Booze, he had missed it, more so, he missed being able to get drunk!

The young man in his early thirties sat at the bar, he wore plain clothing and sat by himself gulping down ales like they were water since he had been there. He looked a bit older than he was, thanks to his natural grey hair, his hazel eyes looked friendly, if tired. Months now he had been in this position of power and he was weary of it all, for now anyway.

He had enjoyed being a wandering knight for years before he had suddenly and literally over night became a God! Lokir gulped down another mug of ale and got a bottle of rum instead to drink from while he sat at the bar and just thought on everything up until now. For the first few weeks it had been hard for Lokir to adjust to being in charge of others in such a capacity, but he had eased into it and had got the Fort under way.

But now, many more months in, the werebear was starting to reverse on his idea that he enjoyed what he was doing. Well, it wasn't so much that he disliked helping those that truly needed the help, who wanted to better themselves but just needed the means to do so. It was those that were too lazy to really make an effort to becoming stronger and better themselves, or those who asked for his aid for their village but offered nothing by way of showing they were going to help. Lokir wasn't the God of Guarding Everyone's Shit For Them, he was the God of Strength and Courage, he helped become stronger and help themselves, give them that little push they might need and the resources they needed. So that they might defend their own shit!

But in the last weeks more and more those that came to him were trying his patience and it was wearing thin. They wanted Lokir and his people to fortify their village or town, but wouldn't help in the work that would be done, wouldn't train themselves to fight to defend their own homes and families, expecting Lokir to leave some of his people there to guard them.

That was not Lokir's divine task!

The Bear God sighed and chugged back the rum and got another bottle, leaving the silver on the table for the keep to take. Lokir was holding back his divine aura so that anyone else in the bar wouldn't feel the power coming from him if he was to not hold it back. But he was still a young God and wasn't versed in magic anyway, so aside from hiding from mortals other Divine could sense him if they wanted.

So far those places that had come to him for such help he had done some work with his people, but he had left no one there. This had caused arguments but and the last time this happened Lokir showed some of that anger that had been festering. Normally a calm man he had snarled at the person had been speaking to which of course had spooked him and his people to have a God do such a thing. Lokir had left taking his people with him. The villagers had wanted everything, expected it, and would do nothing to help, no, that was not how this worked!

Lokir sighed again, he wanted to help the weak that wanted to become strong, to train to defend themselves.

The rest, in the state he was, may have as well have been cattle.

Far too many months had passed since Dalanesca had set foot in Adeluna, let alone into the establishment she had once lent her talents to - the Winking Mermaid. Long ago, before she had achieved any sort of deification in the land of Revaliir and she had just come off a string of assassinations, she had worked for the owner of the tavern (at the time), keeping the peace as it were. It was a different time back then, things had been a bit unruly, so to speak - and it was there that she had met Marth. Marth had asked for her assistance in quest of sorts, to which she had happily obliged.

It wasn’t long after they had left Adeluna in search of the Shards of Reaver, that the voice had seen it fit to bring Dalanesca to ascension. Marth, of course, had taken a bit of convincing to believe her, but once that had happened, the pair continued on their quest regardless of Dalanesca’s status as a god. The more time the pair spent together on their quest, the closer they became, until they had inevitably fallen in love. Through that love they were married, and eventually a child was conceived - until Marth went missing and Dalanesca lost their child during birth.

Needless to say, that particular tavern stirred up… haunting memories.

Now that her spheres of influence had shifted once more, Dalanesca’s interests had changed and she found herself in taverns on a fairly frequent occasion - though it was not necessarily ale or whiskey that she craved. No, now, having come into the realm of Desire, she found herself craving the warmth of a man’s flesh more often than could be sated, and although she had Jarmyr back in her realm, she was still rather unsure of what was becoming of the two of them. And, besides, Jarmyr completely understood (or at least he claimed to) that the Siren, being the goddess of Desire, could not simply be satiated by one man, even if he himself was not completely human.

