Sword and Snow

Things in the bath house got a little awkward after that. As we each cleaned ourselves off in preparation for dinner, Avuri started sneaking peeks at me again. Which, I supposed, was fair, given the situation. I did my best to ignore her as I finished up in the bath.

“So…tomorrow.” I began, as Avuri’s head snapped up toward me, “I think we could use a little break, don’t you?” I looked up at the beautiful wisteria canopy as I spoke. “And we’re starting to run low on a few things. Butter, eggs, seasonings…Maybe a trip into the city?”

Avuri’s face slowly split into a grin. “Take a day and paint the town? Get lunch and dinner while we shop? Take a day to relax?”

“That’s what I was thinking.” I nodded, “We’ve been at this non-stop for almost two months. I don’t think a single day off would be remiss, do you?”

“No, I think that sounds incredibly fair. And lovely.” Avuri said, happily, as she finished up her own dip in the tub. “But also, have you considered getting some animals for up here? You mentioned we need eggs - maybe we should get some chickens?”

And after that, the conversation quickly devolved into potential plans to start a small animal farm in addition to the crop fields. We chatted about it rather animatedly until we finally returned to the house and sat down for dinner. The ideas about starting a small husbandry operation were passed around and debated on. Everyone was in favor, especially Cierra, who was very excited to make some animal friends.

When Avuri and I mentioned taking a day off to visit Flowing Dragon City to look into buying some supplies we needed, and maybe go looking at animal prices, there was once again unanimous assent. Cierra wanted to come with us, but I told her that until she was a little older, traveling down to the city on foot was a little too dangerous for her, and she’d only get to come when we went with Vale. That was acceptable, and the conversation moved on.

Avuri and I met eyes briefly, clear excitement on both our faces as we looked forward to what could be considered a first date.

Even if we’d have to run for a few hours to get there.

With just Avuri and I making the trip down to the City, it only took a little over three hours. The trickiest part was getting out of the basin and onto the Peak proper, but we managed to travel pretty quickly after that.

Getting into the city from the mountain side was pretty easy. The guards there were fairly lax, since anyone that had access to the Flowing Dragon Peak to return from it would have had to go through the city in the first place. Beyond a quick check to make sure we were human Cultivators, we were let loose into the city without much ado.

Avuri and I had both dressed nicely, but not so well that we would alert Vale’s or Talya’s suspicions that this was anything more than a shopping trip. Once we were in the city, however, Avuri grabbed me by the arm and pulled me into the throng of people moving about the roads.

Our first task was doing the shopping that I had used as an excuse to get us here. And we did it fast. We had everything we needed bought and dealt with within two hours of our arrival. With everything stored safely between our two storage rings, we were then left unencumbered to enjoy the city.

Once again, Avuri dragged me out into the main thoroughfare of the market for a moment, before deciding to pull us off into a side road where we could actually hear ourselves.

“So?” She said excitedly, “What would you like to do first?”

I looked at her with a smile on my face, but I really had no idea. “I won’t lie to you, Avuri, I’ve not really ever been on a date that wasn’t just an outing for food. One time I went dancing, but that about covers the entirety of my experience here.” I inclined my head toward her in a mock bow. “I will defer to you in this matter, elder sister.”

Avuri narrowed her eyes at me before slapping my shoulder. “I’m only twenty six. I’m not that much older than you, am I?”

I grinned. “Four years~” I teased, then stopped. “Oh, wait. Three years. My birthday passed a few weeks ago, so I’m twenty three now.” Avuri slapped me playfully again.

“Knowing you, I assume it passed while I was here and it was just never acknowledged?” Avuri asked sourly.

I nodded. “Sure did. It was somewhere in our mess of training. It was the second of this month. So…like twenty five days ago? We were probably so intent on training that I forgot. And my family has never really been one that celebrates birthdays, so-”

I was cut off as Avuri pulled me back into the main street, making her way somewhere I couldn’t tell. “We may have missed your birthday, but I’m going to make sure you enjoy our date!” She said as she pulled me along.

And she was right. We spent a while wandering around the market, hitting several different food stalls for light snacks. We picked up a bit of this and that from several different places and shared a couple bites of each thing. We ended up skipping lunch as a planned stop, to instead just fill ourselves on the random assortment of stall foods, covering everything from fried noodles to spun sugar candy - most of which went to Avuri, because I found that I don’t have much of a sweet tooth.

Once we were both sated on what amounted to junk food, Avuri decided that more shopping was in order. Of the much less useful kind.

