Makings of a Monster

- "Tamoko, I love you. Don't say I can't know that after just one night together," said Sarevok. He was afraid that the magic that had brought them together would disappear if he didn't seal it with those words. It felt like paying homage to the overwhelming emotion and the gratitude of finally experiencing something beautiful in the area of sensuality.
- "I wasn't going to," answered Tamoko. "That would be the sensible thing to say, but I believe in destiny, and I believe in what I know in my heart."
- "I will be yours if you only will have me," Sarevok said, still a little afraid. He felt as if his very heart was made of crystal, and it was lying in Tamoko's small hand, ready to be crushed or cherished at her mercy.
- "Then I will be yours too," she answered and pressed herself against his chest.

- "I really must go home now. Mother and Winski will worry if I don't... but know that I will be thinking of you as I go to sleep. I will have to introduce you to them, properly," he said, blushing.
- "And Reiltar?"
- "To him too, I guess," answered Sarevok in a colder voice.
- "Those terrible scars in your back... it is his doing, isn't it?" asked Tamoko cautiously.
- "Indeed." Sarevok didn't want to talk about it. He didn't want Tamoko to think about him as a little boy who was a helpless recipient of beatings. He wanted to be to her as he was now, a large man and a warrior anyone would think twice of crossing.
- "Gods..." hatred flashed briefly in Tamoko's eyes, but she didn't press the issue.
- "Look, my life is not so simple as it looks. I don't even know what will happen... and I have a lot to explain to you. But I do know that I want you by my side, if you only want me." Oh, and by the way my real father is a dead god of murder, which definitely adds some complications to the already dicey situation... no, not yet.

- "I will look forward to meeting your family then. But I am worried about your customs I'm not familiar with. What if I disgrace myself by behaving improperly? I have only been a soldier, not visited anyone's house," explained Tamoko. Her own culture was very strict about such things, and everybody was expected to know the rules.
- "Don't worry," answered Sarevok, her golden-eyed lover. "I'll bring you there when it's only Winski and mother, and they are very informal. We'll probably just chat and have tea, nothing fancy."
- "Tea!" exclaimed Tamoko a horrified expression on her face. A Kozakuran tea ceremony was something she had always secretly hated. To master it took years of practise, and even to attend to it was an unnerving experience as the procedure was very strict, and the attendants were expected to be not only correct but also graceful in following it.
- "So don't you like tea? I'm sure mother can give you something else then..." frowned Sarevok.
- "No, the ceremony! I don't know anything about it!"
- "Eh, it is just... mother or Winski usually puts the cups on the table and... then someone pours and... we just drink it..." Sarevok sounded lost.
- "You don't have an art of tea ceremony?"Tamoko's face relaxed with relief.
- "No, no, nothing like that," smiled Sarevok, and then Tamoko explained him what the ceremony was and how she had always hated it and they both laughed even more than the situation actually warranted. So much in so short time.

The parting kiss still on his lips Sarevok floated home. He found himself grinning like an idiot as soon as he stopped concentrating on looking properly grave, strong and silent. He had never been in a habit of smiling or laughing much, but now it seemed to come naturally. The joy and exhilaration he felt was somehow akin the one of battle, but this one was gentler, and he wanted to treasure it in his heart. To feel something so strong which wasn't about killing. If this wasn't love, the man-woman kind of love, then what was?

As he arrived home, Jelena remarked that he was later than usual, but Winski just grinned.
- "Float down for a moment, Sarevok, if you will," he said, "and confirm to us that things went well with that girl."
- "I love her!" Sarevok sighed, his smile wide. "She will come to meet you with me so you can see too how wonderful she is."
- "I'm happy that you have met someone you like," said Jelena and hugged her son.
Poor boy, you only met her yesterday, thought Winski. Before he would have no doubt said it aloud, but being Jelena's lover had changed him in many ways. He could see that Sarevok's emotion was overwhelming and real, and questioning it would only hurt him. And what did he know? He had been dodging love for years before it came and knocked him in head.
- "She must be quite a woman to make such an impression on you," he only said, ruffling Sarevok's hair as the boy sat down.

His affectionate gesture seemed to remind Sarevok of something.
- "Mother? Could you please shave my head?" he asked, blushing a little.