Daniel opened his mouth to speak before pausing and just staring at Alyssa as he wondered if he was hearing her right. Triska slowly stood up and watched as Alyssa just waited for Daniel to respond, the boy glancing over to Triska then back to Alyssa again before scratching his head in puzzlement.
“Is that what’s been bothering you tonight? Me taking her sword away?”
Alyssa looked over to Triska, the human seeing the witch holding back her tears well, then turned to Daniel with a troubled expression.
“It is something that’s been bothering me, yes. Please, don’t take it away from her.”
“Alyssa…” Triska said softly.
Alyssa looked over to her with a smirk before glancing to Daniel with a small smile.
“Please? I’m not angry about what happened earlier, really, so please don’t take something precious away from her.”
Daniel looked over to Triska as the girl was showing a small smile at the witch before turning her eyes to him hopefully.
“Am I hearing this correctly?” Specca questioned unsurely. Squeak glanced to the cup of water she was holding and twirled it around a bit, wondering if something funky was in the drink, then looked to Alyssa curiously as the witch glanced down and away from everyone. Daniel looked down for a moment then to Triska with a small smile.
“Alright, if it means that much to both of you, you can have your sword again, Triska. But from now on no more-”
“No more swordplay in the caravan, I know,” Triska quickly agreed with before looking down with a remorseful smile. “I’m sorry about that, I really am. I promise it’ll never happen again.” She then glanced over to Alyssa, seeing the witch watching her with a small smile.
“I promise never to hurt my friends with it again.”
Daniel smiled at her then Alyssa while Squeak and Specca had confused expressions.
“I feel as though we’re missing something here,” Specca commented, with Squeak nodding slowly in agreement.
Alyssa waved her staff towards the caravan, the group then watching as a clanking sound was heard from inside before Triska’s sword flew out in its sheath, the weapon flying into the air before gently floating down towards Triska. She slowly held her hands out and caught it, looking at her trusty sword with a small smile before glancing to Alyssa. The witch winked at her then started walking towards Lucky.
“Triska, what happened with her?” Daniel asked as they saw the witch waving her staff around and creating a soft bedding of grass and flowers for her horse to rest on. Lucky grunted softly as he got down on the bedding, with Alyssa gently brushing his nose, while Triska watched the witch with a calm smile.
“She and I just had a talk. Everything’s fine now,” Triska replied before looking back to her sword again.
Daniel looked at her curiously then back to Alyssa as the witch was petting her horse gently.
“So, you two aren’t fighting anymore?”
“Oh no, we’re still fighting, Daniel,” Triska said with a small laugh. Daniel looked to her puzzled as the girl held her sword behind her with both hands while smiling curiously at him. “We’re still fighting over you.”
Daniel smiled a bit to that as Triska glanced up and around at the stars in the sky.
“It’s getting late, we should probably get ready to turn in,” she mentioned before looking back to Daniel with a timid smile. Daniel looked at her for a moment then up at the sky, nodding a few times before looking over to Specca and Squeak. The two girls glanced to each other then back to him with small smiles.
“I suppose she’s right. You two go on ahead, it is her night after all,” Specca agreed while gently waving to the caravan.
“What are you girls going to do?” Daniel asked as Triska walked over and picked up her duffel bag with one hand, something that Squeak and Specca just watched with raised eyebrows.
“Going to stay here and try to figure out how she does that,” Specca said dryly.
Triska glanced to her with puzzlement before looking over to seeing Alyssa walking towards them. Lucky was now sleeping on the bedding she had prepared for him, the witch looking around at the group before turning to Daniel with a happy smile.
“Okay, Lucky’s down for the night. Thank you for feeding him earlier.”
“Of course, it was no trouble,” Daniel said modestly.
Alyssa glanced to Triska then looked back to Daniel with an uneasy smile.
