The restless wife

[Nora Dupuis]

She inhaled. Arms above her head to let the shirt slide down them. It caught on the crown of her hair, elbows tucking to press the fabric to her nose. A good clean smell. The scent of the soap used to wash the fabric, faint traces of Emile. Plenty if Nora, since she'd chosen it from his collection for her own. Or theirs. Emile still wore it sometimes, but Nora wore it most. Nearly always to bed unless it was being washed or used by its original owner.

Soft and worn. Nora gave it a little tug so it popped down over her head. Hem falling to her thighs, stitches just starting to fray. Fabric like an old friend against her skin. Smiling, she kicked her dress up from the circle it made at her feet. Catching it in her fingertips, Nora hung it from a hook on the back of Emile's door, lifting up on her tip toes more because the stretching felt good than because she had to.

"Is it dark?" She asked, twitching a curtain open to peer out into the yard. Furtive shadows slipping away as if the cats could sense her looking. Almost. And raining. "It's always raining." Nora pouted to herself, picking up Emile's boots and tucking them under the bed where she wouldn't have to worry about tripping on them in the night if she had to leave the bed.

Laughing, she tumbled into the bed and dragged the blanket over her body. Elbows and toes used to work her way up toward the pillows. She appeared from under the blanket with a breathless laugh, hair clinging to the sheets and her face, crackling around her head from the static. "Definitely dark." Fingers greedy as she reached for him, Nora curled her body along Emile's. Head resting on his shoulder, arm draped over his chest. The other wedged between them and trying to wiggle beneath his shoulders.

Legs doing a similar dance. He'd been gone most of the day doing work. Too busy to play with Nora, and the rain too heavy for fishing. She'd found herself caught in the house, underfoot and bored. Nose to his ear, Nora giggled, fingers digging into his side playfully before spreading wide to cup his ribcage. "Tired?" She fretted, worried she was disturbing him when he was trying go rest. But she'd missed him and been too much inside to be calm or tired.

[Emile Dupuis]

Being with Nora was like basking in the sun. A ball of infinite and joyful energy she brightened the room without detracting from its peacefulness. After a long day of working in the rain, and an evening being glowered at across the dinner table, he was thankful for the change of energy. That there was someone excited to be in his company. As soon as the sun started to set he extracted himself from the communal space of the sitting room. Exhaustion a plausible if not entirely truthful excuse.

Face washed, teeth cleaned, and fingernails scrubbed of their lingering fishiness he drifted back to the hallway. Fingers dragging across the walls as he moved wearily to the bedroom. Belt shed by the door with a clatter. Boots stepped out of beside the bed, which he flopped face down on. Mattress giving with a few low bounces. Nora’s soft footsteps followed him in a sigh later. Arms tucked in under his body he turned his face so he could see. Smiling at her as she started the usual bedtime routine.

That was worth rolling to his side so he could watch. Head propped up on his fist he tried to keep the set of his mouth casual. A smirk tried hard to add purposeful intent to his interest making his lips twitch for a moment before he composed himself. Eyes greedy while the rest of him struggled to be polite. He trusted his spear not to stir without physical encouragement. His muscles relaxed while his pulse quickened just a little. Pose sleepy as he took up half of the bed in a diagonal cross. Lips traced by his tongue and shirt collar rubbed absently while she stripped down. Only to dress again.

Unaware, so damned innocently oblivious, to the slow torture watching her move was for Emile. Pert young breasts flashed for half a second. Round bottom taunting him from under the hem of his own shirt. One he was more than happy to share. ”Hm?” Looking up from her thighs he ran his tongue over his lips in guilty circles. Question catching him completely unprepared. Words fallen on distracted ears. Nora didn’t ask again, she looked for the answer on her own. Without bending or rising up on her tiptoes this time. Brushing the wetness away with his knuckles he sighed, ”It’s always wet in winter. Sorry, whale-bait.”

