RP:A Spring Fling

From HollowWiki

This is a Devout's Guild RP.


Summary: Khitt and Brand attend a Spring-themed ball in Elimdor, held by a coven of witches, where they end up making a big decision regarding their future.


The Elimdorei Hotel, Rynvale

Khitt || It was the first day of spring! And with it came the inevitable torrential downpour of rain on the same day as the Elimdorei Hotel’s annual spring ball. Because of course it did. It was so bad, it was nearing hurricane status, but the ball was moved to the inside of the hotel, because rich people be crazy and if they didn’t have a ball, they’d probably riot, or at the very least all of the women would turn into wereKarens because they spent so much money on their dresses and hairdos and makeup and they were NOT going to miss this event. Certainly not because of tHe wEaThEr. Khitt and Brand were there as well, of course, and once they arrived and went inside, they were advised by someone near the door that it’d probably be best to at least stay the night until the storm died down.

Khitt || “Oh no. I guess we’re stuck here,” Khitt said in a monotone voice to Brand, feigning disappointment. “Forever.” But, Khitt had plans. “I guess it’s a good thing I made reservations to stay here for several days, ahead of time. Alone. Without children and crew members and endless hours of paperwork to bother us. -Forever.-” He whispered that last ‘forever’ in a somewhat ominous fashion. He had very carefully managed to send a bunch of extra luggage ahead to the hotel and somehow, Brand had not noticed, as fixed as she was on finding a dress for the ball. He really wasn’t sure -how- he managed it, to be honest, but Camina and her stealthy ways had been a big part of it.


Brand || Things had, in fact, changed after Brand’s journey through their subconscious. Viera earned herself a little island cottage off the coast of Rynvale, a place of her own where she and the Herzeglers wouldn’t have to interact if they didn’t want to. Brand was still spending most of their time in a feminine form -- but now it was by choice, and that alone made a world of difference.

Brand || Even Brand’s masculine side had gotten a little into picking out a dress for the upcoming ball. There was something he could appreciate about the aesthetics of it all -- layer after glorious layer of fabric, each delicately stitched in such a way as to add to the form and beauty of the piece as a whole. A finely tailored dress was nothing less than a work of art, and that at least was something he could understand.

Brand || They finally picked a dress a few days before the ball, and the feminine Brand had pulled out all the stops in gussying up the rest of her to be ‘worthy’ of it. The dress itself was shades of forest greens with black leaf embroidery; Brand had painted on her makeup in such a way as to evoke the image of a faerie spirit, straight out of one of Khitti’s storybooks. She’d turned her hair a fierce shade of red bold enough to rival Khitt’s. Nested amongst the elaborate braids and twists, a glittering hairpiece took the form of a bird or a flower depending on the angle it was viewed from.

Brand || Considering all the effort and time she’d put in, it was a damn good thing she was capable of magicking them up a bubble of protection from the rain and the wind.

Brand || “Ugh. That’s fine. I never want to go outside again. Not if it’s gonna be like -that-.” Ironic, coming from someone who looked like a woodland sprite. But she seemed to appreciate the humor in it even as she said it… or maybe she was just relieved to hear that Khitt had booked them several days of freedom.


Khitt just smirked at Brand and smooched her forehead before leading her down to the restaurant, which had been turned into a ballroom for the duration of the party. He’d “allowed her” (he wanted it, but he’s just too tsundere to say it) to give his usual black eyeliner a hint of green around the edges to match her own and had her weave small flowers into his braid. His black tux was not at all as spectacular as Brand’s dress (sometimes masculine clothes were seriously disappointing), but the shirt he wore underneath was the same shade of green as her dress with similar leaf embroidery on the lapels and his cufflinks were made to look like firelilies.

Khitt || As per usual each year with the majority of the major holidays, the witches of Elimdor were the hosts of the ball, that of which was used as a celebration of the end of winter and the rebirth of nature for the new year, and for some it even served as a fertility ritual. Usually most of their work was done for them, as they typically used a clearing at the edge of the forest nearby, but that wasn’t possible today thanks to the rain.