“So… I take it you two are…”
“Yeah, we’re going to go turn in for the night,” Triska said while watching Daniel with a timid smile. Daniel nodded before looking at Alyssa curiously, the witch glancing down and away while she was playfully leaning back and forth on her boots.
“Daniel…” Alyssa said bashfully. “Would it be okay… if I could get a goodnight kiss before you go?” Triska watched her carefully as the witch looked up to Daniel with an innocent smile.
“I know tonight’s her night, and that’s fine. But… I would like to kiss you goodnight before you go. Is that okay?”
Daniel smiled nervously at her then slowly glanced around at the other girls.
“You know,” Specca mentioned with a small blush. “I wouldn’t object to getting a goodnight kiss either, if that would be alright with you.”
Squeak nodded with a few quick squeaks as well as Triska looked around at the girls with concern then to Alyssa, the witch glancing to her with a small smile.
“Just one kiss, then he’s all yours for the night,” Alyssa said with a shrug.
Triska looked to Daniel with a careful glance and thought about it while the boy was wondering if such a thing would cause another fight to break out.
“Well…” Triska said slowly.
Daniel looked to her with an uneasy smile, and then to each of the girls as they were all watching him with hopeful eyes.
“Well, I guess…”
Triska hesitated for a moment then sighed and nodded with a dull expression.
“Fine, whatever.”
Alyssa giggled then quickly hopped up onto Daniel, grabbing hold of his shoulder while using her staff to keep her lifted off the ground as she pulled the boy into a kiss. Daniel watched with surprise as the witch pushed her tongue into his mouth and played around with his, with the other girls watching with wide eyes as the witch let out a playful murmur before breaking the kiss and smiling seductively at the boy.
“Goodnight, Daniel,” she said with a wink before slowly lowering herself down onto the ground, keeping eye contact with the boy who stared at her with a stunned smile.
“Um, goodnight… Alyssa,” he managed to get out while regaining his senses. Triska tried to hold in her growl of annoyance while watching Alyssa with discontent. Specca smiled then quickly jumped to her feet and rushed over to Daniel, wrapping her arms around his neck as she pulled him into a kiss as well. Triska’s eyebrow twitched as she watched the nixie kissing Daniel while her tail coiled around his leg. The boy held his hands over her hips, not sure whether to hold the girl or not while he watched her with a bit of surprise as well. After a moment she broke her kiss and smiled bashfully at the boy while her tail slowly unraveled while moving up along his thigh.
“Sleep well, Daniel,” she said softly.
Daniel paused for a moment before nodding with a small smile.
“You as well, Specca.”
Specca let go and backed up before Squeak quickly raced towards the boy with a bright smile.
“Hold it!” Triska yelled out. Everyone stopped and looked to her as she was giving Squeak a small glare while shaking her head. “I’m tolerating all of you kissing Daniel before my turn with him, not to mention right in front of me, but I’m drawing the line with you, Squeak. I don’t want your saliva taking Daniel’s thoughts away from me tonight.”
Squeak looked at her curiously then to Daniel as the boy gently held her by the cheeks with a small smile. He gave a small chuckle then lowered Squeak’s head so he could kiss her forehead, the ant girl s
miling bashfully while she wiggled her abdomen a bit from the gesture.
“Tomorrow’s your turn, Squeak. I promise you’ll get a kiss then,” Daniel reassured.
Squeak nodded and squeaked something before backing up while blushing from his kiss. Triska sighed then looked around at the girls with annoyance.
“Alright, you’ve gotten kisses from him, that’s enough for tonight.”
“I suppose so,” Specca agreed, looking down while holding a hand to her cheek. Squeak glanced to Daniel then away while nodding as well. Alyssa walked over and sat down on her seat near the fire, setting her staff next to her while watching the fires burn and crackle.
“Fine then, take your turn and get it over with.”
“Were you going to turn in for the night?” Daniel asked.
Alyssa shook her head and glanced to Triska.
“Not yet,” she said with a shrug. “I’m not tired, I’ll wait a while before coming in.”
