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Their honeymoon takes a more personal turn as they venture into the surrounding woods, where Tibas starts to uncover the complexities of his new wife's world and their hastily built relationship, prompting a new appreciation in Tibas for both her history and his own.\n\n-----\nIt's been a while, but I swear I haven't forgotten this couple. :)\n\n[url=http://www.postybirb.com]Posted using PostyBirb[/url]", "description_bbcode_parsed": "Tibas and Nellie embark on their honeymoon in Forigna, where the charm of traditional crafts and gentle pace of life set the stage for a beautiful date. Their honeymoon takes a more personal turn as they venture into the surrounding woods, where Tibas starts to uncover the complexities of his new wife's world and their hastily built relationship, prompting a new appreciation in Tibas for both her history and his own.

-----
It's been a while, but I swear I haven't forgotten this couple.  :)

Posted using PostyBirb", "writing": "[b][u]Honeymoon Spring[/u][/b]\n\nNellie was already well awake by the time Tibas became aware of the morning. She was reclining in the window-seat overlooking the town, finishing the book she'd begun in the carriage. Her dress from the night before was lazily pulled over her like a thin blanket, hiding just enough to make her technically decent if anyone in the street had eyes sharp enough to make out her figure this high in the tower. She was wearing her illusion again, but her mane and tail still wafted faintly in some unfelt draft in the room.\n\nTibas stared at her for a long moment, half-heartedly pretending to still be asleep while he appreciated the scene, until she spoke: \"Good morning, Tibas. Did you sleep well?\"\n\n\"Am I not still?\" the Cougar chuckled, lifting his head to rest it on his elbow and appreciate her much more openly, \"Kind of hard to tell where dreams end and waking begins these days.\"\n\nShe turned the last page of the book, her lips quirking up into a subtle smile. \"I'm not immune to flattery, but I married a man capable of ‘real talk', and was quite looking forward to spending days engaged in it.\" Closing the book and laying it aside, she shifted onto one hip, holding the dress (barely) across her breasts with one hand and a coy smile on her lips. \"Flattery is for the night.\"\n\nOnce again, Tibas' heart did its level best to crack a rib as it tried to leap forward without the rest of his body. \"And teasing is definitely [i]not[/i] for the mornings,\" the Cougar whispered, clutching his chest, \"Or I'll never be able to get out of bed to go to work.\" He tossed the covers aside then, joined her briefly on the window-seat, and shared a long, warm morning kiss with his new wife. \n\nShe welcomed it readily, and smiled when he broke for air. \"I will be sure to keep a humble air in the mornings, then,\" she promised, getting up from the seat and letting the dress fall in the floor completely as she made her way behind the dressing screen, \"Speaking of humble things: you're welcome to wear your usual clothes, but I did have something special brought in, if you'd like to try it.\"\n\nTibas quirked a brow, spotting two neatly folded outfits waiting for him on the couch (and wondering when the servants had brought those in). One was a familiar set of jeans and a shirt from his closet, but the other looked almost like a costume (of [i]very[/i] high quality), imitating the fashion of a bygone era. \"It's the sort of clothes the locals wear,\" Nellie explained from behind the screen, where she was already more than half-dressed for the day, herself, \"From shearing the sheep to sewing on the last button, every thread and stitch was made by hand right here in this town. You'll stand out less, though it might feel a little odd to you.\"\n\nThe Cougar chuckled, and began to pull on the outfit right there in the middle of the room. It consisting of dark pants, a light (not quite white) shirt, and a thick vest dyed a deep maroon color. Nellie leaned patiently against the massive mantle of the fireplace, watching him as he finished closing up all the buttons. Tibas arched a brow at her choice of clothes for the day: plain denim pants under an equally plain tee-shirt, both lacking any kind of pattern or branding. The bright yellow shirt contrasted nicely with the dark hue of her fur, and looked brand new, but otherwise unremarkable. \"Not that I don't appreciate being the one over-dressed for once,\" he chuckled, \"But I'm surprised [i]you're[/i] not wearing something from the area.\"\n\nNellie tilted her head, as if surprised by his surprise. \"I promised to be ‘approachable' on this trip, did I not?\"\n\n\"You make promises a little too casually, sometimes,\" her husband chuckled, offering her his arm, \"I won't hold you to every little off-the-cuff remark.\"\n\nWith a subtle smile, Nellie put her arm in his. \"I'm glad,\" she admitted, walking side-by-side with him down the hall and stairs to the great dining-hall where breakfast had been prepared, \"But for now, I think it's important to keep my word, even casually given. My insistence was unreasonable, and you dove in far too easily. Trust — real trust — is still rather shallow between us. It will need to grow deeper by the time the star-dust clears from your eyes, or you might regret your haste.\"\n\nA simple breakfast of scones and bacon was waiting for them, along with a tray full of fresh eggs beside a hot griddle, and one of the staff ready to prepare them any way the guests might like. Of course, there was an entire bowl of cleanly cubed fruits waiting for Nellie. The newlyweds ate lightly, to leave room for sampling the offerings in town, then made their way out peruse the shops...discreetly shadowed by two of Nellie's more muscular servants, to carry any purchases and (Tibas imagined) subtly discourage any would-be thieves.\n\nThey looked through shelves of hand-wrought jewelry and several designs of clothes. Knot-work patterns were popular here, and Tibas could not begin to imagine the effort it took to raise those intricate patterns out of hand-woven textiles. Nellie placed an order at the local pharmacy, where various herbs were hung in dried bundles above their heads, and bottles of tonics and pouches of fine powders rested on the shelves (she insisted some of these were difficult to find in Heartherra). They sampled melted-sugar treats and thick meat-pies, and Tibas had to restrain the very unprofessional urge to beg the local baker for his bannock recipe. \"It's hard to keep a flat-bread this moist, you know,\" the Cougar purred, \"And he's managing the temperature with raw fire, not an adjustable stove. I feel like an amateur by comparison.\"\n\nBesides the style of the merchandise in town, what struck Tibas most was the gentle quiet. People were talking around them, of course, some obviously fellow tourists and some locals, nearly all of whom casually greeted the pair in passing. But above the soft chatter there was...practically nothing. The faint ring of a hammer, from what Tibas presumed was a blacksmith somewhere in town, was the only other consistent sound besides voices. It had never struck Tibas before just how much of the noise of the city was vehicles and machinery. The hand-crafts practiced by this town were far quieter, easily covered by the soft song of the craftsmen, and even that largely unheard inside of dedicated little work-shops. Besides that, the air smelled cleaner, faintly of tannin here and there, or the flowers planted outside so many of the shops' windows. And practically everyone, tourist and local alike, regularly met each other's eyes with a smile. Even as a perfect stranger, Tibas felt a sense of community that just didn't exist back home...\n\n\"I'm sure you had reasons,\" the Cougar mused as he and Nellie walked along the last street at the edge of the town, \"And you've already mentioned it wasn't quite the same back then...but do you ever regret leaving this place? It feels really nice and welcoming here.\"\n\nThe Mare at his side shook her head swiftly. \"Not in the least. It [i]has[/i] cleaned up well, and I'm glad, but there was more dung than flowers in the street when we fled from here, and we did so under threat.\" Taking his hand in hers, she gave it a gentle squeeze. \"And it's time you heard at least some of that tale at last. This way,\" she urged quietly, coaxing him onto a little lane leading still further out of town and making a crisp snap with her fingers.