I say: fuck this place. Seriously. If it weren't the only place to get readers, I would never post at FF. net again. I had to cut out about a page of stuff here because though not too explicit, I just couldn't be sure what should and shouldn't go here. AAHHH. Note to FF: STOP SUCKING!

Go check out the REAL P2: C3 adultfan . nexcess . net / aff / story . php?no544195107&chapter9 (minus the spaces). Also, if you can't somehow go to aff . net, just toss me an email, and I'll hook you up.

If you're lame and just don't like "erotic scenes," there really isn't any graphic sex in this one, and if you DON'T read the real version, you're missing a serious moment. Like, cuteness. And stuff. I'll stop rambling so you can get on with your reading. Also, shoot me a review or an email, I love hearing from people. This has been one of my most fun projects yet.

Providence

Part Two

Chapter Three

It was late the next day when Garoul stumbled into the inn, her entire body covered in snow, and her feet soggy from saturation. She had spent the afternoon in the shop selling her wares, and the morning preparing them. The time she had wasted the day before was catching up with her and she almost hoped she wouldn't bump into Hanzar on her way upstairs just so she could finish the rest of her chores before she went to bed.

Her wish came true and she made it to her room without incident. She witnessed a woman dwarf and an orc arguing on the stairs but by the time she passed them, a goblin had come to manage the conflict. Most of those stranded seemed to spend their time sleeping or drinking, and she knew they were in for a rude surprise when the sun finally came out. All ready nearly everyone was grumpy and hung over.

She laughed when she thought of the night before. While the rest of the inn had a horrid cabin fever, she was having the time of her life. Her musings were interrupted by a knock on her door.

"Who is it?" she asked.

"The boy next door!" she heard Reich call from the other side. Garoul laughed.

"Come in, stupid!"

The door clicked open and the human glanced around, as if looking for her troll friend, and walked across to sit on her bed. "I heard you guys at it again," he told her. The elf was sitting on the floor sewing some bracers. "Your voice is really quite musical when you get it up there." He laughed when her mouth dropped open and she hurled one of her large bars of saddle soap at him. It sailed past his head with a whistle, falling to the bed.

"So? Tell me about it. Where is this going?"

Garoul clicked her tongue. "Going? There's nothing to be going anywhere," she told him with slight annoyance.

"Really? I saw tall, blue and handsome leaving this morning," Reich replied thoughtfully. "I don't usually spend the night somewhere unless I actually like the girl."

The elf rolled her eyes. "Actually, we were working on something."

"What, building up your sexual stamina?"

"No!" She hissed out a breath between her teeth and rubbed the leather harder to smooth it. "I'm teaching him Common."

Reich raised one eyebrow. For what possible reason would she want to abandon her blessing of no communication? "Why would you do that?"

"So we can talk, you idiot," Garoul growled at him like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"You must be crazy. If I could screw a girl and not have her talk, I would be the happiest man alive."

"Unlike you," she said, voice dripping with sarcasm, "I find communication to be educational." She set down the bracer she was working on and pulled out her stencil. "He's teaching me some Orcish, as well."

There was a momentary silence before the warrior asked, genuinely confused, "Why would you want to know that language?"

Suddenly Garoul stood up, throwing her stencil to the floor and stomping one foot. "This is the problem!" she shouted, walking to him, and pointing one finger right at his face. Reich very much wondered if she would smite him with a bolt of thunder from her sinister-looking finger. "We think we're too good to talk to them, too good to reason with them!" She let out a long breath and forced herself to relax. "I have nothing against killing them, but don't you think it would be nice to have everyone understand one language when you're sitting in the inn at Booty Bay, a goblin making announcements of boat delays? As a trader I'm finding a few words of Orcish to be incredibly useful to my business. Hell, if I could master the language, I would spend all my time doing this!" She sighed, then, and sat down on the bed beside her thunderstruck friend.

"Well," he said at last, being careful with his words, "I guess that makes sense, but I still don't understand why you would want to know anything that troll has to say."

At this, the elf couldn't help but wonder too. She remembered a conversation they had managed the night before.

"Rogue," he had said, "how is?"

She blinked for a moment, then said, "Being a rogue?" He nodded. He had found the word out when she had shown off her shadow melding to him. "I like hiding in shadows." Each sentence she managed she had to help him understand with gestures and drawings. "I like not being seen when I don't want to be." Sometimes she used Orcish words if they applied. "And warrior? How is it?"

"Big sword," was his only reply. She had burst out laughing.

"He is a lot smarter than I expected," Garoul said at last. "If only we could speak better, I would learn so much from him."

Keeping his eyes on her, Reich lightly touched her cheek and asked, "Do you like him?"

At this the elf blinked. "Like? What do you mean by that?"

"You enjoy his company?"

At this, she laughed. "His company mostly consists of amazing sex," she replied. She held up two fingers. "Two orgasms in one go!"

Reich groaned and with exasperation evident in his tone said, "I didn't want to know that!" The topic seemed forgotten when they both giggled like children.

She was about to go back to her work when the warrior asked, "But really... What will you do when everything opens again? Even if it is just great sex, I usually ditch my girls after the first two days."

Garoul shrugged her shoulders. "What will be will be. It's not like anything more can come of it."

Seeming satisfied with this answer, Reich was quiet. Seeing there was no more she had to say he got to his feet and went to the door. "You're my friend, Gari. Take care of yourself, I don't trust him." With that, he left.

Just when she was finishing for the night and sleep was beginning to cloud her vision, Garoul heard another knock on the door. "Go away, Reich, I'm going to bed."

She heard a familiar voice on the other side of the door ask in Orcish, "Elf?" With a speed she didn't know she had, she pulled open the door to find Hanzar standing just outside. They both looked up and down the hall before she grabbed him by the wrist and pulled him inside, slamming the door behind him.

--

Careful to not wake the elf, Hanzar hefted her into his arms and moved up the bed, where he placed her beneath the blankets. Then he walked around the room, extinguishing each lamp before he climbed in beside her. His breath caught in his throat when she curled up to him, head pressed to his chest and ears sticking out over the blankets. She murmured incoherently and her hands came to rest comfortingly on his stomach. With a sigh the troll wrapped his arms around her and drifted off without a moment's hesitation.