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It had been some weeks since Talanah had returned to Meridian.
Well, that was an exaggeration.
She barely spared the time to check in on her companions at The Lodge before she was off again after a Mark.
Then another.
And another.
And yet another.
The greatest perk of being the Sunhawk was that only big jobs came her way and usually needed her attention immediately.
Which was good because it kept her hands busy and her mind occupied away from thinking about him.
With distance and time she came to realize the… thing with Amadis was exciting and intriguing, but she was not willing to play second fiddle to anyone.
She'd nearly been had.
That would not do. She was not the type to settle with being a consolation prize. She was the Sunhawk!
Not that Talanah was thinking about it at all.
Nope.
So, in order to continue in her quest of not thinking about how stupid she had acted, Talanah thought it was high time to connect with Aloy despite the Nora. See what fresh disaster the huntress had unearthed. It was always fun to be with Aloy. It usually meant hunting something particularly big and spiky.
And since she didn’t have the fancy second sight tech to contact Aloy, Talanah would just have to do this the old-fashioned way; drop in unannounced.
The door of the base whizzed open.
“Aloy despite the Nora! Your Hawk has come to see you.” Talanah called as she walked through the passageway.
The base had changed quite a bit since she was there last. Or had it? Talanah hadn’t stopped for long other than to ask for directions from a handsome man and move on.
Trinkets and grass rugs and tapestries adorned every visible space. Candles filled every surface. They were extinguished. A few trophies decorated the central room from machines. Talanah approved.
Well, except Aloy hadn't donned all this finery; she barely spiced her food! She spent time and shards on weaponry and artfully curated armor. Not decorative plants and rugs! It was hard to imagine Aloy the homeless becoming house-proud all of a sudden. This adornment was clearly someone else’s doing.
“Aloy?” Talanah asked with a slightly concerned tone as she entered the main hub. Last time she had blown through, the place was full with Aloy’s companions.
No reply.
“I guess no one’s home.” Talanah sighed as she walked around the bar and cried, “Erend, you sunlit beaut!” As she found several bottles of the good stuff.
As she pried the cork free of one, a voice chimed,
“Hello Talanah, Sunhawk of the Hunter’s Lodge.”
Talanah didn’t even hear the glass shatter at her feet as she spun around with her bow aloft at — no one?
“Who's there?!”
“My name is GAIA. I am in the room above if you would like to meet my avatar.”
“Your what — are you that… AI lady Aloy mentioned?”
“If you like. I don’t mind most pronouns. Just not 'It.'”
“Sure why not.” Talanah smirked as she holstered her bow away. She was many things and curious was one.
As she stepped up the stairs Talanah was greeted with the golden light of an elegant looking woman.
“It is a pleasure to meet you, Talanah.”
“Sure… I mean, same. Hello.”
“Your companions are currently busy elsewhere, though they shouldn’t be long. You’re very welcome to stay until then.”
“I…think I’ll go.”
“There is a spare room in the base as well as the steam room and heated pool on the roof.”
“—Check them out.”
Talanah was nothing if not impulsive. Besides… She'd been bathing in cold brooks for weeks, like a sparrow in a bird bath, merely splashing herself.
She stowed away her weapons in the spare room and soon left through the other exit.
Talanah found the ladder to the roof beside a small garden.
Before long she was looking at the outside pool with interest. Then to the small shack a few paces away from it. Talanah opened the door and was greeted with warmth and clothes hooks.
“Oooh.” Talanah grinned. “I like!”
Soon her boots, armor, silk undercoat and trousers were off. Her headdress was placed gently away last.
In the main part of the shack she found a lit stove which crackled merrily. It had banked down inside so Talanah threw a few more logs in it and sat on the wooden bench.
“Not a bad way to beat the chill and waste some time.” Talanah sighed as she leant back and looked around. The smell of pine was heady as she looked around. Whoever had built this shack had spent a lot of time on it. There was bark and moss stuffed into every potential gap and crevice between the boards.
It was absolutely wonderful here. Talanah closed her eyes as she felt her body begin to relax for the first time in weeks. All thoughts of what had led her to here had drifted away.
Soon sweat had begun to drip down her back and the heat became a little too much and she spied a wooden pitcher of water beside the doorway. Ice had covered the surface but she threw it over herself. Maybe that’s what it was for.
Some had splashed onto the coals unbeknownst to Talanah.
“Sun’s balls!” Talanah cursed as the wave of heat and humidity swept over her.
She needed air. She needed warmth not the unbearable… whatever fresh hell this shack had borne.
That was outside. Fuck!
“Fine. I’m not going to get any closer to the pool by dithering around in here.”
The cold mountain air hit her face in all its glory. And then it hit other parts which weren't quite as comforting.
“My tits could cut glass!”
Talanah sprinted along the cold stone pathway which led to the pool. She threw herself over the side and into the wonderfully perfect water. Talanah broke the surface and wiped her eyes clear of drops to look around and see—
And a very naked man beside her.
“Greetings” A low voice spoke.
“What—GAIA said no one was home!” Talanah explained as she splashed away from the man.
“Your companions are not home. I am not a companion of yours.”
“I feel like maybe you are now, considering how much of me you’ve just seen.”
A rumble of a laugh sounded, “Perhaps. Considering how quickly you darted through the base the last time you were here. It was a record I thought, difficult to beat. Until I saw you run to the pool.”
Talanah spared the man a look once she had crossed her legs and folded her arms across her breasts.