\n\nTwo more of her servants met them as they passed beyond the last thatched roof, wearing heavy packs on their backs and swords on their belts. They passed a pair of swords to the servants who had been shadowing Nellie and Tibas earlier in the day, and the four arrayed themselves around the couple as they struck off from the well-worn road into the woods near town. Tibas quirked a curious brow at what he could only describe as a security detail. \"...Should I be worried?\" he asked with a chuckle that was more nervous than he meant it to be. He couldn't help but feel the atmosphere of this little outing had suddenly changed.\n\nHis wife's amused look reassured him. \"No. It's merely a precaution. I want to take you somewhere personal, and hopefully still little-known. But there [i]are[/i] animals in the woods, some of them predators, and it will be after dark before we get back,\" she briefly pointed out both the height of the sun in the early evening and the lanterns hung from the packs. They'd been walking arm-in-arm for most of the day, but she took the opportunity to pull a little closer to his side. \"You've been patient so far, just as I've asked. We have a bit of walk ahead of us, without prying ears. Now would be a fine time for questions, I think.\"\n\nTibas chuckled again, rather more gently, with another brief look at the servants around them. It definitely didn't feel like a [i]private[/i] outing still, but Nellie obviously trusted them deeply. Tibas eyed the swords hanging from their belts again... \"Alright, so I can believe they know your regular routines pretty well, [i]and[/i] I know there at least a pinch of magic involved when you snap your fingers for them. So just how much of this is magic and...very robust job-training?\"\n\n\"About ninety-percent the latter,\" his wife insisted quickly, \"Aided by long stretches of nigh-unbroken routine. But the other ten-percent, admittedly...,\" As if to demonstrate, Nellie snapped her fingers again, and the Tiger marching behind them answered, \"We call it ‘The Impulse' among ourselves, sir. It could technically be considered a form of mind-control, albeit a weak one. At her snap, we simply feel the urge to perform a task, and we are trained from childhood to abide that urge before we think about it. Ironically, an [i]un[/i]trained will like yours could resist it on mere instinct.\"\n\nTibas blinked at that. \"From childhood?\"\n\nNellie took up the explanation from there, with a nod. \"About six generations back, I saved the life of a young Zebra with my medicine. Full of gratitude, and with nowhere else to go besides, he swore his life to serving me, and that his children would do the same.\" Shaking her head as if regretting the memory, she continued, \"He was a man of his word, and he had a lot of children. And his children honored their word, and also tended to have a lot of children. And so each generation swears in the next, and teaches them to submit to that impulse, and my workforce grows a little larger every decade or two. I provide for their daily needs and education in any field they take an interest in, and they serve me well and fulfill my errands.\"\n\nHer husband's jaw fell slack. \"Nellie...that's scarey, actually. Wouldn't that make them...like, gullible, when they have to deal with someone besides you? It's like cult behavior.\"\n\nNellie agreed with a firm nod. \"There are a number of problems with it. The bloodline has grown weak-willed because of it, and all of them require regular counseling.\" Gesturing to the Ox walking a little ahead of them, she added, \"They are still people, though, with all the variations that come with that. Some find love, and it helps when outside bloodlines marry into the family. Some are even independent enough to manage a profession outside my house, and I encourage them to do so. We see them at the family reunions, and they sometimes discreetly direct new clients to me. That is how my clientele grew significant enough to provide for so many.\"\n\nTibas looked around them once more at their small entourage with a new appreciation. He had thought for a while now that she kept a [i]lot[/i] of servants, but he had never imagined they were all essentially branches of one family tree. That meant this Zebra and Tiger, as well as the Goat and the Ox, were all cousins in some degree...and she'd known all four of them from birth, or close to it. \"Wow...no wonder you trust them so much.\"\n\nThat didn't seem to merit a response, but a soft chuckle from Nellie suggested he might still be understating that bond. The sun was nearly set by the time they stopped near the foot of a small mountain, in front of a couple of rocks that had broken off from the face ages ago and now rested against one another to form a kind of arch. To one side of that gap, a gravestone had been erected, though the name was now worn off the face. A second, much smaller marker had been placed beside the first.\n\nTibas blinked at the markers, so far away from the town. \"Nellie...is this...?\"\n\nHis wife nodded affirmation to his guess, kneeling in front of the gravestone and running her fingertips lightly down the weathered face. \"This is the memorial to my mother. The smaller is something like a place-holder for father, since I cannot actually be sure if he is alive or dead. I can't help but think he would have left a message there by now if he is still alive, but it's not inconceivable he has simply never returned here.\" After paying her respects, she joined Tibas on the picnic blanket the servants had laid out and set with a modest dinner for them. \"Now, this might surprise you, but this is actually quite a happy place for me. My parents brought me here for picnics rather like this one many times in my early years. And mother never let a single visit go by without remarking that I was conceived here,\" she added with a soft smile.\n\nTibas chuckled gently. \"Ah, so Forigna is meaningful to you because you grew up here. I [i]was[/i] wondering.\"\n\nNellie nodded. \"Mostly. Unicorns mature a little more slowly than most Kinships, so I still wasn't quite an adult when we left. But I was conceived, according to mother, and certainly born, and spent the first sixty years of my life in this quiet, poor, dirty little town.\"\n\nHer husband nearly choked. \"You were ‘not quite an adult' at [i]sixty[/i]?!\"\n\nThe Mare tilted her head, seeming just as surprised as he was. \"Do they not teach about the life-cycles of our Kinship in the primary-schools these days? I thought the current curriculum was better about that.\"\n\n\"Eh...well...,\" Tibas looked a little embarrassed as he admitted, \"Maybe? I...wasn't the most attentive student. Maybe I missed that day, or maybe they just skipped it since there weren't any Unicorns in our class, so far as I knew.\"\n\nNellie shook her head. \"There wouldn't have been. We don't attend public schools [i]because[/i] we mature so slowly. And all of our youngest generation is well past that age anyway,\" she added, leaning against his shoulder and nibbling idly at a mustard, lettuce, and tomato sandwich, \"Very well. At the bare minimum, you ought to know that Unicorns are not considered adults until they turn eighty. Under Heartherran law we are exempt from public schooling, but we also cannot apply for a driver's permit or any kind of financial account until age forty at the earliest. Grandmother sometimes cautions that may still be too young for confidence, but there was a great deal of pressure to keep it low for the sake of ‘social acceptance' when the law was passed, and very few of us have grown up under the current body of law in any case.\"\n\n\"...Wow,\" Tibas blinked, \"If it takes that long...it kind of makes sense. It would be strange to have a classmate in high-school who still looked like they belonged in third grade.\"\n\n\"And confusing and frustrating to be caught up in the kind of drama teenagers make for themselves before you've even begun puberty,\" Nellie nodded.\n\nTibas grimaced at that thought, partly out of embarrassment at the memory of some of the teenage drama [i]he'd[/i] made for himself. \"Do [i]all[/i] the Ancient Kinships have it that rough? I kind of have a vague memory that there [i]was[/i] a Dragon in our class.