Did it make her homesick? He wondered and watched and worried. The realization that she was never going to see her parents again had to have sank in. Soon it would be Winsol, too. Her first one without her old family. Emile didn’t want her to feel lonely, or sad. It was the first Winsol with her new family, after all. ”In a few weeks the weather will be better. Hot and humid, but a lot less rain.” Unless there was a cyclone. He wasn’t going to bring that up, though. Not until it was a danger on the horizon.

Laughing he rolled out of her way. Smiles matching as she bounded into the bed with playful giggles. Blanket pulled out from under his body as he sat up by the head of the bed. Clothes tossed across the room into the laundry bin after the flick of a few buttons. Even in winter it was too warm to sleep with clothes and a blanket. At least Emile didn’t like to. Could have comfortably gone without both, except that he fueled a cooling spell overnight for the room. A light quilt and his underwear were plenty. If Nora minded she had not said anything. None of the other wives ever had. As long as he put pants on before walking down the hall.

Stretching back down the bed he chuckled as she worked up his front. Hands touching him, which made his spear lose it’s manners. A subtle stiffening along his groin that he didn’t pay any attention. If he didn’t, then no one else would either. ”Need a night light?” He teased, scattering a few small witchlights into the air. They drifted off to the ceiling where they popped like little golden bubbles. Bodies twining together in familiarity he sighed contently into her hair.

She smelled fantastic. ”What did you mix up this time? Smells fruity.” He asked. She usually told him, and maybe she had while he was distracted. His day had been spent mostly in the water. Rain pushed the fish down into the deeper water, but also stirred them up into frenzies. Stirred up the algae that the oysters enjoyed too, so that they unburied from the sea floor to eat. Making both easier to draw up in great basket loads. Which the pod of fishmen outside the cove knew. There had been several standoffs and a long chase. No real fights broke out, thankfully. It was a day that should have left him too tired to even climb into bed. Instead he found nora’s restlessness contagious. Nerve endings tingling as their bodies brushed and bumped.

”Sort of? I should be anyway… but not really.” He told her, leaning into the feeling of her breath at his ear. It gave him goosebumps that stirred his spear a little more. Hands on her back he held her still while he did a little exploring of his own. Tracing the sweet scent in her hairline to the spot behind her ear. Then down her throat. Nose tip skimming soft skin until he could breath in the natural oils of her skin that had collected between her breast. ”How was your day? Pella wasn’t too saucy with you I hope.” He had already apologized for the chip on his first wife’s shoulder. Which was turned coldly to them both. Not a word in weeks. Not any contact at all. Not with Emile at least. If he knew one thing, it was that Pella never went without. He tried not to use his own building lust as an excuse for the needy way his hands locked on Nora’s hips. There was no other reason to cling though, not when she would happily do the clinging for them both.

Lips finding the corner of her mouth he sighed, ”Maybe I should have showered before bed instead of before dinner.” A cold shower. With none of the fun smelling soaps Nora made. 

[Nora Dupuis]

"It's not your fault." Nora sang, tossing a grin at him. She thought Emile capable of quite a lot of things,  but making it rain was not one of them. "Too bad it won't snow." She pouted wistfully. She'd asked about snow before, and Pella's derisive laughter had assured Nora there would be no snow to break up the monotony of the rain.

She could live without snow. Especially with Emile back in the house to keep her company. The others were nice, but they didn't tolerate her the same way. Or maybe it was that they tolerated her and Emile accepted her the way she was. Glad for her laughter and constant need for his attention. "That does not sound better, Emile." Nora wrinkled her nose and then dove beneath the blanket. Giggling into the mattress as he laughed made room for her.

Warm skin for her to snuggle against and pet. He would turn the room chilly soon. Nora liked the chill on her skin, but only because there was a blanket to burrow under and Emile to curl against. "No!" She giggled against his cheek, giving him a gentle pinch for the insult. Emile made some anyway. Pretty lights that turned into a dazzle when they reached the ceiling. Nora cooed appreciatively a she watched them. Her own witchlights always turned out... wrong.

