A/N: as was probably obvious, the chapters are sectioned mostly by narrator and only very loosely by time. Here we're jumping over to Selia's perspective, which I hope will provide another sort of interesting difference in ways of seeing.
Selia folded her arms in front of her as they ascended the ramp to the upper floors. Her mind was awash with ways she could best demonstrate her disappointment to Tiondel, always preferring the subtle and the indirect rather than a method so crass as the spoken word. He put an arm around her shoulder and tried to hold her close as they walked, which of course gave her the perfect opportunity to demonstrate how she specifically wasn't cooperating, but that was too easy. She felt the need for something a little more blunt.
At least Kirana seemed to be enjoying herself...how Navarion managed to attract women, Selia would never understand. A man who had that fire in him was attractive, but a man who strayed was infuriating. In Tiondel, she felt that she'd found the best of both worlds: physically an elf, mentally with more personality and passion but without the wandering eyes and hands that the men of other races often possessed. Leave Kirana to find yet another one of the typical dogs she brought home; Selia was happy with someone who saved that fire for her.
Of course, the downside was that she often got burned. Tiondel's passion came from their father, as did his more patriarchal attitude; his behavior didn't match that of the Kaldorei males she'd grown up with at all, and their racial similarities belied the vast cultural differences they often encountered. Once their relationship got serious, Selia found that her friendships with all men had to end; Tiondel was very much a troll in that regard, and had spent a few days in jail at Stonetalon after beating people up for chatting with her too friendily (she'd kept his jail time a secret from his family for him, even). His temper impassioned their life but also exhausted her, especially when his machismo prevented him from doing things she'd asked him to do.
That was one of their major sticking points: she'd grown up in a matriarchal society, and realized when dating him how much she took for granted. Things she'd seen her father doing for her mother and her brother doing for her sisters in law were her definition of 'normal,' thus delivering her a great shock when she found that Tiondel was the polar opposite. She had been born after the end of immortality, and thus had a father that was at home much of the time rather than slumbering in the Emerald Dream. The old druid would always go to her mother, his huntress, to politely discuss with her beforehand if he wanted to spend half a night out with his other friends at their gatherings or a Cenarion Circle communion. Mother's approval or disapproval was never questioned, just as it was generally understood that Selia's brothers were closer to their wives and their mothers in law than to the family.
Tiondel was just...a troll. If he wanted to hang out with his friends, she simply wouldn't see him for a few hours. If she asked him for a back massage, he'd have the audacity to expect one in return. And if he decided that he wanted to eat a different type of food for dinner than her, he'd simply prepare it for himself without telling her and eat in the kitchen instead of sitting on a mat like a proper night elf should. None of that behavior should have been shocking since there had been humans living in the village where she came from, but it was shocking from a person who looked like a night elf on the outside. While she felt it perhaps disrespectful to apply the term 'disobedient' to another adult, she didn't quite know how to phrase her source of frustration with the man. And so, like much of her feelings regarding their situation, she had to vent in ways other than direct speech.
"Hey...we're here," he said once they reached the second floor, where she would be staying. "Don't force yourself to wake up early, alright? We'll have plenty of time to enjoy our stay here for the next two days."
The two of them stood on the open air hallway - more of a loft than anything - that formed the second floor as they stood near the room she shared with Henaia. "So I need to sleep and wake up according to the dictates of the Hearthglen family, now?" she asked rhetorically, refusing to look up at him.
Anger at Sharimara's insolence still stung her, as did the memory of everybody seeing her be so easily overpowered and tossed around like a rag doll in the cave woman's hands. Was Tiondel so dense that he didn't even understand how embarrassing that was?
"Selia, it's just a piece of advice so we can all rest up well enough. I want us all to be happy, okay?" Slick as always, he cupped the back of her head and ran his thumb behind her ear. But she knew when her feelings were being brushed aside by his tricks, no matter how oblivious he looked.
"Why must your sister's happiness come before mine?" she asked, speaking more bluntly than she normally preferred due to his lack of understanding.
He didn't let go of her, but he didn't throw himself at her feet apologizing either, which only increased her irritation and stiffness. "You confessed earlier that you were planning on starting something with her back when we were first snacking. Isn't that right?"
Her jaw dropped open; that he would actually think it was even remotely appropriate for her to have apologized to his oaf of a sister was a slap in the face. "Why are you all ganging up on me?! You forced me to apologize, why are you bringing up the past?" she hissed at him, trying her best not to alert anybody else in the house to their dispute.
"You're obviously referring to the earlier conflict. But Selia, I don't put your happiness or hers first; I love you both in different ways. So when fights occur - and they always will, that's part of life - I just try to focus on a solution and what's right rather than taking sides."
