Collisa (Outsider Book 1), page 28
The vendor ground his teeth. “Eighteen, if you're going to be a dick about it.”
“You always insult your customers for asking a reasonable price for inferior goods?” Dare asked. “I might go up to eleven, just in the spirit of being reasonable.”
The man slammed his hand on the table, making Zuri jump and press herself nervously against Dare's leg. “You yourself said your friend bought his for fourteen!”
“Are you dropping your offer to fourteen?” Dare asked, quickly jumping on it.
“Hell n-” the man started to snap, them grimaced. “Fourteen,” he agreed grudgingly.
Wow, the man really was eager to sell. “Twelve,” Dare said.
“You-” The vendor took a deep breath. “I was reasonable with fourteen. Buy it for that or look elsewhere.”
“Take a good long look at the stone,” Dare said. “Think about how long it's been sitting on your table, making your other wares look like trash. I'll give you thirteen, it's up to you whether you want to tell me to get lost.”
The man behind the table glared for almost fifteen seconds in silence, breathing through his nose. Then his shoulders slumped and he sighed. “Thirteen silver. But only because this thing is so damn ugly.” He held out one hand with the necklace, and the other in a silent request for payment.
Dare hesitated. “You mind if I see if it works first? No offense to you, but it's an easy test and I want to be sure.”
The man looked even more irritated, but it was a reasonable request so he grudgingly agreed. Although he watched like a hawk as Dare looped the necklace's chain twice so it wouldn't hang down to Zuri's belly button.
It was obvious the vendor expected him to try to run off with his wares, and he'd need to call the guards.
Dare ignored the glares as he slowly, almost tentatively, crouched and placed the necklace around her neck. He could admit he was feeling a lot of nervous anticipation for this moment.
He wanted to talk to Zuri so much, but he was also a bit worried about how their relationship could change when they could actually speak to each other. Would a friendship and growing love that had been forged through their experiences thrive, or worst case even survive, when they were actually able to get a better idea of who their lover was and what they really thought about things?
He trusted it would, but there was still that bit of nervousness. And from the way his gentle lover trembled as he settled the stone against her chest, yellow eyes wide and eager smile almost a grimace, he thought she felt the same.
Dare gently put his hands on her shoulders. “Can you understand me, Zuri?” he murmured.
Her entire face lit up with joy, and with a happy cry she threw her arms around his neck. “Yes! Thank the ancestors, primal spirits, and Nature itself, yes!” She nuzzled his neck, laughing. “I was so sick of grunting and pointing like an orc raised by wolves.”
He could feel her tears on his skin as she continued in a thick voice. “And I've wanted to really talk to you for so long . . . there's so much I've wanted to tell you. So many questions. So much I've been feeling for you, my mate.”
“I've felt the same.” Dare was vaguely aware of the vendor glaring at them in disgust, and he absently counted out thirteen silver with his fingers and tossed them onto the table full of wares as he stroked Zuri's back.
The vendor wasn't the only one looking, unfortunately; others in the market were beginning to stop to stare, and even pointing and making disparaging comments.
Zuri became aware of the attention, and it hurt Dare to see the way she hunched her shoulders, looking nervous as she pulled away. “This isn't the best place for this, is it?” she asked quietly, tugging on his hand and leading him towards a secluded park surrounded by buildings they'd passed earlier. “I don't want to get you in trouble for showing affection to a lowly goblin.”
“Hey, none of that,” he said firmly. “You're amazing, and I'd get into any trouble I had to for your sake.”
She smiled timidly at that, but shook her head. “Still, we should continue this in private.” Her cheeks flushed a darker green. “Besides, we have a lot to say to one another that I don't want a bunch of strange humans lurking around listening in on.”
Dare stared at his tiny lover in amazement as they entered the park and stepped over to where passersby wouldn't see them.
