Chapter Text
The club is like nothing he’s ever seen before, not in person at least. Ryland has heard from one of his cousins that he’s bound, pun unintended, to have a good time at this function. Therefore, he had gone to no less than three munches. Most of his previous kinkster experience has been sex parties and/or fun sessions with toys. It is most definitely past time to spread his wings, broaden his horizons. Unfortunately for him, he’s the world’s clumsiest Elf. Plus, everyone simply looks so suave & so beautiful. He decides to speak to one of the staff members. He also just manages not to fall over in front of said staff member.
Ryland blinks at nothing as he gathers his bearings. Again. “Oh, hello there.” A tall man with lovely eyes smiles softly down at Ryland, whose ears flush a faint pinkish purple.
“Hi”, he squeaks out.
“I see one of your necklace rings is in our newbie color. Would you like a tour or a map?”
“No, thank you. I’ve actually already gotten both.”
“How can I help then?”
“I, ah, am looking for someone. I think his play name is Carnal?”
“Follow me.” The aforementioned man smiles, a small, secretive thing. His tail curls lazily around his own leg. Ryland wipes both sweaty palms on a handkerchief as he nods.
They walk down into an alcove. “My name is David. My play name is Ricardo. How about yourself, newbie?”
“I’m Ryland. I suppose my play name would just be Grace. I don’t really- I hadn’t considered choosing something, like, punny or clever or…”
“No worries. You have time. Now, Carnal is popular. And unlike what way too many of the civvies say, he’s actually not that brusque. I can tell you’re a genuine kinda person. You two should get along well.” David murmurs quietly, briefly lost in thought.
Ryland’s ears twitch, a happy response. “Thank you. For helping.”
David grins lopsidedly. “Happy to.” He gestures with his head to a gorgeous wooden door. “Carnal is in here, he is takin’ a break but is absolutely up to visitors.” Ryland takes a deep breath. David’s kind & reassuring nature aids in easing his breathing. David knocks twice, receiving two knocks back. His wings settle again, having been out for a little while. “Have fun! I’m sure you’ll do great.”
He moves to squeeze Ryland on the shoulder in farewell, only doing so when he gets a nod in acquiescence. “See you around?” Ryland asks as he gently pats David’s hand in farewell.
“Indeed you will, Grace.” Winking mirthfully, David a.k.a. Ricardo saunters off back to his post. Carnal a.k.a. Nunya opens the door. He smirks down at Ryland, whose soft flowy clothes are more in line with Ricardo’s functional yet fierce ensemble than his more utilitarian style.
Ryland enters the room once granted permission. He sweats a bit, ears no longer twitching. “Good, ah, evening.”
“Hello. How would you like to be referred to?”
“Grace, please.” Nodding to himself, Carnal shifts his stance, muscles rippling. His prosthetic whirs smoothly; it’s a shimmering, striking piece of work. Grace notices claws, vaguely similar to that of a feline. He hums softly, intrigued.
“You’re really pretty.” He whispers, mostly under his breath.
Carnal huffs out a laugh. “As are you, little Elf.” Said Elf turns a faint magenta this time. His ears twitch once more.
Carnal sits on a luscious lounge chair. He spreads his legs slightly. “I know you’ve been very good. Attentive. Polite. Respectful. Hell, Ricardo likes you and he’s slower to warm up to people than I am, seems like.”
Grace relaxes. He feels… moored for once. “Thank you…”
Carnal pats his lap. “What would you like to do first?”
Grace swallows audibly. “Can I know a little more about you?”
“Well, I like heels. Plants, obviously.” He gestures lackadaisically to his stocky build. Tree trunk legs being semi-literal for him.
Grace beams. “I like those things as well.”
