Last edited by 97cweb at 2026-07-26 22:14:41.647171
“So...what happened?” I tentatively ask.
Lena breathes in, lowers her head and just...sits there.
“It’s ok if you don’t-”
“I had a life.”
I nudge her far shoulder, pushing her slightly into me as we sit on the bed, staring at the table with the large box of glassware.
“I had a life where I was testing what reacts with what, how much, how fast, while also extracting stuff from the plants I gather.”
“A herbalist?”
“Herbalist/chemist,” she says flatly.
“I was actually quite good. Did not discover anything, but made some interesting salts, some smelled, some of various colours, some that liked oil, others, water. Many mistakes too, but I learned.”
She breathes in, as if to say something, but then stops. She sits up, no longer leaning on my shoulder, and looks at me intently, as if weighing what is about to occur. Then she speaks.
“And I loved. Met a nice dwarf that was into salts as well. One thing led to another and...”
She breaks down, crying. I pull her close, hugging her sideways, unsure of what is next.
She steadies her breathing and flattens her skirt. Then looks down at her hands resting on her knees.
“We were to be married...within the year.”
“Oh?” I ask.
“Don’t hate me! Let me finish!” She lets out, then quickly covers her mouth at how loud she was. Recomposing herself, she continues.
“Then Thallion got sick. It was slow. Some days he would be fine, but over time, he lost fine control of his hands. Then the shakes. He got so bad he couldn’t even write! Had to close up his job and just sit there. Eventually he ran out of money and time and came to me, shaking.”
I pull her closer, and pet her hair, almost brushing it.
“Of course I helped! He’s my brother. I dropped everything, moved up here where the air is supposedly more healing, and there was a teaching job. I packed up everything, but him!”
More sobbing. I reach up to brush the hair from her face. She swats my hands away.
“He...He stayed. Wanted to do more with the salts. Said he was on a breakthrough. We agreed to be together, and marry when I returned. We sent letters to each other. But they slowly became less and less frequent. Last one, this past fall, he said...he said he found another woman! Even sent a sketch of the two of them together. Apologized for the suddenness, but...said he could not keep his life on hold any longer.”
I pull her close, unsure what to say. She allows me to, and she presses her face into my chest.
“Just, don’t hate me. I’m used goods. Past my prime. Out of love. Nearly out of time. I pick herbs for the town, but no one needs refined stuff. Every now and then the most complex thing is oil root extract for bad infections. Child’s play.”
I sit for a while, just holding her, sitting with her presence, her scent, and try to comfort her as much as possible.
“You aren’t used goods.” She hiccups and sobs. “Here I was thinking that you were just always here. No, what I now see is someone who’s been through a lot. My only question is, even with all that, do you still love Thallion?”
“Yes!”
“Then it’s settled. You love deep, you care deep, and you are smart. That is all I need.”
“But..I don’t want to lead you on.”
“Lead me on?”
“You really going to make me say it?”
I just sit there, concerned, as if the rest of this conversation has not already been hard enough.
“I...like you, but more than just a friend...?”
“...oh.”
“Don’t get weirded out!” She stares up at the ceiling. “Why am I saying this now of all times! Look, I like you, I want to get to know you more, but I am used. Don’t you get it? Someone else got to know me!”
“...And?”
“And?! And?! That is the whole thing! I was nearly tied to another person, that would have made me inseperable to them! ‘To death do us part’ and all that. And you just say ‘And’?”
I sit there for a while, reflecting on all that she says. “You are not out of time. In fact, if anyone is out of time, it’s me.”
“What?!”
“I may seem more mature, but I have never been with anyone, in any way. I only had friends of convenience, where I was convenient for them to have around. Even counting these, I still had less than 3 friends! When it comes to all of...this, I have no clue what I am doing!”
I breath heavily, and try to calm my racing heart.
“Thing is, you are closest to a friend I ever had, and we are not even of the same species.”
“And?”
“And? Different species...how do I say this...parts don’t work together? A cat and a goat cannot make a catgoat?”
“What about Eldrin?”
“What about him? I count him as a friend, but I don’t see how this connects.”
“The HALF orc?”
“You mean...mixed species are a thing here? And common?”
“Common?! More like default. Trying to find someone that is ‘pure lineage’ and all that, more likely to be some rich asshat whose line last did something 400 years ago, and every 3rd child dies of some random disease.”
“What about with...other species?”
“There are limits, but it seems like if they can speak, then...” She blushes and hides her face, “’parts’ work.
“Oh.”
We both sit in the awkwardness for a bit, just staring at our hands.
“I would like to try,” I say.
She snaps her head up looking at me with wide eyes. Thinking for another second, I realize what I said.
“Not like that! What I meant was, I want to know you more, best friend I ever had, and if it becomes more, so be it. I just need help to see what I need to do.”
She sits there staring at me, a look of shock on her face, and then tackles me, although the tackle barely shoves me over, I let it take me to lying on her bed, where she kisses me on the cheeks, and hugs me close.
“Thank you! Thank you for giving me another chance!”
“Just...can we go slow?”
“Whatever you want, just...yes.” She lets out between kisses, eventually going for my lips. I pull back.
“What’s wrong?”
“Just, never did this before.”
“Oh. Here, let’s sit up.”
We both do, sitting half on the bed staring at each other.
“Now,” she starts, “lean in, close your eyes, and do what feels natural.”
I squeeze my eyes shut, lean in, and do a kiss face like I saw in the 3 hallmark movies I watched.
We kiss. Immediately I suck air in, and my eyes relax. I wrap my arms around her and go in for another, turning my head slightly, and bop into her nose. Giggling, I try again, reaching behind her head, remembering the image of the end of WWII in Europe with the sailor.
Seconds later, hours later, we break apart.
“You sure you have not done this before?” Lena asks with a playful look.
“I am sure, but I wouldn’t mind more.”
She laughs, and it is the sweetest sound I ever heard.