\"\n\n\"No,\" his wife was quick to answer, and sounded relieved. \"Dragons mature at roughly the same rate as other Kinships, though their lifespans are rather longer, so they can attend with the general population. The same is true for a Phoenix up until their first pyre, but they are [i]forbidden[/i] to attend for different reasons. And most of the other Ancients didn't even qualify as ‘immortal'. The only difference between them and you would have been a disparity of life expectancy. That's why so few survived,\" she noted, sounding vaguely guilty for the admission.\n\nThe Cougar quirked a brow at the tone. \"You were still young when it came to an end, you said. Whatever happened, that's not on you, or even your Kinship. I do remember [i]that[/i] much from my history classes.\"\n\nNellie nodded quickly at that, turning her head to nuzzle his cheek gratefully. \"No. No [i]Kinship[/i] was actually at fault for sparking that age, only very specific individuals. But it is sad, and bitterly ironic, that the Kinships of those kings have all survived, while very, very many who had nothing to do with us did not.\"\n\nTibas put an arm around her, cleared his throat, and tried to find some other topic to break this increasingly depressing mood. Looking around the little clearing didn't give him a lot of inspiration, except for the gravestones. \"You said this is a happy place for you, and that you remember your parents fondly. What were they like?\"\n\n\"Mmm, mother was what we call a ‘botanist' these days. Back then she was just considered a very good gardener, and grew a lot of the herbs father used. She was affectionate, and kind, but already wary of people by the time I came along. Father was what we now call a ‘pharmacist', like me, though I suspect there was more of his magic than mother's herbs in the potions he made,\" Nellie chuckled, closing her eyes as if to savor some particularly fond memory, \"He taught me everything I needed to get started in the trade. He was a good teacher, and had a great sense of humor. Even when I was too young to appreciate what that meant, I could see why mother liked him.\"\n\nHis wife gave him a sideways look, leaning hard into his shoulder briefly. \"I've talked a lot this afternoon. Now it's your turn. Tell me about your parents. I've had the pleasure of meeting them in person, but couldn't spend real time with them. I hope to rectify that in the future, so you'd best warn me now if there are any topics I should approach carefully.\"\n\nTibas snickered, but shook his head. \"I don't actually know my roots very well...and until now, I didn't really care about that. After seeing this place, though, and hearing everything you've told me just on this walk...I'm a little sad I don't know where I came from better,\" he admitted, leaning against her in turn. \"Great-Grandpa lived and died in South Verdantgrove, just over the mountains. That's about as far back as I know my family history, and I don't even know what he did for a living. Probably coal-mining, just based on the town. Grandpa was a lumberjack in Three-Peaks to the day he died, I'm told. I was too young to remember much of him when he passed, and I don't think I ever got to meet Grandma. Dad became a mechanic instead of following in grandpa's footsteps, but grandpa managed to get him hired on maintaining and repairing the lumber-mill's equipment. He worked on cars and other things on the side, and still does that even though he's supposedly retired now. So here I am, a baker, because I prefer flour on my hands to axle-grease, and dad wasn't pushy,\" he chuckled.\n\nHis wife listened attentively, nodding approval as he went down the line of generations. \"All honest, productive careers that contributed to their community. You should be proud of that, Tibas. Do you get on well with them? What is your mother like?\"\n\n\"Mom claims to be a ‘trophy wife', and dad usually responds that he ‘clearly came in third place', and they both laugh about it,\" Tibas grinned, \"I remember fighting with them a lot when I was a kid, especially in high-school. Once I started earning and spending my own paycheck, though...and a lot of that going toward a girlfriend or two...I figured out my parents weren't quite the tightwads I took them for, after all. Even managed to apologize for it over Deep White one year...and now they both laugh about that every year, too. So...yeah, we get on well, and I'd say they both have a pretty good sense of humor.\"\n\n\"Hmhm...I look forward to seeing that in my house this year,\" Nellie smiled sincerely, \"It may be entirely my own fault, but my halls rarely get to hear laughter.\" The servants set out the lanterns around the blanket they were sitting on, and Nellie checked the sky, where the last scarlet light of day was hugging the horizon. \"I want you to tell me more about them in the morning, please. But now, it's time for us to go.\"\n\nWith a nod of agreement, Tibas rolled to his feet and stepped off the blanket, so her attendants could roll it up for the hike back. Nellie took him by the arm again, much as they had walked on the way in...but he was surprised when she pulled him in the direction of the stone arch instead of back in the direction of town. Her servants packed up the little picnic, then stood attentively in front of that gap in the rocks, blocking the entrance with swords drawn in warning.\n\nThere was a small cove behind that arch, fenced off from the woods by the rocky walls of the bluff. A small pond at one end appeared to be steaming, and Nellie coaxed her husband in that direction while Tibas was still looking around curiously. Fireflies began to wink around them as Nellie let go of his arm...and pulled her shirt over her head.\n\nTibas blinked, then laughed before he could catch himself, while his wife unclasped her bra and tossed it onto the shirt. \"Now wait a minute,\" the Cougar chuckled, \"I know we didn't hike all the way out here, have all that serious talk and a picnic dinner, just as a prelude to going skinny-dipping. What's going on here?\"\n\nThe Mare elegantly sliding her pants down her slender legs in front of him paused just long enough to give him a wry look, then finished getting them around her ankles and stepping out of the denim. \"No,\" she answered simply, fluffing out her mane as she set one dainty hoof into the water.\n\nThe illusion over her body dispelled as her hoof sank beneath the surface, and her horn cast a soft luminescence over the pool. She waded into the gentle slope until the water caressed the underside of her breasts before turning back toward Tibas. \"This is where I will teach you something they should [i]not[/i] have discussed in any of your classes. It will not be like that first day, nor last night,\" she promised, extending one hand toward her husband, still dressed and dry on the bank, \"[i]This[/i] is the exact pool in which I was conceived. This place is special to my Kinship. And what we will enjoy tonight...is the mating ritual of Unicorns.\"\n\nHe stared at her like she wasn't speaking the same language anymore...but quickly began undoing the buttons of his vest. His nose was telling him there was something else in that water besides his wife. Something mineral, and a little sharp in his nostrils, though much more pleasant than sulfur. The steaming water was obviously warm, and looked all the more inviting when Nellie sank into it to float languidly while she waited for him to finish undressing. \"By ‘special'...you mean magic?\"\n\nNellie smirked, and shook her head. \"No, it's just an ordinary hot-spring, though entirely natural. Do you know [i]why[/i] there aren't more Unicorns in the world, even though we live forever?\"\n\nThe vest finally came undone, and he didn't even bother with the buttons on the shirt, simply inverting it to drag it over his head and drop on top of the vest. \"Not exactly...other than your Kinship rarely has offspring?\"\n\nHis wife nodded. \"It's for the best. If we multiplied like other Kinships, but did not die off like they do, the world would become quite crowded very quickly. But besides being pure-blood,\" she wafted a hand through some of the rising steam gently, \"If we hope to conceive, we must do so under the sight of the full moon, and my egg and your seed...well, your seed if you were also a Unicorn...must be raised to a certain warmth. So hot, private springs like this have long been secret treasures to us.\"\n\nAt last getting his pants out from around his ankles, Tibas planted an eager foot into the water...and stopped instantly, gritting his teeth as the hot water sloshed around his leg. Nellie hummed in amusement, standing up again and striding over to offer him her hand. \"Yes, it's rather warmer than the standard bath. Enter gracefully, not quickly, and it'll be pleasant enough.