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“Let me tell ya something,” the old Duru reclined their scarred and naked body against the headboard as Flurin got up to fetch the wine, “haven’t seen bouncing like that since I was in Caffar.” Flurin tilted their head slightly in amusement before turning back to face their client. “Oh?” they tried their best to sound playful and seductive but as always weren’t quite sure that was how it was going to come off. If it had failed to land the Duru made no comment as Flurin returned to the bed, snuggling themself back up to them and handing over one of the goblets. “We saw all sortsa creatures, there was this one with this big long tail, ‘an two heads, one where ya’d normally have one and another sticking right outa it’s gut.” To punctuate this point they gave their own orange stomach a hearty slap, something Flurin had not been expecting and almost made them spill their wine. The Duru gave a guffaw “thought you’d be used to my slaps by now” Flurin certainly had a somewhat sore backside to corroborate this statement.
The Duru carried on their tale of their supposed voyage to the lostest of lost continents, but Flurin wasn’t really listening, after a few years of working in Gnemhor they’d heard so many a sailor’s tall tale that they all started to blend together. A thought struck them, maybe it was time to start telling their own. “You know, I saw the Bedgaar once” they put in, laying a hand on the Duru’s chest. They stopped their rambling and looked down at Flurin with what the Ashimi was pretty sure was a look of bemused confusion. This passed and they chuckled, “Oh have ya?”. Taking this as a sign to continue, Flurin ran their fingers through the old sailor’s chest hair as they proceeded. “It was on my way here from Ashirni, a few years back, it was a terrible storm, the worst since the old empire sunk beneath the waves, the sailors said.” Even before they’d finished saying it Flurin worried their client would be offended, some Duru did not like to talk of the old empire. This worry came to nothing however as the Duru was simply nodding along in what Flurin thought was a somewhat patronizing manner.
“It was getting horribly cramped below decks, and I thought If I’m going to drown, I want to do it in the open, not holed up in a dark cabin. So I went out on the deck, which turned out to be a big mistake. This massive wave came over the side and swept me away. I must have blacked out for a few seconds, because the next thing I know I’m floating upside down in the sea, it was quite peaceful actually, I thought, I’m going to die here, oh well, it’s been a good life. Then out of nowhere this massive eye opens, staring at me, glowing with a blinding light, must have knocked me out again because next thing I know I’m back on the ship, all the sailors huddled around me, apparently another wave that dropped me right back on the deck.”
There was a brief silence that followed the end of their story, that is to say, their cousin Huro’s story that they’d first heard years ago in the dark, chilly hills of Dyslo. The silence ended when the Duru once again gave Flurin a firm slap on the rear, “Thatsa wild story ya got there,” they said, putting their goblet down next to the bed and pulling Flurin up onto their lap, “but I came here for some sweetness not salty sailor’s tales, get ‘nuf ‘o those on board.” One thing, no matter how many times it happened, Flurin would never get sick of, was being called sweet, this Duru may have dismissed their story, but at least they called them sweet. “You’re right,” they said, leaning in and reaching down between the two of them, “you bring the salt, I bring the sweet.”