Mingling Mages

[Titus]

“It wont be long before we’re together again though, at the party tonight.” Titus responded quickly, almost leaving himself out of breath. He wasn’t looking forward to leaving Sky either, but he was really leaving her, only going to miss her for maybe an hour. He was seeing the situation more as that he would be seeing Sky again, than that he was leaving her then; he was so eager for some reason to do so that he actually got ahead of himself. “We still have that celebration of our own waiting upstairs for us later, don’t forget.” He added with a broad grin. He was looking more and more forward to their alone time with the bottle of fine wine. She had always been his best friend, but for some reason he had grown to want to be with her even more than usual. He still needed to figure that one out, not that it was a problem.

Parting ways then, Titus carried all of Sky’s things up the tower and deposited them on the ninety ninth floor where Sky was to be living from then on. As he climbed the mighty high flights of stairs, Titus spent his time pondering his new found sentiment towards fulfillment in a personal manner which he had never found before. He traced the feelings back to attaching himself to Kyrea and seeing her interact with her family. He figured that made him start yearning for a family type of connection; a personal connection, which he started then to wonder was what he was looking at in his dear old friend. She seemed to fit the bill, so to say. She was a strikingly beautiful woman who was alarmingly intelligent, amusingly comedic, flirtatiously personable, and who gave Titus a wonderful sense of purpose and joy. It seemed almost far fetched though, that it would all make that much sense. He would have to think on it a lot more, but at last he had a suspicion that he could work with in his personal mystery of his new found sentiment.

[Sky]

Sky smiled at his reminder of their alone time later in the evening and as she took a few steps back from him she gave him a little wink in return. “Oh, I haven’t forgotten that, I am looking very forward to it.” She returned as she now turned around and walked the other way.

The small woman made her way back into the darkened building of her old home and up the stairs to the last shower she would take in her old room. Once she was out of the shower and had a towel wrapped about her small form she rummaged through her closet until she found the perfect outfit to wear to the nights gathering of mages. Something so different that she would probably get second looks to be sure it was her the rest were indeed seeing. She giggled to herself at the thought.

The outfit she chose was a long skirt that hung about and slightly hugged her hips with a wide rim that from the hip hung a dozen or so aqua beads strung together on a leather string that wound its way around her hips. The bottom of the skirt was beaded as well in the same colors, leaving the middle of the skirt white and at the beginning of her thighs it loosened to hang loosely with almost a bounce like to it that made it move freely and enhanced her every step slightly as she moved. The top was made of the same white beaded at the bottom and slanted to her right side, leaving her left open from the top of the skirt to just below her ribcage. She added a silver anklet to her left ankle and slipped on a small pair of leather shoes that almost looked like moccasins, but were much more for dress than jeans.

Her hair tonight would not be so unruly, she decided. It would be brushed and allowed to fall into place at it should. The effect was that it hung down loosely and lightly once it was brushed out, just to her shoulders, her bangs parted off to the right and hung as well loosely almost over her eye but not quite, on the left side, a small portion of bangs was right to slightly curve up so that it would caress her jaw line.

Once she was certain she was perfect, she turned and looked about the room, packed a few things into boxes so that they would be ready for the morning to take up to her new home, snatched dup a couple bottle of rum and headed out the door, down the stairs and out across the field to the already crowding tower across the way.

When she stepped through the door to the tower, she was greeted with smiles all around the room form familiar faces and some she didn’t know, but it was all underway, that much was certain. She stepped through the opening and brought her rum over to the table and settled the bottles next to the keg for whom ever might want to open them and begin to get drunk quickly.

Sky looked around to find Titus, but didn’t see him yet and at that point was face to face with a few other girls and started conversing with them as they munched on the food that had been brought up, when she felt a pair of hand on her hips. She turned around and saw Ivan standing there, already drunk from the first keg and looking down at her with a drunken smile.
“Thought it was you.” He stated and leaned in to kiss her cheek.

Sky pushed him back with a laugh. “You’re drunk.” She stated and patted him on the cheek. “Glad to see it though.” She continued and the stepped to the side to allow him to stand with her and the other girls and talk.

Ivan put an arm around her shoulder and smiled. “You’re hot.” He stated simply.

“Err, thanks Ivan, but you’re still drunk.” She replied, peeling his arm off from around her shoulder. “Maybe you should go get me a drink too.” She then suggested, to get him away for a few moments to which he promptly turned, kissing her on the cheek and walked away rather unsteadily towards the keg.

“Maybe he’ll get lost on the way.” One of the other girls giggled.

Sky laughed. “Yes, I am certain he will, is why I sent him.” She replied and the three laughed again then went on about heir conversation until Sky was pulled away again to go talk with a few others. She was after all, quite the social person and knew many of these people and once they had all figured out who she was, the ritual of being snatched up form time to time in bare hugs and giggles began. All the while, her eyes kept sweeping the growing crowd for Titus.