\"\n\nHe took her hand, and made the next couple of steps rather more slowly, trying not to disturb the surface of the water more than necessary. Once he was down to his chest, and his body-temperature quickly rising to match the water around it, it felt soothing and relaxing rather than hot. Nellie wrapped her arms around him in welcome, pulling him against her breasts and into a warm kiss. The heightened temperature of their bodies made her tongue feel hot as it caressed his.\n\nTibas kissed her lips, and her cheek, and her neck, then asked quietly in her ear, \"What do I do for this ritual?\"\n\nShe returned his sweet affections, running her hands up and down his back as she continued to hold him tight to her body. \"Get into the water. Get your body nice and hot. Then take me exactly as you did last night,\" she instructed just as softly, \"Only deeper. Mmm...but that last part's not so important. We already know we won't be conceiving tonight. I just wanted to finally bring a husband here, like I promised my mother I would.\"\n\nTibas chuckled, and was about to make some remark on how she made promises too casually again, when something else about that statement distracted him. \"You didn't bring the others?\" he asked, remembering she had very clearly counted him as her third.\n\nNellie made a soft shushing sound in his ear. \"It's a very poor time to think of them, Tibas. The brief answer is: no. I regret that I could not bring the first, and never felt it necessary with the second. I have decided since then that I do not want to repeat that mistake. So here we are, and you are the first.\" She cut off any more questions with another hot kiss, and pressed him backward against the slope of the bank, so his shoulders held the bulk of their weight and her hips could straddle his comfortably.\n\nThe position she was choosing notwithstanding, Tibas thought she was being rather more aggressive this time. Or more needy. Definitely much less patient, as she rubbed the thick lips of her vulva up the rising length of his cock, hooking the tip of it into herself before grinding down against him in the water. She said there was nothing special about this place beyond that it was natural and hot...but Tibas suspected there was still something more at work, and wished he could identify that faintly metallic scent.\n\nTucking his hands underneath her arms to support her, Tibas rolled to the side, reversing their positions on the bank, and kissed her soft lips hotly. \"You went out of your way to bring me somewhere special,\" the Cougar purred into his wife's ear, sliding his hands up her arms to knit his fingers with hers, \"At least let me do the work here.\"\n\nHolding his hands with an amused smile, Nellie nuzzled his cheek and wrapped her legs around his hips. \"Work hard, husband,\" she cooed, laying her head back on the bank and surrendering herself to him. Tibas' heart beat so hard it made his ribs ache, and he gently applied a soft kiss to each of her breasts before he started to move again.\n\nThe water fought his first few thrusts. He couldn't make strong movements in it. Much like when he'd first entered it, the best movements were graceful rather than swift, and deep rather than hard. As he found the rhythm, and Nellie stirred with him, their hips sent little whirlpools rolling out across the otherwise still waters, like galaxies ripping away through the ocean of space. The light of Nellie's horn reflected off the ripples around their bodies, and glanced off the rising steam, creating motes like stars that danced alongside the fireflies. And, of course, the moon shone bright and large overhead. For a few short minutes, all the glories of the heavens invaded that little cove, to bear witness to their union.\n\nTibas' purr turned into a growl as he plunged deep, nesting even his balls against the thick lips around her entrance, and Nellie cooed appreciation and encouragement in his ears while he poured his climax into the depths. \"Mmm...that's very nice, dear,\" she hummed softly, hugging him to her as his hips ceased their trembling, \"Such a wonderful effort...I'm actually really close...\"\n\nOne of her hands slipped down his side and between their bellies, searching out her pearl between the press of their hips, and began to gently tease it with the goal of finishing herself while he was still inside her. Tibas took that hand and pulled it aside again. At her questioning look, he kissed her cheek, withdrew a couple of steps...and took a deep breath.\n\nThe hot water burned his nostrils just a little as his face submerged. His nose found her nethers before his lips did, and he kissed her thick vulva gently, running just the tip of his tongue delicately around the rim. She was nervous about the rough texture, but he figured he could use the smoother tip and even the underside to—\n\nHer legs began to jostle, and her hands gripped his ears, pulling him a little roughly back to the surface. \"[i]Ti-bas![/i]\" his wife shouted his name as two very separate syllables, having to force them out between laughter, \"You [i]ridiculous[/i] man! You'll drown!\" She continued to laugh aloud once she was certain he was breathing air again, a loud but silvery sound, like the bell of a temple, and Tibas smiled to hear it. \"Oooh,\" the Unicorn beneath him cooed as she calmed down, hugging him tight, \"Now there's a pleasure more precious than any climax. It's been decades since I laughed that hard,\" she confessed around one last bought of quiet giggles, \"Maybe even a century.\" Then Nellie kissed his cheek, and whispered in his ear, \"Thank you. Mmm...let's go back now, and I'll let you finish this like you hoped to.\"\n\nHer husband chuckled, nuzzling her elegant throat and kissing it affectionately. \"I didn't think I was large enough for that,\" he answered with a wink. Though her warning from the night before might be taken as an insult, he couldn't help but think that brief bought of laughter, which even she had admitted as a terribly rare thing, was quite the accomplishment in its own right, and in a way more meaningful than a satisfying girth.\n\nShe kissed his lips again in agreement. \"That's why I'm going to show you how to work the sleeve,\" Nellie promised, coaxing him back a step so that she could stand up properly, and let him lead her by the hand back onto the bank. Her typically cool demeanor had been broken, and she continued to smile helplessly while they dressed and even quietly giggled some more from time to time during the walk back to town, all while leaning affectionately on his arm. Tibas couldn't remember [i]ever[/i] being more satisfied with himself.\n\nThe trip back took rather longer than arriving had, as they walked carefully in the light of the lanterns her servants carried...and twice paused while the Ox investigated some brief noise ahead of them. In spite of this, the mood felt more relaxed and intimate between them than it had at any other point in the day, especially when they broke free of the trees and the warm light of the village windows came back into view across the field. Tibas kissed the Unicorn hugging his arm. \"Thank you. That really was something special. It's...hard for me to describe how I feel about it, actually,\" he chuckled, \"I think ‘honored' might be the best word, though that sounds really too impersonal for what you shared with me today.\"\n\nNellie rubbed her cheek against his comfortingly. \"Honor used to be a [i]very[/i] personal thing, not just a formality. I'm glad to have touched you...and glad that it was you. This experience would have been wasted on my last husband, I think. I'm actually a little relieved now.\"\n\n\"Wasted?!\" the Cougar laughed, \"That ingrate! Not that I know the guy...\"\n\nMuch to his surprise, she nodded, but seemed to content to leave it at simple agreement without elaborating. \"Thank you, dear,\" she cooed softly instead, \"This is your first marriage, and hopefully your only one, so this might seem strange to say...but I'm glad we married. Today was something special for me, too. Please continue to surprise me, dear husband, and make my little gifts into special things for all the tomorrows we share from now on.\" She turned his head just enough to kiss his lips as she wrapped herself in her customary illusion again, as though turning down the lights on the end of a wonderful night...", "writing_bbcode_parsed": "Honeymoon Spring

