---

---

Kerr smiled happily as Liseth introduced herself to the Korvuts.  He liked the Korvuts; they had always been nice to him, especially after he had been able to help Kennet.  He wondered if Das’ kind words to him had impressed Liseth.  He gave his girlfriend a sidelong glance, but found her inundated in Korvut kids, who apparently found her fascinating.  She shot him a delighted grin and he couldn’t help but grin back; she was so adorable!

Although he wondered why she was blushing.  Maybe it was the exertion?

The dark-haired acolyte was distracted by the Korvut patriarch, who plied him with questions about what he knew about the current situation and how much and what kind of smithing it might require.  Kerr wasn’t exactly a fount of relevant information on the topic, but he was happy to share what he knew.  He felt Liseth grab his hand; he squeezed it reassuringly as he finished up the conversation.

But when he looked back over at her, his eyes widened in concern as he realized that she was gone!  He shot Mrs. Korvut a concerned glance; she shrugged and pointed back through the crowd, where he saw Liseth forging her way with some difficulty through the sea of bodies towards the edge of the crowd.  He scratched his head in confusion.  Had it been something he said?  Did she not want to sit with him any more?  It looked like she was heading towards Kellan, Pisca, and the Vinders.  Would she rather watch the ceremony with them?  Had she felt rejected by his failure to immediately accept a massage?  But she had just kissed him!

Women were so confusing.

He slumped into his chair.  A large hand appeared on his shoulder; Das Korvut gingerly seated himself in the chair Liseth had just vacated.  “Do not be worrying yourself, young Mollin!”  He smiled and gestured back in the direction Liseth had gone.  “She is being crazy about you, yes?”  He winked at the much-younger man.  “I am telling.”

The beginning of the funeral ceremony cut short their discussion about Kerr’s relationship issues.  Kerr was, as always, professionally impressed by Father Zantus’ presentation.  The town’s chief prelate knew his business.  But Kerr also knew that Father Zantus spoke from the heart; the priest was almost as committed to Sandpoint as he was to Desna.  Kerr sat forward as the speech progressed; it was exactly what he needed.  The fatigue and wear he had been feeling seem to slough off him as he listened.  Sandpoint WAS special.  What they were doing WAS important.  And gods shun him if was going to let the goblins kill, hurt, or terrorize his friends if there was something he could do to stop them!

As Father Zantus closed, Kerr was ready to leap to his feet cheering, but the rest of the town’s reaction seemed to indicate that his instinctive response might be inappropriate.  Instead, he warmly bid his good-byes to the Korvuts as they headed back down to their family home, then turned to seek out Liseth.

There she was, picking her way back to him through the dispersing crowd, looking absolutely miserable.  He strode toward her, taking her in his arms, since that seemed the thing to do.  “Hey,” he said.  “What’s wrong?”  He ran his fingers through her blonde hair.  “And where did you go?  I missed you.”

---

---

This message was last edited by the player at 21:39, Tue 29 July 2014.

It was disheartening, never being able to do anything right.  Especially when it came to simply trying to make friends.  All that Liseth had wanted to do was let Katrine know that she was sorry for what she had said when they were talking the other day; now it felt as though receiving any sort of forgiveness was a forlorn hope.  She couldn't believe that she had been so shortsighted and foolish to have approached Katrine at the worst possible time; right before the funeral ceremony.

But that was the only chance she had, before they had to travel to Thistletop.  And try to stop the leaders of the goblin invasion; despite their low chances for success.  The small acolyte felt nearly crushed under all of the weight that she was carrying around inside of her; she had hoped that talking with Katrine might serve to alleviate some of the pressure, not add to it.

Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted when Liseth found herself wrapped in Kerr's arms.  In her depressed musings she hadn't even noticed him pushing through the crowd towards her.  Then he was stroking her hair and asking what was wrong; at least her worries about possibly making Kerr angry with her too proved to be unfounded.

"I don't know what I was thinking," she began, letting herself be held and comforted.  She needed it, "I saw Katrine arrive with her family and everything else was pushed out of my mind.  I've been hoping to run into her all week, so that I could apologize for the way I made her upset the last time we talked."

"I didn't even think about the funeral, or maybe I thought that I could make it back to my seat before it started; I don't know."  Liseth sighed wearily, "All that I did was ruin the ceremony for everyone.  For you, for me, and for Katrine.  She didn't even say anything to me; Katrine probably thinks I'm the most stupid and thoughtless girl in Sandpoint."  She sighed again, "I wouldn't be surprised if she doesn't want anything to do with me ever again."

"I'm sorry I left you at the bench, Kerr.  After Mr Korvut gave us his seat too."  Apologizing for all of her shortcomings was almost a full-time job.  She laid her head against his shoulder, "I should have just stayed and tried to talk to Katrine some other time; I just don't know when that time might have been.  Thank you for not being angry with me."

With the square dispersing around them, Liseth, as much as she would rather be held forever, decided that the two of them had to go and find Father Zantus before it became too late.  She knew that the prelate had been very busy, and likely still was, but he also knew what it was they had to do tomorrow.  Everyone still had work to do before then, and right now that involved seeing if there was anything in the Cathedral which could be useful in their desperate plan.

"Come on..."  The blonde reluctantly pulled herself out of Kerr's embrace before wiping away some of the stray tears that had worked their way out of her eyes.  "We need to see Father Zantus," Liseth took hold of Kerr's arm so that he could lead her through the people still milling throughout the square.  "He has to have something that can help us tomorrow."

The tiny teen squeezed her boyfriend's arm, "After that, I think we'll be all done with...with work today."

---

---

“Well,” Kerr said, smiling slightly as he held the small blonde, “I’m pretty sure this isn’t the first time someone’s ever done something without thinking.”  He kissed the top of her head.  “I know it for certain, in fact, because I do it all the time!”  He took a step back, holding his girlfriend’s shoulders while giving her a sympathetic look, then a wink.  “And even good ideas sometimes fail in the execution.”

He moved in to hug her again.  “Stupid and thoughtless?”  His tone expressed extreme disagreement with the idea.  “Lise, you are probably the most likable person in Sandpoint!  I’m sure Katrine will come around.  You know how people can be . . . sometimes they just need some time to cool off.”

