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Chapter 76: travel and possibilities
The next morning Varion came down the stairs of the inn he stayed a few minutes earlier than they had agreed. The common room of the inn was already half-full with the usual morning crowd of travelers and merchants, the smell of fresh bread and meat hanging in the air.
He spotted Lumni almost instantly.
She was sitting at a table near the window, hands folded neatly in her lap, looking for all the world like she had been waiting patiently. With the sun shining on her in a way that highlighted her beauty making Varion stare for a few seconds.
After a few seconds her eyes found him, her whole face lit up. She pushed the chair back and crossed the room, throwing her arms around him without the slightest hesitation.
The hug was tight and warm as she pressed herself fully against his chest fully and stayed there a few seconds longer than necessary, with her face turned into the side of his neck. The motion was small enough that anyone watching would have only seen an excited girl greeting her companion. Varion, distracted by the pressure of her body molding against him, didn't notice the quiet, deep inhale she took next to his neck.
'Ughhh he smells so good,' she thought as her fangs actually ached slightly and wanted to take just a small nibble. 'it wouldn't hurt right, no bad luminous, control yourself.'
When she finally pulled back, her expression had shifted into a playful pout.
"You kept me waiting," she said.
Varion chuckled. "I'm actually early." He tilted his head, eyes narrowing with mild amusement. "Unless you were just so excited to see me that you misjudged the time."
Lumni's face went pink. A flicker of something sharper from the real proud Luminous, slipped through the shy girl act for just a moment. She huffed and looked away, arms crossing loosely under her chest.
"N-no. Not a chance. I was always told you're supposed to arrive fifteen minutes early to any meeting, that's all so you're late."
Varion's mouth curved. He reached out and gave her head a light, casual pat.
"Alright, alright. Let's eat, then get on the road."
She made a small noise of complaint about the head pat, but she didn't pull away or swat his hand. When they sat down she immediately scooted her chair closer until their thighs touched under the table, then turned her face away continuing to pout, but that didn't quite hide the satisfaction in her eyes.
Varion noticed it but said nothing. He simply ordered food for both of them, then settled into his seat and got more comfortable. His arm unconsciously fell around her waist, wrapping around her slightly.
Luminous's expression shifted into a smug, pleased look. She was clearly happy about it and stayed quiet, not wanting to draw attention to his hand.
They left the town shortly after breakfast, to get on the road.
The day quickly passed in a steady rhythm of walking, light conversation. Lumni stayed close enough that their arms or hands brushed every so often as they walked. Eventually Varion revealed a little bit about his life, small things like he was part of a guild and had siblings that he looked after and crazy shenanigans that they got up to. By the time the sun began to drop, the comfortable atmosphere between them felt far more natural as they had spent their day laughing and having fun while they walked.
They made camp a short distance off the road as the sky turned orange. Made a simple meal, set up the tents, and then settled around the fire as Lumni leaned into his side as they kept talking well into the night. When they were both finally ready to go to sleep, Varion quickly checked the perimeter and climbed into his tent, slipped out of his clothes then stretched out in his sleeping bag with the flap still half open, so he could keep an eye out.
Not even 5 minutes after he'd settled in, the soft sound of footsteps announced Lumni's approach before she even said a word.
Lumni stood just inside the entrance to the tent, already changed into a thin silk nightgown that definitely wasn't made for camping. It caught the low light from the campfire outside and caused shadow to silhouette her frame from behind highlighting her curves in a way that was impossible for him not to find beautiful. It was only highlighted by her cheeks which were faintly pink.
She hesitated only a second before speaking, voice small and carefully shy.
"Um… Varion? I'm… not really used to sleeping out in the wilderness like this. It's quieter than I expected….And darker." She glanced down, then back up at him with a pleading look that was just a little too effective for his brain to even think of telling her no. "Could I… sleep with you tonight?"
"Yeah. Alright." He shifted slightly scooting over, already expecting her to unroll her own bag beside his. "You can put yours next to—"
She didn't let him finish.
Lumni stepped fully inside, closed the flap behind her, and then simply climbed in with him. The sleeping bag was not made for two people. So she had to squeeze in and press herself tightly along his side and half on top of him until every soft curve of her body molded against him through the thin silk gown that did nothing to block what he felt. Her head settled on his chest, one arm draped loosely across his stomach and her leg draped over his thigh.
Varion's breath caught, He could feel everything, the warmth of her skin, the shape of her breasts against his ribs, the way her thigh went over his. His heartbeat picked up almost immediately, loud enough that he was certain she could hear it.
Lumni's lips curved in a small, satisfied smile against his chest. Internally she was extremely pleased, the space was even tighter than she had hoped. She could feel the solid lines of his body in perfect detail as her hands moved to find a comfortable spot and the way his heart had sped up only made the whole thing that much better. A quiet, smug contentment settled over her as she shifted just enough to get more comfortable, making sure she stayed as pressed against him as she could.
'His energy feels great I could definitely get used to this' she thought content without realizing what her thought sounded like.
"Thank you," she murmured, voice soft and sleepy. "This is much better."
Varion stared at the top of the tent for a long moment, forcing his breathing to stay even. His arm had somehow ended up around her without him deciding to put it there.