Nellie was already well awake by the time Tibas became aware of the morning.  She was reclining in the window-seat overlooking the town, finishing the book she'd begun in the carriage.  Her dress from the night before was lazily pulled over her like a thin blanket, hiding just enough to make her technically decent if anyone in the street had eyes sharp enough to make out her figure this high in the tower.  She was wearing her illusion again, but her mane and tail still wafted faintly in some unfelt draft in the room.

Tibas stared at her for a long moment, half-heartedly pretending to still be asleep while he appreciated the scene, until she spoke: "Good morning, Tibas.  Did you sleep well?"

"Am I not still?" the Cougar chuckled, lifting his head to rest it on his elbow and appreciate her much more openly, "Kind of hard to tell where dreams end and waking begins these days."

She turned the last page of the book, her lips quirking up into a subtle smile.  "I'm not immune to flattery, but I married a man capable of ‘real talk', and was quite looking forward to spending days engaged in it."  Closing the book and laying it aside, she shifted onto one hip, holding the dress (barely) across her breasts with one hand and a coy smile on her lips.  "Flattery is for the night."

Once again, Tibas' heart did its level best to crack a rib as it tried to leap forward without the rest of his body.  "And teasing is definitely not for the mornings," the Cougar whispered, clutching his chest, "Or I'll never be able to get out of bed to go to work."  He tossed the covers aside then, joined her briefly on the window-seat, and shared a long, warm morning kiss with his new wife.  

She welcomed it readily, and smiled when he broke for air.  "I will be sure to keep a humble air in the mornings, then," she promised, getting up from the seat and letting the dress fall in the floor completely as she made her way behind the dressing screen, "Speaking of humble things: you're welcome to wear your usual clothes, but I did have something special brought in, if you'd like to try it."

Tibas quirked a brow, spotting two neatly folded outfits waiting for him on the couch (and wondering when the servants had brought those in).  One was a familiar set of jeans and a shirt from his closet, but the other looked almost like a costume (of very high quality), imitating the fashion of a bygone era.  "It's the sort of clothes the locals wear," Nellie explained from behind the screen, where she was already more than half-dressed for the day, herself, "From shearing the sheep to sewing on the last button, every thread and stitch was made by hand right here in this town.  You'll stand out less, though it might feel a little odd to you."

The Cougar chuckled, and began to pull on the outfit right there in the middle of the room.  It consisting of dark pants, a light (not quite white) shirt, and a thick vest dyed a deep maroon color.  Nellie leaned patiently against the massive mantle of the fireplace, watching him as he finished closing up all the buttons.  Tibas arched a brow at her choice of clothes for the day: plain denim pants under an equally plain tee-shirt, both lacking any kind of pattern or branding.  The bright yellow shirt contrasted nicely with the dark hue of her fur, and looked brand new, but otherwise unremarkable.  "Not that I don't appreciate being the one over-dressed for once," he chuckled, "But I'm surprised you're not wearing something from the area."

Nellie tilted her head, as if surprised by his surprise.  "I promised to be ‘approachable' on this trip, did I not?"

"You make promises a little too casually, sometimes," her husband chuckled, offering her his arm, "I won't hold you to every little off-the-cuff remark."

With a subtle smile, Nellie put her arm in his.  "I'm glad," she admitted, walking side-by-side with him down the hall and stairs to the great dining-hall where breakfast had been prepared, "But for now, I think it's important to keep my word, even casually given.  My insistence was unreasonable, and you dove in far too easily.  Trust — real trust — is still rather shallow between us.  It will need to grow deeper by the time the star-dust clears from your eyes, or you might regret your haste."

A simple breakfast of scones and bacon was waiting for them, along with a tray full of fresh eggs beside a hot griddle, and one of the staff ready to prepare them any way the guests might like.  Of course, there was an entire bowl of cleanly cubed fruits waiting for Nellie.  The newlyweds ate lightly, to leave room for sampling the offerings in town, then made their way out peruse the shops...discreetly shadowed by two of Nellie's more muscular servants, to carry any purchases and (Tibas imagined) subtly discourage any would-be thieves.

They looked through shelves of hand-wrought jewelry and several designs of clothes.  Knot-work patterns were popular here, and Tibas could not begin to imagine the effort it took to raise those intricate patterns out of hand-woven textiles.  Nellie placed an order at the local pharmacy, where various herbs were hung in dried bundles above their heads, and bottles of tonics and pouches of fine powders rested on the shelves (she insisted some of these were difficult to find in Heartherra).  They sampled melted-sugar treats and thick meat-pies, and Tibas had to restrain the very unprofessional urge to beg the local baker for his bannock recipe.  "It's hard to keep a flat-bread this moist, you know," the Cougar purred, "And he's managing the temperature with raw fire, not an adjustable stove.  I feel like an amateur by comparison."

Besides the style of the merchandise in town, what struck Tibas most was the gentle quiet.  People were talking around them, of course, some obviously fellow tourists and some locals, nearly all of whom casually greeted the pair in passing.  But above the soft chatter there was...practically nothing.  The faint ring of a hammer, from what Tibas presumed was a blacksmith somewhere in town, was the only other consistent sound besides voices.  It had never struck Tibas before just how much of the noise of the city was vehicles and machinery.  The hand-crafts practiced by this town were far quieter, easily covered by the soft song of the craftsmen, and even that largely unheard inside of dedicated little work-shops.  Besides that, the air smelled cleaner, faintly of tannin here and there, or the flowers planted outside so many of the shops' windows.  And practically everyone, tourist and local alike, regularly met each other's eyes with a smile.  Even as a perfect stranger, Tibas felt a sense of community that just didn't exist back home...

"I'm sure you had reasons," the Cougar mused as he and Nellie walked along the last street at the edge of the town, "And you've already mentioned it wasn't quite the same back then...but do you ever regret leaving this place?  It feels really nice and welcoming here."

The Mare at his side shook her head swiftly.  "Not in the least.  It has cleaned up well, and I'm glad, but there was more dung than flowers in the street when we fled from here, and we did so under threat."  Taking his hand in hers, she gave it a gentle squeeze.  "And it's time you heard at least some of that tale at last.  This way," she urged quietly, coaxing him onto a little lane leading still further out of town and making a crisp snap with her fingers.