Khitt ||This time around, however, the restaurant had been enchanted to look like the forest clearing at night, complete with grass you could actually touch, a breeze you could actually feel, and flowers that could actually be smelled--there were even rabbits hopping around and birds flying about. The tree branches were decorated with brightly colored eggs on strings that glowed, working together to light the place up along with fireflies and will-o-wisps that were scattered here and there. Around the outside of the area, tables were set up (some for food, some for drinks, and others to be sat at), allowing guests to sit and chat and watch the rest of the partygoers if they wish. And in the middle of it all was the dance floor, which had been covered in a huge patch of softly glowing wildflowers that never seemed to be crushed, despite the several couples that were already dancing there to a fast paced folk song. It was definitely far more spectacular than any ball they’d been to in the past.

“Well,” Khitt said finally after taking it all in. “What do you want to do first?”


Brand actually flailed a bit. "This is so frakking amazing. Like, look at the detail on these illusions. They've outdone themselves this year." She paid a lot more attention to such things since gaining illusion magic for herself. Knowing the amount of work that went into such an elaborate spell gave it so much more cause for appreciation. "Dance floor first. I want to see what it looks like from the inside." And she pulled him into the throng.


Khitt couldn’t help but grin at Brand’s flailing. She was just too cute when she got excited about things. Thankfully for Khitt, Brand had pulled him into the middle when the last song was ending and a waltz took its place. "Oh good. Something I actually know how to dance to." He took the lead, just as he'd always done whenever he actually got Brand to dance with him, and put one hand at her waist while the other entwined with one of her own. He took things slowly at first, trying to get the muscle memory from Khitti's side of things to work properly with his body--it ended up working better than his attempts at making bread recently. As he got more and more used to it, he eventually spun her a bit before falling back into the dance steps again.

Khitt || It was almost as if they were the only two there. The lights from their various sources sparkled in the darkness, seemingly dancing along with the music as well. It was all incredibly pretty from the inside looking out, but Khitt was only focused on Brand. The more he stared at her the more a certain question he'd been mulling over for a while did a waltz of its own in his head. He was somewhat anxious about even bringing it up, and while that part didn't show on the outside, he at the very least looked like he was thinking about something.


Brand was never really much of a dancer, so she wasn’t any more or less awkward in this form compared to normal. It took her a while to get used to the pattern of the dance steps, but once she did she could finally stop watching her feet and instead look out at all the beautiful sights surrounding them -- the other dancers, the enchanted treetops, dresses and suits and skirts and blouses and waistcoats in a flurry of colorful fashion. She was so enamored by it that it took her several minutes to realize Khitt had been staring at her with a strange look on his face for gods only knew how long. “...What?”


Khitt || "Oh, uh. Nothing," Khitt said, going all wide-eyed for a moment and blushing profusely. "You just..." He paused, taking the chance to give her another spin and look at Brand in all her shimmery, fae-like glory. "You look really beautiful." He pulled her back to him and kissed her. He definitely looked like he was thinking about more than just that, but it was obvious that he was failing to work up the nerve to say anything about it.

Khitt || The song eventually ended and he sighed. Maybe he shouldn't ask. Maybe she'd changed her mind about having more kids. Maybe she didn't want to, now that she was able to switch bodies again, and she wasn't permanently bound to this form. Maybe the old Brand didn't want to either. The urge to stress eat bubbled up from out of nowhere (it wasn't really out of nowhere though, but he wasn't going to admit that to himself). "Let's take a break for a minute and get something to drink. And maybe some cake..." Khitt kissed Brand again, this time on her forehead, and started to make his way to the food area, holding her hand along the way.


Brand certainly sensed that there was more to Khitt's thoughts than he was letting on, but it was hard to call him on it when she didn't have the faintest idea what it might be.

Brand || She allowed him to lead her to the refreshments. By the time she'd perused all her options and picked out a few of them, she had all but forgotten about Khitt's mysterious behavior. "I think we might be staying here a while," she shouted to him over the chatter and the music. "I found the pigs-in-blankets, and they are -delicious-."


