Sword and Snow

I stretched as we walked out of the theater. Emery strode alongside me as we wove our way through the crowds toward the exit.

“The performance was really interesting.” She said, clearly lost in thought about it. “And there really were some simply fantastic acrobatics.”

I nodded. “Agreed. There’s something mesmerizing about long flowing cloth mixed with dance and acrobatics. It’s really just…pretty.”

Emery snickered. “You’re our resident wordsmith, and all you’ve got is ‘pretty’?”

“Look, sometimes even poets and writers keep it simple. And I think ‘pretty’ fits perfectly. So,” I stuck my tongue out at her.

Emery rolled her eyes as we finally departed the building. The crowd was still shuffling out, so we didn’t really have the option to stand and talk about what came next or we’d simply be in the way. I snagged Emery’s hand, and lightly pulled her away from the throng of people leaving the building, moving toward our Inn for the meantime.

Emery followed without complaint as we walked nearly half a street down before the crowd began to thin out and we would be able to comfortably stand and talk without being clearly in someone’s way. There was a snack vendor on the corner selling small bowls of fried chicken in various sauces, and Emery angled us in their direction.

Once we were each in possession of a small bowl - sesame chicken for Emery and sweet and sour for myself - we moved over to an open nearby bench to enjoy our spoils. As soon as we sat down, Emery poked one of my pieces of chicken with her little wooden fork and popped in her mouth. She offered her bowl toward me in exchange before I could complain.

“So, what did you think of the story they told?” She asked as I speared one of her chickens in return.

“It was interesting.”

“Do you think it was a true story?”

“You’d have a better chance of telling me that.” I said. “I’m not familiar enough with dragons to make any sort of guess as to whether any of what they said could be real.”

“I mean, they didn’t really add anything too far-fetched.” Emery closed her eyes as she chewed and spoke around the small mouthful of food. “A dragon who gets made fun of as a child for being less talented than her peers decides to train in a skill that is common to all dragons - flight - and gets better at it than any other dragon. When she proves that she is, indeed, better than the rest they all but exile her in anger. Then she decides that she should make the best of her exile and do her best to live a fulfilling life.”

“Are dragons really that spiteful though? I’ve really only interacted with Vale and the Elders, and they’re all pretty nice. I guess in traditional stories, they can definitely be very haughty and sometimes evil, but I wasn’t sure if those are accurate after meeting everyone.” I asked.

“They can be. I think we’re just surrounded by some good ones. They’re just as varied and unpredictable as people are, they’re just more powerful.” Emery said. “I think the story was good, though. It has an easy to understand, powerful message, and the story lent itself very well to the acrobatics and performance.”

“Agreed.” I said, spearing my last piece of chicken. Apparently I was rather hungry, and Emery was just about finished with hers, too. I popped the chicken in my mouth and stood. “Shall we?”

“Where to?” Emery asked, following suit. She took my now empty bowl and tossed it in the bin next to the bench for garbage. “Just the Inn?”

“That’s what I was thinking.” I said, taking Emery’s hand. “It’s after dark, and while the City has plenty of nightlife, I’m not sure it would beat just relaxing together in our Inn room.”

“Relaxing, hm?” Emery asked, her voice taking on a flirty quality. “Is that really the plan? Just ‘relaxing’?”

I snorted and turned my nose up at her. “Yes, it is. I just wanted to lay on the bed and cuddle up with you. But if you’re too good for that, I suppose I can make other arrangements.”

Emery’s eyes twitched. I could tell she was deciding whether to call my bluff or let it go. “Oho. And just what ‘other arrangements’ would you make?”

“Well,” I said, pointing to a nearby alley, “on the way here, a few streets down that way, we passed a brothel for Cultivators. I’m sure some of the women there would love to be paid for a night to just cuddle and chat. Maybe they’ll even appreciate my stories.” Without waiting for a response, I spun on a heel and took a step in that direction.

Emery immediately grabbed my wrist. “I know you’re kidding, but -” She said, and pulled. She managed to spin me around with her pull, and I spun like a dancer into her arms. Once I was close, she settled her arms around me in a hug. I looked down at her and had to hold back a laugh because of the difference in height.

She could clearly see the mirth in my eyes, and decided to be a little devious. Without warning, she dipped me. And it was a deep one too - I was almost horizontal with the ground. She kissed me briefly before pulling me back up from the dip. “Let’s go to the Inn.”

I chuckled. “Alright. But I was serious about just cuddling, you little deviant.”

Emery shot me the dirtiest smile I imagine she could manage before turning toward our Inn, which was thankfully only a few streets down.

The walk was pleasant. It wasn’t too long and the outdoor air was a lovely temperature; cool but not cold. I could always use some Qi to cool myself and those nearby down if it was too hot, but it was really quite nice to not have to do so. Emery and I held hands the whole way there, easily slipping around other people on the way.