No, the goddess had taken to frequenting taverns incognito, in a way, preying on men who were weak to the inviting flesh of a beautiful woman. She did not change her appearance, as that was one of her greatest assets, but she masked her aura. Anyone who would look at her, unless they were a fellow god on par with her power, would not be able to sense her divinity. Even if they had crossed paths with her before, she would still seem unfamiliar to them, unless Dalanesca willed it so that they would be able to recognize her. It allowed her to pass through places with little to no trouble - unless the Reaper found its way out, of course, and she left a trail of bodies in her wake.

This evening, however, the Reaper was tucked safely away and the Siren was out in full force. She entered the tavern quietly and without a show, a few eyes, of course, falling to her as she walked in, eyeing her with curiosity. She scanned the environment, analyzing every male in the room until she found one that would be suitable - and when her eyes fell upon the strong-bodied male sitting at the bar, a bottle in front of him

Dalanesca nearly stifled a laugh - as the second eldest deity of Revaliir, it was rather easy for her to sense the aura of one of her fellow gods, even if they were attempting to mask it - and it took hardly a moment for her to realize that this attractive specimen of a male was no other than Lokir, the only of her fellow deities she had yet to make an acquaintance with. She chuckled inaudibly to herself - her night was about to get quite a bit more interesting.

Without hesitation, she walked across the tavern and pulled the stool out directly next to Lokir, sitting down. She was dressed in a rather provocative manner, as was her custom, leaving little to the imagination. She gave him a brief smile, before flagging the barkeep down and ordering a glass of a dark red wine for herself. After she had been served, she turned her full attention on Lokir. ”Haven’t seen you around here before,” she said, her voice low and sultry. She took a sip of her wine, turning her body towards him as she continued to speak. ”Ryalla,” she said, extending her hand to him in a gesture of introduction, using the pseudonym that she tended to take on when incognito. ”What’s a handsome gentleman as yourself doing here all alone?” she asked, tilting her head to one side as she made eye contact with him after allowing her eyes to scan up and down his form.

Inside, the goddess was screaming with laughter - what a fun evening this was going to be.

The door opened as it always had, another wandering soul walked into the tavern looking for a drink, among other things, but Lokir never turned to look. He wasn't interested in anyone else at the moment, lost in his own mind, so when the beautiful woman sat next to him at the bar Lokir had a thousand yard stare in his eyes looking forward. It was clear he was in some kind of deep thought as he sipped from the rum bottle before him, contemplating the future and what he had in store for it if things kept going the way they were.

When the woman beside him spoke her voice did catch his attention, low and sultry, he liked the sound of it. She spoke and he listened, if only because of her voice, glancing sideways at the offered hand as she spoke her name, Ryalla, she was beautiful that was for sure. But by the shape of her Lokir guessed that Basse, his currently girlfriend, could snap this woman in half without a moments thought. She'd likely try the same to Lokir as well if she found out he was speaking to her in the way he she was talking to him. He was also keeping a lot of the current thoughts he had been having about his divine task from her as well, something else that was apt to piss the highland warrior off should she find out. He'd tell her in time of course, appreciating her opinion on things and her candidness on certain matters, she was always one to speak her mind.

But Basse wasn't here and Lokir was in a mood and wanted a bit of a distraction, this woman might be what he needed but didn't know he wanted until now.

”Drinking and thinking.” He replied with a slight grin to her question of his presence here alone. ”And it's been a while since I was here last, I'm L…” Shit, he hadn't thought of it a fake name to give! Larry.” Well, fuck it, close enough. He introduced and took her hand in his, firm but not too much as to hurt her. ”A pleasure, Ryalla.” He smiled, hazel eyes shining slightly, yes, she was beautiful indeed.

And Lokir had no idea that he was now speaking to the Goddess of Death and Desire, he was too young a God to see through her more practised and more powerful disguise than his own. Ignorant of that fact Lokir smiled to him. ”To elaborate; I'm trying to work out some issues I'm having with certain people, peacefully of course, don't want to make a fight of it all.” He explained. ”What of yourself? What is a stunning young lady like yourself doing here all alone and coming up to strange men?” He chuckled and sipped his rum again.