He held her close as she put her head on his shoulder, her shoulders shaking a bit.  It felt very, very . . . he couldn’t quite put his finger on the word.  Nice?  Right?  Incredible?  Each word fit, but none completely encompassed what he felt when she leaned into him.

“Angry with you?”  Kerr said in mock surprise.  “Why would I be angry?  I bet I had more elbow room than anyone else in the whole square!  I don’t think I’ve ever been so comfortable watching a sermon!”  He squeezed her; she could hear the smile in his voice.  “Of course, having you there would have been better.  I have to admit your sudden departure confused me, but hey, I figured you probably needed to do something important.”

“Father Zantus?”  Said Kerr, somewhat stupidly he thought, as he remembered that they might have important things to do that didn’t concern each other.  The young acolyte winced slightly; he wished he was a smoother talker, like Alergast Barett.   The guard lieutenant always seemed to have a witty quip on his lips or something interesting to say, at least in Kerr’s experience.  Lieutenant Barett would have said something impressive, not just repeated the name of the town’s chief priest like a poleaxed mooncalf.

Oh well, Kerr thought to himself.  You couldn’t have everything.

He pulled back, giving Liseth a worried look as he saw the tear tracks running down her face.  And here he was berating himself when she needed comforting!  After the briefest of moments contemplating her tear-stained features, he gently wiped the tears away, then bent in to give her a soft kiss on each cheek.

“Right you are!”  He grinned, trying to encourage her.  “By all means, let’s finish our work!”  He turned and put an arm around the self-critical girl, guiding her back towards the cathedral.  “I’ll bet Father Z’s in Desna’s chapel; he generally goes there to pray after a big sermon.”

Kerr opened one of the cathedral’s big double doors, bowed, and gestured for Liseth to walk inside.  As she walked through, he immediately joined her, putting his arm back around her shoulders as they picked their way across the courtyard to the temple of Desna.

It turned out Kerr was right.  Father Zantus was just getting to his feet as the two acolytes entered the chapel.

“Kerr!  Liseth!”  Father Zantus didn’t look the least bit tired.  “It’s good to see you!  How are you doing?  And what can I do for you two?”

---

---

This message was last edited by the player at 03:09, Fri 08 Aug 2014.

When Kerr wiped away her tears, Liseth let out a sniff to keep them from coming back.  Then finally a small smile appeared at the corners of her mouth after his encouraging enthusiasm.  With a nod she let her boyfriend guide her into the Cathedral to find Father Zantus.

"Hello Father Zantus," Liseth said once they had found him in Desna's wing of the Cathedral.  She found herself hoping that he didn't notice that she had been crying, "I'm...well...I'm actually very tired."

Liseth coughed a little bit uneasily.  She still felt uncomfortable asking for favors, even from Father Zantus; who was privy to the direness of their situation.  "Well...um...we're sorry that we weren't able to help with all of the preparations for the...the funeral.  Or with the ceremony itself."

"But...about tomorrow..."  The weary frown crept back on the girl's face as she reminded herself of tomorrow's plans.  "Does the Cathedral have anything that we could borrow?  Which might help?"  She thought a moment, "Maybe...magical potions?  Or divine scrolls that Kerr or I might be able to read?"

Sudden inspiration struck; from where Liseth did not know.  But suddenly she felt that she needed something specific.  "Or even strips of parchment; with holy text written upon them?"

OOC: The material components for Liseth's newly acquired Shield of Faith spell.

---

---

“Strips of parchment,” Father Zantus said with a smile.  “Well, I think we have something along those lines.  Why don’t you two follow me?”

The prelate led Kerr and Liseth out of the chapel and across the courtyard.  Liseth thought she saw Elsbet Banilo hurrying away from them, but it was hard to tell in the flickering torchlight that provided the courtyard’s only illumination.

Father Zantus talked back over his shoulder as they walked.  “I’m taking you to our repository, which I don’t think has ever seen as much use as it has this past week or so.  We have some curative draughts there, along with some other elixirs, but no scrolls, unfortunately.”

They arrived at a small door between the chapels of Erastil and Sarenrae.  Father Zantus opened it; as the acolytes followed they could see well-organized shelves of all the supplies a church might need, including a depleted-looking one on which vials of various-colored liquids were arranged above inscribed markers identifying their contents.

“This is all we have left.”  The older man gestured to the potion shelf.

“Unfortunately we used a lot of what we had stored during the goblin attacks.  Sadly, I can’t let you take everything we have,” he sighed, “seeing as the town is facing imminent attack.  But your mission is important, so I want you to be as prepared as you can.”  He pointed at the potion shelf again.  “Why don’t you look through these and determine what you think you absolutely need while I see if I can find those parchment strips for you?”

OOC:

You find the following potions; Father Zantus will allow you to take up to 10 levels' worth from the repository:

1st level -

Six potions of Cure Light Wounds (caster level 1st)
Two potions of Protection from Evil (caster level 1st)

2nd level -

Three potions of Delay Poison (caster level 3rd)
One Oil of Gentle Repose (caster level 3rd)
One potion of Remove Paralysis (caster level 3rd)
One potion of Cure Moderate Wounds (caster level 3rd)
One potion of Lesser Restoration (caster level 3rd)

3rd level -

Two potions of Remove Disease (caster level 6th)
One potion of Cure Serious Wounds (caster level 6th)
One Oil of Magic Vestment (caster level 6th)
One potion of Remove Blindness (caster level 6th)
One potion of Remove Deafness (caster level 6th)

Choose . .  . wisely.  :)

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---

"Yes, Father Zantus," Liseth nodded when he asked them to follow him.  She stepped in behind the prelate, her arm linked with Kerr's.  She was glad that the elderly priest wasn't in a hurry as she concentrated on placing one foot in front of the other and walking straight.  Which became more and more difficult, it seemed, as the night progressed.

Liseth looked up when she saw who she thought was Elsbet hurry away from the three of them once they crossed the Cathedral courtyard.  Anxious butterflies flitted through her stomach; Liseth found herself dreading another confrontation with Elsbet.  Which, as she thought about it, the acolyte realized was likely inevitable; they did sleep in the same room, after all.

For the moment, Liseth was just relieved that the other girl was avoiding her as well.  Probably because she was with Father Zantus.  Liseth frowned; Elsbet was angry because she thought that Liseth was making up stories about everything they had been doing.  What was she supposed to say to the other girl if she demanded to know why they had to leave again tomorrow?  That they were going to Thistletop in order to fight Lamashtu's worshipers before they could destroy Sandpoint?