Two more of her servants met them as they passed beyond the last thatched roof, wearing heavy packs on their backs and swords on their belts.  They passed a pair of swords to the servants who had been shadowing Nellie and Tibas earlier in the day, and the four arrayed themselves around the couple as they struck off from the well-worn road into the woods near town.  Tibas quirked a curious brow at what he could only describe as a security detail.  "...Should I be worried?" he asked with a chuckle that was more nervous than he meant it to be.  He couldn't help but feel the atmosphere of this little outing had suddenly changed.

His wife's amused look reassured him.  "No.  It's merely a precaution.  I want to take you somewhere personal, and hopefully still little-known.  But there are animals in the woods, some of them predators, and it will be after dark before we get back," she briefly pointed out both the height of the sun in the early evening and the lanterns hung from the packs.  They'd been walking arm-in-arm for most of the day, but she took the opportunity to pull a little closer to his side.  "You've been patient so far, just as I've asked.  We have a bit of walk ahead of us, without prying ears.  Now would be a fine time for questions, I think."

Tibas chuckled again, rather more gently, with another brief look at the servants around them.  It definitely didn't feel like a private outing still, but Nellie obviously trusted them deeply.  Tibas eyed the swords hanging from their belts again...  "Alright, so I can believe they know your regular routines pretty well, and I know there at least a pinch of magic involved when you snap your fingers for them.  So just how much of this is magic and...very robust job-training?"

"About ninety-percent the latter," his wife insisted quickly, "Aided by long stretches of nigh-unbroken routine.  But the other ten-percent, admittedly...,"  As if to demonstrate, Nellie snapped her fingers again, and the Tiger marching behind them answered, "We call it ‘The Impulse' among ourselves, sir.  It could technically be considered a form of mind-control, albeit a weak one.  At her snap, we simply feel the urge to perform a task, and we are trained from childhood to abide that urge before we think about it.  Ironically, an untrained will like yours could resist it on mere instinct."

Tibas blinked at that.  "From childhood?"

Nellie took up the explanation from there, with a nod.  "About six generations back, I saved the life of a young Zebra with my medicine.  Full of gratitude, and with nowhere else to go besides, he swore his life to serving me, and that his children would do the same."  Shaking her head as if regretting the memory, she continued, "He was a man of his word, and he had a lot of children.  And his children honored their word, and also tended to have a lot of children.  And so each generation swears in the next, and teaches them to submit to that impulse, and my workforce grows a little larger every decade or two.  I provide for their daily needs and education in any field they take an interest in, and they serve me well and fulfill my errands."

Her husband's jaw fell slack.  "Nellie...that's scarey, actually.  Wouldn't that make them...like, gullible, when they have to deal with someone besides you?  It's like cult behavior."

Nellie agreed with a firm nod.  "There are a number of problems with it.  The bloodline has grown weak-willed because of it, and all of them require regular counseling."  Gesturing to the Ox walking a little ahead of them, she added, "They are still people, though, with all the variations that come with that.  Some find love, and it helps when outside bloodlines marry into the family.  Some are even independent enough to manage a profession outside my house, and I encourage them to do so.  We see them at the family reunions, and they sometimes discreetly direct new clients to me.  That is how my clientele grew significant enough to provide for so many."

Tibas looked around them once more at their small entourage with a new appreciation.  He had thought for a while now that she kept a lot of servants, but he had never imagined they were all essentially branches of one family tree.  That meant this Zebra and Tiger, as well as the Goat and the Ox, were all cousins in some degree...and she'd known all four of them from birth, or close to it.  "Wow...no wonder you trust them so much."

That didn't seem to merit a response, but a soft chuckle from Nellie suggested he might still be understating that bond.  The sun was nearly set by the time they stopped near the foot of a small mountain, in front of a couple of rocks that had broken off from the face ages ago and now rested against one another to form a kind of arch.  To one side of that gap, a gravestone had been erected, though the name was now worn off the face.  A second, much smaller marker had been placed beside the first.

Tibas blinked at the markers, so far away from the town.  "Nellie...is this...?"

His wife nodded affirmation to his guess, kneeling in front of the gravestone and running her fingertips lightly down the weathered face.  "This is the memorial to my mother.  The smaller is something like a place-holder for father, since I cannot actually be sure if he is alive or dead.  I can't help but think he would have left a message there by now if he is still alive, but it's not inconceivable he has simply never returned here."  After paying her respects, she joined Tibas on the picnic blanket the servants had laid out and set with a modest dinner for them.  "Now, this might surprise you, but this is actually quite a happy place for me.  My parents brought me here for picnics rather like this one many times in my early years.  And mother never let a single visit go by without remarking that I was conceived here," she added with a soft smile.

Tibas chuckled gently.  "Ah, so Forigna is meaningful to you because you grew up here.  I was wondering."

Nellie nodded.  "Mostly.  Unicorns mature a little more slowly than most Kinships, so I still wasn't quite an adult when we left.  But I was conceived, according to mother, and certainly born, and spent the first sixty years of my life in this quiet, poor, dirty little town."

Her husband nearly choked.  "You were ‘not quite an adult' at sixty?!"

The Mare tilted her head, seeming just as surprised as he was.  "Do they not teach about the life-cycles of our Kinship in the primary-schools these days?  I thought the current curriculum was better about that."

"Eh...well...," Tibas looked a little embarrassed as he admitted, "Maybe?  I...wasn't the most attentive student.  Maybe I missed that day, or maybe they just skipped it since there weren't any Unicorns in our class, so far as I knew."

Nellie shook her head.  "There wouldn't have been.  We don't attend public schools because we mature so slowly.  And all of our youngest generation is well past that age anyway," she added, leaning against his shoulder and nibbling idly at a mustard, lettuce, and tomato sandwich, "Very well.  At the bare minimum, you ought to know that Unicorns are not considered adults until they turn eighty.  Under Heartherran law we are exempt from public schooling, but we also cannot apply for a driver's permit or any kind of financial account until age forty at the earliest.  Grandmother sometimes cautions that may still be too young for confidence, but there was a great deal of pressure to keep it low for the sake of ‘social acceptance' when the law was passed, and very few of us have grown up under the current body of law in any case."

"...Wow," Tibas blinked, "If it takes that long...it kind of makes sense.  It would be strange to have a classmate in high-school who still looked like they belonged in third grade."

"And confusing and frustrating to be caught up in the kind of drama teenagers make for themselves before you've even begun puberty," Nellie nodded.

Tibas grimaced at that thought, partly out of embarrassment at the memory of some of the teenage drama he'd made for himself.  "Do all the Ancient Kinships have it that rough?  I kind of have a vague memory that there was a Dragon in our class."

"No," his wife was quick to answer, and sounded relieved.  "Dragons mature at roughly the same rate as other Kinships, though their lifespans are rather longer, so they can attend with the general population.  The same is true for a Phoenix up until their first pyre, but they are forbidden to attend for different reasons.  And most of the other Ancients didn't even qualify as ‘immortal'.  The only difference between them and you would have been a disparity of life expectancy.  That's why so few survived," she noted, sounding vaguely guilty for the admission.