Triska looked around at seeing Squeak and Specca sitting back down as well on their seats around the fire.
“We’ll be in shortly. Goodnight, Triska,” Specca said politely while watching the fires burn as well. Squeak nodded while remaining silent, looking down at the dirt as she nudged a small stone with her boot.
“Um, alright then. Goodnight,” Triska said before turning to walk to the caravan, her eyes turning to Daniel as the boy nodded and walked off with her while the other three girls waited by the campfire. Alyssa glanced over to see Daniel and Triska boarding the ride and entering the cabin, with Squeak and Specca looking over to seeing them vanish then back to Alyssa with curious eyes.
“What happened with you two just now?” Specca inquired.
Alyssa just eyed the caravan for a moment then looked back to the fire.
“Nothing, just needed to go for a walk is all.”
Specca and Squeak looked to each other then over to the caravan while Alyssa just stared at the fire, the witch lightly drumming her fingers on her seat while in thought.
Inside the caravan Triska pulled the black curtain over to section off their sleeping space for the night, with Daniel hanging the lit lantern next to the window in back. Triska set her duffel bag back down against the wall, looking down to it while facing away from Daniel as the boy rolled out their sleeping mats for the night. As he pulled a blanket over their sleeping area and brought over two pillows he started to notice that Triska wasn’t moving, his eyes then glancing over to see her on her knees in front of her duffel bag while seeming to stare down at it.
“Triska?”
“Daniel, can I ask you a question?” she asked softly.
“Of course, what’s on your mind?” Daniel asked as he sat down on the mat. Triska hesitated for a moment then held her hands together while closing her eyes.
“What do you really think of me?”
“What do I really think of you?”
“Yeah,” Triska said while fidgeting slightly. “I mean, we grew up together, we were always around each other back home, we spent so much time together, I’m just curious… what you really think about me.”
“Well, I’ve always thought of you to be my closest friend,” he answered her. “You’ve always been there for me and watched over me. I feel like I can talk to you about anything, I trust you with my life.”
“A friend…” Triska repeated softly. Daniel watched her with concern as the girl trembled a bit with a small whimper. “Daniel, do you think you could ever see me as more than a friend?”
Daniel opened his mouth to speak, and then paused as Triska watched him with a tear forming in her eye. The lantern kept their area of the cabin well-lit, with Daniel looking at Triska from head to toe while she was facing away from him. It became apparent to him at that moment that she was actually leaning forward onto her bag while arching her back slightly, perking her rear up and out towards him while she kept her legs together. Her hips and waistline became clear to see while her hair gently rested down her back and shoulders, her figure being more noticeable to him along with her pants which hugged and outlined her rear.
“I… uh…” he said as he tried to keep focused on their conversation. Triska turned her head more to look at him with wonder as he glanced up and down her body while words failed him.
“Daniel… you’re staring at me,” she said softly as she felt a blush forming on her cheeks, realizing that the boy was ogling her like that. Daniel jumped a bit then looked down while shutting his eyes.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to, I wasn’t trying… uh…”
“No, it’s okay,” Triska said, with Daniel looking to seeing the girl slowly turning to face him with a gentle expression, slowly brushing her hair back around her ear and shoulder before holding her hands together in front of her, her arms pushing her breasts together more while she slowly moved towards him.
“Daniel, have you ever… looked at me like that before?”
“Looked at you… like what? What do you mean?” he asked nervously.
“When we lived at home, did you ever… did you ever look at me? Did you ever… think anything about me?” Triska asked as she got closer to him and sat down on her feet. Daniel glanced away for a few seconds as he thought about it then slowly shrugged and looked back to the girl with uncertainty.
“I… I don’t remember… I mean, I don’t think I ever did. If I did I’m sorry, I…”
“Daniel, it’s okay. I want you to look at me,” she said with a small smile forming. Daniel watched as she looked down while perking her chest up a bit, the girl glancing up to him with a timid smile while her hands fidgeted a bit together.
