The Winds of the Past [Rune Factory 4]

Chapter 10

Dylas was just starting to get antsy at how long Avani had been gone when we finally heard her wolf approaching in the distance. I had no doubt that he could move silently if he wanted, but right now he was frolicking like a massive puppy, even with two large, heavy skins of water strapped on his back. Avani was laughing at his antics as they stepped into the light of the fire, which we had built up against the chill of the night. She removed the water skins and passed them over to Dylas, then she grabbed Baldur's head and shook it roughly side to side, speaking in a funny high-pitched growly voice to him as he whined and thumped his massive tail on the ground, licking her face ecstatically. Then she gave him a hunk of dense bread to gnaw on, and he settled down just at the edge of the circle of light from the fire.

Dylas sat back down on his log, and she sat on the ground next to him, laying her head against his knee and wrapping her arms around his leg as she looked into the flickering flames. He looked down at her, and an uncustomarily tender look came into his eyes as he gently stroked her hair. "Tired?" he asked in a soft voice.

"Uh-huh, guess so. We had a really early start, and we were up so late last night," she replied drowsily.

Dylas flushed red, saying, "Oh, uhh... sorry about keeping you up...."

She looked up at him, blinking in surprise, then she realized what she'd just said and smiled, saying, "Are you? I'm not." Then she lay her head back on his knee and closed her eyes.

"Hey, don't fall asleep like that!" he protested after a moment as her breathing began to slow. "Neither of us will rest well if you do."

She sighed, rose a little unsteadily, and went to wash her face. She returned rather slowly and pulled something made of white cloth out of her pack. Then to my surprise, she started to strip off her clothing right there in front of the fire.

"H-hey! What are you doing? Don't do that here!" Dylas exclaimed, turning red again.

She looked at him in sleepy confusion, saying, "Why? I mean, it's not like you haven't seen..."

"Not that, you idiot!" he interrupted hastily, "We're not alone—or did you forget already?"

"Oh! I see," she exclaimed looking over to me. "I'm sorry, am I making you uncomfortable, Leon?"

I grinned, saying, "Nope, not in the least."

"Well, that's okay then," she said, and attempted to loosen the laces of her tunic with fumbling fingers.

"No, it's not okay! I wasn't worried about you making him uncomfortable, dammit!" Dylas said in exasperation. "I was worried about what he might see!"

"Oh?" she said, then paused again for a minute. "Hey, Leon?" she asked, looking at me. "Have you ever seen a naked woman before?"

I laughed—I couldn't tell by now if she was teasing Dylas unusually hard, or if she just really was that tired, but I found it all pretty damn funny either way. "Well," I replied, still laughing, "yes, as a matter of fact, I have seen a few in that state before. Dragon Priests were not expected to be celibate, at least, not in my time we weren't."

"So that's fine," she said turning back to Dylas. "He already knows what women look like naked."

"He doesn't know what you look like!" he protested, turning an even deeper shade of red.

"I don't think it would take much effort to imagine what I look like naked, though," she said turning her attention back to her laces.

"That... that's not the point! Or, okay, it is the point! I don't want him imagining you naked!" Dylas shouted, flustered.