Morninglord

"I really don't get you sometimes," Neeshka whined, spitefully tossing a pebble into the surf.

"Of all the Sword Coast, this is probably one of my favourite places."

Chenzira gazed out across the bay as the breeze capped the breakers with white crowns before ripping them away again.

What the gods give, the gods can take away, he mused wryly.

"Did you even hear me?"

He turned to face her, reading her mood by the twitching of her fiendish tail.

"Yes, Neeshka, I did. Sometimes I don't get you either."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"See, there you go all defensive on me again," he parried skilfully, "So tell me, what don't you get then?"

"Well…" here she paused, her tail twitching nervously, "You're like a priest of Lathander, right?"

"Yes," he drawled, having gotten to know her well enough to give her time to put her thoughts together.

"You let me loot the dead, even the graves when we rescued that Fort Locke commander, but you won't ever let me steal even a bent copper from anyone. You as much as forbade me from ever picking someone's pockets or setting traps, but then you go and help me break into Leldon's place. And you protected me from his goons and in the park when it was just you and me…"

"The dead have no use for their stuff, Neeshka," he replied, patiently, using the break in her torrent to get a word in edgewise, "and in the park, we were still outnumbered, but had you gone alone it would've been much worse."

"But the living do? Even the bad guys?"

"Even the bad guys, Neesh. Even guys like Leldon and Garius and all the other bad things we've faced together."

"Neesh? But why? Argh!"

"You don't like it? Because it would make us just as bad as them if we did. Argh, what?" he smiled gently.

"I like it fine! You've just never called me that before… I… I was just a little surprised," she said, fidgeting with the tip of her tail, "You just frustrate me so. Like, if Leldon's one of the bad guys, why did you allow me to steal from him."

"You frustrate me too Neesh," he returned, soothingly, "You do such great things sometimes, in spite of yourself." He sighed, a little sadly, then continued, "But often you don't even know why you do them. As for Leldon, he stole from you first and I honestly thought that just stealing something as simple as a coin would get him off your back, all our backs if you know what I mean?"

"You mean in spite of these?" she asked, pointing at her horns, "And to tell you the truth, I really thought so too."

"Well, you must admit, you can be goat headed at times 'goat-girl'," he smiled, "More so when you don't tell the rest of us the whole truth."

"No I meant…"

"Yes, I know."

"Argh! See, that's another thing…"

"That I always seem to know what you're going to say or do next?"

"There," she stamped her delicate boot at this, "you're doing it again! Like that time with the ruby in the warehouse. How?"

"The Morninglord gives many gifts. Divination is just one of them."

"Does he grant you that impressive modesty too?" she winked.

"No, I do that all by myself," he grinned, then grinned foolishly, realizing he had fallen to her trap.

"So why did you help me that first time?"

"You were in trouble, and outnumbered, and I tend to listen when Lathander speaks."

"You always listen to your god?" she asked, surprised, "How?"

He smiled again, the mental image of her as a verbal pugilist coming to mind.

"I don't always have to listen when he speaks to me during my meditations. But, it's always better when I do. Like when I bought that bow and scimitar before we even met dear Elanee."

"I was wondering about that. Khelgar thought you were crazier than him. You should've heard him when your back was turned."

"I did hear him."

"Oh. Sorry."

She pouted.

"Why do you call her 'dear Elanee'?"

"She's a good enough friend, Neesh, and she's a little lost too I think."

"Any regrets about listening to your god about a 'lost' tiefling?"

"None," he said, moving closer, "Here, use my old cloak. I can vouch that it doesn't smell like 'runty dwarf'."

"But I'm not…" she paused, and then shrugged, allowing him to drape his old Harvest Cloak about her shoulders, "Thanks. For the cloak and for… for listening."

"You're welcome," he smiled, and then withdrew quickly from her ensnaring gaze.

No, the time was definitely not right for that yet.

"You dodge pretty fast for a man in full plate," she joked sadly, "but tell me, am I really that repulsive?"

"No, not at all," he ventured, tasting the bitterness of truth, "Quite the opposite, Neesh. But, the others are waiting and now isn't the time."

"If it were up to some of the others," she replied spitefully, "never wouldn't be the time either."

"Have I ever pandered to what others think?" he asked, moving closer, his one hand grabbing her forcefully-gently by the small of her back, his other, tracing her forehead, then gently holding one of her horns, tilted her head back a little.

"You always…" she managed, before he muffled any further protests with a firm, tender and sensual kiss, leaving her for once, utterly speechless.

"You were saying?" he arched a brow at her.

"Spoil the moment, why don't you?" she whispered a little breathlessly, "May Sune forgive you."

"And may Lathander prevent me," he smiled, "Now is not the time, my love."

She blinked, but before she could reply, he was halfway down the dune. "Lady Luck smile on me. Lady Firehair bless me. And Morninglord please accept me," she prayed, smiling as she realised it had been the first time she had done so since the forced prayers to Helm she had had to endure in her youth.