Now that the excitement of discovering the stone worked was over, it was a bit of a shock to hear her using full sentences. Speaking so comfortably and naturally after all this time listening to her struggle to string words together to be understood. He knew she was very smart, but even so hearing her speak normally threw him for a loop.
And it wasn't only that, because she wasn't just speaking normally. He wasn't sure if it was a feature of the translation stones, or Zuri's actual skill at language, but she sounded . . . educated. Refined even.
“Were you a scholar before I met you?” he asked as he settled on the grass and pulled her into his lap.
His lover flushed even darker green. “In a way. My mother was a high priestess, and trained me to take her place one day. Or at least serve under her as an acolyte. And I did my best to read books when I was allowed to.”
“You can read?” Dare asked, surprised; literacy was usually very rare in medieval and fantasy settings.
It was her turn to be surprised. “Of course I can. Everyone can . . . how else would we use the ##### ######? In fact, the ########### ###### has a reading tutorial to make sure everyone has the chance to learn.” She shook her head in bafflement. “That was a very odd question, my mate.”
He shook his head as well, although in amazement. When put like that of course it made sense. “I just thought the information system's voice told you everything you needed to know if you couldn't read.”
Zuri gave him the blank look he was very familiar with; apparently even now that they could communicate, confusion was possible. “What voice?”
That was . . . quite the revelation. Was the voice his unseen benefactor after all? Had she been there this entire time, talking to him while pretending to be the world system?
That was definitely something Dare would have to think through when he had time.
“Never mind,” he said, kissing her forehead. “I'm guessing you read in Goblin?”
“That's right,” his tiny lover replied. She smiled eagerly as she fingered her new translation stone. “Although this works for writing as well. So with it I can read and write all the languages the Enchanter put into it.”
Wow, that made the item even more amazing, and even more of a steal at thirteen silver. Also even more of a priority to buy one for himself when he could.
Although Zuri was turning out to be even more amazing than he'd realized as well, and his opinion of her had already been high. The only way she'd know that about the translation stones was if she'd tried it before; Dare found himself again wondering, as he had so many times while trying to speak to his lover, about her past.
“Well it's an honor to meet an educated daughter of a high priestess,” he said, bowing.
Zuri flushed, but not with embarrassment. “Don't tease me,” she said quietly.
Dare looked at her in surprise. “Why would you think I'm teasing you, Zuri?”
“It took a long time to accept you letting me have my share of the money we earned hunting monsters, and you treating me as an honored mate and showering me with kindness and gifts. It still sometimes feels like you're teasing me or baiting me into a trap, even though I know you're sincere.” She crossed her arms firmly. “But I won't have you bowing to me. It's too much . . . even if you don't mean it that way I can't help but feel like you're mocking me.”
He hugged her closer, stroking her back. “I would never hurt you or try to make you feel bad,” he said gently. “I want you to be happy.”
His lover's big yellow eyes softened. “I am,” she said. “As happy as I've ever been. You've been good and kind in a way I've learned not to hope for.” She laughed softly. “You even pick stupid fights when people insult me.”
She hesitated, some of her timidity returning. “Although I kind of wish you wouldn't . . . words can't hurt me like a lash or switch would, and I don't want you to get hurt trying to defend me from them.” Her green skin flushed darker, and she added bashfully. “Although it makes me feel happy that you think I'm worthy of it.”
Dare briefly pressed his lips to hers. “I'm so glad you're finally able to tell me these things, Zuri.”
Instead of smiling she trembled slightly. “Actually,” she whispered, blushing a deeper green, “speaking of telling you things, my name isn't Zuri.”
He stared at her. “But when I told you my name, you said that was yours.”
She shook her head and smiled wryly. “For goblins, it's customary for adventurers in the wild to introduce themselves by their class. I thought that's what you were doing, so I told you my class in turn.” She shyly met his eyes. “My name is actually Ge'welu.”
Dare chuckled ruefully. “So it was all a misunderstanding?”
“I guess so,” his goblin lover said, smiling uncertainly.