The blonde teenager sighed in resignation.

Then they arrived at the Cathedral's repository and Liseth put aside her thoughts of scorn and rejection to focus on what Father Zantus was telling them.  "Thank you Father Zantus," she said as she looked at the shelf containing magical potions and elixirs.  "Anything will help, I'm sure.  I don't think that we'll need too many potions."  The small acolyte frowned, "I really hope not."

"What do you think, Kerr?"  Liseth asked of her boyfriend once Father Zantus left in search of the parchments that Liseth requested.  "There's so many different kinds of potions here.  I like magical healing potions; but I still have that wand Mr Voon gave me, so I don't think that we'll need them.  I hope."

"We're supposed to be fighting goblins and Lamashtu worshipers, right?"  Liseth thought for a few moments while she examined the available potions.  "And we'll probably have to fight Nualia too, who has been granted special power from Lamashtu.  I'm pretty sure that Lamashtu likes to put evil curses on her enemies; so I think that we should be prepared for things like that."  She selected four potions from the shelf.

"This one says that it's supposed to heal the blind.  I think we should take it, in case Nualia or someone else uses evil magic to blind one of us."  Liseth shuddered at the sudden thought of being struck blind, in the middle of a hostile goblin camp.  "And this one heals diseases."  She presented a second potion to Kerr, "Isn't that the same kind of magic that Father Zantus used to cure Cato earlier?  We should take this one, in case they have more of those...skull monsters."  Something that Liseth dreaded ever encountering again.

"This one is says it can free people from being paralyzed."  Liseth showed Kerr a vial with an orange liquid inside it.  "Remember when we were fighting the quasit and it put a curse on Kellan to paralyze him?  We should take this one in case one of Lamashtu's followers in Thistletop can do the same thing."  Finally, the girl selected a vial filled with a viridian liquid.  "And this one helps fight poison.  We should take it too, just in case."

"Do you think those ones will be good enough Kerr?  Should we take different ones instead?"

OOC:  Selecting:

Potion of Remove Blindness (caster level 6th)
Potion of Remove Disease (caster level 6th)
Potion of Remove Paralysis (caster level 3rd)
Potion of Delay Poison (caster level 3rd)
This message was last edited by the player at 22:16, Sun 10 Aug 2014.

---

---

Kerr dutifully followed Father Zantus over to the cathedral’s repository, arm-in-arm with Liseth.  He himself had been responsible for creating some of the healing draughts located there, so he felt a little pride (justifiably, he thought) in its contents.

But such self-important thoughts were immediately pushed out of his head when he saw how depleted the repository’s stores were.  He nearly gaped as he looked around the room.  Shelves that had previously been fully stocked with potions were now nearly bare.  All he could think was that if the relatively small-scale goblin attacks had used such a large amount of the church’s healing resources, how could it possibly be expected to keep up with the injuries caused by a major invasion like the one the goblins were planning?

The answer, of course, was that it could not.  For perhaps the first time the full implications of the upcoming invasion were clear to the young acolyte.  If they were not able to stop or somehow blunt the force of the goblin attack, many of Sandpoint’s citizens would die.  And even if Alergast Barett and the Sandpoint Guard were somehow able to throw the goblins back into the Turandarok, the town’s healing resources would be exhausted far before all the injuries were tended.

Father Zantus returned Kerr’s look of anxious inquiry with a resigned shrug.  “Even now the acolytes are working hard to restore the supply.  Even I myself am going to brew another potion before I retire.  But these things take time, and time is, unfortunately, running out.”

Kerr nodded in understanding.  “Thank you so much for letting us take some of these, Father.”  He said gratefully.  “We’ll make sure we take only what we need, and put them to good use.”

He turned his attention to Liseth.  “I think that’s right, Lise.  The wand should be plenty of healing.  Or at least I hope it will be.  I think we should take potions that deal with rarer maladies.  We might not need them at all, but if we do, we’ll be awfully glad we had them.”

The dark-haired young man nodded over the first three of Liseth’s suggestions, but raised an eyebrow at the last one.  “Um,” he said, scratching his head uncomfortably, “not to be difficult, and I agree that if Kellan’s paralyzed, like with the quasit, that’s a bad thing, but if he is paralyzed how is he going to take a potion?”

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This message was last edited by the player at 14:56, Tue 12 Aug 2014.

"Oh...I didn't think of that."  Liseth responded to Kerr's concerns about the Paralysis curing potion.  She held the vial up and examined its contents as though an answer laid somewhere within them.  "If this is a magic potion that is supposed to cure people who are paralyzed, how would anyone ever use it?"  A quizzical expression formed on her face.  "If someone can't move...they can't drink it, right?  Hmm..."

"What if...what if someone else were to apply it for them?"  The acolyte asked, "If Kellan was paralyzed by evil magic, maybe someone else could help him by pouring it into his mouth?  But..."  Now she frowned, "That wouldn't work either, would it?  Someone who was paralyzed probably couldn't swallow either.  Huh..."  Liseth placed the vial filled with orange, paralysis curing, liquid back into the potion rack from where she had taken it.  "Why would someone make a potion that could never be used by someone who needed it?  That...that doesn't make any sense."  She looked at the potion for a little bit longer, almost accusingly.

"Well..."  Her gaze returned to the potions still on the shelf.  "We could take another one of the anti-poison potions instead."  She gestured at the remaining two viridian-filled vials.  "Or maybe these instead?"  Liseth pointed at two vials filled with a black liquid.  "It says that these ones are supposed to protect people against evil monsters and evil magic.  I think that we'll be seeing a lot of that tomorrow...."  The small acolyte sighed and frowned.

"Ooh..."  A small amount of frustration bled through, "I wish Cato or Pisca were here.  They know so much more about what we'll be seeing tomorrow when we have to go to Thistletop.  And I bet they know which magical potions would be best too."

"But...it has to work though, right?"  Liseth picked up the vial filled with orange paralysis-curing liquid again, then looked at Kerr.  "Father Zantus wouldn't have it here if it wasn't helpful.  Magical potions are too expensive to make one that couldn't work."

"Someone else will just have to help the paralyzed person drink it, is all.  I think that it's worth it, if it means that someone like Kellan can get back into the fight.  It would be really bad if he was stuck with a curse and couldn't move."

