1228.4 Spanish Rose

Carlos heads over to the tavern for a nightcap before returning home. Junior is over off in one corner passed out (or knocked out). Miroslav is drunkenly chatting with Don Diaz (aka Cidito), relieved that someone in this strange land can speak and understand his language (Cidito has the Gift of Tongues, his own native language is perhaps the western European dialect of Felineese).
Carlos looks puzzled. Not many patrons this time of night. But the owner/barkeep does not seem phazed about the anthropormorphic cat. So, he sits next to him and orders a pint of beer.
Yer out awefully late.
Was visiting a friend. You have managed to convince people you are one of them.
I haz natural charm :smiley: Drunks and nightowls are not as skitish as polite-society folk. I pay for a round or two of drinks, and suddenly no one seems to care I'z a cat.
But don't change the subject! Who was it dis time? The shepard's daughter? The maid from Marselles? The cooking wench from the covenant galley, that's the one!
Calliate! It is none of your business, and a gentleman never tells tales about whom he calls upon.
Bullwanky. You are always talkin about women or to women. You told me about the thirteen sisters of Carla the camp follower, the miller's daugher, the soldier's daughter, about the time you hadz to give that jelous husband the E-Kabong and broke your old guitar. You even bragged about the time you managed to slide your hand up Betty VanHalen's skirt...
Shhhh!!! The kid might hear you...
I don't want him to know about all the times I tried to make it with his mom and failed. He can kick my @$$. I'll take a beating for success, and have before, but not for a failure.
Whatever. Just fess up. Who is it this time? Why so secretive? Don't tell me it's "True Love" this time. Roberto told me about you, how you haz made that true love claim at least a dozen times.
It's not that. Not yet, maybe. It's just that this woman is strange and freaks me out. I do not know what draws me to her. She is twice my size, has twice my carnal appitite, and she exhudes an eerie and creepy vibe. Kinda scary even. Now, I know from experience that this is not a true perception. It is just the way the are and I have learned how to overlook it. But you never get used to it. Take Roberto for example. He has been my friend over twenty years, yet he still scares the $#!+ out of me sometimes!
The Gift. One of the magi. Twice yer size. Gotta be Fiona. You kinky bastard !
It's not like that. Not yet. Maybe. Look, if there is any one thing I understand about the world, it is women. She has known many lovers, but has never known love. Not in the romantic sense. Roberto can say what he will, but I have known love. And it has happened more than once, but it is still rare. Love can be triumphant or tragic, or both. And so far the fates have been against my finding enduring love, but it truly was love. Carla's sister Katie, I truly loved her and we had plans to wed. But war happens, and people drift their seperate ways.
Last time you told me that story, her name was Marcy.
Katy, Marcy, they were sisters and I get them confused. They looked so much alike and it was so long ago.
:unamused: So go on. Why Fiona?
Well, she was intimidating at first. But in the time since I came here, I have seen her softer side, a weak fragile flower. A giant flower, yet still a woman as I am still a man.
And if we were to have children, they would be goliath charismatic lads and grow to become famous heroes! And then she could do her things on the side and I can do my things on the side and do our thing together as pleases us. And after I have ten children, I'll get the magi to hook me up with Longevity, and then just peacefully grow old as a mucisian and retired veteran.
Kinda ambitious. Dontcha' think youz getting ahead of yerself?
Dream are free, gato. always chasing dreams. I'm done with my beer, and Miro over here is passed out. Let's get him and Junior home and call it a night.
Meow. Let's go...
and as they amble on down the road...
Now if I were you, I'dz just bite her on the back of the neck and...
Shut up!!!
Not yet, maybe...

((Not sure if that's a Quick Draw McGraw or a Jeff Jarrett reference...but awesome either way. And why do I hear Cidito voiced by Antonio Banderas? :smiley: ))

The next morning, Fiona tells Moire to set a second place for dinner that night, as she's expecting company. "And for breakfast, as well, Fiona?" the maidservant asks.