“And I've been calling you Healer?” he asked, giving her an affectionate squeeze.
“That's right,” Zuri, or Ge'welu he supposed, said.
“Well all right then, Ge'welu.” The name felt unfamiliar on his lips, and to hide his awkwardness Dare rested his cheek on her soft black hair. “I'm glad I finally know your name. It's a pretty one.”
To his surprise the timid goblin shook her head firmly. “Thank you, but I want you to keep calling me Zuri.”
He tried not to frown. “But it's not your name. It's easy to switch to using your real name, and I don't want you to feel like you have to use another name just because it's what I know you by.”
The tiny woman looked at him fiercely. “I want you to call me that because it's what you know me by.” She pressed her face into his chest. “Ge'welu is the name I had in my old life. It was given to me by my parents, and so I treasure it, but at the same time it's the name I've heard from the lips of some very cruel people. Memories I'd like to forget.”
She pulled back enough to smile up at him. “Zuri is the name you know me by. That's what makes me so happy to use it.”
“But I don't know if I'd feel right just calling you “Healer,” he protested. “You're a person, you're my beloved mate, and I care about you.”
Her huge yellow eyes looked up at him, full of adoration. “Your name is a human word for courage, isn't it?”
Dare blinked. He didn't often think of the meaning of his name, especially since it was a nickname. “Something like that.”
Zuri nodded in satisfaction. “You're proud to be called Courage. And I'm proud to be called Healer. Especially if I can heal you.”
He rubbed her back, pulling her tiny body closer. “You really want me to call you Zuri?”
She mock scowled at him. “I won't answer to Ge'welu,” she said as she cuddled against him contentedly.
“If you insist,” he kissed her forehead. “But I still think it's a cute name.”
His little lover smiled and pressed her lips to his, then giggled. “That's still such a strange thing to do,” she said.
“Goblins don't kiss?” he teased, running a thumb over her soft lips.
She shook her head. “Mouths are for food.” She hesitated, blushing. “Aside from when we offer it to our mate as a hole for his pleasure.”
Dare laughed. “Which you do better than anyone I've ever met.” He paused, then continued playfully. “Although I can show you a way my mouth can be used to pleasure you, too.”
He'd been holding off on going down on Zuri because for one thing, she was usually so quick to either jump on his cock or take him in her mouth that he hadn't had the chance, and for another she'd been so nonplussed by kissing that he wasn't sure how she'd respond to burying his head between her legs.
And he meant holding off; after almost a week of smelling her heady arousal, so dizzyingly full of pheromones, the need to finally taste her was driving him to distraction.
Zuri blushed deeper and grinned. “Want to do it now?”
Dare wryly looked around the small park, with the path to the street in full view. “Maybe if we can find someplace more private.” He grinned. “What do you think? I'd be happy to buy a room in an inn and treat you to a proper meal, then we can play on a proper bed. Or we could head out into the wilds and set up camp, play a bit before going back to hunting-”
“The wilds!” she practically shouted, grabbing his hand and tugging eagerly. “We've finished our business here, right?”
“Unless there was anything else you wanted.”
She patted her dagger and the bolt of cloth sticking up from his pack. Then she gave him another loving look. “I have everything I want,” she said shyly.
On impulse Dare kissed her, then pulled her close. She was just unbelievably cute. “I love you, Zuri.”
Zuri stiffened as if she'd been struck by lightning. “Like lifelong mate feelings?” she whispered, trembling.
He hesitated; this seemed very important to her, and he wasn't about to treat talk of lifetime commitments casually. “I'm getting there,” he said, leaning down to kiss her neck.
“Oh.” She pressed her cheek to his. “I . . . I feel the same way. I would be very happy to be your mate for life, and give you many children.”
“Once we're more situated with a house and the gold to see to their future, I'd like that too,” he said. He gently picked her up, motioning. “So, ready to go?”
