The Hamlet Streets

[The Carrying Blade]

"The Tavern so that I can finally have a proper meal. A week journey on rations isn't very filling to be honest. Where are you?" Adonis asked.

[Kidney]

Tod looked out at the Hamlet, "I think i'm going to stay up here, enjoy the view, relax."
Tod found that being in the presence of the Abbey brought some happiness to himself, it's towering height almost as comforting as the Pope.

[Vanitypirate]

Tilly let the jerkin slip off with a smooth motion of her arms and fall around her feet, watching him no spared degree of admiration, and amusement at his hip waggle.

Her gaze wandered downwards before she rolled her murkish eyes, pointedly, and gave a small laugh,

"We'll be here forever if we had it your way." She chuckled, draping a noodly arm over his shoulder as he pulled in. So close to his eyes, again, she admired those inkish things as she pulled him close under her hat.

"We have things we ought to get going to, you know?"

She smiled warmly and took advantage of his haplessly pursed lips with an affectionate kiss.

Tilly pulled away, letting a hand trail down his shoulder as she brought her boots and jerkin to the cropping of rock, only a yard or so away. She would go on to stash both boots beneath the rock.

"It's going to get chilly when the sun goes down and our clothes're still wet," She reminded him with a pointed finger waggling in his general direction.

[Bloodtrailkiller]

/Lekalis/

"Hmmmmm" He pondered, obviously, but loudly as he closed his eyes to relish that affectionate kiss; he swayed left and right now, leaning away and pointing his nose up, while not as prominent as Tilly's, was enough to bump it up for him to be satisfied.
"Well... Perhaps we--"
With cat-like grace and speed, he went on his tippy-toes to bite the hem of her hat and pulled it off; with a swift and almost vicious, but no less graceful, flourish of his head, he managed to set the hat between them.

Wherein he reached out with his other arm around her back and pulled her back, close, and with a nigh pirhouetting flourish; only just managing to shift his head from the jousting lance of Tilly's nose. Now, effectively pinning that hat between them, he let go of the rim and swiftly planted a kiss on her cheek.
"--Perhaps we have a bit of my way... Then the rest your way..." He mused, swaying his hips, now impressed upon hers.

He shot her a one-eyed, devilish, squint; silverly charisma glimmering in its inky pool.
"... Just for a little? One last bout, eh? so we can really know eachother." He bargained with his lusting tongue snaking out and giving a quick cat's lick to the corner of her lips.

"Say: we'll get in the water first, get our clothes clean... and while we wait... Well..." He once again let the implications go unsaid as he stole a sidelong kiss from her and let his other hand clasp the scrunched hat between them, to avoid letting it fall to the ground as the distance spread between them again.

"... How does that sound?"

//

[The Carrying Blade]

"Maybe we can meet later then after my meal. If not, then farewell Tod." Adonis said, starting to leave.

[Kidney]

"Perhaps we can, Adonis, Doctor of the Light. May your way be brightly lit." Tod said, smiling like an idiot for coining his own little phrase.

And so he vowed to use it as his official farewell.

[Vanitypirate]

"Hey, now!"

Tilly squinted her eyes closed, giving a quick, short laugh in surprise as she was embraced, although she couldn't altogether deny herself from wrapping her arms about him, too, clasping her hands around his shoulders like a lock, even if the act left her vulnerable to his attack.

"Maybe a little..." She grinned widely and rose her chin,
"While our clothes dry? Once we wash them, of course..."

She let her arms loosen, though they still stretched and extended to reach his shoulders, thankfully, equally level to her own. She scrunched her nose at the kisses.

"...I think it sounds rather lovely."

[Timeskip yo.]

[Bloodtrailkiller]

[Timeskip oy!]

/Lekalis/

Part of him felt bad for wearing his grin so wide, like the cat who ate the canary; though, he supposed, that he was very much a cannibal of a cat, as he hefted his satchel about his chest; the sloop resting easily on his vaguely dried shoulder. His attire was still a bit damp, though they smelled almost pervasively good, with the sharp aroma of cinnamon domineering over the other ingredients he'd used.