[Titus]

After leaving Sky’s new items in her new room, Titus went upstairs for a shower of his own and a change of clothes. After cleaning himself up, the old mage put on his selected outfit and wandered on down the stairs. Even as easily as Titus made the trip up and down the great white tower, it still took some time to walk the hundred floors each way, let alone both.

He came to the bottom of the steps amongst the crowd of mages all drinking and talking amongst themselves; it was a beautiful thing to see and the master mage’s lips were positively cemented into an ear to ear grin. He was wearing white on white all the way. Titus had picked out a pair of smooth, perfect white dress pants with a glossy white belt and white gold buckle. He wore polished white shoes and a white silken button up shirt, open at the top two buttons.

Titus smiled and nodded at each person who looked his way, tossing greetings and shaking hands as he moved gradually through the crowd. There had been a wonderful turnout, for which the master mage was wonderfully glad. He was happy to see everyone again, and to see everyone together and having fun. Truly, it was the way their fellowship should have stayed and he hoped – nay – he would ensure in the future that it would forever remain.

He was keeping his eyes out for Sky though; again, he wondered how far his interest in her was going. He spotted her out though before too long. She was oddly dressed for her usual taste, but she looked spectacular as always. “There you are my dear.” He smiled widely while sliding his arm around the small of her back and placing a soft kiss on the top of her head.

[Sky]

Sky felt his hand sliding over the small of her back and just the feel of his hand and the way it moved over her, she didn’t have to look up or even wait for him to talk before she knew who it was and she smiled as he placed the soft kiss on her head.

“Hi sexy.” She sated as she turned around then on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek before settling back again and moving into him slightly as he held her around the waist. “Seems we’ve quite the turnout.” She then stated, looking around with her dark orbs for a moment before looking upwards at Titus once more and offering him a pleased smile.

The ones she’d been talking to made their greeting to Titus as well and after a bit, Ivan finally showed up with her drink.

“Oh you found me.” Sky said as she reached out and plucked a cup of freshly poured ale from the other Mage’s hand.

“Well, I kind… got dis.racted on the way.” He replied, his tone a bit subdued now that Titus had taken up the position he had wanted earlier. “Hullo, Ti..us.” He said in greeting to Titus in his drunken slur. “You shhhhh.. ure.. you two not… “ He gave Titus a look and an assuming grin. “Cu… ain’t no.. n else.. getting att..n..tion f..m her.” He finished as he half drank, half spilt a little ale from his own tankard.

Sky laughed. “He’s a little drunk, he left to get me a drink quite a while ago, of course, I must admit, I’ve been tugged around a bit since then.” She giggled slightly.

[Titus]

Titus returned greetings to all the mages in the circle of conversation, and raised a brow at Ivan when the man appeared with his presumptuous grin. “Perhaps you’ve gotten ahead of yourself Ivan, you should drink some water and spill less ale. Perhaps Ariel can give you a hand with that.” The old mage winked at the younger one, hoping he would take the bait. Ivan had obviously been having fresh thoughts toward Sky, and Titus was unsure how he felt about that. Ariel would be likely to douse the other mage for such ideas.

As Ivan paused for a moment, taken a little aback, Titus stepped to the side and slid his hand from the small of Sky’s back around her waist to her lower abdomen where it met his other hand pressed softly against her bare skin. “You’re easy to spot my dear, you’re positively stunning.” He whispered in her ear while looking out at the crowd of mages.

“I should grab a drink and make some rounds.” Titus said, then kissed her lightly on the head and leaned his head back from Sky’s ear as he looked around the little gathered circle of lady mages. “I’ll be back around to visit you fair ladies shortly.” He slid his hands both a slight bit up Sky’s abdomen before sliding them back around her waist and off her body.

After detaching himself from his old friend, Titus walked casually away on his way to grab that drink he had mentioned. He was thinking still on what he had been wondering over the last number of days; what the desires were that had been forming in his life since growing a taste for close knit ties and family bonds. He was thinking on the new way in which he was thinking he may have been seeing his dear old friend. The way he had touched her as he left her a moment ago was strong on his mind. Had he been too suggestive? Was he stepping further than he should? He hoped that he wasn’t making any mistakes; those were always terribly awkward. He didn’t even understand the way he was feeling, let alone want to risk anything for it.

[Sky]

Sky gave a few of the other girls standing around grimace when Titus spoke to Ivan about his drink and of Ariel’s ability to care for him. The other girls all smiled at her and silent ‘girl’ conversation moved between them all as Titus spoke.