His tiny lover beamed. “Ready!” She pointed at the street leading to the gate. “To adventure and hunting monsters. Zoom!”
Dare couldn't help but laugh as he broke into a trot. “Zoom!” he agreed.
She gave him a curious look as they made their way towards the gate. “What does that mean, anyway? The translation stone doesn't give me anything.”
“It means zoom.” He smiled at her confusion. “It's an onomatopoeia for a sound the carts from my home make as they quickly pass by you.”
“Ah, that fits.” Zuri buried her face in his neck. “I've been wanting to say this to you for a long time, but now's a good time.”
“That you love me?” Dare teased.
She laughed a bit shyly. “That too. But what I've wanted to say is that I think you're a very smart man, a genius even, given how you figured out a way for me to level with you and so many other things. But at the same time some of the things you say and do are very strange. I'm completely baffled by them.”
“Probably because I come from another place,” he said. “I hope you can live with my strangeness, because now that we can communicate you'll probably be noticing a lot more of it.”
Zuri snickered. “Now that you can actually explain it all, I think that'll be fun. But when you were just grunting and gesturing and having me try strange things like sleeping four hours at a time for no apparent reason, I thought you were insane.”
Dare joined her laughter and gave her a loving squeeze. “I suppose now's a good time to say that I've thought you were very smart from the first, too. I think that's why we were able to communicate so well without spending days or weeks teaching each other our languages.”
She blushed in pleasure at the compliment. “Maybe,” she said. She grimaced and fingered her necklace. “But I never want to have to talk to each other like that again. It's a huge pain in the ass.”
“Seriously.” He nodded at the guards as he and his lover left Driftwain behind, and they nodded back curtly as he started down the road headed north.
To new places they hadn't explored, and new adventures.
* * * * *
It took a half hour or so of running along the road to find monster spawns points around their level.
Dare found a good spot by a stream to set up camp, and was all ready make good on his promise to pleasure Zuri right then and there. But she insisted that they stick to leveling while there was daylight and save the fun for dark.
“Glad you're here to keep me on task,” he joked, ruffling her hair.
She looked a bit miffed as she worked to straighten it. “You're obviously determined to level quickly, and honestly you're leveling faster than I thought was even possible. Especially while making sure I keep pace with you.”
Dare chuckled and hefted his bow. “Well it's about to get even better.” He hesitated. “Especially if you'll finally tell me why the hell you haven't been accepting my party invites so we can evenly share experience.”
Zuri looked away, equal parts embarrassed and ashamed. “I know. Once I figured out what you were doing with experience, I realized that I was slowing you down by making you wait for me to do a third of the damage to every monster.”
“Is there something I don't know about the party system?” he asked.
She was quiet for what felt like a long time. “It's just that the party leader has access to a lot of information about party members. And party members get some information about the leader and other party members as well. It's a tremendous display of trust.”
Dare chuckled and lifted her into his arms, kissing her fondly while playfully rubbing her small ass. “We're mates. I'd say that's a pretty serious display of trust too.” She didn't smile back, and he sobered. “Zuri, I trust you completely. With my life . . . I have many times while we've been together. And I hope you know that you can trust me too. I love you.”
His tiny lover buried her face in his shoulder and began to sob. “It's just when you told Durrand that I was free, I thought it was because you didn't understand the truth. I still don't know that, actually.”
“Wait, what?” he asked incredulously. “Of course you're free. I've considered you my free and equal companion from the first.”
“And I appreciate it, but am I really free?” She looked up and briefly met his gaze, big yellow eyes shining with tears. “When I join your party, you'll see that my official status in Haraldar is “Slave.” She buried her face in his chest again. “I'm a slave, Dare. You might've thought that just because my master discarded me, that means I'm free. But I'm not. I can't be free unless the paperwork is done in a region or kingdom capitol. At best I'm your slave now, thanks to adventurer loot rules and possession is 10/10s of the law. Although you might have to contest your claim on me if my master ever tried to get me back.”