Lekalis wiped his hands clean of residue uncouthly across his pants, only barely breaking his nigh oppressively invasive gaze on Tilly. Watching her form with evermore lust, he ultimately sighed, and shook his head before chuckling to himself;
"You're quite the squirmer; I'd think you'd be at least somewhat less writhesome after our bouts..." He mused, as he straightened, having fixed his boots about his feet.
Fully dressed, he sighed heavily; content beyond belief, and leant just as heavily against the woody bark of the tree behind him. He looked up and held back another nigh drunken chuckle, before looking down to Tilly.
"... So soft, still.. Warm; such..." He passionately closed his eyes and squeezed his hands together at his chest,
"... Ahhh; truth be told, I'd thought you to be much less enticing in coitus." He admitted with a shrug and coy grin, his hands coming up defensively as he pulled himself from the tree and stuck his thumbs into the lining of his pants.

"Hmmmhaha~ And your taste..." Lekalis swooned, bringing up a hand to flick a lock of inkish hair behind his ear, raising a brow as he proposed that same arm for her to take and join him in a walk.
"... Mind: I've tasted dates, apples and sweets from across the world and more. I'd trade it all just for a kiss from you." He shamelessly flirted, his wide smile all but happily damning any dignity he had.
"Oh: but everything, I'd give to lay with you for days on end. What a fool I was to toss away my domain for anyone besides you."

//

[Kidney]

Tod sat, for anyone walking towards the front of the Abbey, like a sentinel on vacation. His strange attire and tattoos almost at home when put against the sight of the towering church behind himself, but the smile on his face, and the pale glow of evening sun danced across the stairs, seemed welcoming, to Tod anyway.
He stood, hands in his pockets, staring out at the expanse of house and ruin. But for some reason, it still didn't make Tod frown, for some reason, he felt as if he couldn't be bothered.

[Outisakanobody]

Lance was wandering around, rather dispondant. He'd heard tell that Roderick, the man he was charged with finding and bringing to justice, was dead. It filled himwith a strange swell of sadness. He realized part of it was a sense of failure, as he had not done what he had been ordered to do. But he also felt regret at not meeting the man. Most people spoke well of himin light of his demise, and theboy has always harbored the idea that his quarry wasn't a bad man, but one who simply got in over his head.

This, of course, was all inconsequential now. He was a man without purpose, trapped in what some believed to be Hell itself. His old mentor was indisposed, had been ever since he came across that sword. He respected theold mercenary and his need forprivacy, but regretted theloss of the only friend he knew here.

So with no one to talk to and nothing much to do, Lance found himself on the abbey steps, looking at the horizon, deep in thought.

[Kidney]

Tod was looking at the sun, hands behind his back, when he saw another person among the stairs. He looked at this newcomer, "Well, I appear to be in a popular spot! My name is Tod, come, the Light of day wanes."

[🐴Can🗡️]

It was evening now, in the Hamlet. The small town was wrapped in a rosy blanket, ready to be given away to the darkness of the night. But it wasn’t time yet. As a figure, still untouched by the darkness of these corrupted lands, was letting himself out of the great stone doors of the Abbey which were clad in the same rosy blanket as the other parts of this decrepit place.

That figure was Ariel. His leather armor and gauntlet left inside one of the blank, cold, yet comforting rooms of the Abbey; leaving his light turquoise tunic and left, delicate hand bare. As he gazed at the numerous failing buildings from his positioning at the top of the stone steps; the gentle, surprisingly refreshing wind swept the short sleeves of his tunic and the French-braided ponytail reaching all the way down to his waist, which was painstakingly remade from scratch during his cloister inside the room. There was one building that stood out, much fancier than its neighbours; he could almost tell the jealousy in their cracked, scattered stone bricks.

Making sure everything was well and good once again, Ariel started climbing down the steps, getting more and more anxious with each step taken. While feeling the soft dirt under his thigh-high leather boots made him relax a little, the anxiousness eventually returned as he closed in onto his target, the building getting bigger and bigger with each footprint planted into the mud. There were guards at the door, not helping the situation at all, who stood watch with their backs slouched against the wall.

