LongestRoad Sil Backstory3
It wouldn't do any good to rehash Sil's version of our first encounter, so instead I will continue from where she left off ... though I don't promise that I'll leave her version as it is.
We snuck out of town that night. I took a couple of precautions to not leave evidence that we'd survived, drying out the room and our tracks. I led Sil to the meeting point with Margaret and John. Sil doesn't even remember their names, apparently. I introduced them, and explained the situation. We traveled with them for a couple of days before parting ways. Sil and I agreed to keep each other company on the way to Greenmarsh.
That's where we met Maggie and John! They have a little kid now. Jack, I think. Weird names.
Sil and I were alone for a day or two before we made it back to civilization. I don't really like camping out, but the situation called for it--we had to stay off regular roads and away from wayside inns. Sil seemed to do great out in the wild, and we got to know each other better.
Our first in depth conversation was about camping versus creature comforts. And, unlike Sil, I committed our conversations to memory. I guess she just doesn't have the brains for it. Bite me, pretty boy.
I'd laid out my bedroll and was settling in for another uncomfortable night's sleep under the stars. "I will be much happier when we get to Greenmarsh. I miss having a nice, soft bed to sleep in, don't you?"
Sil had been staring at the fire. She shrugged. "Not really. I don't usually sleep in a bed. I guess I think of them more for the old and sick ... to make people comfortable."
"Well, they're for more than that." I said it with a smirk that she either didn't catch or ignored deliberately. "Besides, I like being comfortable. Good food, good drink, and good company."
Sil turned her attention to me. "Wouldn't that make the bed a bit messy?" Her little smile implied the joke.
I laughed. "Messy can be fun, too." She shook her head and turned back to the fire, but the smile stayed on her face. "I was afraid you didn't know how to joke."
"I'm glad to have put your mind at ease."
The next day led to more discoveries about her character. We walked through the woods along a tributary of the Bingly River. Up until this point, we'd been essentially backtracking Sil's path into Port Brightside, but now we were headed in a different direction than either of us had been. This time she struck up the conversation.
"How old are you?" Sil asked, out of the blue. I think she'd been meaning to ask it for some time.
"Eighteen."
"That's ... young for a human, isn't it?"
I got indignant. "It's not young!"
"You look young, though."
This put me off my guard. I do look young, but I was afraid of anyone guessing the reason for it. "Well, how old are you?"
"One hundred and ten."
I stared at her for a bit. "You're an elf, then?"
She looked surprised. "Yes. Well, half."
"Right." I scoffed. "Half-elves are not so pretty and spry at that one hundred and ten."
She rolled her eyes and looked annoyed. "I didn't say I was half-human." She picked up the pace and quickly got ahead of me.
"Okay, sorry!" I had to jog to catch up with her. Monks can be so obnoxious. Some time passed and she didn't seem like she was going to continue the conversation on her own. "Ok, so... What's your other 'half'?"
She stopped and stared at me. "It's not ... obvious?"
"What is obvious? I haven't seen any more of you than your face! You keep that silly robe on over everything interesting." Truthfully, I had already guessed, but it was more entertaining watching her have such a reaction.
She pulled the hood of her robe down, showing the rest of her head and ears. Her blond hair was pulled back into a braid, showing a small pair of rippled horns at the top of her head. Her ears were elf-pointy, but scaled. She also had tiny scales on her hairline and neck. The mottled rays of sunlight coming down through the canopy reflected off her hair and skin. "Better?"
I stared at her for a long moment. She was dangerously pretty--I should have known better. I prepared myself, hoping I could keep a straight face. "Well, you're sort of ... bronze?"
The effect was immediate. Her face ran the gamut of shocked, mortified, and furious. "GOLD! I'M GOLD. I'M HALF GOLD DRAGON!"
The woods went silent. All wildlife had fled at her roar. I managed to not do the same. She loomed over me. I'm not really sure how because I'm at least half a foot taller than her, but she did. "Ah," I managed to squeak out. "Yes, gold. Ok. I see it now." This admission did nothing to mollify her. "Please don't hit me."
She almost immediately backed off, and I made a note that an angry Sil was to be treated as an alpha to avoid her temper.
That was a JOKE? You're such an ass!
When we hit Greenmarsh Lake, we stopped to camp for the night, right at the edge of the water. Sometime during the night I woke up, and Sil was bathing. She probably didn't think I could see her, since the moon was at just a sliver, but I could, and I watched her. I have it ingrained in my memory. If I could convince her to do it again now I would hire the world's greatest painter and have it committed to canvas, framed in gold and platinum and hung over the mantle in my bedroom. She ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
I'm sure no one really wants to read about that. Also, you're a pervert.
Damn-it! You can't just edit out entire sections like that.
You're the one who gave me the crayon. It works great!
There was a point to this part of the story.
And now you can tell it. This is a memoir, not a romance novel.
Can't it be both?
For posterity, it should be noted that I now have a sizable bruise on my shoulder. Sil lets violence answer when she can't think of the right words.
You're a big baby. Get on with this "story."
I didn't look away until she got out of the water and closer to the firelight. She was very well muscled, and I didn't want to anger her again. She sat near the edge of the camp and started working on brushing her hair.
Her hair used to be very long--down to her thighs, I think. She had been keeping it in a braid, but she'd washed it in the river and was working on getting the tangles out of it. I could hear her getting more and more frustrated at it, and she finally snapped, throwing her brush aside with a loud grunt.
I propped myself up on my bedroll. "What's the matter?"
Don't make me edit out more of this.
... Long story short, I helped her brush her hair while she was half-naked, touched her tenderly, shyly tried to kiss her, and basically attempted the innocent-boy-in-love seduction technique. I failed. Utterly.
Once again, I couldn't tell if she was oblivious or pretending to be so to spare my feelings. It was very ... frustrating. There's something dirty about those ellipses. However, I had accomplished the goal I'd set out for myself upon leaving Port Brightside--I'd seen her out of her robe.
Also, there was a great revelation of one of the things that annoyed Sil about being a half dragon. Her hair is thick and wiry. It eats brushes and it's a pain to untangle. I had to use a cantrip. Years later she ruined a set of jeweler's snips cutting it. She was always jealous of all the full-blooded elves she grew up with, and their lovely elven hair. I think her hair is fantastic, though, and I like it better short. I use fewer cantrips now.
