Redsand Canyon stones

we could use this one and bring it to present? <3

mereo had settled into a steady rhythm. 

today tamar stopped at each densite, bringing new furs or boughs. 

the red girl paused at the trail into the darker parts of the canyon. she was not yet ready to explore and she knew she must have an escort for now. but the place called to her. 

tamar felt a slow panic rising over her as she stared into the darkened spaces, thinking of akashingo. thinking of @Arsenio.

You are a blessing! <3

The mercenary had finished a swift patrol of their borders. His temperature was high from the pace he had set for himself. The redstone canyon had provided him with a means to work his body and chase away the fat that had formed on his body during his time at Akashingo. One thing could be said for the mesa, they had a good means of stocking foods and treats. Arsenio had not gone a single day wanting for a hot meal.

As he padded through Mereo, a cheerful hum in his throat, the Greek caught a familiar figure ahead of him. Tamar appeared to be looking into the shadowed portions of the canyonland. The man slowed his approach and watched her for several moments.

My love? Would you like some help with your work? Arsenio inquired as he drew to her side. The dark of his nose pushed into the hairs of her shoulder.

no u <3

tamar shivered and laughed.

kallik had told her that he would take her into the recesses. but tamar was not sure she was ready to visit them. "yes," she said teasingly to her husband. "you can help me shake out the pelts in our den."

winter was still firm with the canyon in its grasp. but tamar looked for the springtime.

slyly she glanced at arsenio. "how long before little ones arrive in mereo, do you think?" she murmured, alluding to their matrona and her imperator. 

tamar smiled, reaching to kiss his red cheek before leading the way to their shelter. arsenio had grown lean and chiseled. the sight of him always made her blood run warm.

No matter her tone, Arsenio grinned toothily at her. Something in his belly told him that he liked being ordered to assist, enjoyed that she had found a place where she could speak to him that way. He would have plucked ticks from their furs, if it was what she had desired. Shaking the dust from the pelts in their den would be an easy compromise.

When Tamar mentioned young ones in Mereo, the Greek felt his neck grow warm. The glacial blue of his eyes found her face and held it.

I do not know. If I am to be honest, I would not have guessed that Germanikos knew how to make children. Arsenio laughed. He thought highly of the Imperator. There were times when he did not understand the stoic nature of the man, but it did not make him any less of a good soldier. In fact, I would have thought he’d marry his work before taking a wife!

The thought of children filled him with warmth.

My love, what names do you like for young ones? I have been thinking to ask you, but I do not wish to be pushy when you might still be settling.

tamar laughed with shock.

"arsenio!" small giggles erupted from her mouth; she lifted a fore-ankle to her mouth and tried to hide them, to no avail. "lady ruenna seems happy." she paused, then snickered, "the way i am happy! so you are wrong! maybe he is not a soldier in bed. you are not."

she shook her head. "speak to me of anything." her gaze found his own. "i will have to think of home to find a new name." she closed her eyes and hummed into the cold air.

"zulema." tamar smiled at arsenio. "for a daughter."

Arsenio poked at her with his nose, rousing further laughs from her. He thought the sound of it was like music and it tickled him to hear her talk so openly. A warm chuckle fell from his lips.

Tamar mentioned that Ruenna appeared to be happy with the arrangement she had made with Germanicus. This was good, he believed. The better their relationship, the more likely it would be that they would look to have children of their own. After all, had the Roman not said that their ranks would be filled by the young ones who were born to Mereo? What better way to do that than to have the Imperator volunteer his own blood?

As Tamar thought of her homeland, Arsenio hummed softly.

Zulema was the name that she offered. The Greek beamed, waving his hips with the swing of his tail.

Zulema is a most beautiful name. I do not believe I could come up with a better one. Tamar Jr., would be my suggestion. Only if we have a daughter as lovely as you.

The man looked thoughtfully to his wife.

Zosime is a Greek name that would make a fine match to Zulema. It is a name for a daughter, too.

What would Tamar think of this?

"you always have such praise for me, arsenio."

"zulema. zoisme." her eyes shone. for the first time she was allowing herself the full pleasure of this contemplation. "many men are only happy for sons." her face said that she knew now arsenio was not among their number.

she said the names aloud together again, and sighed with a blushing pleasure that she did not try to hide. "i want the hour to come now," she said of her cycle, voice half-amused and flushed with longing.


"what about a boy's name?" she thought of her brother. and then she thought of crowfeather.

Tamar, my sweet, my most beloved, you are worthy of all these things and more.

The man’s smile did not falter. He gazed upon his wife with adoration. She had not lived a life of praise, or so he believed. Arsenio knew that the Pharaoh had thirsted for each of his Fellahin. He did not believe that Tamar had been an exception to his lusts. The words he showered upon her were not those of a carnal man. He loved her. Tamar was cherished by him in ways he could never explain. He wished for her to know it, though.