Sometimes they ended up as witchfire instead.

"Mhm. There were a bunch of apples left over, going all soft and mealy so I used them." Her soap never looked pretty, but Nora was slowly improving its consistency. She just had to get someone else to control the heat in the pot. But it stayed solid now, only dissolving once it was wet like it was supposed to, instead of coming apart in her hand. If it came together at all.

Drawn in by the soap, Emile began his sniffing. Hands spread across her back to keep her still while he was at it. Nora didn't want to escape him, but she couldn't help the way her body pulled away from his nose. But it tickled! Shoulders scrunching up around her ears, Nora giggled. Back bowing outward and then in as she wiggled beneath the onslaught. Behind her ear. Down her shoulder. And ending where he stopped so often, right between her breasts.

Trying to catch her breath, Nora pet the dark fuzz of his hair. "You sure do like it there." She teased. She didn't know why. It was one of the warmest parts of her body. Heat and sweat caught and held there. "It was borrring." She complained, fondling the curve of his ear. "Can I go with you next time?" Pella was harder to answer about. She wasn't saucy at all. She just pretended Nora didn't exist, which was worse.

Resting her cheek against his hair, Nora pet the width of his shoulders and sighed. "Will she ever stop being mad?" They'd almost made friends on the trip to town, but now Nora worried that Pella would never forgive her. There would just be that dismissive silence. At least she wasn't yelling and slapping at Emile anymore, which Nora was glad for.

She didn't think he liked the silence any better, holding tight to her hips as he came back even with her. Lips pressing the crease of mouth in a sort of kiss. "You can have more than one. Want me to go with you?" Then they could both smell like apples. "No one ever says anything when I take more than one bath." She explained by way of reassurance.

[Emile Dupuis]

Lashes low over his eyes Emile smiled. The pinch of Nora’s fingers only heightening his amusement as he watched her over the curve of his cheek rather than follow the path his flares of light took. Bright specks that lit the ceiling as they burst but were hardly light at all compared to the glow of the little woman tucked into his side. Tucked tight. Breath on his jaw as she hummed happily at the witchlights. Bright eyes turned up at the bubbles, mouth a sweet smile. He loved the uncomplicated joy she found in life. Simply happy; the way he wanted all of them to be. Sadly an excess of emotion plagued some hearts.

”Mm, good of you to keep them from going to waste.” He praised absently. Not because the praise was undeserved, his nose was just leading his focus away. ”Smells good, too. Scrumptious even.” Following the deepening scent down her front he tried not to nibble. Hands a wall that prevented her wiggling from putting too much space between them as he delved to the place he liked best.

Smiling into the borrowed shirt he nodded his head. Chuckling that she didn’t actually ask why. Part of him frustrated that she didn’t understand why, but a much greater part of him endeared by the fact that she didn’t need to know why he liked it, she gladly let him go there anyway. Innocence or ignorance or a lack of desire… Emile hadn’t figured out why his touch did nothing to arouse Nora. And since he hadn’t figured it out he was afraid to frighten her by coming on too strongly. But his spear beat with the rhythm of his pulse. What if, what if, what if he said! What would happen if he told her? Groaning to himself he pressed a kiss to the spot. Face tipping up for air and so that he could try unwinding with words.

”That’s too bad,” The tone of Emile’s voice didn’t match his words. Eyes drifting shut he was far too relaxed to be genuinely upset that her day was lacking in excitement. Hands roaming down her back he took another short break between her breast. Coming up for more air with sympathetic smile, ”It’s dangerous out there when it’s raining. You would have to stay really close to the beach.” No fighting for his women. Not when they didn’t have to. Protection was his responsibility, and he would much rather they run than defend a house and cove that could be reclaimed or rebuilt.