Khitt smirked at Brand as he snatched up two fruity-smelling pre-made cocktails from the drink table. He took a second, sniffed it, squinted at it, then drank a good portion of it. Hmm. That's definitely whiskey. And... strawberry? Yes, that was definitely strawberries muddled at the bottom of the glass. But what else was that... "Oh my god." It was mint. He downed the rest of the glass, set it on the table, grabbed up another full one, and headed over to Brand. "Drink this," he said, shoving it at her.

Khitt || He eyed the food beside her for a moment, grabbed a plate, put way too many pigs-in-blankets on it, as well as a few slices of cakelog, and motioned with his head in the direction of an empty table,"Come on. We can always get more."

Khitt || Remembering what it was he was actually supposed to be doing, Khitt took another big drink of alcohol. "Do you... uh..." Mmm, nope. Still too nervous. Time for some cake. "You know what this whole ball is for... right? Besides celebrating Spring?" He stuffed more cake into his face, attempting to not look like a total caveman while he did so.


Brand || Oh, poor Brand. She picked the wrong moment to stuff her face full of candied plums. Or, Khitt picked the wrong moment to bring up a delicate topic. Either way, Brand was now choking on a piece of plum that had lodged itself in her throat instead of responding to a perfectly normal query from her perfectly normal spouse. She coughed it up quickly enough, sure, but any chance of acting calm and genteel about the question was long gone by the time she could speak.

Brand || “Uh. Yep, the spring season is considered under the domain of the gods that control fertility.” She was still coughing a little in between words, and her eyes had gone teary from the exertion. “Why… why do you ask?” She had a sense of where Khitt was going with this, of course, but it was better to let him lead the conversation while she tried to soothe her throat with some of that strawberry cocktail.


Khitt || Despite the red hair and obvious lack of Catalian features, Khitt seemed rather like Dominic right now. The first one, that is. He just sat there and watched as Brand choked briefly and then promptly rescued herself. He almost killed her! Clearly that meant that the conversation was cursed! Khitt wanted to just melt into a puddle and slink off all liquidy-like to a drain somewhere, with the hopes of never being seen again.

Khitt || "Y-yeah. That. I--. We--." Khitt sighed heavily. "Why am I so bad at this?" He put his face on the table, then turned his head to look at her as she recovered. "According to these memories from Viera, I was like this when I proposed too. I can lecture my students for hours about the ins and outs of necromancy or archery or talk to people all day at the bakery, but I can't ask the person I've known for nearly five years, been intimate with for nearly as long, and literally married whether or not they still want to have more kids. But, I know things have changed again since it was last talked about and I suddenly realized, despite all the planning and paying Camina way too much money to bring our stuff here ahead of time, that you might not want that anymore. So I just started panicking and this--" He motioned to himself and Brand, indicating the awkward near-death experience. "--is the result."


Brand was quiet for a long time, though she did drag her chair closer to Khitt and rested her head against his shoulder while she considered her response.

Brand || "I... absolutely didn't want kids, and for most of my life I didn't think that would ever change. To think I'd go from that to us having Dominic to even wanting more afterward... well, it's strange to think about."

Brand || She took a deep breath and, steeling her nerves, looked Khitt in the eyes. "I'm sure, though. I'm sure I want more with you, and... I may or may not have researched some spells that are tied to tonight's ritual, if that's what we both want. I mean, if it's not too weird." Her cheeks were getting redder and redder, and she was starting to stumble over her words. So much for steeling her nerves. "What I'm trying to say is, um..." Nope. She buried her face in Khitt's sleeve, too embarrassed to look at him any longer. In a string of hurried, muffled speech, she asked Khitt if he wanted to be the father this time, because she really wanted to experience being a mom. Khitt's answer would depend on whether or not he could even understand what the heck she was saying, unfortunately, and that surely couldn't be easy.


