The Forest's Songs

[Talwyn]

He just stared at her, looking absolutely dumbfounded. Opening his mouth to say something, he changed his mind and closed it again. He probably looked quite silly as he repeated this multiple times.

"No. Of course not!" He raised his hands above his head, frustrated by his inability to properly explain. "Of course the head is perfectly fine! And the hands! And the feet! There is nothing special about those." Shaking his head he sighed. How did one explain this? Especially when the subject made you as shy and uncomfortable as him.

"Look..." Calming down, he tried to explain. "There are males and females right? Females have... what you have. And males have something else. Those are the parts you don't just show. Well, outside of the bedroom." Looking at her, his eyes made it obvious he hoped she finally understood so they could move off the subject.

[Willowsong]

"Of course the head is perfectly fine! And the hands! And the feet! There is nothing special about those."

Willowsong swallowed the last piece of the flesh, looking relieved.
"Oh... good."

"There are males and females right? Females have... what you have. And males have something else. Those are the parts you don't just show."

Willowsong shrugged, contemplating this.
"Uhh... I thought everyone looked different, skin colour and all...there's an actual meaning to those parts? And there exist two different kinds of all kinds of creatures?"

When hunting, Willowsong had always wondered about this. Some wolves, for instance, seemed rather desirious of something, while others felt like they had to scare her away. Were those males and females, then?

"Well, outside of the bedroom."

Willowsong tilted her head again, looking back at her cave. As she then looked back at Talwyn, one could almost suspect that she had sexual thoughts, but she would quickly destroy that impression as she spoke again.
"But I don't have a bedroom..."

[Talwyn]

"But I don't have a bedroom..." Those words were ringing in his ears. He almost felt like banging his head against the wall. Almost. He did something that came close though, he slapped his forehead with the palm of his hand. "Why me..." He muttered as he tried to find the words to explain this.

"Surely you have noticed animals mate before?" He asked her. "The male gets the female pregnant... the female eventually gives birth to little ones... The parts that humans use for... that. Those are the ones that you do not just show."

Looking at her, he sincerely hoped she understood now. "As for the bedroom part... it's a figure of speech. And I'm sorry... I should have realized it was stupid to phrase it that way."

[Willowsong]

Willowsong was strangely quiet as Talwyn explained the difference between man and woman to her. She felt kind of stupid now, that she hadn't noticed it herself. Back then, she had thought every creature could get with child, but now it was only females?

The witch finally nodded.
"I think I understand now..."

She poked her fingers together, getting a bit embarassed to continue further into the subject. Not because of the actual subject itself, but because Talwyn was obviously getting irritated.
"Forgive my curiousity... You don't need to feel embarassed about it, because I don't..."

She adjusted her position, but this time took care to masking her 'parts' more. Not because of her getting embarassed herself, but because of Talwyn.
"Bear with me a little longer, please. You mentioned that I have the...uh, parts of a female? That means...you are a male? And you could...uhm...get me pregnant? How does that work? Do you use a spell on me?"

She probably asked way too casually, but the way Talwyn had formulated it earlier made it seem rather simple and casual.

[Talwyn]

Resisting the urge to scream in both frustration and embarrassment as she asked how "that" worked. How was he supposed to answer that? Getting up, he started pacing around nervously. Casting a gaze at Willowsong, he once again had to refuse the urge to just sigh and walk away.

In the end, he did sigh, but he did not walk away. Refusing to look at her his face looked like it was about to explode from shame. "Yes, I'm male. And yes, you are a female... a rather beautiful one as well... but that's besides the point. Could I make you pregnant? I don't know. I don't know if you can have babies!"

He started his wild gesturing again, obviously embarrassed to talk about this. "And no. One does not use a spell... By the gods! How does one explain this in decent language?" He muttered to himself. "Have you never seen two animals mate or anything?"

[Willowsong]

"Yes, I'm male. And yes, you are a female... a rather beautiful one as well... but that's besides the point. Could I make you pregnant? I don't know. I don't know if you can have babies!"

"If I am indeed a female... why wouldn't I be able to?"
But the thought itself was weird. She could have children?

"And no. One does not use a spell... By the gods! How does one explain this in decent language?"

Willowsong giggled in response.
"Decent language?", she repeated, giggling again. So far, she had only heard or read 'decent' in affiliation with food. Delicious language?

"Have you never seen two animals mate or anything?"

Willowsong shrugged, trying to remember such an instance. In the end, she shrugged.
"Maybe... I might have. How can I tell if I have never seen it before?"

[Talwyn]

Looking as if he wanted to punch something in frustration, a quivering sigh escaped from him and he calmed down. "Point taken..." Was all he said as he started pacing about again. In the end he figured he was already embarrassed enough and just explained it to her.

Or well... just... he somehow managed to tell her without getting too explicit. He refused to look at her and he kept pacing about while telling, obviously nervous and embarrassed about this. And even after he was done, he still refused to look at her. "If you understand now, can we please drop this subject?" It almost sounded like he was pleading.

