"It was time," Tali said again, softly, and shrugged. "Lolth had found me, a thousand worlds away, and I was never going to be any more ready. It became a matter of acting while I still had the nerve to do it." She chuckled and shook her head. "I mean, for heaven's sake, I was taking on a goddess, and what was I?"
She grinned a crooked, sheepish grin. "All I was, was some shapeshifting vampire. Sure, I spent the centuries hunting and killing mortal evils, because it made me feel a little better about needing blood to live." Now laughing as she spoke, she confessed, "It was insane, and I knew it. It was one of those 'now or never' moments."
Tarlyn nodded, grinning a little himself. "You just did it… and I guess, from what I'm hearing, you were a little surprised that it worked."
"More than a little!" Tali exclaimed, still chuckling and nodding emphatically. "I mean, on some level, I never thought it could work. I was sure I'd die. But at least if I did, I'd die trying, and I'd die facing her, instead of running away." She paused to catch her breath, and her expression grew somber again. "And I would have, too. There were just so many factors that I never even counted on."
"I can only imagine," Tarlyn said, though he was indeed having trouble imagining it. How could this lovely woman, sitting beside him completely unarmed and making such sweeping proclamations about love and freedom, have taken on the Queen of Chaos and won? "So tell me," he asked, "…how does one kill a god?"
Tali took a deep breath, then released it in a sigh and grinned. "With a hell of a lot of help," she said frankly, then shrugged and returned to gazing quietly down at her hands. "In the end, it was a fight just like any other, both physical and magical, except that it was in her territory, while the others took on her creations." She shivered a little, remembering the long, bloody battles and her own brush with death. "It was war, make no mistake about it."
Tarlyn nodded thoughtfully. "Just larger, stronger, harder to defeat, I suppose…" he said, then chuckled a little. She made taking on Lolth sound like a simple battle between the city's houses. "…but not all that different from anyone else." He wrote for a moment longer, then looked up at her and asked quietly, "How much of the mystery of the divine is really all that mysterious?"
"You're catching on, sugar…" Tali said, then blinked and blushed a little. She hadn't intended to voice the endearment, but there it was. "…that's exactly it," she finished, compulsively re-tucking her hair behind her ears. "See, we're not these mysterious, unreachable beings. We're people, too. We live, and we think, and we feel, just like everyone else."
Tarlyn's eyes widened a little, and he blushed. Did she just call him… no. He wasn't going to think about it. He merely smiled. "I guess you handle it the way anyone else does, when people want more from you than you can give." She shrugged. "Some people wallow in the attention, and others turn bitter and withdraw. It's difficult to be the object of fascination for any length of time."
Tali watched his face color, and bit her lip to hide the grin, then murmured, "Yeah. I never want to be too self-centered, or too distant. I only ever wanted to set things right."
"I think that's what makes you different," Tarlyn commented. "Anyone would want to listen to you, and what you say is so reasonable, so straightforward. You're sharing what you believe in with the people who would…" He paused, and blinked, as it dawned on him "…want to help you…"
A smirk curled Tali's lip for a moment as she considered that. "I say what I think. And what I feel," she said. "I always have, and I suspect I always will. What's the point in playing games?" She shrugged and twirled her belt around her fingertips again. "It would be a waste of my time and yours."
Tarlyn chuckled to himself. She was being remarkably open, he thought. "There are not a lot of gods who'll answer questions about their plans," he said. He looked at her silently for a few seconds, then the question came before he realized he'd found the courage to ask it. "So, what are your plans now?"
Gazing into the distance as she toyed with her belt, Tali was silent for a moment before she spoke again. "Right now…" She gestured out at the city once more. "…they need me. I want to change things. It's going to be slow going, but I want to do away with the oppression and the backstabbing and the nastiness that's become the Drow way of life."
"I want to see everyone treated like people, no matter who they are." She turned her gaze back to him, and smiled. "Male, female, child, elder… I want everyone to have a place. And eventually…" Her smile grew hopeful. "…eventually, maybe we can get the other races of the world to see that we've changed, and see us as people, not just monsters in the darkness."
Tarlyn was silent for several minutes as he wrote, and digested her words. It sounded like such a beautiful vision. If only he could do something to make it come true, just to see that smile in her eyes. He wondered for a moment what he might be committing himself too, then looked up at her and asked earnestly, "What kinds of help do you need?"
