her soft fingertips through his hair. He paid no mind to the uneven edges and lengths of her nails, enjoying the feeling of her comforting him nonetheless, "You tried to eat Krynger's kin and Elsy? Well...he could certainly do to be more forgiving, like our Treethane...you'll have to tell me those stories some time."

He lifted his head from her shoulder after the suggestion to take a bath, then tilted his head down to bring his nose near his tattered shirt, just a few inches above his sternum. Inhaling, his nose wrinkled at the his own smell, "Aye, Krimie...I should go do that."

Eranor unwrapped his arms from around her torso and would wait for her to stand up from his lap, before getting up himself to move across the room to fetch a towel and a change of clothes.

She playfully places Eranor's arms back around her torso, just above her waist. She smiles, "Where do ya think yer goin'?" Before he could answer, she perked up, unbuckled Eranor's arms and ran across the room, fetching a towel. She tosses the towel over to him. " 'ere ya go, love...now..take dis...en yer fresh change of clothes, en go clean yerself."

Krimie raises her left arm and took a quick sniff of her underarm. Her lips pucker and eyebrows raise. "Aye should be taken me own bath." She thinks for a moment. "Think es been 'bout four....or eight months since Aye've taken one" she giggles.

Krimie approaches Eranor and takes the towel from him, wrapping it around his back side, she holds both ends and pulls him towards her until their bellies meet. She looks up to Eranor, smiling flirtatiously. "..so dear, after we get ourselves lookin' shiny en new, Aye'd like ta meet ya by our special tree."

Eranor was sat back in his chair by her, sighing, but smiling, pleased with how he was being catered to. He watched as she ran over to fetch him a towel, and caught it, laying it over his right shoulder as he stood up and pushed off around the table top. He moved more slowly than usual, evident of his fatigue. He coughed awkwardly and perked an eyebrow at the mention of her own bathing habits, but quickly pushed it out of his mind as she took his towel from him and used it as a lasso to pull him close. He smirked, feeling and excited stir in his stomach with the embrace and flirtatious talk she was using with him.

"You truly don't smell too bad, love...you could use a bit of a washing here and there, but the strong scent of the forest on you is enticing...exhilarating to my senses." He replies with her same flirtatious smile, looking down to her, accenting his last words with a brief kiss to her lips.

"And, of course, your wish is my command, Mistress Nightvale," He whispered, giving answer to her request.

After they pulled back from the embrace, Eranor slowed the sway of their arms to something more comfortable for him, given his soreness, but he allowed it to continue.

"I do, as a matter of fact...you know that waterfall, just south of town? The one that leads into that lake with the cave nearby?" He suggested, noticeably more happy than he had been minutes before, holding a warm smile beneath his tired eyes.

Krimie nods attentively as Eranor suggests where to bathe. "Aye know s'actly where dat es. Now...take yer towel and get yer self cleaned up. Aye'm gonna do da same..jus' at me own private location"

Eranor nods, acknowledging her statement, pulling back from their finger minglings and taking his towel back to throw it over his shoulder. "I'll see you in a bit, Krimie," He gives her a wink and turns to start to leave, before stopping himself, slowly turning his head back towards her, eyes narrowed with a playful smirk, "Wait a minute...where are you going to bathe?"

He crossed his arms and stood his ground, intently staring back towards her with suspcious eyes and a knowing grin.

Approaches Eranor and pats him on the back. "Now Captain...do ya really think et's 'propriate fer me, one of yer guardsmen, ta reveal to ya where Aye bathe?" She shakes her head scoffing "Think of da scandal dat could ensure..no?"

Krimie's patience began to wane. She opens the door and begins to walk out, turning around just before she exits. "Besides, Aye think Aye'll keep me private location...private."

Eranor quirks a brow in question, confusion, and curiosity at the response and utterings she had given him upon departure. He nods, sighing shortly as she exited, shaking his head, "Let's keep things slow in mind, Nor-Nor..."

He picks up his assorted pile of clothes and moves to exit himself, briskly stepping towards the door, before stopping at the heavy curtains. An idea occurred to him and an excited smirk came to his face. Waiting for the sound of her tramping down the ramp, he would then slip out and run his way across towards the tavern. Inside, he would quickly and quietly pull some salted and iced meats out from the hanging bags, stick a line of ribs and lower it into the still hot charcoal pit, then throw a selection of salts and sauce on top. He was in and out in less than three minutes before making his brisk run down the path to jump out over the waterfall and into the lake to begin his wash.

Krimie trekked north to the coast and bathed in the sea foam of an inlet beach. It had been far too long she thought. This was one of her favorite areas to relax. She had usually favored the cover of trees, but ever so often she would find herself under the open sun. Being of fair complexion she made sure not to stay out too long as the sun would burn and freckle her skin.

She lied in the shallow water, scrubbing the dirt and grime off with a pumice stone... she drifted asleep.

A few hours had passed. Krimie woke up....her skin was scorched. Her entire body was sunburned, feeling a mild burning sensation throughout. Her once milky colored legs were now as red as her hair.
"Oh dear Y'ffre!...wot 'ave Aye done?"

As she dressed herself, Krimie felt the pain of each piece of garment that touched her skin. Nauseated, dizzy and dehydrated...she knew she had been sun poisoned.

The journey back to Vulkwasten was difficult. Each step was more laborious than the previous. "Krimie, ya as stupid as es ugly," she thought. Her skin had already begun to blister and peel. Especially on her shoulders.

She reached Vulkwasten, smelling the scent of something cooking as she approached the Tavern. The fumes of scorched meat only made her nausea worsen.

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Stick a fork in her....I think she's done. Krimie, baking in the bright sun.

