Past Meet Present

Writers: Miriah, Yvonne
Date Posted: 3rd August 2015

Characters: Taril, Humari, Vreena
Description: Taril meets Vreena for the first time.
Location: Sunstone Seahold
Date: month 1, day 8 of Turn 8
Notes: Mentioned: Yriadha

Humari

It had been a long day. Taril made the long walk up from the docks slowly,
his mind still half-entangled with the cargo lists and fishing nets he'd
left behind. A barrel of porcine fat for two barrels of smoked fish, five
casks of vinegar for five of dried apples. Stewards would broker a lot of
the deals that went on between the major Holds, but they needed people to
take their goods to and fro. The smaller cotholds and fisherholds sometimes
had surplus above and beyond their tithes, and often didn't have the
connections or resources to find the best deals or know what they could
trade to get. Which made his services all the more valuable.

Between that and the letter he'd gotten from his brother on the Sea Wife,
there was a lot to think about. He found his thoughts drifting to dinner as
he turned down the corridor to his apartment, a sleeping Dodger curled
loosely around his neck. When he got to his door, however, he paused with
his hand on the knob. There were voices coming from inside. One was Humari,
the other another woman. He scowled and hoped that Yriadha hadn't dared
cross his threshold, then pushed the door open.

But it wasn't Yriadha or Humari's sister Torinya. A pretty blond girl looked
up from where she sat on his couch. "Hello," Taril said pleasantly. "I wasn't aware that we were entertaining tonight...?"

Humari jumped as the door opened and immediately rose to her feet. Her brown
eyes were red-rimmed, but she quickly brushed at them and cleared her
throat. "I..we aren't." She swallowed quickly. "I'll get to work on supper.
Tumaril's asleep and I'm afraid I got distracted..."

The blond girl rose to her feet as well, her face drawn as she looked Taril
up and down. Where Humari was slender, she was curvaceous, her body enough
to draw any man's eye. Vreena was almost good enough to hide the horrified
look on her face, but enough of it shined through to reveal her immediate
impression of the man. She looked back at Humari and then back at Taril. "You must be Humari's...husband." The last was spoken with a slight tang of bitterness.

Neither was lost on Taril, but neither reaction was unusual. Still... the
look on Humari's face was one that he was getting used to, and one that he
disliked more each time she wore it. The merchant took a step forward,
exaggerating his limp as he did so. "You have me at a disadvantage...?" he
trailed off, tipping his head slightly to one side so that she could get a
better look at the stump where his ear used to be.

As Vreena recoiled at the view, Humari hurried to stand by Taril, her hand
light on his arm. She licked her lips and her voice sounded a bit breathless
and rough. "Taril, this is Vreena. And she was just leaving."

Vreena didn't look at Taril again, her gaze going to Humari. There was a
pleading in her eyes even as she drew herself up, trying to mask her
distaste. "Think about what I said, Humari." Clutching her skirts, she tried
moving around Taril, refusing to look at him for even an instant.

"Pleasure to meet you," Taril sang after her as she slipped through the
door. Dodger flew from his shoulder to curl up on his usual place on the
mantle as he turned to Humari. Her red-rimmed eyes and bright nose were sure
clues that she'd been crying, even if she'd tried to hide it. He brushed her
cheek with his fingers. "Are you all right?"

With a lip sucked between her teeth, Humari didn't know what to say to him.
Her first thought was to tell him nothing, to hide it like she had from her
mother, but she couldn't. She didn't hide things from Taril and had made
that choice on their wedding day. But she was terrified that he would be
angry at her. "I...I'm...No. I'm not." She finished and turned away, hugging
herself tightly. "I thought my mother was lying when she said she was coming
back, especially since it didn't happen right away. But she's here." She
swallowed hard. "Taril, I..." She licked her lips. "Vreena was the girl that
I uhm...that I got in trouble with." She rubbed her arms briskly, hunching
her shoulders.

Taril blinked and dropped his hand. _That_ was her? Vreena was gorgeous. The
disgust in her expression hit him again-- if that was who Humari had 'gotten
in trouble with', why had she ever consented to be wedded to a disfigured
cripple like him? Perverted or not, Humari could clearly do better. Taril felt
monstrous, grotesque, and suddenly sick with jealousy. "What was she doing
here?"

"She wanted to see me." She didn't look at Taril, but her voice was
miserable. "She said she was sorry that she'd blamed me and that she wanted
my forgiveness." She suddenly turned to Taril and her lip quivered. "Please
don't be angry with me. I didn't know she was coming. I wasn't ready to face
her and I should have been." She suddenly clutched at his shirt, staring up
at him. "She kissed me and tried to touch me, but I stopped her. I swear I
didn't know she would try."

Slowly he put his arm around her and held her close. The jealousy remained,
and he wondered how long he'd be able to hold Humari like that before she
left. For a _woman_. Briefly he fantasized about having Vreena beaten and
thrown face-down into the bay for daring to touch his wife, but that was a
solution that worked on men. Not women. "She's not welcome in my house," he
said after a moment, tightening his grip on Humari.

Humari buried her face in Taril's chest and nodded, even though the grip on
her was a bit uncomfortable. The kiss with Vreena...she had liked it,
responded to it, and that simple fact made her feel guilty. It had been
difficult to make herself stop Vreena at all. Their history had rocketed her
into an instant arousal that she'd been hard pressed to control, especially
now that she knew what that tingling pleasure could become. "I won't let her
in." She spoke against Taril's shirt. "I'm your wife. Yours."

He nodded. She'd had the opportunity to leave him, and hadn't. That eased
the jealousy a little. Just a little. "Good," he said, and kissed the top of
her head.

She finally looked up at him and kissed him gently, then more thoroughly
before mumbling against his lips. "I like your kisses more." She told
herself that again and again. "Do we have to abide by what the Healers said?
It's close to time..." She kissed at his lower lip, eager to show that she
wanted to be with him and not Vreena, even though...She shook the thought
away and tugged just a little at his shirt.

The thought of laying claim to her properly was so tempting. It had been so
long since he'd been able to touch her. Taril kissed her back to show her
that what he wanted, even as he told her, "It's too soon. The Healers said
so, and I won't hurt you."

Humari whimpered at his refusal, but clung to him as he kissed her. "It
won't hurt me." She protested, but finally drew back. "Soon, though?"

He nodded. "Soon." And it couldn't come soon enough.

Last updated on the September 6th 2015

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