Khitt || It took a moment or two for Khitt to process what Brand had said. "Well... I was going to suggest going back and forth and seeing who gets pregnant first, but..." He put a hand to her chin to lift it and get her to look at him again. "This is fine too. And no, it's not weird. I might've done some research myself. Turns out that wine that was supposed to be Delisha's part in my vampirism cure is made of nothing but aphrodisiacs and herbs that help with fertility. Which uh... explains why I got pregnant so fast, even with those teas you were giving me." He gave her a kiss and finally released her chin, taking up her hand instead and lacing their fingers together. "I had Camina get a bottle of it, and some candles, and a few stones with Selene, Zaytor, Delisha, and Hind's symbols etched into them. I, uh... wasn't really keen on a bunch statues just sitting in there staring at us while we..." Yeah no. That's more awkward than this conversation.


Brand pulled back in surprise. "Oh, wow, you -really- planned this. I was gonna say, by 'researched some spells' I meant 'found Viera's spellbook, stole it and brought it with us.' But your plan was -way- more thought out." She put a finger to her chin and her gaze to the sky. "Hmm. Nope, didn't think that one through. She's gonna be real mad if she ever realizes what she -thinks- is her spellbook is actually the sprout's copy of The Cherenstein Chickens with a quick illusion spell over it. I guess I figured worrying about that was a problem for Future Brand."


Khitt just blinked at Brand. Several times. Then he grabbed her and kissed her again. It wasn’t one of those quick smooches either. It was definitely one that usually led to -a lot- of sex soon afterward. “Have you done any other bad things lately that I should reward you for?” How--and why--do their conversations always go this way? From awkward, to serious, and then right to the sex. What the heck.

Khitt || “But yeah, I just didn’t want the opportunity to go by, if you did want to do this,” Khitt said, clearing his throat and trying to contain himself for now. “And even if you didn’t, I still wanted to spend time with you anyway, so we would’ve come here regardless.” He paused and squinted at nothing in particular. “Also, I think you should be less worried about Viera’s wrath and more about Dominic’s. At least Viera is predictable. Mostly. More predictable than the kid is anyway.”


Brand gave him an overly dramatic gasp. “You wanted to spend time with me? Whaaat? Peach, I’m flattered, but you should know I’m already married. But maybe… just this once couldn’t hurt. Don’t tell Khitti.” Just to add to the act, she batted her eyelashes at him and smiled sweetly before planting a single big kiss on his lips. “Honestly, I thought you’d be mad. About Viera’s spellbook, I mean. I didn’t exactly run it by you first, and we’ve obviously seen that she’s willing to take out her grudges against me on the both of us.”


Khitt just smirked at Brand and blatantly rolled his eyes at her. “I would -never-,” he said, with regards to telling Khitti. “You should probably tell her you're leaving her for someone better though.” He shrugged and grabbed his glass to finish his drink. “I think she has other things to worry about right now. Besides, she was apparently punished by Cire the last time she tried messing with me. She will probably be pissed, but… I don’t know if she’ll go that far again. She had nothing to lose before, because she didn’t have a body--now she does. Things change when you’re not undead anymore.” Khitt side-eyed the ground, coughing awkwardly. “Plus it’s kind of hot. Haven’t exactly gone around beating up bad guys much lately like we used to, so you stealing things and being chaotic that way will suffice for now.”

Khitt || Off to the side, the witches that were running the show started to stir and set things up for their ritual. “Do we want to stick around for this? Or do we want to do our own in our room? I wasn’t expecting a whole spellbook along with the stuff I brought. Maybe Viera’s got something more, uh… potent in there.”


Brand didn’t spend long thinking about it. “Let’s stay and watch. We can still do our own thing too, but I think their spell is as much entertainment as it is anything else. Plus, I still want to dance more.” She scarfed down the last of her food, downed the remainder of her drink, then rose and held out a hand for Khitt to join her. “I promise we’ll save enough energy for, uh, the important stuff afterward.”


Khitt nodded and shovelled down his own food and let Brand pull him along back to the middle of the area. The witches weren’t quite ready yet, so the festivities continued. The next song was another upbeat type, the ones where all the dancers would hold hands now and then to dance around in circles and switch partners now and then. There was much laughter and happiness all around and it reminded Khitt somewhat of the festivals back home.