Pella was harder to answer about. Lips curling over his teeth Emile tried not to give away his serious doubts that there was an end to Pella’s anger. That seemed like a poor choice of words to sooth Nora with, though. ”She doesn’t have a reason to be mad at you, and Pella is rational about most things. Eventually she’s going to realize ignoring you is more a personal inconvenience than a punishment for you. Just hang in there.” She was probably never going to stop being mad at him. The well of her anger hadn’t dried out after 20 years, after all.

”I do hope she hurries up and gets over it, though.” For Nora’s sake at the very least. Emile was willing to let her dole out her righteous vengeance as long as she needed to. His spear slightly less eager, but he knew there were other options if the cold shoulder wore on too long. Options far more pleasant than cold showers so that he could sleep beside Nora’s pure innocence without trying to hump her leg in his sleep. Licking the flavor of their short kiss from his lips he perked up at her next question. Wording his own carefully. Body lifted up on an elbow so he could really see her face. Watching for subtle reactions that he might be missing in her words. ”Do you want to take a shower with me?”

So far naked together hadn’t been naked together. Not with Nora who could look with that unforgiving lack of interest in her eyes. Curios of everything, all of the time, but finding nothing in his form or figure that stirred her towards womanhood. Would his hands have better luck? The thought made his heart pound behind his teeth. Fingers spanning lower he  toyed with the idea of finding out. It sounded much more comfortable than standing under cold water until his spear died of the shock. ”Oooor we could stay in bed.” He suggested pointedly, ”You could take that shirt off and I could give you a massage. Maybe that’ll help you sleep.”

It wouldn't make him sleepy. And his hands traced the curve under her buttocks in what he thought was a suggestive way. He didn't want her to sleep either. Not yet. He wanted to see if his mouth near her breast still only tickled when there were no layers between them.

[Nora Dupuis]

Nora didn't think Emile really agreed. Too lulled by her petting to be worried about much of anything. Even his excuses about rain and danger lacked a certain amount of vehemence. Nora smiled against his scalp and ran her nose through his hair. "Sounds better than sitting inside doing nothing." Exhaling hair, Nora wiggled her nose and pressed a kiss to his forehead since he was up for air.

He looked ridiculous half buried beneath her breasts, but Nora wasn't going to worry about it if he was enjoying himself. Which he must have been since he stayed there. Hands traveling the length of her back and lower while he thought. Face dipping in and out of view until Nora had to hold her breath not to laugh at him. Focusing on her hands instead, and the knots she found in the muscle of his shoulder. "If you're sure." It didn't sound like forgiveness. But maybe it was all Nora could hope for.

She would just have to trust Emile's word for it. "Me too." The silence was oppressive. Nora hadn't meant to get lost! She had been so very sure of the directions and herself. But now she knew why she'd never found home again despite all her swimming. A bad sense of direction had let her straight into danger. Thankfully something else had lead Emile to her. Emile who leaned over her with a gleam in his eye. No longer hidden against her chest, but half covering her with his body instead.

"Of course." She wanted to do everything with Emile. The day was never boring when he was near. Nora picked a bit of sheet fuzz from his arm and gave it a pat. He seemed keen on the idea too. Nora was ready to try her new soap out on him. The scents always changed a little when they were on a body. Mixing with a person's natural oils. Under Emile's hands Nora wiggled. Shoulders hiking up around her ears, she curled her fingers around the side of his neck and felt his pulse under her palm.

"You're the one who worked all day. You probably need a massage more than me." His fingers skimmed the bare skin of her thigh below the hem of his shirt. Pella had been mad a long time. Bottom lip slipping forward, Nora hugged him close. Bodies flush together so she could be sure. Sure that he was aroused and looking for the sort of relief she wasn't sure she could give him. Not yet, anyway. Maybe soon though. Or one day, at least.

Nora didn't know. His spear was like any other part of him pressed to her body. No more stirring than a knee or a shoulder. Not unpleasant, but not quivering, as she'd heard it described. Aware something was missing in her reaction but unable to name what she'd never experienced. Nora rubbed circles between his shoulder blades. Face hidden behind his ear. With a sigh, she tangled her legs with his, knees leveraging him over so she could slide onto his back.

