As he drifted off Tor wondered what he was doing here.
It wasn't really his world, but if this wasn't who he was, then what was he? A bakers son from Two Bends? A Builder? A guy too dumb to score with two women that probably would have jumped at the chance if he'd even mentioned sex, if only because it was less boring than chatting with him for hours?
Sleep took him hard and his dreams were odd, strange and uncomfortable. Sex dreams, a few with the girls in the room with him even. Trice had climbed in next to him at some point and the stump of her left arm was over him when he woke suddenly. She didn't wake and just rolled over and cuddled in to him when he shifted, her body warm and smelling faintly of flowers, her perfume. There wasn't enough light to see, but he could feel it was her and that she was in a deep sleep, not dreaming. Holding her close for a while he thought about what the dream had meant, if anything.
It was simple enough. He'd found the new combat giant girl Dara in the bath and asked if she wanted to have sex with him, she agreed, even though the whole thing was way bolder than he would have been with a woman he didn't know, and he'd expected her to hit him for mentioning it. Then, there in the tub, as they were doing things, kissing mainly, her face melted and she turned into his friend Karen from school.
But she was dead.
They talked about that for a while, but the answer didn't make sense to him. Her father killed her? Was it a message from the dead? That was rumored to happen even to regular people, and all the building he'd done probably made it a bit more likely to happen to him, but Tor didn't think it was the case here.
No this was his own deep mind talking to him. What it was telling him was probably complicated and troubling.
Had he loved Karen?
They'd only been friends, she'd help him train in fighting, and was nice to him, which counted for a lot, but they hadn't been that close, had they? Had he wanted to be? Honestly, on the conscious level Tor had always been more afraid that she'd beat him than anything else. He'd kept missing her lessons, and really, deserved the beatings, but she never did it. That was the nice part of working with her. She pushed him, but she didn't punish him for being lazy or late. If he had been harboring some secret crush there, it would have made sense. It certainly wasn't off-putting in the dream. He'd been more than willing to keep going when she turned out to be Karen, hadn't he?
Trice snuggled and felt him behind her, erect, which asleep or not got her to wiggle her behind into him even more. It was nice, and frustrating, at the same time. He didn't want to wake her, but it would have been really nice to not been laying there awake and wanting her while she was literally touching him.
Well, when in doubt, meditate. Tor focused on nothing and waited. It wasn't sleep, but it passed time and kept the mind sharp. Hours later he got up and made his way to the showers fuzzily, and was standing under the warm water with his eye closed, just sensing the space quietly when he felt her next to him.
Again.
Karen.
Eye's still closed he turned. He expected to find the room empty when he opened them, but she was there… not Karen, but Dara.
“Oh! Hey Tor. Didn't see you there. Um, is it OK if I shower too? I don't want to bother you, but I was just having a late night work out.” She didn't wait for him to talk, taking his wave and nod as good enough at this hour of day. He stared a little the double feeling still strong. Dara noticed and made a raspberry with her tongue. She smiled though.
“Not that kind of work out. A real one, I like to go and work out at night, get a bit extra done. You can't slack off too much, because you never know when the attack is coming. I always say that at least.”
Tor, subdued, nodded and went back to washing, then stood under the spray to rinse his hair, the curtain of water spread and splashed softly. He heard the girl, woman really, about twenty-five based on her looks, washing next to him. He reached out to her again mentally, wondering if he was just reliving part of the weird dream, or projecting things on to the giant woman next to him.
Nope, she was Karen. No doubt at all. Around her neck were a bunch of his amulets, he could feel that, mostly his work, and one that wasn't at all. A disguise?
That or he was losing it.
Well, both were actually possible. He grinned and looked at her, seeking her eyes. Brown. He couldn't remember what color Karen's had been. Ali's were blue though. Davie too, he thought. The face wasn't pretty, ugly was more the case, but he searched it looking for a hint of his friend anyway.
“Um… you're staring Tor.” She said softly. The woman didn't cover herself or anything she just looked back, her eyes going to his stomach, then lower.
Well, staring at a naked girl could do that, he thought, his mind still deep enough that it was an abstract thing. Now he could either act like it was a big deal or play the erection off. He chuckled.
“Early mornings. Sorry. Not exactly polite of me. Um… if you’re not seeing anyone in particular, this afternoon, late, say after dinner, would you like to practice with me?” Looking down Tor tried to act like he was as awkward and shy as he used to be. Since he really did feel pretty awkward, all things considered, it worked pretty well.
“I mean weapons practice. Um, other stuff too, if you want? That's OK if you don't want to though. Um…” He tried to give her a way out, as was polite.
“I'd love too!” she looked down at him again and smiled.
“Do you want to do some of that other stuff now?” She looked around mischievously.
“Here? No… later will do fine, thank you for the offer though, right now I need to get dressed and actually get to work. The food won't make itself and people will whine if they have to wait too long. Find me after dinner?”
“Sure. Sounds fun. I always liked chasing you around with a sword Tor, you know that.”
Tor made himself blush and look down, then get going on his day. He needed to get her alone and make sure he wasn't just losing it, missing his friend too much.
Tor worked the whole day, not leaving the kitchen except to eat. Well and plot out the birthday cake for Ali. Two days. It hit him that they were going to get married the day after, and he didn't even have a gift for her. What would she like? A house? Maybe her own magic carriage? A doll?
The last thought was unkind. She was very mature for her age. Probably more than he was in some ways. Tor still felt a little guilty when the topic of sex came up for instance. He really doubted she did. For instance he kind of thought she'd managed to “entertain” at least a few of the other men on the ship, legal or not. Sure, it was a technical thing, a few weeks, but it was where the line was drawn. Then, not everyone cared about things like that, did they?
So a cake for her birthday and…
He had nothing. Not a single clue what women wanted. Flowers, but they were at sea right now. If he tried for poems she'd probably refuse to marry him, with cause too. Not a skill of his at all. He decided to go with a set of amulets. A shield, a flight rig, a weapon? Force lance and air choke. That and a house. One of the new ones like the palace. Maybe some gold to go with it, so she could purchase what she wanted?
What he really needed was some female advice, but who did he have to ask? When it came to house holding he was the only one on the ship that knew anything at all. For clothing he had Petra, but that didn't make much of a gift now, not with the device for it so easy to use. He'd have to think about it, or put it off and pretend that what he was doing was normal, and that gifts weren't expected, being at sea and all that.
The haze lasted for the rest of the day, badly enough that no one really talked to him overly. At dinner “Dara” came to see if he still wanted to practice with her, which he really did. Not just for the exercise, which he needed, but because he had a plan, sort of.
Karen had always fought with a specific style. She used bold strikes, aimed without much precision. Tor had been trained to look for the gaps in armor or a defense, and to strike into them. Davie, who had probably learned from the same teachers, if not from his sister, fought nearly identically to her.
In a way Tor was lucky he was imagining Dara to be Karen, because if it was anyone else in the world he'd have no clue how they fought at all. She and David were the only people he'd ever analyzed that closely.
They started with practice swords, no armor and not making contact.
Tor couldn't tell at first, were the blows like he thought they would be or not? They might be, but short of getting Davie out to practice with her so he could watch, it was no use guessing.