Khitt || It continued on for at least another half hour or so, until the high priestess of the coven announced their intent to start the ritual. They asked for everyone to gather near the altar that had been made up, to mind the salt circle on their way in, and to take a seat next to an available flower pot, whether in pairs with their partner or alone. Khitt led Brand to one away from everyone else and helped her to sit before taking a seat himself. Several of the witches wandered around the area with a small box in hand, letting those that were participating pick a random flower seed from within. “You pick one,” Khitt said, nudging Brand with a smirk. After one was chosen, the group was then instructed to put it into the soil already in the flower pot and cover it up.


Brand shuffled her hand around in the box before blindly pulling out a seed. The one she'd picked was rather large compared to the others, with three separate teardrop shapes that converged at their tips to form something that looked vaguely akin to an animal's paw. She'd never seen such a seed before; but then, she was hardly a botanist. She showed it to Khitt with a look that asked, 'Do you know what the frak this is?' before planting it into the dirt.

Brand || Meanwhile, the lead witch droned on. Brand tried not to squirm in her seat too much as she listened. She was interested -- really, she was -- but she was also getting antsy with thoughts of what would come after. And not just the sex, but the weeks after, when they'd find out if the spell had worked. The months after, when she could be whisked away into a world of strange and new experiences. The years after, when the two of them together would see how their family had grown. It was hard to wait when she wanted it all -now-, and all at once.


Khitt just shrugged at Brand, with a look of 'hell if I know'. He eyed his partner, noting how she looked antsy--he got the same way often, after all. He said nothing, so as not to disturb the group and the witch, as she asked everyone to place their hands on the flower pot and focus their thought dba energy on it as she recited the ritual's spell. Instead, he took up her hand, gave those three squeezes, and kissed her cheek.

Khitt || “With the blessings of the earth, and the life within the soil, you are reborn in the eyes of the gods,” the high priestess said, loud enough for all to hear. The way things had been set up, each verse of the spell something new happened to the flower pot. For earth, the whole thing glowed a deep green and the smell of freshly turned soil filled the air.

“With the blessings of air, may knowledge and wisdom be brought to you upon the winds.” And for air, it glowed a pale yellow and a warm spring breeze blew past them.

“May the fire of the spring sun bring growth and harmony into your life,” she continued. The pot now glowed orange and the heat of the coming summer took hold of the room for a moment.

“And with the blessings of water, may the chill and darkness of winter, be swept away by the warm spring rains.” As the last of the element-themed verses were spoken, a small cloud formed over the top of the soil. It let out a bit of rain, watering the seed before dissipating.

Khitt || The high priestess closed the ritual, adding that while the seeds--and the flowers they’d grow into--were for good luck in the new season, that luck had now been further focused onto whatever thoughts and energy everyone put into their plant. “Oh good. I wished for ten barrels of the best whiskey in Lithrydel. That’s what I was supposed to think about, right?” Khitt was joking, of course. Maybe.


Brand gave Khitt a small pat on the thigh. “Ordinarily, that would be my line. But I guess that’s just one more thing that’s topsy-turvy lately, isn’t it?”

Brand || Everyone else was rising out of their seats, talking quietly amongst themselves as they departed the circle. Brand watched them pass by for a while before standing to join them. “I guess that’s it, then. I’m sure there will be more dancing before everyone turns in for the night, but if it’s all the same to you… I think we should head to our room early.” Any other time, Brand might have winked or wiggled her eyebrows suggestively, but her nerves were starting to get to her and so all she managed was a faint smile.


Khitt stood as well, frowning somewhat at that smile. “Alright.” Without warning, he picked her up, carried her to the front desk for their key (he’d let Brand carry that though), then continued carrying her to their room. Every once in a while along the way, he eyed her carefully. “You know we don’t have to do this right now, right? I really should’ve talked to you about this way before we even got here...” Khitt put Brand down, letting her unlock the door. “We can just… go to bed and maybe go into town tomorrow or something?” He was starting to feel bad for springing (haha) this on her at the last minute. He just wanted Brand to be happy, and despite what she’d said, he couldn’t help but wonder if she was having second thoughts about it already.