[color=blue]"Doubful," the maga replies. [color=blue]"This one is...curious, and I've not quite figured out what he's up to."

Moire chuckles and shakes her head. "Likely the same thing so many others are up to...after the swinging gate under your skirts. It's a good thing there's a foot of stone between your room and ours. I'd rather not have to explain to the girls what's going on before their time."

Fiona doesn't deign to reply. She's heard her maidservant's reproaches too many times before to pay them any heed. Besides, the more men (and women) that pass through, the more grist there is for Moire's rumour mill.

That evening, as she's getting ready for Carlos (wearing a simple blouse and skirt with her stockings and shoes), she pours a little whiskey for Paul. [color=blue]"Do you like music, Paul?" she asks as she sits on the floor next to him and pets him gently as he drinks.

[color=blue]"Do you mind staying for dinner, keep an eye on Carlos? Not that he'd do anything wrong, I think. But I don't think he knows how the game is played. Or he's playing a different game than I've ever played. I've never been courted before, and I'm a little nervous about it. If he just wanted my body, I'd be fine with that. But no one's ever said they wanted my heart, and I don't think I'm ready for that."

When Carlos arrives, she invites him to the dining room, where a bowl of soup, fresh bread, and glasses of wine are ready. She makes idle conversation throughout the dinner, and after Moire clears the table, she asks Carlos if he wants to sing in the dining room, or back in her bedroom.

When Carlos arrives, he doesn't knock on the door. He stands outside Fiona's windo playing a sweet romantic melody.
When noticed, he walks around to the front door and waits politely with a warm smile. He acts humble and grateful for the food and drink given too him, and offers up many rave compliaments about the quality. He also engages in a little small talk, and plays a little flamenco.
Then, when asked where he would like to sing...
Wherever makes you feel the most comfortable. I do like playing in your garden.
But what is it that you want?

(( I want to live just long enough.... eh, nevermind.))

((OCC: It was a Quick Draw McGraw refference :smiley: And for Cidito, I was trying to use a "I haz cheesburger" accent))

Fiona deflects the praise for the food to her maidservant Moire (whom Fiona describes as "indispensable" and "very gifted"), while the wine she describes as the local vintage.

[color=blue]"The garden, it is, then," she says, and clears off and warms the bench as she did the evening before. (The spont for warming the bench goes off unless she botches, which she doesn't, with a die roll of 2).

[color=blue]"What do I want?" she asks once they're situated on the bench, her knee touching his. [color=blue]"That's a pretty open question, isn't it? What do I want from life, in general? What do I want from my studies? What do I want from you?"

She thinks for a minute, then leans forward, almost nuzzling him as she replies.[color=blue]"I want to be sure we're both playing the same game, and I want to be sure we both know what the prize is."

((I'm glad it wasn't just me. :laughing:))

Carlos runs his fingers through her hair, his lips close to her ear...
whispers...
This is not a game senorita, it is a quest. An adventure

then around to her other ear, making eye contact as he does...
And the prize is the journey itself...
Then he [strike]bites her on the neck[/strike] kisses her neck behind her ear...

Fiona moans softly as she tilts her head. [color=blue]"I thought the prize was my heart," she whispers back. [color=blue]"Which may be a Sisyphean task, although I'm certainly not going to stop you. oh, that feels good And what would happen at the end of the journey?" She takes his hand and kisses the fingers, then places it on her knee.

His hands wander...
Ah..., but that is the journey. The heart cannot be won like some trophy then set upon the shelf. Love must always be renewed, passion ever rekindled.
and his hand wanders...
[size=85]I do so love playing in your garden...[/size]

Carlos's hand finds her ready, and the only reply she makes for several minutes is moans of delight. After she climaxes, she smiles down at Carlos. [color=blue]"Your fingers are every bit as talented as I imagined."