Once we arrived, we greeted the worker by the door and went straight to our room. It wasn’t anything fancy, but it was on the more expensive side of what was available in the City. The room was nicely furnished, with a nice large bed with silk sheets, two arm chairs to relax in, an attached bathroom, and even a few useful Arrays carved into surfaces, like ones to heat food or chill drinks.

All in all, it was very nice, just not opulent. And there were a fair number of places in the city that were.

Once we closed the door, I moved to the bed, spun around, and collapsed backward onto it. My arms were spread wide as I stretched out each and every limb like a small animal, and even heard my back pop. My hip did too.

Emery laughed. “Getting old there, honey?”

I relaxed, allowing my spread limbs to settle limply onto the bed. “No way. I’m not even thirty yet, and I’m a Cultivator.” I said smugly.

“And yet you’re over there with joints popping like it’s a fireworks show.”

“I blame you.”

“What’d I do?”

“Crammed me into that tiny little seat at the theater.” I said snidely.

“That’s hardly my fault.”

“I told you we should pay for the nice seats up in the balcony but no, someone didn’t like that idea.” I teased.

“Why would we pay extra to sit all the way in the back and up a level, when there were seats basically five meters from the stage? You wouldn’t be able to see anything from the balcony!”

I sat up, giving Emery my best ‘are you stupid’ look. “Emery; we’re Cultivators. We’d be able to see perfectly well from that distance you dolt.” I chuckled. “If anything, we should feel bad that we stole seats from someone that would actually need to be that close to see.”

Emery let out a great sigh and flopped beside me, rolling up onto an elbow to look my direction. “You’re right, but there’s also a certain excitement to being up front.”

I snickered. “I dunno if that’s true when it comes to a performance like we saw tonight, or a play. For a musical act, though, sure. All the really excited people fight for the tickets in the front.”

Emery flopped back onto her back to stare at the ceiling. “So, now what? You’ve got me all to yourself in an Inn room with basically nothing to do.” She sounded flirty, but without any real bite to it.

“Go bathe.” I said. “After you’re done, I’ll go. I’d like you to brush my hair out. I’ll do yours, too, but it’s not quite the same level of production.”

Emery smiled at me, the flirty look being swapped for more warmth. “Sure. I’ll be back shortly.”

She hopped off the bed gracefully and slipped into the bathroom. Emery never took too long to bathe on her own unless she was aiming for a relaxing soak, returning within fairly short order. I swapped with her and slipped into the bathroom myself. The attached bath wasn’t anything impressive, but it was clean and more than enough to scrub down and take a dip in a full size tub. Once I was lathered up and rinsed off, I wrung out my hair the best I could and walked back into the main room.

Emery was already waiting for me, perched on the edge of the bed. She had a beautiful wooden comb in one hand and a similarly beautifully crafted brush in the other. When I got close, I offered her a hand.

She looked between the two beauty implements then cocked her head as if to say, ‘What should I do?’

I took her by the wrist and pulled her to the ground in the same motion I swung up onto the bed behind her. I snatched the wooden comb from her hand as well.

“If I don’t do your hair first, it’ll be dry by the time we’re done with mine. So, you first.” I said, ruffling my hand through her shoulder-length cut.

“‘Kay.” She said, satisfied with this turn of events. As I began to pull the comb through her hair, the woman practically purred. I made sure to not just comb out her hair, but also scratched and massaged her scalp here and there, because I knew she liked it. I did too, to be fair. It was a lovely way to spend some time.

As always, it was over too soon. Her hair dried fast, and mine was still sopping wet.

“Alright, swap.” Emery said, and patted me on my knee. I did as requested, sliding down to the floor where Emery had full access to my long hair. I passed her back the comb, and she went to work.

She did similarly to me, working in scratching and massaging as she worked the comb through my hair, starting near my scalp and slowly dragging it through my long tresses. After having done this so many times before, Emery was a wizard at detangling and unknotting my hair. I barely felt any pulls or tugs as she worked her way through each section.

While I usually wore my hair in one large braid, Emery was plaiting sections as she went, mostly for convenience sake to keep the mass contained while she moved onto the next section. I closed my eyes and leaned just a little bit back and let myself get lost in the pleasant sensations.

It took some time, but eventually I could feel Emery’s fingers working to undo the many plaits she had tied earlier now that she had finished combing everything out. Once the last braid was undone, I leaned back against Emery with my full body and she hugged me from behind, resting her chin on my shoulder. I could feel her cheek stretch against my own as she smiled, then turned to kiss my cheek. I leaned my head against hers.

“I don’t know what it is,” I said, “but there really is something special about doing this.” I twisted a little to kiss my wife, then added “Thank you.”

Emery giggled and nestled into my neck. “You’re very welcome. I love brushing your hair, Ri. And I love you.”

“I love you too.”