The Cougar quirked a brow at the tone.  "You were still young when it came to an end, you said.  Whatever happened, that's not on you, or even your Kinship.  I do remember that much from my history classes."

Nellie nodded quickly at that, turning her head to nuzzle his cheek gratefully.  "No.  No Kinship was actually at fault for sparking that age, only very specific individuals.  But it is sad, and bitterly ironic, that the Kinships of those kings have all survived, while very, very many who had nothing to do with us did not."

Tibas put an arm around her, cleared his throat, and tried to find some other topic to break this increasingly depressing mood.  Looking around the little clearing didn't give him a lot of inspiration, except for the gravestones.  "You said this is a happy place for you, and that you remember your parents fondly.  What were they like?"

"Mmm, mother was what we call a ‘botanist' these days.  Back then she was just considered a very good gardener, and grew a lot of the herbs father used.  She was affectionate, and kind, but already wary of people by the time I came along.  Father was what we now call a ‘pharmacist', like me, though I suspect there was more of his magic than mother's herbs in the potions he made," Nellie chuckled, closing her eyes as if to savor some particularly fond memory, "He taught me everything I needed to get started in the trade.  He was a good teacher, and had a great sense of humor.  Even when I was too young to appreciate what that meant, I could see why mother liked him."

His wife gave him a sideways look, leaning hard into his shoulder briefly.  "I've talked a lot this afternoon.  Now it's your turn.  Tell me about your parents.  I've had the pleasure of meeting them in person, but couldn't spend real time with them.  I hope to rectify that in the future, so you'd best warn me now if there are any topics I should approach carefully."

Tibas snickered, but shook his head.  "I don't actually know my roots very well...and until now, I didn't really care about that.  After seeing this place, though, and hearing everything you've told me just on this walk...I'm a little sad I don't know where I came from better," he admitted, leaning against her in turn.  "Great-Grandpa lived and died in South Verdantgrove, just over the mountains.  That's about as far back as I know my family history, and I don't even know what he did for a living.  Probably coal-mining, just based on the town.  Grandpa was a lumberjack in Three-Peaks to the day he died, I'm told.  I was too young to remember much of him when he passed, and I don't think I ever got to meet Grandma.  Dad became a mechanic instead of following in grandpa's footsteps, but grandpa managed to get him hired on maintaining and repairing the lumber-mill's equipment.  He worked on cars and other things on the side, and still does that even though he's supposedly retired now.  So here I am, a baker, because I prefer flour on my hands to axle-grease, and dad wasn't pushy," he chuckled.

His wife listened attentively, nodding approval as he went down the line of generations.  "All honest, productive careers that contributed to their community.  You should be proud of that, Tibas.  Do you get on well with them?  What is your mother like?"

"Mom claims to be a ‘trophy wife', and dad usually responds that he ‘clearly came in third place', and they both laugh about it," Tibas grinned, "I remember fighting with them a lot when I was a kid, especially in high-school.  Once I started earning and spending my own paycheck, though...and a lot of that going toward a girlfriend or two...I figured out my parents weren't quite the tightwads I took them for, after all.  Even managed to apologize for it over Deep White one year...and now they both laugh about that every year, too.  So...yeah, we get on well, and I'd say they both have a pretty good sense of humor."

"Hmhm...I look forward to seeing that in my house this year," Nellie smiled sincerely, "It may be entirely my own fault, but my halls rarely get to hear laughter."  The servants set out the lanterns around the blanket they were sitting on, and Nellie checked the sky, where the last scarlet light of day was hugging the horizon.  "I want you to tell me more about them in the morning, please.  But now, it's time for us to go."

With a nod of agreement, Tibas rolled to his feet and stepped off the blanket, so her attendants could roll it up for the hike back.  Nellie took him by the arm again, much as they had walked on the way in...but he was surprised when she pulled him in the direction of the stone arch instead of back in the direction of town.  Her servants packed up the little picnic, then stood attentively in front of that gap in the rocks, blocking the entrance with swords drawn in warning.

There was a small cove behind that arch, fenced off from the woods by the rocky walls of the bluff.  A small pond at one end appeared to be steaming, and Nellie coaxed her husband in that direction while Tibas was still looking around curiously.  Fireflies began to wink around them as Nellie let go of his arm...and pulled her shirt over her head.

Tibas blinked, then laughed before he could catch himself, while his wife unclasped her bra and tossed it onto the shirt.  "Now wait a minute," the Cougar chuckled, "I know we didn't hike all the way out here, have all that serious talk and a picnic dinner, just as a prelude to going skinny-dipping.  What's going on here?"

The Mare elegantly sliding her pants down her slender legs in front of him paused just long enough to give him a wry look, then finished getting them around her ankles and stepping out of the denim.  "No," she answered simply, fluffing out her mane as she set one dainty hoof into the water.

The illusion over her body dispelled as her hoof sank beneath the surface, and her horn cast a soft luminescence over the pool.  She waded into the gentle slope until the water caressed the underside of her breasts before turning back toward Tibas.  "This is where I will teach you something they should not have discussed in any of your classes.  It will not be like that first day, nor last night," she promised, extending one hand toward her husband, still dressed and dry on the bank, "This is the exact pool in which I was conceived.  This place is special to my Kinship.  And what we will enjoy tonight...is the mating ritual of Unicorns."

He stared at her like she wasn't speaking the same language anymore...but quickly began undoing the buttons of his vest.  His nose was telling him there was something else in that water besides his wife.  Something mineral, and a little sharp in his nostrils, though much more pleasant than sulfur.  The steaming water was obviously warm, and looked all the more inviting when Nellie sank into it to float languidly while she waited for him to finish undressing.  "By ‘special'...you mean magic?"

Nellie smirked, and shook her head.  "No, it's just an ordinary hot-spring, though entirely natural.  Do you know why there aren't more Unicorns in the world, even though we live forever?"

The vest finally came undone, and he didn't even bother with the buttons on the shirt, simply inverting it to drag it over his head and drop on top of the vest.  "Not exactly...other than your Kinship rarely has offspring?"

His wife nodded.  "It's for the best.  If we multiplied like other Kinships, but did not die off like they do, the world would become quite crowded very quickly.  But besides being pure-blood," she wafted a hand through some of the rising steam gently, "If we hope to conceive, we must do so under the sight of the full moon, and my egg and your seed...well, your seed if you were also a Unicorn...must be raised to a certain warmth.  So hot, private springs like this have long been secret treasures to us."

At last getting his pants out from around his ankles, Tibas planted an eager foot into the water...and stopped instantly, gritting his teeth as the hot water sloshed around his leg.  Nellie hummed in amusement, standing up again and striding over to offer him her hand.  "Yes, it's rather warmer than the standard bath.  Enter gracefully, not quickly, and it'll be pleasant enough."

He took her hand, and made the next couple of steps rather more slowly, trying not to disturb the surface of the water more than necessary.  Once he was down to his chest, and his body-temperature quickly rising to match the water around it, it felt soothing and relaxing rather than hot.  Nellie wrapped her arms around him in welcome, pulling him against her breasts and into a warm kiss.  The heightened temperature of their bodies made her tongue feel hot as it caressed his.