Liseth arranged the four potions and turned to look in the direction that Father Zantus had disappeared to.  "Maybe we can ask Father Zantus about it when he gets back.  I'm sure that he has more experience with magical potions than we do."

---

---

“Oh, I’m right here, Liseth,” said Father Zantus, leaning out from behind a cabinet.  “And I have the parchment you were looking for.”  He walked back towards the two acolytes, holding a small pouch.  “I took the liberty of putting them in this,” he said as he held up the pouch, “since they are otherwise quite difficult to keep ahold of.”

He handed the pouch to Liseth.  “So, what were you two discussing?  Ah, the remove paralysis potion.”  He held out his hand; Liseth handed it to him.  “Yes, this one is tricky.  Obviously the paralyzed person cannot themselves take the potion, but if someone else administers the potion to the person it works like a charm.”  He looked at the pair seriously.  “And there are some creatures out there that can cause a long-term paralysis, so this can be very helpful.”  He tapped the potion’s vial lightly.  “Although I have no idea if you will be facing creatures with such power at Thistletop.”

“But, better safe than sorry, is an excellent rule of thumb,” he said, looking approvingly over the potions they had selected.  “Yes, yes, good, hmmmm, right then.”  He straightened up.  “I think these are good choices, and the cathedral can certainly spare them.  Use them judiciously!  As you know, they may only be used once.  No trying to take half and save half for later!”

---

---

"Oh, Father Zantus!  I thought that you would have had to go farther."  Liseth looked surprised when the prelate appeared from behind a cabinet.  "Um, not that I think you should have had to go further."  The diminutive blonde accepted the small pouch from the prelate.  "Thank you!  I'm...still not sure why I need these.  But they feel important."  She tucked the pouch into her robe.

Liseth nodded along with Father Zantus' explanation of the Remove Paralysis potion.  "That's what I thought."  She frowned, "But I hope we don't have to see any creatures that can cause long-term paralysis.  In fact, I hope that we don't have to use any of these potions at all.  But it's always better to have them with us, in case we do need them."

"Yes Father Zantus."  She nodded when he explained that the entire potion must be consumed in order to make its magic work.  "We certainly won't waste them!  Thank you again for letting us take these potions with us."  Liseth carefully placed each potion, one at a time, in the pouch that she wore at her side.

The short acolyte turned to Kerr, "We'll just store these with the things that Mr Tanner gave us for tomorrow.  And then we can get a little bit to eat."  She took her boyfriend's arm, rubbing it slightly with one hand.  "Maybe then we can take a break for a while.  Before we have to go to sleep."  Liseth left unsaid what had to happen after they woke up from their sleep.  One part of her wanted to stay up late just to avoid waking up and having to leave.  But she knew that they would need to get the best night's sleep that they could.

"Come on Kerr."  She tugged his arm, "I'm sure Father Zantus is still busy and doesn't need us around getting in the way."  Before the pair left, she turned to the prelate, "Oh, and that was a beautiful service Father Zantus.  We're sorry that we weren't able to help you with it.  But, um...well, you know."  She frowned momentarily before turning back to Kerr.  Looking up at him forced a small smile back onto her face.  "Let's go!"

---

---

Kerr nodded thankfully at Father Zantus.  "That was an amazing service!  And thanks, Father.  These will be really handy to have available.  Although I'm with Liseth; I certainly hope we don't need them!"  He didn't really want to contemplate the prospect of being struck blind in the middle of a bunch of angry goblins.

It seemed like that would be a very bad thing.

He looked back over at Liseth.  "That's a good idea.  Keeping our gear all in one place, I mean."  He waved at Father Zantus, who looked as if he was evaluating the cathedral's potion inventory.  "Thanks again!  We'll see you tomorrow before we're off, I'm sure."  The older priest nodded, giving them a smile and a wave as a benediction for their exit.

Liseth and Kerr made the short trip back to the cloakroom where they'd stashed the Befuddlers.  As Kerr carefully placed the potions, he looked up at Liseth.  "I think eating sounds pretty good.  I'm famished!  Where do you want to go?"

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This message was last edited by the player at 18:08, Sat 16 Aug 2014.

"Well, actually..."  Liseth assisted Kerr by handing him the potions from her pouch so that he could store them.  "...I was thinking that we could just stay here.  We could cook something up for just the two of us."  She helped Kerr stand after they had finished placing the potions.

"I suppose we could go eat at the Rusty Dragon again."  The small blonde said after placing her hands at her waist.  "Cato and Kellan and Pisca are probably there.  But I bet it's really crowded too, after the funeral service."  She looked up at Kerr with guileless eyes, "So I just thought that we could just have dinner together."

"We can use the Cathedral's kitchen; I like to cook you know.  It helps to take my mind off of...off of things."  Liseth took Kerr's hand, a slight blush forming on her cheeks, "And then we would have more time for just us.  And, you know..."  Her blush deepened drastically, "...a massage."

The small teen pulled herself up to give her boyfriend a kiss.  "Because I want my personal hero to be in top shape for all of the evil smiting he has to do tomorrow."

Liseth pulled away and smiled, "And I bet I can cook anything that my hero wants too.  Doesn't that sound like a good idea?"

---

---

Kerr nodded up at Liseth from where he was kneeling, carefully placing the last of the potions in a flap of the befuddler knapsack.  “Dinner together sounds great to me,” he agreed, privately elated at the thought of getting to spend more time with her.  “I think the kitchen should be empty now, although I have no idea what Merrith will think about us using it.”  Merrith Tinderly was the cathedral’s cook.  Kerr thought about it for a second, then shrugged.  “I’m sure she won’t have much to say if we clean up after ourselves.”

The dark-haired acolyte blushed a deep crimson in return as his blonde-haired girlfriend mentioned the much-discussed massage.  “Um, yes, top shape,” he said, returning her kiss and feeling like he had accidentally hit himself with one of Nisk Tanner’s Befuddlers.  He shook his head quickly to clear it.  “It’s a great idea,” he said enthusiastically, offering her his arm and leading her out of the narthex towards the kitchen.

The kitchen seemed completely deserted when the pair arrived.  It was also very dark.  Fortunately that was not much of a problem for the two acolytes, who cast spells of illumination at each end of the room, creating a warm, bright space in which to cook.  The kitchen’s stone walls seemed to exude warmth, as if they retained the heat of the day’s cookfires.  All the utensils an aspiring cook could want were laid out neatly in a well-organized fashion, and the foodstuffs were all labeled.