“I don’t want you to see me as just a friend, Daniel. I want to be more than that for you. I love you, I always have. The truth is, I’ve stared at you a lot in the past, more times than you could imagine.”
“You did? Me?” Daniel asked with a small jump. Triska nodded and looked down with a gentle smile.
“I’ve been in love with you for so long,” she admitted. “You were the only boy I ever looked at back home. But I was such a coward, I couldn’t say anything to you no matter how much I tried to, could never work up the courage to tell you how I felt. But whenever you were around, I couldn’t keep my eyes off of you.”
Daniel stared at her with wonder as he thought about what she said, being surprised to hear that all this time she had her eye on him like that and never said anything. Triska then looked down and away while showing a troubled frown.
“I wanted to tell you for so long, but never could. And now, I fear that you’ll only see me as a friend, that thinking anything more about me would be too strange for you. I’m scared that… I waited too long to tell you the truth.” Daniel watched with sympathetic eyes as the girl slowly turned around and held her arms around herself.
“I want to be your girlfriend, I want to be your wife, I want to be your everything, Daniel. I love you so much, but I’m so scared now that all you’ll see before you is just a friend, and nothing more.” Daniel looked down while remaining silent while Triska looked at her sword she had set against the wall near her bag.
“I’m going to help you out here on your quest,” she said softly. “I promise I won’t let you down. Just please, try to see me as more than just a friend, if you can.”
She slowly leaned forward on her bag while holding onto the strap for it, feeling her heart aching with each passing second that Daniel didn’t respond.
‘Daniel, please, I don’t want to be just friends with you. I want to be so much more.’
She then jumped a bit as she felt Daniel hugging her from behind, the boy holding his arms around her gently while resting his head on her shoulder. She then held his arms with one hand while taking a shaky breath.
“I love you, Daniel, I really do,” she said dearly.
Daniel remained silent for a while before lowering his head on her shoulder.
“You know, we had such a strong friendship for so long, surely this is going to put that at r
isk. There may be no going back to how we were afterwards.”
“I don’t care, I need you, I’ll do anything to prove it, anything to have your love,” Triska said shaking her head.
Daniel held her gently for a moment then looked over her shoulder with a solemn expression.
“To tell you the truth, I always wondered what kind of guy you would have been attracted to, or rather what kind of guy would be able to handle having you as a girlfriend,” he admitted, with Triska looking down with concern as she held onto his arms. “Even just being friends you could be pretty rough, but I never thought you were mean, if anything you were like a fiery, tough, slightly dangerous sister.”
Triska almost gave an amused smile to that thought before she remembered that Daniel did think of her more as a sister than anything. Daniel leaned back from his embrace, slowly moving his hands down to her waist as she let go and rested hers on her bag.
“I had often wondered, so many times, what kind of guy could tame someone like her?” he asked softly. Triska slowly glanced back to see him looking at her with a solemn gaze. “She’s so full of energy, so wild and daring, and she could probably kill me with her pinkie. What kind of guy could possibly handle her, to handle her love, to handle her when she got out of line? What kind of guy would be able to handle Triska Raylight?”
Triska remained silent while the boy slowly shook his head with a small smirk on his face.
“And… I could never think of anyone, I could never think anyone in our village would have been able to do that.”
“I can think of someone,” Triska said softly. Daniel looked at her with a curious eye, the girl just watching him with a timid expression. “If anyone could tame me, Daniel, it would be you.”
“And why do you think that when I can hardly carry your luggage on this trip?” Daniel asked somewhat amusingly. Triska glanced away for a moment then looked at him with pleading eyes.
“Because nobody else makes me feel helpless when I’m around them like this, nobody,” she reasoned. Daniel looked at her curiously as she watched him with a gentle gaze. She glanced to his hands holding her then down at her bag while slowly shifting her hips around slightly.
Chronicles of Eden - Act III Page 12