Carnal hums. “Would you like to kneel for me, Grace? Show me just how good you are?” Grace nods eagerly. Carnal sets a pillow down. It’s for kneeling, one that matches the chair’s deep green hue. As soon as he kneels, there is a major shift. At the corner of his eye, a mysterious strand glows faintly red at the corner of his eye. Carnal pauses, as if sensing it too. Grace blinks up at him, surprised as well as confused but thrilled just the same.
“I think we share a threadline.”
Carnal rasps out a shaky reply. “Still wanna do the scene?”
“Heck yes.”
Carnal ruffles his hair. “Cute.” Grace blushes. Deeply.
Grace settles, even as his mind continues to whirr. “Do you think we’re-”
“Destined? Yeah, why not? I think- I think our threadline isn’t cursed crimsonia.” Carnal slides a hand into Grace’s hair, tugging gently.
“I’d love that, actually.”
“With me, you sure?”
“Like Ricardo said, you’re not nearly as bad as the rumor mills seem to imply.” Carnal tugs again. Grace chirps.
“You’re the strangest Elf I’ve met yet. I like it.”
Said Elf’s ears twitch. He glows faintly. “And you’re the most beautiful Dryad. That I’ve ever met.”
Carnal laughs lowly, mumbling about how sweet he is. Grace relaxes even further. “You just wanna be good for a while, hm?” Grace’s thoughts go syrupy, soft. A bit like Carnal’s voice.
They rest like that for a little while. Carnal eventually succeeds at getting some dried fruit into Grace; Grace is even pinker now, but still more than content. “Your threadline for me… it’s iridescent. I’m surprised we hadn’t sooner.” Grace hums, sweet and small sounds of happiness.
“Yeah, me too.” Carnal fills the quiet as he’s enraptured in this beautiful moment. Suspended in a near-perfect first meeting. Grace blinks slowly, like a feline.
“Can we do more than kneeling?”
“Yeah, of course.”
Carnal hums. Grace’s thoughts briefly flit on the fact that he now decidedly owes his cousin a fruit basket or two. Grace nuzzles his hand. Carnal raises a brow.
“Awfully needy, hm, Grace?” Grace smiles dopily, flushed yet unashamed. “You can handle some more hair pullin’. I’ll do that.”
Grace makes little coos, happily sighing in between. His Elf instincts are not leading him astray, which greatly pleases Carnal. Legs spread, posture stoic yet relaxed, Carnal massages the other’s scalp before he yanks. Not harshly, just aiming for further stimulation. Grace trembles slightly. He gasps. “Please…”
“You deserve it.” Carnal tugs some more. Grace’s eyelids flutter. “What else should we do, hm?” The prosthetic whirs as Carnal stretches out. He huffs as Grace’s gaze slides over his figure. Dryads tend to be stocky types, no matter the ancestral tree(s), so it’s fairly easy for Simon to be built. Grace’s friends would call him thick, mayhaps.
“Can I get up? I-I would- would like to feed you some snacks. If that’s alright.” Carnal sits back after gently ruffling Grace’s hair.
“Should I still call you Grace?” Receiving a nod, Carnal hands over a bag of mushroom jerky. Eagerly opening the bag, Grace feeds Carnal. It’s tender. But not cloying. The red string of fate gleams, pleased by this first encounter.
Grace is still a little pinkish, one would say. Carnal munching on the jerky, leans into the nuzzling he gets after almost every bite. “Thank you for agreeing to meet with me, Carnal.” Toothy grins pairs well with the soft whoosh of hair as Carnal rumbles contentedly.
“You’re very welcome, Grace.” Eventually both parties have finished snacking and being fed. Grace’s usual nervous energy doesn’t bother him here; it cannot touch him at all. He gestures for a hug. Carnal obliges him. It’s an affectionate squeeze.
“Can we keep meeting like this? Just until we know each other better?”
“You’re one kinky bastard, Grace.”
Grace sputters, mostly for dramatic effect; he isn’t really all that flustered by the dry remark. Laughing raspily, Carnal turns to Grace. He’s got on fierce heels, so as he looks down through luscious lashes, Grace moves as if he’s a sunflower to the other’s sun.