Silently, they stared into each other's eyes for a moment, then Tali's expression softened. "I need good people," she said at last, holding his gaze as she spoke. "I need people who understand. But people who know how to think, too, and who can help show the way to others. Show them how to think for themselves, show them by example that the way to live is to never accept or follow anything blindly…" She paused, then added, "…not even my word."
Still gazing into her eyes, Tarlyn nodded, then smiled. "All right. I can do that," he said, softly and confidently. "I can try, at least." Maybe he was following her into something even more dangerous than the dungeons of Thay, but he was sure by now that it was the right thing to do.
Tali gazed at him even more intently for a moment, her eyes widening. Her voice was soft and astonished as she whispered, "You'd do that, for me?"
Tarlyn laughed a little at the question. Could she really be all that surprised? "It's true," he said, still marveling at the fact that she didn't realize how obvious it was. "It needs to be heard. Of course I will. I mean…" He shrugged and grinned a little. "…not that anyone's going to listen to me anyway, but I guess it's one more voice than you have now…"
In silence, Tali reached out and brushed the fingertips of one hand gently along his cheek. "Thank you…" she breathed after a minute had passed. "It means a lot to me, that you'd really want to help."
Shivering at her touch, Tarlyn closed his eyes and turned his face slightly away. "Lady, I'm not sure I'll help much," he admitted, "…but it's a message that needs to be spoken." He held his breath and held perfectly still until she drew her hand away, and his pulse raced. "You came to me, and you didn't charge me with a quest, or command me to change my life, or anything. You answered my questions. You saved my life." At last, he looked back at her, flushed and smiling. "What less could I do?"
"You could walk away," Tali said with a little shrug as she smoothed her dress. "You still can. You always can. That's the beauty of free will." She smiled quietly. "You have free will. Everyone has free will. There's always a choice… and you chose to help me, and I am… honored."
Tarlyn raised an eyebrow a little at that. She was honored? He smiled back at her and assured her, "I'm not the kind of person who just walks away." He looked down at the book, and at the pen still in his hands, both all but forgotten as he'd stared into her eyes. "I didn't write all this down just to throw it away. You saved my life. I'm going to find a way to thank you for it."
Tali nodded, and smiled at him. Then bowed her head as her cheeks pinkened even through her dark skin. Her eyes looked surprisingly young as she half glanced up again, gazing at him through a wispy fringe of her hair. "If you really want to thank me…" she breathed, smiling hopefully, "…stay with me for a while?"
Tarlyn's breath caught in his throat as he found himself staring into her eyes again. "I… you just…" He blinked, eyes wide, and even laughed once, quietly before he stopped himself. "Of course," he said in an incredulous whisper as he gazed into her eyes. "Of course I'll stay… if that's what you want, then you'll have it."
Tali's hopeful smile broke into a wide grin, and she slid out of her chair to kneel on the terrace beside his. He barely had a moment to lay the book and the pen aside as she slid her arms around his waist. "I'm so glad…" she whispered as she laid her head on his chest. "That would make me very, very happy."
For a moment, Tarlyn simply shivered as he struggled to figure out how he should react, then he tentatively folded his arms around her, his hands resting between her shoulderblades, and hugged her loosely in answer. His breath quivered, his palms were cool against her skin, and his mind began to race as quickly as his pulse already was. "Of c-course.." he stammered breathlessly, "…if you… want me to…"
Tali simply stayed that way for several silent minutes, her own heart and thoughts racing in response to his embrace. Finally, she looked up at him and opened her eyes, smiling and nodding as she gazed at him once more. "I do. I'd like that… an awful lot." She bit her lip and blushed furiously, but didn't look away this time. "I hope I'm not… that is… I mean…" she stammered, then grinned a little and murmured shyly, "I don't want to be too forward, or for you to feel like you have to, but you're so different…"
Tarlyn raised an eyebrow, the uneven line accenting his already lopsided smile. "Queen of the Underdark, and you're asking a male if you're being too forward." He couldn't help laughing softly at the irony. "My lady," he said softly with a hint of a smirk, "…if you're a demon about to eat me, it's too late anyway. I…" He blushed, ears and cheeks reddening, and finished in a whisper. "…I can't imagine a thing you would do that I wouldn't enjoy far too much for my own good, so I absolve you in advance."