We went to several different clothiers, and tried on a number of different clothes. Avuri demanded that we both buy some nice underclothes, as some of ours were both starting to smell after how long we spent Cultivating in them. Thankfully we both had kept some clean and set aside for public outings, so neither of us smelled while in the city.

I picked out a few silky tops and bottoms that would be comfortable to wear under clothing, but also nice for Cultivating in. The clerk had said they would be easy to wash and be stain resistant, which was nice. I also snuck a couple more risque options into my pile, just in case. While I was relatively new to dates, the afterward parts were not so foreign to me. I knew what to prepare.

And as Avuri split off from me when we entered, I had suspicions that she was making a similar choice.

After that, we tried some different outer clothes on. I tried a multitude of different robes and styles that Avuri suggested, and she tried several that I suggested.

The second or third outfit for me to try was a striking green set of robes that were silky and gorgeous. The deep green was reminiscent of foliage, and even had a lovely sparkle to it. When I stepped out of the changing area with it on, Avuri was brought up short, stunned. She stood, slack mouthed, looking me over. I might have even seen a bit of drool.

I spun a bit to show it off. “That good, huh?” I asked, holding some of the fabric out to display the colors more cleanly. “The robes are beautiful, but I’m not sure green like this is my color…”

“Green looks lovely on you, Emery.” She walked up to me, her eyes locked on my face. When she was standing less than an arm’s length from me, she raised a hand to touch my hair gently. “Did you know that your hair has a strange purple tint to it in the right light?” She tilted her head and smiled at me as she asked the question. I felt my heart rate jump around suddenly.

“I did know.” I said, returning the smile. “If I recall correctly, it matches your eye color. Such a lovely, deep purple.”

Avuri cleared her throat and let her hand drop. “Yes, well. The green on these robes actually bring out the color in your hair beautifully. You should consider getting them.”

“I will do that.” I said, grinning. “I was certain that you weren’t all attack and no defense before, Avuri.” I said, teasing her as a slight blush crept up her neck. “Let me change out of this and we can go to the next place.”

I moved back into the changing room and started to remove the layers of the robe one after the next. It was indeed a lovely robe, and while I still wasn’t confident green was a good color for me, I decided I would buy the robe. Avuri thought it looked good on me, and it wasn’t like we were hurting for mortal money.

Earlier in the day at a different store, I had also changed out my underclothes for some of the new ones I had bought today. And I was very pleased that I had chosen one of the more attractive options when Avuri slid into the changing room while I wore nothing but those underclothes.

She stopped and looked me up and down appreciatively. I could see a number of different thoughts cross her face, but none so clear as raw attraction. “Felt like I needed to retort after you called me all attack and no defense.” She said by way of explanation.

I laughed, and moved to just continue putting my own clothing back on. “That wasn’t much of a retort. Did you forget what you were going to say?”

“Well, I got a bit distracted.”

I glanced at her sidelong and said quietly. “Well, good to know. These aren’t even close to the sexiest undergarments I bought today.”

“Oh? And whatever did you buy sexy underwear for? Hm?” Avuri said, her tone teasing.

“You’ll have to wait and see.” I said, taking on the same tone. “If you’re lucky, maybe you’ll get to see them.”

“Not gonna lie, I feel pretty lucky already.” Avuri took a step further into the changing room, which was already not that large. She was leaving me just enough space to get my clothing back on.

“Not sure that walking in on a girl while she’s changing, clearly on purpose, would have anything to do with your luck.” I returned sardonically then laughed. “Though I’ll give you, you could not have timed it better.”

“Like I said. Luck.” Avuri declared proudly, but then her mood soured just a bit. “But also, I’ve completely forgotten my witty comeback about being all offense, and I can’t remember it now.”

I snickered. “And you forgot because you’re all offense and no defense. You walked in here, saw me half-naked - which you’ve seen before, mind you - and your mind went blank. Because your defense is weak, like I said.”

Avuri was quiet for a moment as I put the last bit of my normal robes in place. As I stood straight to turn toward Avuri and the exit to the room, I felt Avuri step up rather close behind me. Her arm snuck around my waist and she pulled me back against her. Then I felt her breath near my ear.

“So just how strong is your defense, then, my dear?” She whispered in my ear.

A shiver ran through me as I felt her breath on my ear. Which I was pretty sure, with Avuri so close, she could probably feel the slight tremble. My suspicions were confirmed when she laughed and backed off.

“I think we’re gonna have a wonderful time if we’re both all offense and no defense.” She said, and slipped out of the room.

I took a moment to gather myself as I felt the heat rising up my own neck before I stepped back outside, my soon-to-be new green robes draped over my arm.