Ariel, while seemed to be an aristocratic type, was having trouble mustering up the courage to speak to these guards at this moment of time. However, he was hiding this well by gazing at the now towering manor, looking upwards towards the roof of the building.

/Doormen/

Only one guard was left standing, a rather sleepy looking fellow who boasted a nose hooked to rival a parrot’s. His head lilted to one shoulder, and seemed to be looking right at Ariel, before a snore slipped out of his nostrils and woke himself up.

Spying Ariel in the drab atmosphere of the Hamlet, he sprang up; hand on the hilt of his basket-hilt sword and stepped towards the man.

“Oi! No loiterin’! This is the Heir’s home, beggin’ ain’t ‘llowed in… uh, twenty meters o’ the place! Yeh.”

He announced, squaring up and trying his best to look imposing despite his frail frame.

His breastplate was unpolished, and a bit skewed; a strap seemed to be too tight on one side, and too loose on another, while the rolling gambeson on his shoulders did little to make his arms look even basely average.

His cheeks were gaunt, and his lips pursed; though his eyes were hidden behind a veil of shadow from his morion helmet, their wet rheumy nature glimmered despite it.

The Darkest’ regalia was pinned to his shoulder, its colors spattered throughout the getup.

“What’s ya business then?”

He asked, standing on the steps some two meters away, swaying left and right in the idle breeze.

//

Ariel silently waited for the crowd in front of the manor to settle, before lowering his gaze back to the entrance, his ponytail wavering gently in the soft breeze. It was then did he spot the direction of the guard’s, which was a bit unnerving, despite the apparent state of sleep the guard was in.

The sudden springing of the guard caught Ariel off guard, and he jumped from his place a little bit. Readying his voice with a suppressed cough, he spoke up with his usual soft voice: “…Oh, no, sir. I’m not a beggar.” Oh no, do I look like one? He thought frantically for a bit.

He idly adjusted the straps of his bag, then continued with the tie of his embroidered cloak, making sure everything was in place and tidy. “I… I’ve been told that I needed to pay a visit to the Heir of this place in order to get a pass that would allow me and my friend to take a short trip into the woods nearby. …And so here I am.” Ariel said, trying his best not to break eye contact with the guard, which was a bit difficult against an armed unfamiliar person as his eyes involuntarily tried to check the positioning of the guard’s sword hand every once in a while.

/Doorman/

He sniffed, and nodded; snuffing a long yawn with a disinterested wipe over his mug, before nodding. Brows raising, his hands shifted from their combative and ready nature to sassier positions at his hips.

“Mhmm, yeah? Alright…”

The Guard muttered, a hand drifting down to scratch at his inner thigh before going lax at his side. He licked his chops as he looked back to the Home, then back to Ariel with a sigh.

“… Ah, right… Yeah, that’s… That’s usually whatcha gotta do.”

He sighed again and looked up to the clouds, then down to Ariel with a curt nod.

“Sheesh, yeah… No point in gaffin’ about then, come along’en.”

With that, the guard turned and headed back up the steps, opening the door to the Home for Ariel to enter; he made rolling, tired, motions for Ariel to enter.

//

The fact that the guard's hand wasn't on the hilt of a sword anymore was relieving to Ariel. He was disturbed by that for some  reason, most likely because the savage looking man could've easily attacked him while he was defenseless. He took a mental note to not be such a coward next time. He needed to be braver than this.

Ariel responded to the nod of the guard with a nod of his own. "Thank you good sir." He said with a kind tone and proceeded to enter the building, only to be interrupted by an angry looking man who stormed off from the now open door. Ariel looked back at the guard and gave him a raised questioning brow, then continued his long delayed entrance to the Heir's manor, climbing the few steps that lay in front of the door.

[Outisakanobody]

"Lancelot. It is almost sad. Seeing what little light we get her fade away..." the boy says, lapsing further into his melancholic mood.

[Kidney]

Tod turned, looking down on this boy. "Lancelot. Perhaps you should come up here. Your sadness should be shared. It's healthy to talk about your problems."

[Outisakanobody]

"I do not think I should be going around sharing my sadness with strangers, but I will join you just the same, thank you." Lance says as he walks up the steps and stands next to Tod, looking over the town silently.