It didn’t take much convincing for Drake to agree to doing the bed first. The fact that she pulled him down for a kiss wasn’t needed, but he quite enjoyed it all the same, and smirked as they made their way to the craftsman’s shop. At the front of the store were a lot of basic builds, but Vela skipped right over all of them and went towards the back, meant for the more rich and lavish lifestyle. The shopkeep seemed like he was going to complain, but at the sight of the silver bag from Vela, he shut his mouth and let them have the run of the place.

When Vela pulled Drake into the bed with the canopy, he blushed and smiled. “It does seem nice…” It was the whispering of sweet nothings and other devious ideas, though, that turned him a bit red. “Vela, let’s not antagonize the shopkeep…this is a good choice though.” He nodded to her, and the two did agree on purchasing this bed.

Of course, this was merely a floor model. The bed they had purchased was a large canopy bed with flowing blues, reds, and greens in Abedian style colors. In addition, they purchased many pillows to supplement the room that it was going in. All in all, it was far more silver than any sane person would have spent on something, but despite her looks, Vela was more than happy to satiate her desires, no matter the price.

That was something that Drake did like about her. She had solid goals, and never wavered from them. If she wanted it, she would find a way to get it.

“All right…next would be furniture for the rest of the ship. Tables, chairs, probably convert one of the spare rooms into a bar…” Drake was half joking. “What else…”

“A BAR?! ONLY THE BEST LIQUOR! The liquors from Baltil are my favorite we should ask for a crate of their best!” She jumped up in celebration. Vela knew what she liked and what she wanted. “We can invite all of our friends. Do we like those people? We could be friends with them~”

Vela ordered the rest of the bedroom set that went with the bed so they could store their clothes and whatnot. Tables, chairs, and anything else they needed was tested and tried. “I like the richness of mahogany.” She was pressing towels to her face. The washroom was easy enough as Vela immediately picked out the largest clawfoot tub she saw with arcane runes to fill and empty it. “This one. Big enough for two.”

“Linens next.” After they bought everything in the furniture department she bought all the bedding that matched. “We need plates too! This is like being newlyweds,” she joked with Drake. She gave him a mischievous smile before sending everything they ordered to the ship.

“I guess… That’s everything…” She realized the mental list she had was all crossed off. “Do you know of anything? I mean there are sexy outfits I guess… I did order a dresser. Most of my clothes come from a kid named Kite.”

Vela’s excitement over the alcohol was probably the best part about the trip so far, and Drake couldn’t help but smile. It was endearing how much of an alcoholic she seemed to be. The two moved on through each of the stores, picking and choosing what they needed. When Vela joked about being newlyweds, he rolled his eyes with a half smirk. “I barely know you, and I can already tell you’re not the settling down type…”

Yet, from afar, two very bewildered individuals looked on with shocked eyes. For Vela, this was settling down. They had never seen her act like this before. Certainly not with them.

–

Raile cleared his throat at the table. “All right, everyone…” He opened his arms. “Drake and Vela…let the betting games begin…”

–

“A kid named Kite?” Drake asked. He wondered if she was joking. “I never really put much stock into my outfits…as long as it works, I’m content.” He shrugged. “I do like the way you look in my shirt, though…” The two moved on from the store. “Maybe we should take a visit…it couldn’t hurt to update my wardrobe. Maybe you can help…”

It took a full week for the work to be done on the Nigrum Crista. When it set sail for the open skies that morning, though, it was a brand new ship with Drake behind the wheel. “Where to next? Did Raile give us a job? If not…we can go anywhere with this!” For some reason, he felt free.

Vela looked at him a bit and she chuckled, “Maybe… Maybe not.” She told him honestly. She was way more settled down than she had ever been before. Wanting to live in a space with someone was something she had never done before. Even with Claude she had slept in taverns at night.

“Yeah, he’s some genius fashion designer from Sularia. He’s sixteen. His sister is a genius blacksmith. They are twins. Raile introduced me once.” She looked him over, “I don’t have to stop wearing your shirts… I quite like them on me. They are soft, they smell like you… our bed is going to smell like us… I could steal your pillow at night… All of them.”

–

The next five years were eventful. They went ruin exploring. They fought off old boyfriends. They were together for all of it. It was early in the morning when she woke up… It was unlike her now to rise super early. She liked to wake up next to Drake and draw circles on his chest. “I’m gonna leave kissy marks all over your chest if you don’t get up soon.”

He eh’d her and she smirked before she started to lightly kiss all over his chest. Lower and lower before Drake’s eyes popped up. “I’m not starting stuff I swear. I’m just leaving kissy marks all over you. Going to cuddle you to death~" She dragged her naked form up his and wrapped herself around him.

Drake woke up to Vela playing around, and while he didn;t mind it was definitely a surprise as she moved lower and lower. “H-hey now, I’m still waking up…no starting things…” As she came up and smothered him with hugs, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her tight. “And now back to bed…” He squeezed just tight enough to know she couldn’t escape.

“No, Drake…we’re getting UP!” she said as she squirmed.

“Fine…” Drake grumbled, closing his eyes and snuggling in harder.

“I SAID UP!” Vela laughed as she kissed Drake. “Wake up.”

“Fine, fine,” Drake said, finally releasing her to stretch. She took full advantage of this to hop on top of him with a smile.

“Okay, now I’m starting stuff.” She just couldn’t resist how he looked.

With their morning off to a great start, Drake and Vela pulled themselves out of bed and into the kitchen. Drake hadn’t remembered much about himself in the five years they had been together, but he had at least learned he was a half decent cook when he needed to be. It was nothing fancy, but scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast was thrown into a plate on the counter for the two of them to eat.

“Today, Raile has us in an old castle. That whole thing where Simone is a princess and yada yada…well, Raile wants us to scope the surrounding ruins of the city. The castle itself is off limits…something about wanting to respect Simone’s wishes. I’m sure she wouldn’t mind, but he seemed like he didn’t want to ask her at the moment so I didn’t press. The town, though…seems they’re looking into finding some old tools and possibly some information.”

Vela put on one of Drake’s shirts so she could come into the kitchen. They had a gate to Raile’s so they never knew when one of them would stop in. It had been a mistake last time when Rhenakos came in with documents and Vela was naked and cooking food.

Rhenakos was still pouting about it. “Because we stayed in a tavern stupid. This is our own house. I can be naked here…”

“Look at you settling down…” Rhenakos had rolled his eyes.

–

Thinking back on it Vela looked at Drake’s ass and tilted her head. “Have I really settled down Drake?” It was out of the blue and soon Vela was eating the delicious food at Drake had cooked for her. “It’s called Auclair. Rhenakos told me it’s a swamp so don’t wear anything you don’t like. It used to be a prosperous little city until the fire happened.”

She had the map of the area sprawled out and things were drawn in it, “Simone did great with this map though. It’s called Auclair. Was Simone’s last name before she took Terrowin.”