“My first name is Simon. Since we are destined. Since we get along.” He starts and stops, stubborn but not unkindly so. “You may know my given name.”
Grace’s words fumble out of his head, possibly even through his heart. Stuttering over his own name simply serves to endear him to Carnal further. Carnal mutters to himself under his breath. Grace pulls him into his lanky arms for yet another sweet embrace.
“Our time together is soon to be over- can I- could we-” Grace rubs his neck nervously.
“You may ask David for my contact information; yes, Ryland.” Carnal has no such qualms, but does he ever? He still finds the stammering to be cute, even.
“Oh. Well. Thank you, Simon.” Grace relaxes.
“Yeah. No problem.”
“Would it be- uh- can we meet up sometime?”
“Tomorrow?”
“How’d you know I wanted to see you again so soon?”
“You’re emotin’ pretty loudly. Your ears, your face.”
“Oh-” Grace’s breath hitches. He laughs softly, but partially obscures his face with his hands as he calms down.
Carnal gently manhandles Grace onto his lap. Grace lets out a shocked trill. Carnal’s responding rumble makes its way through both their chests. They sit close, good touches all around.
“Don’t worry your pretty little head about it, Gracie. We can get lunch or somethin’.”
Grace huffs. “I can’t call you a nickname based off of Carnal, unless I call you Cee or CN, but-”
“Call me what you like, C is cute. CN is… a special case.”
Grace sits back on his haunches. His hair falls into his face, he pushes it up absentmindedly. “Okay!” He chirps.
Carnal chuckles. Grace has long since realized Carnal does not show his humor or positive attention in general this often with that many other people. He hums smugly to himself. Carnal raises a brow, but says nothing. They both allow the other to ponder the nature of their nascent connection, the wonder of the burgeoning feelings.
“I have multiple fate strings. Do you?” Grace hadn’t fully intended to say this aloud. However, it is still a very good question. Carnal looks thoughtful for a moment. He nods.
“One of them cut.” Grace allows himself to hug Carnal gingerly. Rubbing his back, letting out soothing notes. Having more than one set of vocal chords sure is nifty.
“Are you happy? With the other red threads?”
“Yes. The one that cut… I’ll tell you about it on our lunch date tomorrow.”
Grace’s resulting grin is as bright as his sounds are sweet. As Carnal’s hair is soft. The two of them end up sharing a smoothie, a fanciful fruity thing with two silly straws.
“This isn’t a bad introductory session at all, and I was really nervous! Everyone’s so- so cool here.”
Grace’s nerves have mostly settled, he’s more so feeling a sense of being happily intimidated. The smoothie glass is soon drained. Carnal cleans up; Grace sits back to admire his whole deal. Getting a wink as a response to his blatant ogling tickles him purply pink. The room is awash in soft, autumnal tones. The tree motif is usually not so readily apparent when around Dryads, yet Carnal seems to relish the fact that he’s an outlier to the norm. Grace figures he’ll ask for clarification tomorrow.
Simon fixes the air fresheners. He allows Ryland his loud thoughts & even louder thinking face. Soft music flows through a speaker in the wall. The pair bask in the comfortable silence.
“You wanna choose where we eat?”
“I’d love to!”
“I’m a vegetarian. Nearly vegan. Is that goin’ to be a problem?”
“Oh, no, not at all! I am a flexitarian myself.”
Simon nods. He hands Ryland his phone.
“Can I call you Ry?”
“Can I call you Si?”
As they exchange amused glances and quiet laughs, they come to the same conclusion. Simon inputs his own number into Ryland’s phone. He gently squeezes his shoulder as they part ways. Ryland manages to happy stim as soon as he is in the restroom. He also immediately calls Adrian. He orders his cousin three fruit baskets. With one gift basket as he requests more suggestions for his free time.