Dalanesca, or Ryalla, as she had successfully introduced herself to Lokir, had to work to conceal a smirk as she heard him damn near give himself away within the first fifteen words he had spoken to her upon their meeting. ”Seems the pleasure is mine, Larry,” she said, batting her eyelashes a few times as she took in the site of his own hazel colored eyes. She had to admit, he was not hard on the eyes - and that voice, oh, perhaps this was going to be more fun than she thought it would be. ”That’s quite a grip you’ve got there,” she said, as he took her hand - though she could tell her was treating her as though she were as fragile as she looked. ”You must be very strong,” she said, and it took every ounce of her willpower to not make a quip about bears.

She listened as he offered a bit further of an explanation about his reasons behind being at that particular tavern that evening. ”Isn’t fighting a bit fun sometimes, though?” she wondered out loud, mindlessly dragging her finger along the rim of her wine goblet before taking a drink. ”As for what I’m doing here? Well, it’s quite obvious, is it not?” she asked, shifting slightly in her seat so that she was now leaning a bit closer to him. ”I’m looking for some company,” she said, and decided that this particular moment would be a good time to test just how much more powerful she was than Lokir.

Focusing her energy without it being outwardly obvious, she exuded a wave of desire towards Lokir - not one that would be so strong he would be unwilling or unable to make his own decisions, of course - but one that was in her general nature. Something to increase the magnetism and attraction between the pair, so to speak. ”And though you may be strange, as you have put it, I think you might be just what I am looking for,” she said, her voice falling to a low and sultry tone.

She took another drink of her wine and set the goblet down, leaning even closer to Lokir, or Larry, rather. Reaching out, she pressed her palm to his cheek, her delicate fingers slowly tracing down his jawbone, and then down his collarbone and chest before her hand fell to the side. ”And besides,” she continued, her eyes scanning his form before locking with his once more. Without breaking eye contact immediately she leaned forward to whisper to him, stopping just close enough to his ear that the heat of her breath would hit his skin. ”If you’re worried about these ‘issues’ you claim to have, I guarantee I could make you forget about them, at least for tonight,” she concluded, leaning back to an upright position and taking another drink of her wine, a soft, yet seductive smile falling across her lips as she returned the cup to the counter, awaiting the reaction of her ‘prey,’ so to speak. Of course, if she was successful in her endeavor, she had no doubt that she would be chastised by at least one of her fellow goddesses (no surprises on who thatwould be) for violating the sanctity of deity-hood or some nonsense such as that.

Lokir grinned at words of him being very strong. ”So I have been told, strong like a bear some have said. I just keep myself in shape is all.” He chuckled explaining more of why he was at the tavern that night. ”Sometimes it is fun, more so when you know that you're fighting for something you believe in. But death itself isn't fun, I don't think anyway, it's an unfortunate side affect of war, or perhaps it's the other way around.” Lokir replied, he was in a odd mood indeed it seemed, this wasn't the normally jovial Lokir that some might have heard of.

Company, she was here looking for company and she leaned little closer to him as well. He never felt Ryalla's magic working on him, even before ascending Lokir was no mage, he had some magical talent to manifest weapons but that was all. Just what she was looking for? Interesting, he wondered if she was actually looking for a werebear knight who was having issues at the moment and could use an outlet, and a sexual outlet was a great idea at the moment in his mind.

They each took another drink of their respective drinks before Ryalla leaned closer to him and pressed her hand to his cheek and her fingers traced down his jaw then to his collar bone, yes, Lokir was liking Ryalla a lot at the moment. Their eyes locked and she leaned closer, offering to help him forget his issues for a night, well, she was very forward with her intent! Her warm breath on his skin made it tingle, yes, this is what he wanted. Her magic was helping keep his mind on track for the bedroom, or wherever they ended up, but Lokir didn't need that much help at the moment to keep in that line of thinking. More to the point, it was helping him not think what his girlfriend, Basse, would think, and she wouldn't be very happy most likely about what Lokir was doing at the moment. Not to mention she didn't he was even here, which would also possibly piss her off, so there was that.