Eranor made quick work of cleaning himself when he bathed, throwing all clothes to the side as he washed himself underneath the waterfall, using his nails to dig through the dirt, grime, and dried blood. He did his best to avoid his scars, those of which were beginning to turn color and become infected. He'd have to find an alchemist to help him, like Alijham, if he could find him. Afterwards, he quickly dressed, gathered up his other tattered clothing, and ran his way back up to the barracks to discard of his worsened clothes.

He skipped over to the tree, and as he had hoped, Krimie had yet to return. Eranor ran back into the tavern, passing by a drunk and wandering Argonian, and found that the meats he had left in the coals had cooked perfectly to medium raw, only scorhing the outside enough to intensify the flavor. He removed the meat from the coals and then brought it out on a platter, along with utensils and two bottles of Rotmeth. That hopeful Bosmer sat down and waited anxiously and excitedly for his lover to return. So he waited, casting a weak and rather pathetic flame from his hand underneath and over the platter every few minutes to keep it warm.

And he waited.

And he waited.

And he waited.

And he waited some more. That meat had long before grown black and charred from the repetitive cooling and heating of it. He sighed, looking out worriedly over the town from his space in the tree, "If she's gone, there won't be any finding her. I'll have to wait for the guards to return from their patrols to go out and find her...maybe she's just taking an extra long bath to get clean. I shouldn't worry yet, in sure she'll be fine. She'll be back soon, I'm sure..."

He picked himself up from the tree, wobbling over towards the tavern to discard of the burnt meat into the coals of the pit. As he was doing this, he heard a scuttling behind him. Eranor spun around and went wide eyed at the sight before him that was a burnt-to-a-crisp Krimie, evident by her red, blistering skin and sickly expression and color of her face, "Krimie, dear...just stop right there. Let me help you." He'd waste no time in getting prepared, grabbing several clean dish towels (imported from Elsweyr), a pitcher of water, and a cup. Eranor hold all of this on, around, or with his right hand. He took the chance of only touching her back, leading her with gentle touch towards a chair near the exit but out of the sun. Upon sitting her down, he would kneel down and grab a glass of water for her, handing it to Krimie to see if she would take it while he dipped a towel into the pitcher and started to dab at her exposed skin, "By Y'ffre, Krimie...I thought we were going to meet back soon after. You've burnt your beautiful face...would you like me to serve this water to your lips?"

Krimie's lips were swollen and blistering...she was a sight to see. Not hideous, but more of a pitiful creature with blistering, red, peeling skin. She initially shook her head and waved her hand in front of her mouth. Then, realizing that a treatment of cold water and medicinal herbs would be best, she allowed Eranor apply the water.

"Aye s'pose et's fer da best, love" she offers a warm smile "for da sooner me lips heal...da sooner dey are kissable"

(Taken from private messages between Ebonwind and Honey Badger)

It has been almost two years since the Bosmer couple had experienced any sense of normalcy in their relationship. Krimie has spent the majority of the time raising her children with some help from her young, sickly sister, Kraytune. With her youngest sister Kira away with her husband Find and her father, Kramkoo off to Grahtwood in his conquest for women, Krimie has remained the head of the Nightvale household (podhold?).

Upon Eranor's return from his campaign in Cyrodiil, he had suffered numerous battle scars, both physical and mental. The trauma he had experienced in battle had left him in a relentless state of confusion and amnesia. He had little or no recollection of Krimie or his other friends, including the seductive Hloriella. With his mind unable or unwilling to accept his reality, Eranor fell in to some sort of regressive canine state. Perhaps it was do to his prior experience as a werewolf...or perhaps it was something he ate at the tavern. Nevertheless, Eranor believes himself to be a dog and for the past year Krimie has attempted, with moderate success, to rekindle the mer Eranor once was.

Eranor fell to rock bottom before coming to live with Krimie once again. His self destructive mental state was only aided in the overtaking of the wolf. His humanity is dormant, far in the back of the mind, needing extensive long term nurturing to be roused to a functional state. He is defensive of those who take care of him, those who he loves, which is the entire family to which he created with Krimie.

Krimie would rarely take Eranor out in public. It was to protect his reputation as former captain of the guard. She would however bring him and the children to visit close friends, including Elsy and Ali, but she would always fear how strangers would react to him. Krimie's romantic aspirations were in hiatus. The last romantic relationship of hers was in fact Eranor, before he left for Cyrodiil. Her priority was her children and she would be thankful for the assistance her sisters gave, as well as the the love Eranor expressed for them. Her secondary priority was the rehabilitation of Eranor's 'humanity'. She did her best to remind him of who he was once-taking him to locations of his past that he had once described to her. Krimie would even swallow her pride and take Eranor to visit Hloriella and her family. Anything to rekindle Eranor the Mer. Krimie would be first to admit that she still felt something for her children's father and would not hesitate to be affectionate towards him. Even if this only meant a face covered in drool from Eranor's enthusiastic wet tongue. She knew, however, that if Eranor became himself again it would not guarantee anything past a warm friendship.

Slowly, Eranor would be learning again. Krimie would be identified as a leader...possibly, itching towards something closer. He'd be closest to her in public. Try to rest by her at night. Coddle the children and spend time with them. He'd show love for them in his less capable state. It's a sad irony, that he's more loving as a dog than he was as a father. He is capable of taking care of them in his own way.

Currently, Krimie is at a place with Eranor where she feels he can occasionally appear in public. The life center of Vulkwsasten is the tavern, where most of the town's inhabitants socialize and commune. It is here Krimie will begin the final stages of Eranor's reintroduction to society.