It will come, my love. I will fill your every desire, too. You will know nothing but bliss. 

When she asked for the name of a boy, Arsenio breathed a small sigh and looked to her curiously. He wondered what a son should be called. For a moment, he thought of giving a boy the name of his father. It would have been beautiful to see his son do greater things than his father had ever done.

Alexios, perhaps. Or… Antigone.

Arsenio searched her face, wondering how her soft heart would aid in the raising of a young man. He could see only good things.

"alexios. antigone."

but tamar's eyes were upon his face. the idea of carrying his children was not something she had considered until he had asked her to be his wife. even now it made her breathless. delighted. fearful.

she had no words with which to answer her husband; she stepped forward to pillow her head against his plush crimson chest for a long moment, sighing long enough to stir the fur there.

you will know nothing but bliss

"i know this now." tamar pulled back to look up at arsenio. [b]"you are happy here, in mereo?"

Tamar told him that she knew these things already.

She asked if he was happy in Mereo.

Arsenio gazed at her curiously. He wondered the same, hoping that she had found a modicum of peace in her freedom. It meant a great deal to him. Her question was a tricky one to answer. The man felt that Ramesses was still looming over them. He wished to be rid of the Pharaoh’s gaze. These were things that he did not want to weigh on her mind, though.

I am happy, with you. I would be happy anywhere that you were with me. So long as you are free, so long as you are close to me.

Arsenio wrapped her in his arms, reveling in the closeness.

but this did not answer her question.

or perhaps it was the only answer to give. arsenio did not have loyalty to mereo. it was not the root of his happiness. and if she decided to leave, he would come with her.

tamar wondered if she had come to like the canyon more than her mate. but for now she leaned into arsenio, happy to be enfolded by his warm strength once more. "every day in the palace i wished to be close to you this way."

Arsenio had been forced to make a good place out of many terrible temporary homes. Akashingo had been one of the worst, but for different reasons. Mereo was not a difficult home to have, even on its own. To have Tamar there was all that made it special to him. If his falling leaf did not exist inside of the outpost, Arsenio would likely still have been there, but he would not have known the joy that he felt when he held her in his arms.

You bring me peace, Tamar, he breathed into her.

There could be no warmth like that which he felt when she was near to him. The fire colors that existed in her coat were a sign, surely. She was fire brought to life, made with love, and she was left to burn where she would not go out. Arsenio could know no greater happiness than this.

"you bring the same to me."

she was still for a moment, thinking. "do you think there will be others married here?" she asked, probing softly for any word among the men arsenio might share. "it would be good to have another plebian married. i think — i think that i have come to consider the others, and the matrona, as companions."

it was a new sensation.

"do you feel that way about any of them?" tamar inquired.

300 could only be for you. <3

Hmm, he mused thoughtfully.

If he was forced to be honest with her, Arsenio had not had his mind in meeting many of the other soldiers in Mereo. He knew Germanicus, he knew of the Imperator’s wife, and he had seen some of the others in the canyon on his patrols.

There were only two who hung in his mind as being enjoyable companions.

I have met a young healer called Aquene. She’s kind and seems good. I believe she might make a good friend to you, my love. Arsenio might have considered her a friend to himself, even. And a pale soldier called Kallik, who is quiet but seems to keep to himself. Arsenio had seen the dark-furred one, but he had never taken an interest in approaching the stranger. There would be time for those matters.

<333! congrats!

aquene. a healer. a woman.

but tamar did not suspect arsenio of secret feelings. his admiration and adoration of her was proven each day. the girl reached to touch his nose with her own. "i know kallik. he is quiet. cold. but he thinks of others."

were all the soldiers this way? "what about glaukos?" she asked quietly. she knew very little of the soldier, except that he was very large and often silent in a different way than kallik.

I think we could fade this and I could make you a new one that is not so dated. ;w; <3

Hmm… I do not know of Glaukos. There is a dark-furred man with a sour face. I have not spoken to him. Not yet.

Arsenio wondered if this was the other, the man that his wife spoke of. If it was the darker man he had seen in passing, it was really no wonder why they had not spoken. The Greek did not think that he looked the approachable type. He had seen many men like that in his life, and he was not opposed to working alongside them. Arsenio simply thought that they required a different approach. There was a level of respect to be earned.

If that is the man, he does not look as though he is a happy one. It will make him a good soldier. He can frighten away his opponents before they ever clash fangs.

Arsenio laughed and bumped his snout against hers. It felt easy, being there and sharing stories with Tamar about his day. He enjoyed hearing her experience with the other members of Mereo. The man thought he could listen to her for hours.

yes let's! <3

talking and laughing until at last;

at last tamar pulled her strong crimson husband against her to kiss him, to let them both of them heat and then burn.

if only for a time. if only for a moment. his arms around her was tamar's core notion of strength.