He smiled down at her, lost for a few seconds in silent wonder as he brushed his fingertips over her soft, dark skin. "I'll stay with you…" he vowed, "…and I doubt I'll ever want to leave, no matter what your wolf or dragon or spectre have to say about it."
Tali just shook her head a little and smiled up at him. "Too much time elsewhere… or perhaps just enough. I think, and I feel, like a woman, not a Drow woman, I think." She chuckled a little and squeezed her arms around his waist again, then winked. "Forgive me for it later, if you still think there's anything that needs to be forgiven." She blinked then, laughed quietly, and shook her head. "They won't hurt you. In fact, I rather suspect they'll like you."
Tarlyn was still shivering – holding her this close was dizzying, and he was rapidly becoming too aroused to hide it much longer, even though he knew he wouldn't act impulsively. "More woman than any world is ready for, I'd imagine…" he breathed, leaning down until his nose nearly touched hers. Again, he brushed his fingers over her bare back, then impulsively whispered "I… ah… I used to be a stroker, you know…"
Tali nodded a little up at him and whispered, "You have the hands for it, I can tell…" She quirked an eyebrow and grinned. "Maybe sometime, if you want to, you could show me…" She reached up and brushed a fingertip along the line of his cheekbone. "Right now, though…" she said softly and sincerely, "…let me take care of you. You must be exhausted and sore, and I've kept you up talking half the night already…"
Tarlyn couldn't stifle the little whimper that came to his lips as he realized what she'd just offered him. "You'd… let me… oh, my skies…" His hands clenched against her back for a second as he tensed and pressed her close without thinking, and his eyes went wide as he felt her thigh pressing against his… and higher, revealing just how excited he was. "Oh no, I'm sorry, I…" he stammered, blushing fiercely, then simply lowered his eyes. "…well, not that it's anything to be ashamed of, I guess…"
Tali simply curled a finger under his chin and tilted his face up to meet her eyes. There was no offense there as she smiled brightly and warmly. "Yes… I would." She shivered a little herself, but didn't move away. Instead, she laid gently against him, keeping her arms draped around his waist. "Don't apologize," she whispered. "I'm…" she paused for a breath to look for the right words. "…tremendously flattered…"
Caught by surprise again, Tarlyn stared at her, wide eyed, for the space of a heartbeat, then swallowed hard. He said a brief prayer in his mind, then tightened his arms around her, leaned forward, and touched his lips to hers…
[Witty comment here. Still more to come.]
She grinned a crooked, sheepish grin. "All I was, was some shapeshifting vampire. Sure, I spent the centuries hunting and killing mortal evils, because it made me feel a little better about needing blood to live." Now laughing as she spoke, she confessed, "It was insane, and I knew it. It was one of those 'now or never' moments."
Tarlyn nodded, grinning a little himself. "You just did it… and I guess, from what I'm hearing, you were a little surprised that it worked."
"More than a little!" Tali exclaimed, still chuckling and nodding emphatically. "I mean, on some level, I never thought it could work. I was sure I'd die. But at least if I did, I'd die trying, and I'd die facing her, instead of running away." She paused to catch her breath, and her expression grew somber again. "And I would have, too. There were just so many factors that I never even counted on."
"I can only imagine," Tarlyn said, though he was indeed having trouble imagining it. How could this lovely woman, sitting beside him completely unarmed and making such sweeping proclamations about love and freedom, have taken on the Queen of Chaos and won? "So tell me," he asked, "…how does one kill a god?"
Tali took a deep breath, then released it in a sigh and grinned. "With a hell of a lot of help," she said frankly, then shrugged and returned to gazing quietly down at her hands. "In the end, it was a fight just like any other, both physical and magical, except that it was in her territory, while the others took on her creations." She shivered a little, remembering the long, bloody battles and her own brush with death. "It was war, make no mistake about it."
Tarlyn nodded thoughtfully. "Just larger, stronger, harder to defeat, I suppose…" he said, then chuckled a little. She made taking on Lolth sound like a simple battle between the city's houses. "…but not all that different from anyone else." He wrote for a moment longer, then looked up at her and asked quietly, "How much of the mystery of the divine is really all that mysterious?"
"You're catching on, sugar…" Tali said, then blinked and blushed a little. She hadn't intended to voice the endearment, but there it was. "…that's exactly it," she finished, compulsively re-tucking her hair behind her ears. "See, we're not these mysterious, unreachable beings. We're people, too. We live, and we think, and we feel, just like everyone else."