She leans down to kiss him tenderly. [color=blue]"You are more than welcome to try to win my heart. I can't guarantee that you'll succeed, but you're welcome to try. My body, on the other hand...I am a very affectionate woman, and very giving. And I don't see any reason to stop any time soon."

She looks at him expectantly

Carlos talks his talk, and the game is the game. But he is but a man and does what a man would do.
Right there in the garden...
(on the heated bench)
and a general roll for his basic performance (add which ever characteristic & ability one thinks is appropriate (and add +3 for Venus' Blessing)
1d10=9
that's gonna be at least a 12, which I would think represents a good performance :mrgreen:

And afterward, as they lay in the afterglow (it is a very large magically heated bench), Carlos sings a simple silly song...

When it snows, she makes it glow, oh how she knows, my Spanish rose...

He's not bothered by the size difference, I take it?

He's in Fiona's little black book, now :slight_smile: She can't promise to be home every evening, or to be alone when she is, but he's welcome to come serenade her whenever the whim strike him. (And if she's busy, she will either ask him to come back some other time or if he wants to join in).

And for some reason, I'm thinking a good song would have been the Beatles "Why Don't We Do It In the Road".

Although she does very much enjoy his singing to her. It makes her feel...special, in a way.

:wink:
Somehow Carlos seems to know this, all of it, and smiles. If I touched your heart senorita, if only for a moment, then I am happy.

Fiona adds him to her Little Black Book, eh? Well, Carlos will put a notch in his belt :mrgreen:
He can't promise to serenade her every evening or that she is the only one he sings for. But you know how to call on him, and he is not shy about being invited in with others if the ratio favors his tastes.

((So. Something I didn't realize until yesterday is that Carlos has Small Frame. So, based on the default height that MetaCreator gives you with that (4'3", as opposed to 5'6"). I got out my model sheet, ruler, and calculator, and figured that, if Carlos and Fiona stand face-to-face, Carlos doesn't quite come up to her crotch.))

Metacreator is whack. 4'3" is dwarf height. Stulatus is maybe 4'3". The medical definition of dwarf puts the cut off at 4 feet & ten inches. I think Small Frame would be in the 5 foot range. A skinny guy at 5'6". That's Small Frame. The average male height is 5'8". And the idea that people were shorter "back then" is a myth.

But anyways, Carlos knows a trick involving a garden bench and some snow...

It's not a myth, but more of an exaggeration. During the game time frame, average heights were an inch or two shorter than they are now. After the plagues and climate change of the mid 14th century, average heights declined by another 2.5 inches. That loss of 2.5 inches wasn't recovered until the 1700s. Starting with now as the baseline, average male height now, in the US is 5'10" going back to 1220s the average male height would be 5'8".
But, yea, I think Carlos would be about 5' and probably rather thin.

By canon (a table in RoP:F somewhere), Size -2 is 2'9"-3'9"; Size -1 is 3'9"-4'9"; Size 0 is 4'9"-6'2".
Of course I don't care whether we stick to these ranges....

I actually use a random height-and-weight chart from Chivalry and Sorcery 3rd edition (which I have scanned, if anybody wants a copy), and for those characters who aren't Size 0, I just pro-rate the height and weight chart on p. 84 of Realms of Power: Magic (which has the range for Size -1 as 3'9"-4-9" and 46-100 lbs, or 114-145 cm and 21-45 kg). But that could just be me.

Carlos goes to the local cobbler, or whomever makes our shoes, and has a new pair of boots made. Hard, heeled boots that add an inch or two too his height. Then he heads over to Fiona's place and starts building a snowman. It will be short, but slightly taller than himself. Then a snowoman, tall but not quite as tall as Fiona.

(Assuming that this is during the day)

After a while, when Carlos is well under way on his second snow...person, the cottage door opens and a short, pudgy brunette comes out, all bundled up. (And by "short" I mean not quite five feet tall.) She stands there a couple of minutes, watching Carlos work before she says something in Latin.

When, after a moment, he doesn't answer, she switches in French. "What are ye doin'?"