Cooking was one area in which Kerr had very little experience; he had gone straight from his mother’s cooking to that of the cathedral, so had never seen food preparation as a high-priority skill.  He gazed on all the cooking implements with a slightly-glazed look of incomprehension.  “Well,” he said to Liseth, placing his palms on the stone table where he had seen Merrith perform her own culinary wizardry, “I keep on hearing about how you love to cook.  Now’s your chance!”  He looked around the kitchen.  “I’ll be happy to help out however I can, but you’re going to need to show me what to do.  I’m, um, not very experienced.”

For some reason he suddenly blushed again.

Deeply.

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This message was last edited by the player at 08:19, Tue 19 Aug 2014.

"Hmm, I didn't think about whether or not Merrith would want us using her kitchen."  Merrith Tinderly was one of the few adults that Liseth felt comfortable addressing in a casual manner; after the Cathedral's chef insisted upon it.  As she probably had with Kerr and all of the other acolytes as well.  "But she let me help her in the kitchen twice already, back before the Festival.  So I know my way around."  Liseth nodded to Kerr, "I'm sure she won't mind us cooking here, if we make sure to clean up."

Once they were in the kitchen, Liseth had to giggle at Kerr's dazed look of incomprehension, followed by his blushing embarrassment at his own lack of cooking experience.  "Don't worry Kerr, cooking isn't hard at all!"  She laid a hand on his and and pointed at the various implements.  "All that you have to do is know what ingredients you have, and what you want.  Then put them together and make it delicious!"

The teenage chef giggled again, then gained a look of some minor concern.  "I wish we had more time though.  With a few hours to work with, I could cook up something really special for my personal hero."  She smiled at Kerr, "But I think that we can manage something tasty much more quickly than that."

Spending a few moments exploring what they had to work with, Liseth quickly settled on a plan.  "Kerr," the blonde girl pointed at a pot, "fill that with water please and then put it on the fire.  Then while it is warming up, peel some potatoes and then chop them up.  I'll...let's see..."  Liseth rummaged through the pantry until she had retrieved a small bag of dried breadcrumbs and some cornmeal.

"This should do it!"  She exclaimed.  Liseth mixed the two together in a small, shallow bowl before adding pepper; then mixing everything once more.  She went back to the pantry and secured a single egg, cracking it into another bowl and beating it.  Liseth looked at her two mixtures with the sort of satisfaction that Nisk Tanner must feel when he's mixing up his own concoctions.

"How are the potatoes coming Kerr?"  Liseth went to check on Kerr's work.  He had just finished chopping up the last potato just in time, the pot had begun to boil.  "Alright, now add all of those potatoes into the pot."  While Kerr was putting the potatoes in, Liseth acquired some salt and added it into the pot as well.  "Now just cover it up and we'll leave them to boil for a bit."

Returning to her mixtures, Liseth found four small, boned chicken breasts.  "Would you fetch a pan and put some vegetable oil into it?"  She asked Kerr.  "One-quarter of a cup should be enough."  Then she returned her attention to the chicken breasts.

Each of the four breasts were dipped into the the egg before finding themselves dredged in Liseth's cornmeal mixture.  Once they were all covered in cornmeal and breadcrumbs, the girl chef took the chicken breasts to where Kerr had prepared her pan with vegetable oil.  "Now we'll just fry these up," and she placed them into the pan, then the pan over the cooking fire.

The breasts fried for roughly five minutes before Liseth turned them over and allowed them to fry on the other side.  Another five minutes passed before Liseth declared the chicken breasts to be "Done!"  Then she took them out of the oil and added them, two each, to a pair of plates.  That finished, Liseth checked on the potatoes before nodding to Kerr.  "The potatoes are finished too.  Go and drain the water please."  She allowed her strong hero boyfriend to carry the heavy pot to the strainer in order to pour out the water while she found a potato masher.

"Thank you Kerr."  She handed him the masher.  "Now mash those up, please."  While Kerr was occupied with his mashing, the executive chef went and found some milk and butter.  Liseth added a little bit of each into the potatoes while Kerr mashed them, until the mixture had become the perfect consistency.  "Okay!"  The blonde acolyte/chef declared.  "All done!"

She took a serving spoon and dolloped the potatoes onto their plates beside the encrusted chicken breasts.  After a moment of thought, she added a bit of pepper and a few other spices onto the potatoes.  Then Liseth happily carried the two plates to a table, acquired some silverware, and made sure that Kerr sat down in front of his plate.  "Crunchy Pan-Fried Chicken Breasts with Mashed Potatoes!"

Liseth sat at her own plate across from her boyfriend and said a prayer to Sarenrae and Desna.  Then she looked across the table at Kerr, not yet even touching her own silverware.  Expectancy was as clear on Liseth's face as the color white was in her clothing.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:31, Tue 19 Aug 2014.

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“Not . . . hard . . . at all.”  Kerr said dubiously as he watched his whirling dervish of a girlfriend sweep through the kitchen, gathering various staples and cooking implements with a speed that suggested the employment of arcane assistance.  He nodded gamely.  “I’m sure it will be very delicious.”  He paused, looking at the assembled components of what he felt sure would become a meal.  “So, what do I do?”

Kerr was glad that Liseth only asked him to light a fire, heat some water, and peel potatoes.  He had done as much back home and when assigned to kitchen duty here at the cathedral.  Kerr had been worried that he might embarrass himself by messing something up, but how hard was it to heat water?

Not very hard!

He hoped.

Fortunately the fire lit easily and a large pot of water was bubbling towards a boil in short order.  He then moved to the potatoes.  The young archer glanced over at Liseth as he worked; she seemed to be in her element, beating eggs preparing the chicken coating.  He thought she had never been more beautiful.

Maybe you should pay attention to what you’re doing with the sharp knife, Kerr.  You can ogle her later.  He shook his head and concentrated on what he was doing; he wasn’t the world’s greatest peeler but he managed to get the skins off the potatoes without sacrificing any body parts in the process.  Although his wrist was surprisingly sore.  This was hard work!