'She is going to be trouble,' he thought to himself, liking and hating this situation at the same time. 'tomorrow I need to set some things straight with her so this can either continue or stop before one of us gets hurt.'
-the next morning-
Varion woke slowly to a soft, heavy warmth covering his face and the solid weight of a body draped over him. For a few seconds his mind stayed foggy thinking it was rimuri or prinz, then faint details registered one by one. He quickly realized this wasn't either of them, then he remembered last night.
'It must be Lumni, yeah, definitely need to have that talk with her.' he thought
Lumni was wrapped around him completely. Her arms were wrapped around his head, one leg thrown over his hip, and her chest firmly enveloped his face. The thin silk of her nightgown doing almost nothing to block the feel of her body between them. Worse, his body had reacted in the night, his hardened length was trapped between them, pressing directly into the softness of her inner thigh.
'Oh this isn't good I need to-' his thoughts were cut off
Before he could move or anything, she stirred.
Her eyes opened, still half-lidded with sleep. She felt the foreign object pressing against her leg immediately. A slow, knowing smirk curved her lips, the kind that made something in Varion's stomach tighten in a pleasant way. The expression was far too aware, far too pleased, and it sent a clear shiver straight up his spine.
Then, as if only just realizing the position they were in, she blinked and carefully pulled back. The smirk vanished under a carefully constructed look of embarrassment.
"Oh— I'm so sorry," she said, her voice soft and flustered as she sat up. "I must have… gotten cold in the night. I didn't mean to cling like that."
Varion watched her. The words were right, her tone was shy and embarrassed. But the way her eyes looked at him, and the faint satisfied tilt at the corner of her mouth, told him she didn't mean a single word of it.
"…It's fine, let's get some breakfast." he said
They got dressed and ate a quiet breakfast by the remains of the fire. Lumni stayed close as usual, but there was a new undercurrent of aware tension between them, mainly from Varion's side as he could no longer deny knowing what she wanted.
When they finished and she started to stand to pack her things, Varion reached out and caught her wrist gently.
"Wait."
She looked down at him, curiously.
He let go of her wrist and rested his forearms on his knees, meeting her eyes directly.
"Have a seat we need to talk" he said firmly
"Before we keep going with… whatever this is," he gestured lightly between the two of them, "you need to know something."
Lumni tilted her head, the picture of attentive innocence, but her gaze sharpened just a fraction.
"I want you to know I already have multiple partners," Varion said plainly. "about 7 in total. Some of them are from my original world, I'm not originally from this one. If you're interested in something real with me, you need to be okay with that. I'm not going to hide it or pretend otherwise. That would hurt both of us in the end and I refuse to do that by hiding this until it's too late."
For a moment she was quiet.
The otherworlder part shocked her at first. Her eyes widened slightly, genuine surprise flickering across her face before she schooled it back into something softer.
"You're… from another world?" she asked, voice small. "I honestly didn't notice, you fit in so well here I couldn't tell."
She sat back down slowly, folding her hands in her lap as she processed the rest of what he had said. She looked at him for a long second, a faint crease of confusion between her brows.
"I… know that was something nobles do…," she admitted carefully. " But I guess it makes sense, you're strong and kind so I can see why.." Her voice drifted slightly, as if in thought "Is that… normal where you're from?"
Internally, the real Luminous watched him with quiet amusement.
'He's being so careful with me… how sweet. I already knew this, but the fact that he's telling me this early is rather cute in fact.'
"Somewhat yes it's not an unheard of thing and no one cares as long as it's consensual." He replied.
After a few more seconds of thought Lumni smiled lightly and blushed
"I don't mind that much honestly, If that's how it is, then for you… I can accept it. I want to see where things go with us." she said blushing and looking at the ground
Then she took on a thoughtful look and curiosity won her over. "Can I… see what they look like?"
Varion agreed, seeing no reason not to. He raised a hand weaving magic into an illusion of his lovers. He showed what each one of them looked like and he even told her small bits about them and their personality.
Lumni studied each image carefully, her gaze moving from one to the next without rushing. Internally luminous, had a quiet note of approval settle in her chest.
'He has good taste. Hmph as expected of someone I like.' She thought haughtily
When the illusions faded she looked back at him, a small, considering smile on her lips.
"They're very beautiful," she said simply. Then, softer, "Thank you for telling me. Most wouldn't have been so honest so quickly."
There was real appreciation in her voice this time, not just for the honesty, but for the way he had chosen to handle it before anything went further.
Varion nodded once.
"I needed you to know. I didn't feel comfortable with anything else happening without you
knowing what you were getting into."
Lumni's smile brightened at his words. She stood, clearly deciding they had enough serious talk for now.
"Then I suppose we should get packing. I don't plan on getting scared away just because of this." She smiled down at him and held out her hand. "I'd hate to waste the daylight. We still have adventures ahead."
Varion sighed softly and took her hand, pulling himself to his feet. She held onto it for a few seconds, looking him in the eyes, before finally letting go so they could pack up the campsite.
As they moved around each other to pack up the tents, there was a clear shift in how they interacted now. A quieter, almost romantic tension settling into the space they shared.