But, one night, just one night to focus on Ryalla and her body, maybe that would help put everything back into perspective for him.

Or not, and it would just end up being a night of sex.

Either one worked.

”Tonight? Hm, tonight I had planned on getting drunk enough to pass out.” Not that he could do that anymore, damn immortality and him not realizing he could push that part of him down and actually get drunk. ”But to spend the night with you instead, yes, that is a much better idea and something I'd rather remember in the morning as well. You are a bold one, Ryalla, I like that.” He grinned and finished his drink. ”Honestly, it might be the booze talking, but I'm contemplating taking you and now on the bar, but I don't think that would go over well.” He chuckled. ”I suppose we should get a room then?” He acted anyway and called the keep over to toss him some coin get another bottle of rum and a key for a room upstairs. Getting off of his seat Lokir smiled and reached out his free hand to Ryalla. ”Shall we?”

His instincts would normally have been screaming at him to feel the situation out further before feeling her up, she was acting too fast. Unless she just was like this, Lokir would normally be a little more careful about a female coming onto him that fast, thinking she would get him alone, shank him and steal his gold. Wouldn't be the first time it's how he learned to be more careful. But between his mood and Dalanesca's magic that thought was far out of his mind at the moment. All his attention would be on Ryalla tonight, he'd show her a night that would make her forget any issues she had as well.

Dalanesca hid her smirk well as her charms seemed to work on Lokir, and soon the god who thought he was in disguise had secured a room for the two of them and they were on their way, a full bottle of rum accompanying them. As the pair entered the room and the door closed behind them, she snaked the bottle of rum out of his hands and took a long pull from it, giggling slightly, of course giving off the air that she was a bit drunk, though in reality she was not at all.

The pair drank and chatted a bit more, though the tension was nearly palatable in the air. After a bit longer, half the bottle of rum had been consumed, and the pair had made their way to the bed, bits of their clothing strewn across the room in the path they had taken. She had managed to get Lokir out of all of his garments, and quickly removed the rest of hers before crawling up the bed towards him, before the two two finally completed the purpose for securing the room.

Several hours later, after all was said and done, Dalanesca had to admit that she was a bit impressed – she had, of course, expected her romp to be at the least, decent, as Lokir was a god – but he had been more impressive than she had expected him to be. After taking a moment, she got up from the bed, walking over to the table where the half-empty bottle of rum sat. She picked it up from the table and took a swig, her eyes never leaving Lokir.

She had, of course, had her fun, and there was no point in continuing the ruse. ”Well, that was fun,” she said, offhandedly. Bottle of rum still in her hands, she traipsed back over to the bed, sitting down on the edge near her latest conquest and held the bottle out for him to take. ”Here, likely you’ll need this,” she said, smirking. ”I mean, even the God of Strength needs to recuperate after an evening with the Siren,” she said, smirking as she dropped the aura that shrouded her true identity from him. Now, if Lokir were looking at her, he would see that he had not just spent several hours in bed with some random woman that had propositioned him in a tavern, but rather with Dalanesca, the Goddess of Death and Desire. The smirk on her face showed that this, of course, had been her intention all along. ”Nice to meet you, Lokir,” she said, her voice dripping with satisfaction that her plan had worked. ”I thought it was about time we met – and about time that I see if you really were worthy of your title… But your strength is… beyond compare,” she said, glancing down at a couple of bruises that had surfaced on her arms – they would, of course, fade with time, but they brought a smirk to her lips regardless.

As though she had merely bumped into him on the street, she held out her hand as though she expected him to shake it, a grin plastered on her face, awaiting his reaction.

Once in the room the door now shut the two chatted for a little while, idly sipping on the rum that had been brought up with them. But the bed was calling to them and soon enough Lokir had his clothing off and not too long after all of hers were gone as well.