He poured the potatoes into the now-boiling water per Liseth’s instructions, then stepped back to watch her season them.  “A pan and vegetable oil.  Right.”  He said, looking around for a measuring cup, an appropriate pan, and the aforementioned oil.  It took a little longer than it probably should have, but fortunately Merrith kept her kitchen organized in a fairly-intuitive manner; it wasn’t long before he proudly bore the requested pan back to his girlfriend.

He stepped back again as he watched Liseth put the chicken into the pan and begin to fry it.  He fidgeted a bit for the few minutes it took for her to fry them up; the amazing smells were definitely reminding him how hungry he was.  His stomach rumbled.  Not too loudly, he hoped.

He was happy when the frying was done and there was something for him to do besides think about how hungry he was and how attracted he was to the chef.  He gladly drained the water from the potatoes and mashed them up with gusto, gratified to receive Liseth’s official seal of approval for the job.

He sat down at the table and waited as Liseth placed the heaping plates down, first for him, and then for herself.  She was clearly waiting on him to start, so he cut into his chicken breast and put the bite into his mouth.

It was amazing!  By which he meant really, really good.  He toyed, for just a moment, with the idea of pretending that tasted horrible, but Liseth was looking at him with so much hope that he felt that it would be too cruel, even if it would be funny.  He figured it would be something that they could laugh about later.

Like, in five years.

So, discretion won out over humorous hijinks.  Kerr gave the blonde chef a broad grin as he swallowed his bite.  “This,” he said, “is amazing, Liseth.  I don’t think I’ve ever had a better fried chicken.  It is seriously incredible.  You’re going to have to be careful, or I’m going to have to have you cook all my meals.”

The young acolyte blushed yet again as the full implications of his statement hit him.  It would be nice if he could stop implying things with otherwise-innocent comments.  Just for one conversation.  Was that too much to ask?

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This message was last edited by the player at 20:37, Thu 21 Aug 2014.

It had been a little bit difficult to concentrate on her cooking after Liseth noticed Kerr spending more time watching her than what she had asked him to do.  A little bit.  Especially while the chicken was frying.  But instead of making her uncomfortable like being watched usually did, Liseth found that she actually enjoyed it.  Though she did her best to conceal her blush.

Once they finished cooking, Liseth became more interested in Kerr's reaction to what she had prepared.  This was the very first thing that she had ever cooked just for him, her hero boyfriend, and the small blonde wanted to witness every facet of his reaction.

She hoped that he liked it.  Really hoped.

Liseth watched carefully as Kerr cut a slice from the fried chicken and placed it into his mouth.  She beamed as his face almost immediately lit up, and then Kerr said that he had never eaten a better fried chicken.  "Really?"  Liseth was glowing, she was so happy.

She couldn't stop herself giggling when Kerr kept talking.  About how she might have to cook all of his meals.  The thin teenager found herself blushing and looking down into her plate.  She took up her knife and fork and starting slicing into her own chicken while keeping her eyes off of Kerr.  "Well...maybe.  I mean, if you think it's so incredible."  Liseth giggled again, she didn't even know why.

Kerr was right, she found out.  After taking a bite of the chicken herself.  Not that Liseth had never eaten her own cooking before.  But tonight it tasted so much more fresh!  So much better!  She didn't think that it was just the cooking; so it must be the company.

Now she had made herself blush and giggle again.  Liseth tried to concentrate on her food, scooping up bits of mashed potatoes with slices of fried chicken.  She hadn't realized just how hungry she really was, so concentrating on the chicken wasn't hard at all.

"I want to bake a cake."  Liseth said suddenly.  She looked at Kerr, "A big cake; for everybody."  Liseth smiled at Kerr's alarm, "Not right now.  I mean, you know, when everything is finished.  I want to bake a big cake that everyone can have a slice of."  She looked dreamily into the distance, "I suppose I couldn't bake one big enough for everyone in Sandpoint.  But I could at least make one for all of our friends."

"For Cato and Pisca and Kellan.  Father Zantus, Ms Kaijitsu...Ms Andosana.  Mayor Deverin.  Mr Barett, Sage Quink.  For us."  She smiled again at Kerr.  "A big cake for everybody!  What do you think?"

Once they had finished eating Liseth collected the plates in order to clean up.  Perhaps a little bit over-eagerly, she thought to herself.  But as she figured it, glancing at Kerr while he went about cleaning too, the quicker they cleaned their mess the more time they would have.  She didn't realize how excited, and how nervous, she would be about something she had done a dozen times before.

But none of those times were quite the same.  Liseth squeezed Kerr's arm and smiled at him; her face was at full blush as she kept thinking about their after dinner plans.

---

---

Kerr almost had to chuckle at the intensity with which Liseth watched him take his first bite of chicken.  Her obvious relief, gratitude, and happiness at his positive review of her culinary efforts made him very glad he hadn’t succumbed to the temptation to tease her about her cooking.  There was a time and place for everything, he was learning.  He congratulated himself on having made the right decision.

For once.

Liseth blushed very cutely, Kerr noticed.  Of course, she did everything cutely.  He wondered how that was accomplished.  Maybe it was her complete lack of artifice.  But there would be time enough for mooning over her later; he quickly brought himself back to the conversation.  Contemplating Liseth was something that could easily occupy him for hours.

“Absolutely incredible!”  Kerr confirmed as Liseth suddenly became engrossed in slicing up her chicken.  And he loved it when she giggled.  But they were both hungry as a result of their very long, difficult day, and conversation was suspended as they both worked their way through the chicken and mashed potatoes.

It really was very good.

“A cake?”  Kerr said, with not a little bit of the mooncalf in his voice.  Liseth seemed to specialize in bringing up unexpected topics, and she generally did it when he was . . . thinking about other things.  Like how beautiful she was.  He nodded along manfully as she listed all the people for whom she would bake it.  “That’s a . . . lot of people.  How big will this cake be?"  He paused, thinking.  "Hey, maybe we could have a victory party after we return!  I’m sure everyone will be in the mood to celebrate.”  He grinned as he stood and began helping her with the dishes.  “Although since we’ll be the heroes, maybe they’ll want to bake a cake for us!”

Although Kerr didn’t know much about cooking, he knew quite a bit more than he would necessarily have liked about cleaning up after dinner.  His mother had always made him clean up at home, and Merrith Tinderly had continued the tradition when he had been assigned kitchen duty.  He quickly poured some of the water from the jug he had placed over the fire into a basin, adding some soap into it.  He poured the rest of the water into another basin for rinsing.  Then he laid out a couple of clean towels upon which to lay the clean dishes.