Brand blushed and waved a hand at him in a hurried dismissal. “No, no, I want to. I just…” She held up a finger as if to say ‘hold that thought’, unlocked the door, and ushered them both inside. She gave the room a quick once-over and put the potted plant down on a table near the window before continuing. “I just get weirded out if I think about it for too long, y’know? There are so many things that could go wrong. And, what if we do this and I get pregnant and I realize I don’t actually want to be? Which makes no sense given everything we’ve been through recently, I know. But I worry about it all the same. Especially right now, since it’s basically the point of no return.” She was pacing back and forth as she said all this, she realized. She forced herself to stop and take a few deep breaths, hands fanning her face. “I want to do this. I know I want to. I just didn’t think I’d get so gorram -nervous- about it.”


Khitt followed her into the room, stepped in front of her, and put his hands on her shoulders to stop her from pacing. “It will be -fine-. And if you decide you don’t want to continue things if you get pregnant, you have the same option I had to consider thanks to that curse. I’m not just gonna force you to go through something you don’t want to go through, alright?” He kissed her forehead and sighed, then went to go dig through the luggage that had been left in the room for them.

Khitt || “Look. Go change into something more comfy while I set stuff up. You’re gonna sit on this floor with me and you’re gonna talk to Selene. Or try to meditate for a few minutes. Or something. Nothing’s going to happen until I know you’re not having a panic attack anymore.” Despite being very much not a woman right now, Khitt definitely had his mom voice on. It felt weird, but damn it, he didn’t know how else to get her to calm down.


Brand || As Khitt turned away from her, Brand grabbed his wrist to stop him. There was a certain desperation in her eyes that hadn't been there a moment ago, something quieter than panic. Something almost like the looks they'd give one another years ago whenever they caught themselves in a moment of unexpected intimacy -- a forbidden kind of longing. Back then, Brand would have done anything to mask that expression quickly and pretend it hadn't happened. She did nothing of the sort now.

Brand || "Khitt. Khitti." She invoked his original name, the one he'd had when they met. When they fell in love. When they got married. "I need to know, is this really you? Are you okay with what's happening right now? With what we're about to do?" She was searching his eyes for the answers, even before he could respond. "I need to know this is what -you- want too, that you're not just going along with it all for my sake." Her gaze fell away, and so did her grip. Her voice, when she spoke again, was barely above a whisper. "We spent enough of our lives lying to each other already. I just wanted to make sure."


Khitt saw that desperation and shifted his attention to Brand's hand on his wrist. Crimson brows furrowed as he listened to her, but he still couldn't look at her again just yet. He grabbed her hand as she pulled away, not letting her move away if she chose to, now that she'd stirred things up. "I've always been "really me". I'm just..." He hesitated, trying to find a better way to say things, but ultimately could not. "I'm just... kind of jealous, to be perfectly honest. I was the only one that wanted this family for so long. I -died- for it, because I wanted it so badly. I know you died too but... It's not the same. It happened because of Viera. Because she made it so. You wouldn't even be like this if not for her--if we hadn't gone to that godsdamned archipelago. Everything is so different now. Everything's changed. We've both changed and I don't know how to deal with any of this beyond doing what you told me to do years ago. ‘Just keep running.’ I just... have to keep going and pressing on."

Khitt || Tears had started to well up in his eyes and it made him angry. "I didn't mind you being a jerk. Or not always telling me you loved me. Because I'm pretty much the same way--and this body has made that so much worse." He motioned at his current self with his free hand. "It felt like we were equal, in a sense... And now I just feel left behind. I've changed, but not as much as you. The memories of that life she made for us are there but I was never like this," he said, gesturing at Brand's extreme femininity. "So there wasn't as much change for me as there was for you." The tears finally started to flow freely, but he made no effort to wipe them away. "And I'm the one that's gotta grieve for what we used to have, for how we used to be, because you've already moved on."

Khitt || "I do want to do this with you. I just want you to be happy and for you to experience things you would not have been able to otherwise, if you really want to. But I still can't just forget that years ago I used to feel how you do now. That I'd be the one asking for this, if she hadn't messed with things. That I might actually have a chance at a normal pregnancy. I wanted it so badly and it was ruined. And you just... you more or less get it handed to you on a silver frakking platter, with a side of brainwashing." He released her hand finally, moved to sit on the edge of the bed, and started wiping at his eyes with his coat sleeve.