"I'll rub, you sleep." Shirt skimming his back as she leaned forward and dug the heels of her hands up the muscles along his spine. Knees in the bed and toes hooked over his calves, Nora blushed as she kneaded. "My mother asked the healer." She explained. The same face burning embarrassment she'd felt then surfacing now. It made her arms trembled as she worked a knot she discovered below his shoulder blade.

"She said everything was as it should be." She'd been a stone faced matron. Not an ounce of sympathy found anywhere Nora could see. Just, nothing. Like a smooth stone or a worn shell. "Mother said I'm just a late bloomer. That it'll come. Like my Offering." There had been a tension Nora hadn't understood. A sort of pitying worry in her mother's eyes when she'd decided that was all it was. Late coming like Nora's Offering. Which wasn't even late at all!

In a way the total disinterest of the healer had been more reassuring than her mother's reassurances. Nora ground the muscles of his lower back beneath her thumb. "You said Pella liked being angry. Maybe ask her?" It seemed reasonable to Nora, asking for what you needed. Even if what you needed was sex.

[Emile Dupuis]

There was a certain lack of something in her answer that made Emile chew his bottom lip. Not interest or eagerness. That was there. The missing thing was nameless. Mostly because he refused to describe it as lust or arousal which, in his opinion, cheapened the connection he was trying to create with Nora. Eyebrows drawn together he studied the face that studied him right back. ‘Of course’ she said, as if it were nothing at all to strip down and lather up in a humid shower stall together. Which was what he wanted. For her to be completely comfortable with him no matter the situation. That was how it should be; except that he wanted more too. He wanted to catch a hint of shy interest in the edges of her words. Or feel her fingers curling needily against the muscles in his chest.

Instead she clammed up as he watched recognition bloom across her brow and creep into her eyes. Breath staggered in his chest he let the rough tips of his fingers brush soft, supple skin. Nora didn’t push him away. She didn’t relax. She hugged him tighter. Until there was no space between them. Shoulders brushing. Knees puzzled together. Spear straining against the twitching of his pulse as it lay trapped between their thighs. A gripping expectancy froze him in place. Was this it? All the air left the room. The nature of what they shared was on the crest of change. He could taste the flavor under his tongue. And he knew it was disappointment before he knew what to be disappointed over.

His temporary paralysis gave her the opportunity to slide around to his back. Sinking into the mattress he sighed back at her sigh. Nimble fingers quick to find a groove that needed smoothing out in the tangle of work worn muscles she offered to lull him to sleep. As if he could even entertain the notion now. ”You don’t have to.” He tried to insist. A gritty groan stole any credibility from the words, however, as she found a hard knot under the skin. Curving up towards the sensation he listened to her start in on a slowly laid out explanation.

Everything about Nora interested Emile, so it was easy to lay there listening. Eyes straining in the dim room to see her over the bulge of his shoulder. Arms resting above his head as she perched on his spine to ease aches he hadn’t realized were there until they were touched. Since the story was not quick to fall into place neither was his understanding. Emile waited patiently all the same for her to break for a breath. He wondered about the rookery she had come from. The more he heard about it, the less he liked the place. He could feel the upset in Nora’s energy at being made to have such a discussion. And while it was true that it was his fault it came up, it was their fault for making it a touchy topic.

”She was right.” He proclaimed confidently. Then, just to be certain his intentions were clear, ”The healer, specifically. You are exactly the way you should be.” A little strange, but in a wonderful sort of way that returned the joy to shouldering his life rather than an endless duty.  When he had welcomed her into that life he had not done it for the sake of his spear. Which was quite used to various forms and intensities of disappointment. None of that would change his feelings for her, and he didn’t want hers to change either. Angling up onto a shoulder he aimed for a position that would make talking easier without tossing her into the wall or onto the floor. How could he explain what sex was when he wasn’t sure he had ever actually done the deed in way it was meant to be performed?