Tarlyn's eyes widened a little, and he blushed. Did she just call him… no. He wasn't going to think about it. He merely smiled. "I guess you handle it the way anyone else does, when people want more from you than you can give." She shrugged. "Some people wallow in the attention, and others turn bitter and withdraw. It's difficult to be the object of fascination for any length of time."
Tali watched his face color, and bit her lip to hide the grin, then murmured, "Yeah. I never want to be too self-centered, or too distant. I only ever wanted to set things right."
"I think that's what makes you different," Tarlyn commented. "Anyone would want to listen to you, and what you say is so reasonable, so straightforward. You're sharing what you believe in with the people who would…" He paused, and blinked, as it dawned on him "…want to help you…"
A smirk curled Tali's lip for a moment as she considered that. "I say what I think. And what I feel," she said. "I always have, and I suspect I always will. What's the point in playing games?" She shrugged and twirled her belt around her fingertips again. "It would be a waste of my time and yours."
Tarlyn chuckled to himself. She was being remarkably open, he thought. "There are not a lot of gods who'll answer questions about their plans," he said. He looked at her silently for a few seconds, then the question came before he realized he'd found the courage to ask it. "So, what are your plans now?"
Gazing into the distance as she toyed with her belt, Tali was silent for a moment before she spoke again. "Right now…" She gestured out at the city once more. "…they need me. I want to change things. It's going to be slow going, but I want to do away with the oppression and the backstabbing and the nastiness that's become the Drow way of life."
"I want to see everyone treated like people, no matter who they are." She turned her gaze back to him, and smiled. "Male, female, child, elder… I want everyone to have a place. And eventually…" Her smile grew hopeful. "…eventually, maybe we can get the other races of the world to see that we've changed, and see us as people, not just monsters in the darkness."
Tarlyn was silent for several minutes as he wrote, and digested her words. It sounded like such a beautiful vision. If only he could do something to make it come true, just to see that smile in her eyes. He wondered for a moment what he might be committing himself too, then looked up at her and asked earnestly, "What kinds of help do you need?"
Silently, they stared into each other's eyes for a moment, then Tali's expression softened. "I need good people," she said at last, holding his gaze as she spoke. "I need people who understand. But people who know how to think, too, and who can help show the way to others. Show them how to think for themselves, show them by example that the way to live is to never accept or follow anything blindly…" She paused, then added, "…not even my word."
Still gazing into her eyes, Tarlyn nodded, then smiled. "All right. I can do that," he said, softly and confidently. "I can try, at least." Maybe he was following her into something even more dangerous than the dungeons of Thay, but he was sure by now that it was the right thing to do.
Tali gazed at him even more intently for a moment, her eyes widening. Her voice was soft and astonished as she whispered, "You'd do that, for me?"
Tarlyn laughed a little at the question. Could she really be all that surprised? "It's true," he said, still marveling at the fact that she didn't realize how obvious it was. "It needs to be heard. Of course I will. I mean…" He shrugged and grinned a little. "…not that anyone's going to listen to me anyway, but I guess it's one more voice than you have now…"
In silence, Tali reached out and brushed the fingertips of one hand gently along his cheek. "Thank you…" she breathed after a minute had passed. "It means a lot to me, that you'd really want to help."
Shivering at her touch, Tarlyn closed his eyes and turned his face slightly away. "Lady, I'm not sure I'll help much," he admitted, "…but it's a message that needs to be spoken." He held his breath and held perfectly still until she drew her hand away, and his pulse raced. "You came to me, and you didn't charge me with a quest, or command me to change my life, or anything. You answered my questions. You saved my life." At last, he looked back at her, flushed and smiling. "What less could I do?"
"You could walk away," Tali said with a little shrug as she smoothed her dress. "You still can. You always can. That's the beauty of free will." She smiled quietly. "You have free will. Everyone has free will. There's always a choice… and you chose to help me, and I am… honored."
Tarlyn raised an eyebrow a little at that. She was honored? He smiled back at her and assured her, "I'm not the kind of person who just walks away." He looked down at the book, and at the pen still in his hands, both all but forgotten as he'd stared into her eyes. "I didn't write all this down just to throw it away. You saved my life. I'm going to find a way to thank you for it."
Tali nodded, and smiled at him. Then bowed her head as her cheeks pinkened even through her dark skin. Her eyes looked surprisingly young as she half glanced up again, gazing at him through a wispy fringe of her hair. "If you really want to thank me…" she breathed, smiling hopefully, "…stay with me for a while?"