The moment Titus moved in and slid his hands about Sky in the manner he did, pressing ever so slight in that manner then whispered into her ear, it was all she could do to keep herself breathing. Her mouth suddenly went dry and her eyes even closed slightly, her lips parting just slightly before she was able to catch herself, just in time to nearly loose her breath again when he moved away.

‘Ok…” She started and had to take a breath before continuing. “I’ll see you in a little bit.” She managed before he walked away to find himself that drink as she drank three quarters of the one she had in her hand in one long draw and then smiled at the other girls who instantly began whispering and giggling, as girls would. Which if you thought about it, was a sight, considering each one of them was perhaps at the youngest two hundred years of age.

Whatever had just passed between them was far and beyond a simple friendly encounter as a matter of fact, there was nothing simple about it at all. Sky found herself thinking even more on that bit of jealousy she had encountered earlier in the evening as she and Titus had ordered the food for this nights rather good-sized party that was well underway. When she was in mid-thought however, Ariel came up to her all excited and pulled her to the side with wide eyes and a wider grin.

“Oh no Ariel, I am NOT drunk enough for that just now.” Sky tried to object, but Ariel would hear nothing of it.

“Oh come ON Sky, I AM drunk enough and I can’t do it alone, you know I need you with me in this one, and Josiah is here with his bongos and he said he’d do it!” Ariel pleaded, giving Sky those puppy dog eyes complete with her little squeaky whimpering.

“Oh ok then.” Shy agreed and was instantly pulled away and rushed through the crowd to where the Mage sat waiting for the girls, he’d already been warming up and getting people interested and focused on the spot where the girls were about to dance.

“Show off Ariel, if we do this, we do it right.” Sky said as she stepped out of her her shoes and with a giggle stepped up on ‘stage’ so to speak along with Ariel.

The two girls stepped up together, each facing a different direction and twisted left and right arm from elbow to wrist, about one another’s, without touching. And that’s when Josiah began with the beat, first one then two sharp beats on the drums and the girls hips moved sharply with each beat, and then the boy started faster and faster as they went, each beat matched perfectly with the girls hips moving as they preformed a sort of belly dance they had obviously done many times before together. Each time they switched directions their arms would wind around one another’s and never once did their bodies stop moving, either fast or slow, when slow, they moved their hips sharply either thrusting to the right or left, all the while their feet keep in a separate time and beat to make for a very interesting dance indeed, sometimes leaning backwards their hips still shaking as they did, arms coming untwisted as they moved apart, only to come together again as they raised up again. Then suddenly the bongos moved insanely fast with both girls keeping in time for several moments before the beat stopped all together sharply and with no warning and the girls did too, as if all three were attached in some manner and Sky a and Ariel moved away, giggling at one another as they slipped their shoes back on and thanked Josiah for his part, as well to the applause of the crowd.

“Oh, always a pleasure ladies.” He grinned widely at them as Sky snatched up her ale which had been mysteriously refilled and took a drink.

Ariel gave Sky a kiss on the cheek and Sky just laughed. “I can’t believe you just made me do that in front of all these people.” Sky shook her head.

“Oh come on Sky, you do it ALL the time down on the beach.” Ariel smirked at her.

“Ya, after about half a bottle.” Sky laughed and put an arm around the others shoulder as they walked back to where Ariel had found her.

[Titus]

Titus had been talking to a couple mages near the steps when the music started. At first he had glanced over in mid conversation and smiled at the beginning entertainment. As the girls got up on stage though, he became more transfixed, drink in hand, staring at Sky as she danced. The other mages had continued to talk, but soon realized that their master was no longer paying attention. They too of course were enjoying the scene, but they were also grinning in amusement at how captivated Titus was. Women weren’t the only ones who had their own silent lingo.

When the dance was over and the music stopped, Titus suddenly realized after a moment that he was gazing and he shook his head to snap out of it. “I’m sorry boys, what was that?” he looked back to the two mages and took a sip of his drink.

“That was hot.” One of them answered, and the other laughed and nodded.

Titus smirked and shook his head. “Where were we though?” his new fixation with his old friend was still odd to him, and he was almost embarrassed at his lack of subtlety.

“I don’t remember.” The other mage replied, shaking his head. “You weren’t the only one watching the show you know.”

Titus grinned, and then a woman wandered hastily over and stepped between Titus and the two men. It was Shauna and she had both her hands against the master mage’s chest. She was a little drunk already, and she was pushing Titus away from his conversation.

Titus looked down at the small mage in confusion. She was pushing him purposefully backwards, guiding him towards Sky; though he didn’t know it. “What are you doing?” he laughed as he stepped quickly backwards where he was being pushed to.

“I’ve been watching too long.” Shauna had her head down like a charging bull while she pushed Titus, which worried him and he glanced back to make sure he wasn’t running into anyone since Shauna wasn’t looking where they were going. “Open your damn eyes Titus.”