He had loose, long dark hair and a brooding face to match his eyes with tattoos in the Tenakth style which spanned from his hairline all the way down as far as she could see—which was quite far! He had strong shoulders, a well built chest adorned with interesting scars here and there and… one very large scar where his left arm used to be.
“Kotallo. I didn’t recognise you without your warpaint.”
“Talanah. You look better without flaunting that Carja armor.”
Talanah dropped a hand to splash in the water, “Excuse me!”
Kotallo leaned forward, “You are not excused. You are in the Forbidden West now. That armor is not a welcome sight.”
“The Forbidden West, yes, but not the past. The armor represents something else these days. I don’t apologize for that. However unsightly I may be to you.”
Kotallo paused as he gazed languidly over Talanah which only reminded her of what his eyes had uncovered.
“Far from it. You are very… improved without it.”
Talanah felt a blush bloom from her collarbone and spread to her face.
“You're quite forward.”
Kotallo leant back and stretched his arms over the side of the pool in a languorous manner. “I am only returning the look you gave me.”
He had her there.
“Did you enjoy the heat?”
“—What?” Talanah asked simply as she was snapped from her stupor.
“Of the steam room.”
“Oh the—that shack that may as well be the ass crack of the sun? Fuck no!”
“No?”
“Not when I splashed the water onto the fire.”
Kotallo chuckled, “What’s this? A Carja that can’t handle the spirit of the fire? I thought your tribe worshiped the sun?”
“I leave worship to the Sun-Priests,” Talanah said haughtily as she dropped all pretense as well as her hands. The Sunhawk splashed water over her face and enjoyed the cool air as it combed through her dark hair.
She spared a look at Kotallo who was trying to hold back a comment.
“What?”
"You really are quite something—“
Talanah rolled her eyes at Kotallo, “Spare me the insults. I know. I’m a Carja. In the Forbidden West.”
“You don’t speak for me. That wasn’t what I was going to say at all, Talanah.”
She liked how Kotallo said her name. Like he tasted how it rolled off the tongue.
“Then, indulge me. What were you gonna say?”
He moved across the pool towards Talanah. The Sunhawk met his eyes and refused to move from Kotallo as he placed his left limb around her shoulders and whispered,
“Tell me to stop and I shall.” His breath tickled her skin and Talanah felt the small hairs lift in her nape.
“You haven’t started yet.” Talanah breathed as she turned her head to face Kotallo. She placed both hands either side of his handsome face and bit his lower lip.
As Talanah moved away to see his reaction, Kotallo seized her waist and pulled her to him. He pressed his lips fully to hers and began to explore her mouth in an achingly slow manner. Talanah moaned as he fondled her beast with his hand and he moved to explore her neck with his mouth.
“I heard—you—are—a warrior.” Kotallo said between kisses. He paused as his lips found her breast.
“So?”
Kotallo looked up at Talanah and smirked, “Where’s your fight? I’m winning already.”
Talanah pulled Kotallo up to face her as she straddled him as they floated in the pool. She reached down and with a firm tug watched as the Marshal's eyes struggled to stay focused on hers. Talanah then reached a hand at the edge of the pool behind him as leverage and ground herself against him.
Kotallo hissed as she grazed her nails along his firm chest as she continued her ministrations just at her entrance. The Sunhawk kissed him deeply and smiled against his lips as she felt his frustration build. So, she thought she would give him a hand.
Every time he tried to take control, Talanah pulled him closer to her with a leg and deepened her kiss until they were both gasping for air. The Sunhawk continued to pump her hand firmly against his sheath as she teased him with her entrance once again.
“Look who's winning now.” Talanah smirked as she made to reach for his shoulder with her spare hand to continue—
Instead, Kotallo swiped her arms away with his arm and turned Talanah away from him. With one leg and then another, he parted hers and began to tease her with his hand.
Kotallo growled a low rumble as he nipped at an ear before he whispered, “Me.”
Talanah could only say “…Oh!” As he moved a finger slowly into her warm depths and explored her entrance with a few pumps of his own hand.
“Oh?” Kotallo rumbled in her ear.
“Fuck—me!” Talanah exclaimed in genuine surprise but the Martial took that as a command and added a second finger and a thumb to the mix.
Talanah didn’t know what to do with her hands as she saw sparks fly behind her eyes. She couldn’t quite reach behind to touch more than just his face so Talanah pulled him closer to grind down on him and kiss him hard as she felt the tension rise within.
“Touch yourself.” Kotallo moaned across her lips as he continued to build Talanah up into a frenzy.
“I—“ Kotallo paused and reached for her wrist with his hand and pushed it towards her breast. “—Oh.”
As soon as Talanah began to tease her nipples between her fingers, Kotallo continued with his efforts.
Talanah spared a hand to graze her fingers wherever she could reach of Kotallo; his face, his neck, his arm, his shoulders while the other worked at her own breast as Kotallo watched until—
The Sunhawk cried in ecstasy as she shuddered against the Marshal’s chest as she reached her peak. He guided her through the other side by continuing his pace and whispered in her ear. Whatever Kotallo said, Talanah couldn’t hear but she loved the sound of his breathy voice.
“S—stop,” Talanah breathed as she felt her head fall limply against his neck. Immediately his hand disappeared. “I need to breathe.” Talanah moved herself to sit in his lap as she felt the last vestiges of her climax depart.
They remained there breathing as the water lapped on their bodies.
“Nice to finally meet you, Sunhawk.”
Talanah barked a laugh at his dry droll tone and smirked, “The pleasure is all mine. For now.”
Talanah pulled herself out of the water from the edge and reached for Kotallo.
After a pause, he grasped her hand and followed.
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