Some time later they lay together on the bed, both spent and Lokir was impressed at her stamina. He was a God, yes, and he was experienced in this field as well, but he hadn't expected her to go right to the end as she had. It wasn't like they were cuddling so when Dalanesca got up from the bed and got the rum, her eyes never leaving him, Lokir stretched and sat up as he watched her. She was gorgeous, damn that had been an amazing roll in the hay.

He wasn't that stupid, Basse was in the back of his mind, and if she found out about this she was apt the kill him, or at least take advantage of the fact she couldn't and hurt him. ~I'll deal with that when and if it comes down to it.~ Lokir thought as he accepted the bottle as Dalanesca sat back down on the bed next to him, yes, that had been fun and Lokir grinned but then raised a brow, why would he need it?

He was half through taking a swig when Dalanesca mentioned his title and Lokir choked on the rum, sputtered and coughed as it caught and burned the back of his throat. Shit, God or not that hurt! Siren? Siren?! Lokir's head kicked in finally, the one on his shoulders for once tonight, as her aura came to sight and it confirmed what he had been thinking. This was Dalanesca, a fellow Goddess! And the one of Death and Desire, which she was living up to that second part rather well.

Lokir just stared for a moment, allowing his own masking of his aura to drop, not needing it anymore obviously. That smirk on her face, oh she knew from the start who he was, she saw through his attempts he now knew, and had been the one to seduce him, not the other way around. Though looking back, he hadn't played it all that smooth anyway. ~Basse is going to kill me.~ He thought with a bit of panic, now regretting what he had done, though part of him was still very, very satisfied with how the night turned out.

She admitted to wanting to see if he was truly worthy of his title and paid him a compliment on top of that, which was nice of her. She had a couple of bruises on her arms and he barely contained a grin, remembering exactly when and how those bruises got there, she hadn't complained.

He was still just staring blankly at her when Dalanesca stretched out her hand for him to take, rather casually of her as well. That grin on her face though, he wanted to be angry, but damn it, she was too good and it wasn't like it was her fault. He reached over to grab his shirt and wiped some of the rum he had spat off of it and tossed the shirt aside again before reaching to shake Dalanesca's hand, it's not like he didn't know where her hand had been the last few hours. ”The pleasure is all mine, Dalanesca.” He finally smiled. ”I'm happy that I could, uh, meet your standards.” He chuckled.

~Basse is going to fucking kill me!~ Lokir thought, now in the back of his mind he was picture his very strong girlfriend kicking the shit out of him for cheating on her. Oh he had fucked up, and big time, if Basse found out about this he was in shit for sure. He thought for a moment to ask Dalanesca to not mention this to anyone, but that would mean she knew she had dirt on him to use against him later on if she wanted. While he didn't hate Dalanesca, and damn that night kind made it clear he didn't, he wasn't foolish enough to be blind to the idea that she would probably blackmail him if she thought she could. So the idea of asking her nicely to keep this night to herself was out.

”I will admit, I was very impressed that you could last as long as you did. But now I have a better idea of why that is, if I had known, I wouldn't have needed to hold back as much as I did.” He grinned back and took a drink before offering the bottle back to her again. On the outside he looked like he was taking this rather well. After all, he hoped, looking at it from her side she had tricked him, they had had a pleasurable evening together in bed, but on the inside all Lokir could picture was Basse's boot up his ass, sideways.

”So then, my dear Dalanesca, I must ask; when did you figure out who Larry was? I'll admit, that name, obviously I didn't think of a cover name ahead of time.” He chuckled, oh he knew he looked like an idiot, so might as well roll with it for now. ”The rest of what I said was true though; I was here trying to clear my head enough to think through some issues I'm having.” He smiled and gestured to her and then the bed. ”This helped.”

Dalanesca now found it damn near impossible to contain the joy on her face as she watched Lokir go through the process of realization on who he had just spent several hours in bed with. She let out a melodic laugh, taking the bottle back from him as he offered it to her, where she took another long pull from it. ”Oh, darling, I knew who you were the second I stepped into the tavern,” she said, sitting her naked body down on the bed beside where he still lay. ”I’ve heard better pseudonyms,” she said playfully, taking another swig of the rum before setting the bottle down gently on the table that sat beside the bed.