Kerr and Liseth started cleaning the dishes like they were a born team.  Kerr scrubbed them in the soapy water before handing the clean ones to Liseth, who would rinse them in the other basin before drying them with a towel and stacking them on the clean towels Kerr had placed there for that purpose.  They grinned at each other as they worked.

“Wait . . . what flavor of cake will you be baking?”  A greedy gleam appeared in Kerr's eyes as he scrubbed the frying pan in hot, soapy water.  He had saved the pan for last because he knew it would both dirty the soapy water and be the hardest to scrub.  “Could it be strawberry cake?  With strawberry frosting?  I love strawberry cake with strawberry frosting.”  He leaned over to Liseth, laying his head on her shoulder and looking up at her blushing face with pleading, puppy-dog eyes.  “Please?”

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Liseth must have looked something like a strawberry herself after Kerr laid his head on her shoulder and looked up at her with his eyes so big and pleading.  This new and unexpected action caused her to start on a giggling fit, "I...I...how..."  She couldn't even form a sentence.

Instead she turned and took hold of Kerr to kiss him full on the lips.  "You are so adorable!"  She laughed again, "Like a big cute puppy dog!"  Liseth couldn't help herself, and launched a barrage of fast kisses all over Kerr's face.  "Well, if my puppy dog hero wants a strawberry cake, then of course I'm going to bake him a strawberry cake!"  She kissed him one last time, "With strawberry frosting."

"I never made a strawberry cake before.  It sounds really good too.  Everybody loves strawberries!"  Liseth playfully smacked a dazed Kerr with the towel she was holding and giggled again.  "Come on silly, we still need to finish cleaning up."

They completed their clean up job quickly after that.  The tiny blonde examined the kitchen to make sure that everything was back in order before giving it her seal of approval.  She turned to Kerr and took hold of his hand, "I hope that you enjoyed dinner."  She smiled and went up on her tip toes to kiss him again.  "Your lips taste like chicken!"  The girl snickered.

"So..."  Liseth rubbed Kerr's arm as they left the kitchen.  "Where do you think the best place would be for a..." she coughed a bit nervously and blushed, "For a medicinal massage?"

---

---

Kerr grinned at Liseth as she attacked him with kisses.  He counter-attacked with a will, giving as good as he got, in his opinion.  But she took him slightly by surprise when she kissed him full on the lips.  He was slightly out-of-breath when they parted.

But he couldn’t help his grin from turning into a beaming smile when Liseth agreed to bake the strawberry cake.  “Yes!”  He said, exulting in triumph, fist in the air, before realizing how silly he must look.  “Um, well, I’ll get you my mom’s recipe.  I mean,” he blushed, “if you want.”

They quickly finished cleaning, laughing and joking as they did so.  “I greatly enjoyed dinner,” he said, returning her kiss.  “I’m pretty certain it was the best dinner ever.”  He paused as she critiqued the taste of his lips.  “Hmmm,” he said contemplatively, trying to suppress a smile, “that’s strange.  Your lips taste like a mix of strawberries and honey and sugar.  It was the perfect dessert!  Of course,” he continued, winking, “you’re a lot sweeter than I am.”  He nodded confidently.  “That’s probably it.”

Kerr blushed as Liseth mentioned the massage; he had a nervous feeling in the pit of his stomach.  It was actually going to happen!  “Um, why don’t we use the convalescence room?  They have massage tables in there, and there won’t be anyone in there this late.”  He coughed.  “Well, no one on official business, at any rate.”

He led Liseth out of the kitchen and across the courtyard to the small room the church had set aside for people recovering their strength after an injury or illness.  He opened the door and inspected the interior; it was empty, as he suspected it would be.  Two everburning torches stood at either end of the windowless room.  Clean woolen towels were stacked neatly to two separate racks.  Various tools and implements for rebuilding strength, flexibility, and endurance were located on marked shelves along the near wall.

Three large massage tables arranged along the far wall.  Kerr walked towards them, leading Liseth by the hand.  “Well, here we are.  I think this will do, don’t you?”  His heart seemed to have moved into his throat.  “Um, so I guess I’ll lie down on a table?”  Blushing furiously, he removed his shirt and quickly climbed onto the massage table, lying face down.  Liseth could see that, while Kerr was far from musclebound, he was very fit.  She could see the muscles in his back define themselves as he stretched his arms in front of him.  She saw various faint scars on his back as well.

“So,” said Kerr, his voice muffled by the towel he was using to support his head, “are we ready to begin?”

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Liseth couldn't remember ever having had more fun!  But then, she couldn't remember having ever shared dinner and so many kisses with somebody either.  Her hand was at her mouth as she giggled in reaction to Kerr's cheering her decision to bake him a strawberry cake.  She giggled again when he said that it was the best dinner ever, then once more when he told her that her own lips were the perfect dessert to compliment their meal.

"Strawberries and honey and sugar?"  She licked her lips as though attempting to taste the dessert flavors herself.  "I think you might be biased," she smiled, "How could I be sweeter than the sweetest boy in the whole world?"  Liseth giggled again.

Then they were finished in the kitchen and Liseth held onto Kerr's hand as he led her to the Cathedral's convalescence room.  She could feel the butterflies getting more and more active in her stomach; they were fluttering about madly in their anxiety.  The girl didn't think that she was doing anything inappropriate, but for some reason she certainly felt that way.  All she wanted to do was give her hero boyfriend a massage to keep him from being sore tomorrow; when he had to do more heroing.

Once within the convalescence room, Liseth's heart was pounding.  She only nodded when Kerr asked if the massage table would do.  A light gasp escaped the young blonde and she felt that her heart must have skipped when he removed his shirt and laid down on his stomach on the table.  Liseth slowly stepped up to the massage table and looked down at Kerr's bare back.  Slowly she reached one hand towards him, and she could see that it was shaking.

Her eyes alighted on the faint scars that crossed over Kerr's body and she paused.  Concern and curiosity caused the healer to take over for the nervous girl and Liseth finally managed to gently set her hands on Kerr's bare skin.  She gingerly traced the path of the scars with her hands, trying to determine what could have caused them.

"Kerr...where did you get these scars?"  Liseth finally asked him.  She started to gently rub his back, beginning in the area around his scars.  "It looks like you've had them for years."