Brand settled onto the bed next to Khitt and wrapped an arm around his waist. "This hasn't been easy for either of us, although I suspect it's been in different ways. And I don't just mean the things Viera did, but the stuff before that, too. I've felt scared, mostly. So much changed all at once. We've sat and talked about some of the recent stuff, at least, but the stuff from around when Dominic was born? Onyx and Amarrah and Facilier? You dying and coming back? It all seems like a blink now. We barely had time to process it, much less get to a mental space where we could talk about it properly." She gave his knee nearest her an affectionate squeeze. "But you know you -can- talk to me whenever you need to, right? You know where to find me. As for the pregnancy... we already agreed to at least one more kid. Are you sure you don't want this next one? I can wait, if you need me to. Or... there's always the idea you mentioned earlier, of switching back and forth and basically letting fate decide."


Khitt || “It wasn’t anything that I really needed to talk about until now… I was fine. Because I had to be. Because I had things to do and people to take care of now. I couldn’t just dwell on it and do nothing else. I ended up doing that with that whole situation in Venturil and look where that got me,” Khitt said, finally taking off his jacket and unbuttoning the first few buttons of his shirt for some air. “And… no.” He sighed. “I don’t want to do that. I don’t want to be the one to get pregnant and then you come to resent me or something. That would be so much worse for me.” Turning somewhat, he looked at her and put a hand against her cheek. “Things should be about you for once. Especially after what you’ve been through the past two years.” It hadn’t even just been all the stuff with Viera either. Khitt had not forgotten about Brand getting kidnapped by Jessamine and James. “I’m sorry… I just really didn’t know how to say any of this. It’s just been building up and I have no one else I can talk to about it and I just didn’t want to put that on you. Not when I know you want this as much as you do.”


Brand nodded slowly, taking it all in. "All right. If you're sure. But if something changes, I want you to let me know. Deal?" She didn't wait for an answer, instead kissing him on the cheek and then hopping up to start unpacking her suitcase. She was kneeled facing away from him as she continued speaking. "I'm trusting you not to lie about it, not to bottle it up and suffer in silence like I would have. Don't let me down." She turned just enough so that he would see the amused smile blooming on her face. "I'm basically asking you to be a better man than me, ha."


Khitt || "You of all people know it's not that easy." Brand might find it amusing, but Khitt didn't. He sighed and went into the bathroom briefly as she dug through her things, and eventually came back out with the makeup washed off his eyes. He felt weary again, like he had been during those crucial days of Brand's recovery, and every so often afterward, and was half tempted to say that they should try things later on. He felt like he could sleep for a millennia when he was like this.

Khitt || After several minutes of contemplation, he dug out the bottle of wine that had been buried with his clothes. It made a 'clink' sound as he pulled it out of the luggage and upon inspecting further, he found an unopened bottle of whiskey and a wooden case with two wine glasses in it. Camina was surely a goddess in disguise! He set the case and wine on his bedside table, as well as the few candles and inscribed stones Camina had also packed away, and sat on the edge of the bed again. The whiskey was promptly uncorked, of course, and a decent-sized drink taken from it.


Brand had removed her makeup and her hairclip, though she left the ornate braids in place. She was dressed in a silk nightgown now, a simple little thing with a thin line of lace and a hem that toed the line between modest and lingerie. There was nothing modest about the way she straddled Khitt's lap, though, nor the way she pulled away again a moment later with a flirtatious grin. "Of course it's not easy, peach. I know that. But listen. I'm here for you no matter what. You know that, right?" She'd been rummaging around amongst her things, and now held Viera's spellbook in hand. After a quick skim of its contents, she found what she was looking for. She marked its place with a finger, then stared up at him again. The serious look in her eyes had returned. "I mean it. You tell me if we need to talk something out -- not just now, but always."

And then she took a slow, shuddering breath. "Last chance to turn back."