Tibas kissed her lips, and her cheek, and her neck, then asked quietly in her ear, "What do I do for this ritual?"

She returned his sweet affections, running her hands up and down his back as she continued to hold him tight to her body.  "Get into the water.  Get your body nice and hot.  Then take me exactly as you did last night," she instructed just as softly, "Only deeper.  Mmm...but that last part's not so important.  We already know we won't be conceiving tonight.  I just wanted to finally bring a husband here, like I promised my mother I would."

Tibas chuckled, and was about to make some remark on how she made promises too casually again, when something else about that statement distracted him.  "You didn't bring the others?" he asked, remembering she had very clearly counted him as her third.

Nellie made a soft shushing sound in his ear.  "It's a very poor time to think of them, Tibas.  The brief answer is: no.  I regret that I could not bring the first, and never felt it necessary with the second.  I have decided since then that I do not want to repeat that mistake.  So here we are, and you are the first."  She cut off any more questions with another hot kiss, and pressed him backward against the slope of the bank, so his shoulders held the bulk of their weight and her hips could straddle his comfortably.

The position she was choosing notwithstanding, Tibas thought she was being rather more aggressive this time.  Or more needy.  Definitely much less patient, as she rubbed the thick lips of her vulva up the rising length of his cock, hooking the tip of it into herself before grinding down against him in the water.  She said there was nothing special about this place beyond that it was natural and hot...but Tibas suspected there was still something more at work, and wished he could identify that faintly metallic scent.

Tucking his hands underneath her arms to support her, Tibas rolled to the side, reversing their positions on the bank, and kissed her soft lips hotly.  "You went out of your way to bring me somewhere special," the Cougar purred into his wife's ear, sliding his hands up her arms to knit his fingers with hers, "At least let me do the work here."

Holding his hands with an amused smile, Nellie nuzzled his cheek and wrapped her legs around his hips.  "Work hard, husband," she cooed, laying her head back on the bank and surrendering herself to him.  Tibas' heart beat so hard it made his ribs ache, and he gently applied a soft kiss to each of her breasts before he started to move again.

The water fought his first few thrusts.  He couldn't make strong movements in it.  Much like when he'd first entered it, the best movements were graceful rather than swift, and deep rather than hard.  As he found the rhythm, and Nellie stirred with him, their hips sent little whirlpools rolling out across the otherwise still waters, like galaxies ripping away through the ocean of space.  The light of Nellie's horn reflected off the ripples around their bodies, and glanced off the rising steam, creating motes like stars that danced alongside the fireflies.  And, of course, the moon shone bright and large overhead.  For a few short minutes, all the glories of the heavens invaded that little cove, to bear witness to their union.

Tibas' purr turned into a growl as he plunged deep, nesting even his balls against the thick lips around her entrance, and Nellie cooed appreciation and encouragement in his ears while he poured his climax into the depths.  "Mmm...that's very nice, dear," she hummed softly, hugging him to her as his hips ceased their trembling, "Such a wonderful effort...I'm actually really close..."

One of her hands slipped down his side and between their bellies, searching out her pearl between the press of their hips, and began to gently tease it with the goal of finishing herself while he was still inside her.  Tibas took that hand and pulled it aside again.  At her questioning look, he kissed her cheek, withdrew a couple of steps...and took a deep breath.

The hot water burned his nostrils just a little as his face submerged.  His nose found her nethers before his lips did, and he kissed her thick vulva gently, running just the tip of his tongue delicately around the rim.  She was nervous about the rough texture, but he figured he could use the smoother tip and even the underside to—

Her legs began to jostle, and her hands gripped his ears, pulling him a little roughly back to the surface.  "Ti-bas!" his wife shouted his name as two very separate syllables, having to force them out between laughter, "You ridiculous man!  You'll drown!"  She continued to laugh aloud once she was certain he was breathing air again, a loud but silvery sound, like the bell of a temple, and Tibas smiled to hear it.  "Oooh," the Unicorn beneath him cooed as she calmed down, hugging him tight, "Now there's a pleasure more precious than any climax.  It's been decades since I laughed that hard," she confessed around one last bought of quiet giggles, "Maybe even a century."  Then Nellie kissed his cheek, and whispered in his ear, "Thank you.  Mmm...let's go back now, and I'll let you finish this like you hoped to."

Her husband chuckled, nuzzling her elegant throat and kissing it affectionately.  "I didn't think I was large enough for that," he answered with a wink.  Though her warning from the night before might be taken as an insult, he couldn't help but think that brief bought of laughter, which even she had admitted as a terribly rare thing, was quite the accomplishment in its own right, and in a way more meaningful than a satisfying girth.

She kissed his lips again in agreement.  "That's why I'm going to show you how to work the sleeve," Nellie promised, coaxing him back a step so that she could stand up properly, and let him lead her by the hand back onto the bank.  Her typically cool demeanor had been broken, and she continued to smile helplessly while they dressed and even quietly giggled some more from time to time during the walk back to town, all while leaning affectionately on his arm.  Tibas couldn't remember ever being more satisfied with himself.

The trip back took rather longer than arriving had, as they walked carefully in the light of the lanterns her servants carried...and twice paused while the Ox investigated some brief noise ahead of them.  In spite of this, the mood felt more relaxed and intimate between them than it had at any other point in the day, especially when they broke free of the trees and the warm light of the village windows came back into view across the field.  Tibas kissed the Unicorn hugging his arm.  "Thank you.  That really was something special.  It's...hard for me to describe how I feel about it, actually," he chuckled, "I think ‘honored' might be the best word, though that sounds really too impersonal for what you shared with me today."

Nellie rubbed her cheek against his comfortingly.  "Honor used to be a very personal thing, not just a formality.  I'm glad to have touched you...and glad that it was you.  This experience would have been wasted on my last husband, I think.  I'm actually a little relieved now."

"Wasted?!" the Cougar laughed, "That ingrate!  Not that I know the guy..."

Much to his surprise, she nodded, but seemed to content to leave it at simple agreement without elaborating.  "Thank you, dear," she cooed softly instead, "This is your first marriage, and hopefully your only one, so this might seem strange to say...but I'm glad we married.  Today was something special for me, too.  Please continue to surprise me, dear husband, and make my little gifts into special things for all the tomorrows we share from now on."  She turned his head just enough to kiss his lips as she wrapped herself in her customary illusion again, as though turning down the lights on the end of a wonderful night...", "pools_count": 1, "title": "Patience Pt. 4 - Honeymoon Spring", "deleted": "f", "public": "t", "mimetype": "text/plain", "pagecount": "1", "rating_id": "2", "rating_name": "Adult", "ratings": [ { "content_tag_id": "4", "name": "Sexual Themes", "description": "Erotic imagery, sexual activity or arousal", "rating_id": "2" } ], "submission_type_id": "12", "type_name": "Writing - Document", "guest_block": "t", "friends_only": "f", "comments_count": "0", "views": "51" }