Not wanting him to continue believing whatever web of fantasies he'd woven, her response came back hard and fast. "Everything you just said is bullshit," she replied, incensed beyond words and unable to just write him a dissertation on why his sister was a pompous ass.
"Are you being serious?"
"Yes, I'm being serious!" she replied, almost pushed to the point where she was willing to go to sleep without reconciliation beforehand. "Your sister humiliated me in front of all of our friends and you didn't even yell at her!"
She folded her arms in front of her again, dramatically turning her head to look away from him. Surely he must have understood that what he'd done was wrong.
"Selia, I thought we resolved this already-"
"You pressured me! You and your she bat of a sister just pushed and you pushed until I gave in because I just wanted to make you happy! I do everything in this relationship and all you do is eat standing up like a horse in the kitchen!"
"Calm down."
"Shari has demon ears and she turns everything into a confrontation! I was trying to advise her and she escalated things!"
As if her words finally made it through his thick skull, he forcibly hugged had and shut up for a moment, allowing her to vent her frustrations. Just for his sake she hugged him back, but only so he wouldn't feel completely devastated as his error was made clear to him. She couldn't remember exactly all the things she'd said even by a minute later, but she'd obviously gotten through to him somehow because he allowed her to finish explaining exactly what was wrong with his family's behavior without interrupting her.
For a few seconds they held each other, her point having been made once he'd allowed her to speak. She pulled her head back to look up at him, seeking further validation. "And another thing, mmph-"
Her righteous fury was silenced when he tiled her chin up with his hand and kissed her, muffling her words and waking her up from any drowsiness she might have felt. She'd been so surprised by the action that she didn't respond for the first few seconds, only wrapping her arms around his neck when he leaned down and swept her off of her feet. Because they both had to work so much (which wasn't out of the ordinary for elves or dwarves), and because he traveled so much between her apartment and his parents' house, they were both tired all the time. More often than not, they slept at odd times and literally slept rather than doing anything else.
This felt...so right, however. Even if he'd cut off her sentence before she could finish, she didn't mind. His family's mores be damned, Corrianna and Issinia were already asleep, Henaia was gone somewhere, her room was empty, they were adults, do things, make choices. Have fun. Be alone. Sensations.
Tiondel tasted like cinnamon. Goblin manufactured breath mints often came with horrible side effects; natural means we're much better. More effective. Tastier. Thrillinger. Hotter.
Against the wall. Then. Cinnamon on her tongue. Nose pressed against his. Heart pounding, chest expanding for air. Want it. Need it. Hand on her ass. Squeezes. Pulls her leg up. Back to the wall, front flush against him. Delirious...intoxication. Hands on her.
"Gaaaahhh!" she gasped desperately, breaking away from the kiss in order to breathe. She wasn't dumb, and knew he'd kissed her to shut her up, but all coherent thought left her when she felt his manhood pressed against her womanhood, their pants the only barrier. His family disapproved of their behavior, but one of his brothers behaved in a worse way, so screw-
"Hooo!" she yelped as he buried his nose and lips in the flesh of her neck. "Oh, you, mph...you fffffffffffffffucker!"
Cupping her butt cheeks, he lifted up and carried her to her empty bedroom, ravaging her the entire way from the moment the door closed until when he let them collapse onto her bed. Thoughts and feelings of how much she detested his family were brushed aside as he worked her over, once again displaying that passion for which she could excuse the many personality flaws that normally bothered her.
Just when clothes began to fly off and the entire room became hot and heavy, he started to slow down, torturing her into a quivering mess.
"Don't stop!" she pleaded, trying in vain to unbuckle his pants with weak, trembling hands.
Taking both of her wrists in one of his hands, pinned her down and hovered over her, his attention suddenly pulled away from her in an infuriating way. "Wait...something's not right," he murmured, the passion gone from his voice.
"You're not fucking me, that's what's wrong!" she growled, wiggling in a futile attempt to work her pants down the remaining length of her legs.
He sat up on his knees, earning an angry squeal through her nose at him. "No, I'm being serious. I heard something." His ears pricked up, and he turned toward the door as if listening for something.
Her heart thumping in her chest, her head reeling from unreleased energy, she draped her arm over her face and sank into the pillow. "I hate you," she hissed, not feeling the least bit contrite for the anger in her tone.
There was no time to vent her anger this time, however. Propping herself up on her elbows, she resolved to tell him later that he was right, her pride be damned. Very faintly over the wind, they could both hear the sound of Henaia screaming.