Her attention focused back to Lokir as he explained that his reasons he had given her had been mostly truthful, and she looked contemplative for a brief moment, reclining slightly on the portion of the bed that she had occupied earlier. ”So, you’ve found out that being a god doesn’t excuse you from petty human things such as being duped by your own mind,” she said, casting him a sideways glance.

With a fluid motion, she rolled onto her side, facing her fellow god, clearly without a care that her naked form was entirely visible to him. ”You know, in my time as a god I have learned quite a few techniques to get my mind off of things,” she said, and she slowly raised her hand, pulling what little of the bedding covered Lokir’s body off of him, her eyes casting downward for a brief moment, before moving back up to his own and locking with them. ”I’d be happy to teach you some of them,” she said, her voice dropping to a low and sultry tone.

It was clear that she had enjoyed herself enough with him where she was making an attempt for another go, and this time she was not taking advantage of her spheres of influence to egg him on - this time, she wanted to see if she could seduce him without exerting her power over him. After all, it had been satisfying for her, and she had no issues with doing it again. Jarmyr, her lover, knew that it was just a part of her nature - she was never going to be entirely monogamous, but in the end she only loved him. That was what made this fun for her.

She grazed her fingers from Lokir’s shoulder and down his chest, and over his hips before they dipped even lower, wrapping firmly around their destination. Keeping her hand in position, she leaned over to whisper in his ears, close enough so her lips brushed against his ear lobe. ”What do you say?” she asked, a devilish smirk to her face.

Right from when she walked in? Well, shit, that plan hadn't worked as well as he had thought it would. He could only guess why it was she was able to detect him while he wasn't able to detect her, and it came down to how long she had been a Goddess compared to him. ”Well, the point was to at least not get spotted by the mortals, so that worked. I hadn't expected to run into another Deity tonight.” He replied as she sat down next to him on the bed, both of them still naked. ”As for the name, ah, I'll think of a better one next time, and ahead of time as well.” He chuckled he did find it honestly amusing, a little embarrassing, but that something he was able to handle, he wasn't vain after all, he could make mistakes like anyone else, God or not.

He explained more of why he was here as Dalanesca got comfy again on the bed next to him, casting him a glance and a comment when he finished. He shrugged. ”I'm not above admitting I have faults. Becoming a God, I don't think, changed the way I think to some degree, just gave me more things to think about… and immortality, which is a nice bonus.” He chuckled as Dalanesca rolled into her side, giving him a great view of everything he had seen while they had been love making, but it never got any less amazing each time he looked. Basse was going to kill him, if she found out.

Her words made his brow raise as the sheet was removed from over him, he had no issues with nudity either. Her eyes wondered, so were his, until they locked again as she offered up a lesson to him. That tone of voice, that called to him in a very primal way, he wanted her again, that much he knew, but Basse was in the back of his mind now and holding him back.

He did seem outwardly conflicted, well, part of him anyway, part of him was already showing readiness, and this is what Dalanesca found after tracing around his body while he thought things over. She whispered into his ear, lips brushing his ear lobe, which sent a thrill down his spine. Basse was going to kill him, or at least keep trying to kill because immortal, probably make him wish he was dead at the least. In that regard she was already fucked, he loved Basse and half of him was screaming to get out of the bed and walk away, but the other half, his lower half, was all in for another tumble. He was already fucked anyway if Basse found out, and only he and Dalanesca knew of this night and Dalanesca didn't know of he and Basse's relationship. At least Lokir desperately hoped not.

Lokir looked to her and his hand came up and he roughly pulled her to him with a grin, speaking. ”I say it's good to know I don't need to hold any strength back this time.” He chuckled and leaned forward to kiss her as his hands started to explore her curves once more. Dalanesca had won, this time, Lokir just wasn't able to resist that temptation, he knew he was going to pay for this later, but he was only thinking of the moment at this point.