[Willowsong]

"Point taken..."

Willowsong grinned in victory as Talwyn finally began to explain. Or tried to.
During his description, the witch would squint her eyes, giggle, raise her eyebrows, and run a hand through her hair in surprise before he finally finished.

"If you understand now, can we please drop this subject?"

"I think I missed the part where---Nevermind.", she cut herself off quickly, noticing Talwyn's gaze.

They sat in silence for a while, before Willowsong rose again.
"So, you and me could... Uh, alright, alright, new topic.", she added again before Talwyn could scream or whatever he would do.

Willowsong looked out of the cave, noticing that the sun was setting.
"Well, then... are you gonna sleep here or in the forest? If so, you can...have some of my furs..."

[Talwyn]

Indeed he wanted to rail at her. But most of all, he wanted to rail at himself and the curse. Her trying to mention they could do that, if they wanted to, had actually seemed like a good idea! He had dismissed the notion immediately of course. After all, it had to be the curse putting such thoughts in his mind right?

Still... it was an interesting thought... No, he shook his head. He would remain strong and vigilant. The curse would not seduce him. "Well, then... are you gonna sleep here or in the forest?" The woman suddenly started. He cast a suspicious glance at her and looked deep into her eyes. "I thought we had decided it'd be safer if I didn't sleep in the cave or grove?"

[Willowsong]

"I thought we had decided it'd be safer if I didn't sleep in the cave or grove?"

Willowsong shrugged, waving her hand dismissively.
"If I transform, the curse loses its power over humans, as we discovered. But you will not allow me to shapeshift with that cloth around my waist, so I assume you will have to sleep outside."

She reached behind her, pressing two furs into Talwyn's arms.
"If you get cold, you can have a third one. I only have four, though."

[Talwyn]

He handed one of the furs back to her. "I've slept in colder weather. Don't worry. And yes, you need to keep the bandages on. I mean it." Taking a few steps outside, he spun around, leveling a finger at her. "And notugging or pulling on them, you hear?" With a nod, he left to find a suitable place to camp.

After he had done so, he sat with his back against a tree. Wrapping himself in the fur, he scolded himself. Even now that he was awake, his mind was still confused about her. Just how much was that damn curse affecting him, he wondered.

[Willowsong]

Willowsong pouted when Talwyn told her not to pull at the bandage. She nodded after a while, before wandering deeper into the cave and curling herself up in her furs. She had survived this far without any stupid bandages, so why start now?

Because her friend Talwyn told so.
But that wasn't all Talwyn had said today... He had told her about the mating of man and woman, and to tell the truth, Willowsong was curious now. But she had survived this long without mating, so she could wait a bit longer.

With that in mind, she drifted to sleep.

[Talwyn]

The sleep had revitalized him. Getting up he stretched and yawned. His mind was clear and it was easy to push away all the annoying thoughts to deal with them at a later time. Grabbing the fur Willowsong had given him, he walked back to the grove while at the same time looking for firewood.

After arriving at the grove, he went to the stream and checked to see if there was any fish in it. Nodding when he noticed there was, he dumped the wood and started splashing water on the ground while stomping. Taking a small metal box out of his pack, he started digging through the mud to find some worms and placed them inside the box.

After finding enough, he rummaged through the firewood until he found a branch that could serve as a fishing pole. From the pouch on his belt he produced a thin line and a fishing hook. Putting a worm on, he started fishing.

After catching several fish, he build a fire and sticked the fish on little sticks which he placed around the burning flames. Checking to see if he had forgotten anything, he turned his gaze towards the cave and slowly made his way there. "Willowsong? You awake yet? Breakfast is almost ready."

[Willowsong]

Willowsong slept deep this night. Only when she heard Talwyn call, did she wake up.

"Willowsong? You awake yet? Breakfast is almost ready."

The witch yawned, grimaced slightly as her wound made itself known as she stretched.
As she stood up, she took her furgown and made her way out of the cave. Talwyn had once again lit a fire, and was burning...well, roasting fish on sticks.
Surprised, Willowsong made her way over to him, but kept a respectful distance to the fire.

"Good morning. How did you manage to catch fish? I never managed to..."

[Talwyn]

"I'll show you later alright? I want to check your wound first." Sitting her down, he carefully lifted her gown and started to remove the bandages. He nodded and grabbed the piece of cloth again. Drenching it with water, he dabbed the wound a bit. "Well, it's looking pretty good. Let's get it bandaged up again."

Grabbing the first aid kit again, he took out clean bandages and with gentle hands bandaged her up once again. Pulling her gown down again he nodded once more, looking satisfied. "I'd give it a day or two before the bandages are no longer needed. At most."

Turning to the flames, he grabbed one of the fish and took a careful bite. "Ah, seems like they're ready." Grabbing a second fish, he handed the stick to Willowsong before blowing on his again. "Cawefwull, thwey awe hwot."