Tarlyn's breath caught in his throat as he found himself staring into her eyes again. "I… you just…" He blinked, eyes wide, and even laughed once, quietly before he stopped himself. "Of course," he said in an incredulous whisper as he gazed into her eyes. "Of course I'll stay… if that's what you want, then you'll have it."
Tali's hopeful smile broke into a wide grin, and she slid out of her chair to kneel on the terrace beside his. He barely had a moment to lay the book and the pen aside as she slid her arms around his waist. "I'm so glad…" she whispered as she laid her head on his chest. "That would make me very, very happy."
For a moment, Tarlyn simply shivered as he struggled to figure out how he should react, then he tentatively folded his arms around her, his hands resting between her shoulderblades, and hugged her loosely in answer. His breath quivered, his palms were cool against her skin, and his mind began to race as quickly as his pulse already was. "Of c-course.." he stammered breathlessly, "…if you… want me to…"
Tali simply stayed that way for several silent minutes, her own heart and thoughts racing in response to his embrace. Finally, she looked up at him and opened her eyes, smiling and nodding as she gazed at him once more. "I do. I'd like that… an awful lot." She bit her lip and blushed furiously, but didn't look away this time. "I hope I'm not… that is… I mean…" she stammered, then grinned a little and murmured shyly, "I don't want to be too forward, or for you to feel like you have to, but you're so different…"
Tarlyn raised an eyebrow, the uneven line accenting his already lopsided smile. "Queen of the Underdark, and you're asking a male if you're being too forward." He couldn't help laughing softly at the irony. "My lady," he said softly with a hint of a smirk, "…if you're a demon about to eat me, it's too late anyway. I…" He blushed, ears and cheeks reddening, and finished in a whisper. "…I can't imagine a thing you would do that I wouldn't enjoy far too much for my own good, so I absolve you in advance."
He smiled down at her, lost for a few seconds in silent wonder as he brushed his fingertips over her soft, dark skin. "I'll stay with you…" he vowed, "…and I doubt I'll ever want to leave, no matter what your wolf or dragon or spectre have to say about it."
Tali just shook her head a little and smiled up at him. "Too much time elsewhere… or perhaps just enough. I think, and I feel, like a woman, not a Drow woman, I think." She chuckled a little and squeezed her arms around his waist again, then winked. "Forgive me for it later, if you still think there's anything that needs to be forgiven." She blinked then, laughed quietly, and shook her head. "They won't hurt you. In fact, I rather suspect they'll like you."
Tarlyn was still shivering – holding her this close was dizzying, and he was rapidly becoming too aroused to hide it much longer, even though he knew he wouldn't act impulsively. "More woman than any world is ready for, I'd imagine…" he breathed, leaning down until his nose nearly touched hers. Again, he brushed his fingers over her bare back, then impulsively whispered "I… ah… I used to be a stroker, you know…"
Tali nodded a little up at him and whispered, "You have the hands for it, I can tell…" She quirked an eyebrow and grinned. "Maybe sometime, if you want to, you could show me…" She reached up and brushed a fingertip along the line of his cheekbone. "Right now, though…" she said softly and sincerely, "…let me take care of you. You must be exhausted and sore, and I've kept you up talking half the night already…"
Tarlyn couldn't stifle the little whimper that came to his lips as he realized what she'd just offered him. "You'd… let me… oh, my skies…" His hands clenched against her back for a second as he tensed and pressed her close without thinking, and his eyes went wide as he felt her thigh pressing against his… and higher, revealing just how excited he was. "Oh no, I'm sorry, I…" he stammered, blushing fiercely, then simply lowered his eyes. "…well, not that it's anything to be ashamed of, I guess…"
Tali simply curled a finger under his chin and tilted his face up to meet her eyes. There was no offense there as she smiled brightly and warmly. "Yes… I would." She shivered a little herself, but didn't move away. Instead, she laid gently against him, keeping her arms draped around his waist. "Don't apologize," she whispered. "I'm…" she paused for a breath to look for the right words. "…tremendously flattered…"
Caught by surprise again, Tarlyn stared at her, wide eyed, for the space of a heartbeat, then swallowed hard. He said a brief prayer in his mind, then tightened his arms around her, leaned forward, and touched his lips to hers…
[Witty comment here. Still more to come.]