Licking his lips he arched against another knot that started to dissolve under her targeted kneading. ”No, no, I’ll take care of it myself. Things are too complicated with her right now. She’s too angry. She’d love it if I groveled for it probably, but she wouldn’t allow it.” He said after she tried to offer him an alternative. With a few wriggles of his hips he shimmied round to get flat on his back. A hand tipping her high up enough of his stomach to avoid the offense of being poked by the problem. ”You don’t need to want sex. It’s okay not to, some people just don’t” Like the temple eunuchs and ornery old women that wore too tight buns in their hair. ”I would love to make love to you, but I won’t love you any less if that’s not an intimacy we can enjoy together. Now I can’t help wanting you that way. It’s important to me that you know it’s not the only thing I want, though. It’s not even the part of you I want the most. And it’s okay that you don’t get the same feelings that I do when we touch. You just tell me when I’m touching too much.”

Because, at the end of the day, he was a warlord prince. No matter what pretty promises he made, or how badly he wanted to keep them, he was lead by instinct more often than not. And his spear was very good at fueling his instincts. ”Don’t worry, it’ll go down soon. Like a welt or a sprained ankle.”

[Nora Dupuis]

"But I want to." She insisted, more truth in her words than Emile's. He fell so easily to the pressure of her fingers. Body sinking into the bed and rising up to ask for more. Nora was happy to indulge him. Fingers looking for all the places where there was tension or hardness that didn't match the rest of his body. Little knots of strain.

Occasionally she glanced up from the places her fingers found to cast shy smiles at his watching eyes. Felt the heat of her blush grow even hotter whenever she remembered he was watching as well as listening. But it wasn't in her not to share. She didn't want to keep secrets from Emile. The very idea never crossed her mind. Nora couldn't give him everything he wanted, but she was more than happy to give what she could. And Emile took it all without snatching or scoffing.

Nora blinked at him. Eyes meeting over his sun stained shoulder. He agreed, that she had been right. Who, she wondered, until he answered. Half of her mouth lifted into a smile, followed by her shoulders. "Aren't we all?" She asked with a philosophical naiveté. Nora couldn't imagine any of them being different than they were. Under her, Emile wiggled. Half turning to face her so that Nora had to give up his shoulders for his lower back.

Which he took from her as well, rolling beneath her until she was straddling his stomach. Shell rough hands lifting her away from his spear. Nora sat across his navel and smoothed his hair since he'd taken the muscled of his back from her. Pella and her anger forgotten for a time. What did it matter if she said yes or no? Emile was with Nora then. The two of them, caught in an awkward dance. Worries stroked away by words like knots being worked out by fingers.

"Not at all?" She'd never heard of such a thing. Chin pressing down toward her heart, Nora hunched over him. It was dizzying to sit about him in such a way. Like she was suddenly bigger than Emile was. Hands settling on his upper arms, Nora listened. Toes curling in pleasure against his legs. He was much better with his words than she was. Quick to chase away all the shame she'd felt for what she couldn't help. The smallness her mother's look had made her feel.

Nora's hands swept up to his shoulders. Squeezing the roundness that spilled out of the curve of her palm. "I love you too." She imparted with a cheeky grin, happiness burbling upward in her. And she did. He'd saved her when she was in danger, and then found her when she'd been lost. Sliding forward, she propped her elbows on the mattress and smacked a kiss against his cheek. He was her absolutely favorite person ever.

"Strange things to compare your spear to, Emile." Nora laughed. She had heard men speak of their spears before. Comparing them to trees, or stones, but never injuries. Chuckling, she collapsed against him. He loved her. Just the way she was. "I promise to say when you're touching too much," she reassured him. So far it hadn't been a bother, except the worry that her lack of response would drive him away all together.

Hopefully Pella would let go of her anger soon so that Emile didn't have to go wholly without. "Did you find anything interesting today?" She asked, nuzzling in close and relaxing into him like he was the mattress itself.