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---

Kerr’s skin seemed like it was on fire where Liseth touched him.  It was really a strange feeling; weren’t massages supposed to be, well, relaxing?  This seemed anything but relaxing.  Of course, the churning in the pit of his stomach probably had something to do with that.

“Oh, those,” Kerr said in response to Liseth’s inquiry about his scars as he breathed deeply in an attempt to relax and enjoy the beginning of his therapeutic massage.  “Well, that’s kind of a story.  It happened the very first time my dad let me track by myself.  I mean, I hadn’t been doing incredibly well at it up to that point but he thought maybe if I didn’t have the pressure of him staring over my shoulder I would relax and have more success.”

Liseth could feel Kerr relax a little as he warmed to his story.  “So there was this cougar that had been taking chickens from a couple of the local farms.  Well, my dad was a trapper and tracker.  Have I told you that already?  Anyway, my dad was the best tracker and trapper out in the farmsteads, so people always came to him with this sort of stuff.  I think he could have probably made a pretty good living just off of that, although of course at the time I didn’t even think about the payment.”

Kerr was really enjoying the massage now.  Liseth is actually very good at this!

“So, ah,” Kerr completely lost his train of thought as Liseth climbed up on top of him to get a better angle on a particularly-tense muscle group.  “Um,” he said, trying to ignore the feel of her thighs on his back.  “Yes, well, er, my dad.  He was a tracker.”  Kerr tried to recover the thread of his story.  “You’re really good at this massage thing, did you know?  That feels amazing.  Anyway, he let me track the cougar.  It wasn’t supposed to be dangerous, right?  I was only about eleven at the time, but I was already pretty tall.  Too tall for cougar prey, anyway.  At least, that’s what Dav and my dad thought.”

“So anyway,” Kerr struggled to keep track of his train of thought, a remarkably-difficult feat.  “Um, dad let me go track the cougar.  Which took me FOREVER.  But I finally tracked it down!”  He said with a note of triumph.  “Of course,” he paused for effect, “what nobody knew was that the cougar had kittens, or whatever you call cougar babies.  So when I approached its lair it did attack me.  From behind, which I don’t think was very sporting, do you?”  He said with mock indignation.  “Fortunately my dad had been tracking me, so he saved me.”  Kerr grinned.  “Not very heroic, was it?  And holy Desna was my mom furious when we got back.  My poor dad.”  Kerr chuckled.

“I think that may have been when they decided I should be an acolyte.  Father Zantus had been asking but I'm pretty sure my dad had visions of me following in his footsteps.”  Kerr stretched his arms above his head, luxuriating.  “So here I am.  It’s strange, isn’t it?  Now that we know what we know I’ve been thinking back and wondering how many events in my life that I thought were totally mundane were actually influenced by the gods to get me to where I am now.  I mean, it’s kind of a sobering thought, isn’t it?  If the gods have taken that much of an interest in me, how much responsibility do I have to come through for them?”

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"Mmhmm..."  Liseth only half paid attention once Kerr relaxed and began his story.  Not that she wasn't interested in Kerr's story; she really was very concerned about those scars.  But she found herself completely absorbed in her work.  Her work being to rub her hands all over her hero boyfriend's back and coax the tension from the actually well-defined muscles in his back.

It was almost funny how none of what she was doing really felt like work to her.  So focused was she in what she was doing, the small blonde masseuse didn't even register that she had climbed up on top of Kerr in order to get a better angle on him.  With her short stature it was difficult to apply the pressure that she needed to from the floor.

"Oh, thank you."  Liseth said when Kerr mention just how good she was at giving massages.  From her vantage point above him she leaned over to put her weight behind her arms on a difficult and particularly tense muscle group.  "You're a very good patient," she remarked after finally getting those stubborn muscles to loosen up.

"The cougar gave you those scars?"  The acolyte gently ran her fingers over the path of the claw-marks.  She started paying more attention to Kerr's words and slightly less to his bare back. "That must have been very frightening; Daddy always told me that I should avoid big predators like cougars.  I couldn't imagine him asking me to track one!"  She leaned down and planted a soft kiss on the old scars, "Of course it was heroic, facing a big predator like that all by yourself.  And when you were only eleven!  Too bad I wasn't there to make sure that it didn't leave a scar; but a kiss should suffice to make it better now."

Finally Liseth realized the position that she was in; sitting on top of Kerr with her legs straddled to either side of his back.  Her conversation paused as she began to blush intensely; at least Kerr was lying face down and couldn't see her.  After several moments the girl finally put her hands back to work on his sore muscles; it wasn't as though she could stop halfway through!  Although her flushed cheeks only diminished slightly now that she had registered her positioning.

She decide that maybe talking again could take her mind off of her self-consciousness.  "I don't think that the gods want you to feel that you have to come through for them.  That you're responsible for making up for the effort they might have gone through in order to get you where you are now.  They want you to do things because you know that they are the right thing to do."  Back in healer mode, Kerr's blonde girlfriend placed an elbow on his back and leaned onto it with all of her miniscule weight.  She held the position for several seconds before releasing and putting her hands back on him, satisfied that she had softened that particular area up enough to work with.

"No one can really know how many events that happen are influenced by the gods, and how many are chance.  But didn't the gods tell us that they had placed this path before many different people?  And that we were the ones who ended up following it?  I think the best way to come through for them is simply to continue following their path.  That way you can become the hero and champion that the gods know you can be."

Having finally worked her way up back, Liseth started to work on Kerr's tense collar and neck muscles.  She had even managed to relax somewhat herself, and began to hum while her fingers dug in.  The humming didn't last long; soon the diminutive blonde started instead to sing in soft and relaxing tones.  Liseth wished that she sang more often; she loved to sing, especially when she was happy.  She supposed that was probably why she hadn't done much singing for so long.  Everyone who listened always told her that she had such a wonderful voice too.

"...We'll go together, to the ends of the world..."  Now that she had started she couldn't imagine stopping.  Liseth had one hand on either side as she dug into the base of Kerr's neck; massaging the ache from his body while, she hoped, her voice relaxed his mind as much as it did hers.  "...And we'll be together, through all time unfurled..."  If the extent of his luxuriating was any indicator, Liseth was sure that she didn't need to worry about Kerr enjoying the song.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:01, Mon 08 Sept 2014.