The next time Titus looked back, he was about to bump into Sky’s back. It was too late to stop, but Shauna let go and walked passed him without a word as soon as he bumped his old friend. Titus turned to face Sky and grinned humorously as he put a hand on either of her shoulders. “I’m sorry dear, I didn’t mean to bump you.” He had leaned in again and was talking lightly into her ear like before, though not whispering that time. Shauna had moved on and was smiling and nodding at Ariel and the other mages Sky had been talking to, as if to silently say ‘There, it’s done; someone had to do it.’

[Sky]

Sky was standing there with Ariel, their laughter had subsided by now and then Ariel smiled at Sky and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek.

“Oh, I have to go and wake Ivan, I’m certain he’s sobered up a bit by now.” She commented, having saw what the other girl was doing out of the side of her eye. “I’ll talk to you later sweetie.” She said and gave Sky one last hug before turning around just as Titus would have been bumped into Sky’s back, and walked away with Shauna.

Sky took a step forward and then returned her foot back to where it had been when she was bumped from the back. She was just about to turn around to see who it was that had unceremoniously almost knocked her drink from her hand until she felt his touch and even before he spoke she knew who it was and she smiled even before his words came most welcomed to her ear. She then lifted her free hand to lay it over one of his.

“Oh I think I can forgive you easily enough, sexy.” She stated, leaning her head to the side slightly as his lips hovered over her ear.

She found suddenly that her heart had begun to race as he once again stood so close to her. She laughed then to try and cover it u and took a step forward, her hand sliding from his and turned to face him as she downed her ale in one long draw. She still wasn’t sure how she should deal with the way she was feeling towards him. Obviously however, the others in the room seemed to know, as it seemed that they had both been abandoned by the other mages who looked over at them periodically to see what they were doing.

“So, what you think?” She asked. “Ariel just wouldn’t take no for an answer, but it was fun.” She laughed again and then went quiet for a moment.

“Maybe this would be a good time to excuse ourselves from the festivities and go open that bottle.” She suggested, looking up at him with a warm smile, her eyes moving over the crowd once only to return to gaze up into his one again.

[Titus]

Titus wasn’t sure what it was that Sky was laughing about; he hadn’t said anything funny, and neither had she. It didn’t matter though, because before he could think about it, she had his mind off the fact. “I think it looked wonderful.” The old mage was looking his old friend over, up and down as he had done so many times before. This time though, it wasn’t on purpose and Titus’ tongue even threatened to pierce his lips and run across them; the tip of his tongue may have been seen through his closed lips.

“Very entertaining.” He caught himself, and though he was then busy thinking awkwardly about what he had just caught himself doing he looked her in the eyes and smiled warmly, taking his mind off her alluring body. What was it with him lately? He had been thinking of Sky in several new manners. Titus was feeling warm at the time; he may perhaps have been blushing. “It was good of her to make you join in the fun.”

“Perhaps now is a good time.” Titus slid both his hands over Sky’s waist as he faced her, and as his hands reached the small of her back he pulled her closer, then steps lightly to her side leaving his arms half wrapped around her waist. “Seems everyone here is up to having fun and blurring consciousness.” As he spoke, Titus pulled Sky partly in front of himself with his hands gripping her sides and pressed a light kiss on the top of her head as he aimed her for the stairs.

[Sky]

“Ya? You really liked it?’ She asked as he began to move his hands around her waist and then pulled her close and then in front of him as he agreed to the opening time for that bottle, the entire time her heartbeat raised a notch, but there truly was nothing she could do about it, and honestly, it was such a good feeling, she didn’t even want to fight it anymore anyway.

She was perhaps as confused as he was about the way she was feeling towards him. It was new and it was exciting. She’d always known that somewhere, there had to be something about him but she’d always chalked it up to their being such close friends, one could call them best of friends actually, as they always shared what they had on their plates, so to speak, with each another, they flirted constantly and have had a million or more laughs together. They had been friends for years and years and she didn’t know why she’d suddenly began to feel she wanted more from him lately, that being thought of, she was once more sent to the complete jealousy she’d felt so harshly in the store earlier that day not to mention the pure delight she felt in his simple touch as of late.

“Well, I have things packed over there, so moving my stuff will be easy enough tomorrow.” She then stated as she was ushered toward the stairs. “Oh, and you’ve got that field up, to keep the drunkenness where it belongs, right?” She then asked, thinking of whatever came to mind, rambling it seemed, just to keep her mind on something other than being held in this manner by Titus. She knew he would have; of course, she was just making conversation about random things to keep from thinking, or to keep her mind away from thinking.

[Titus]

“I loved it.” He replied, leaning forward so his lips were again next to Sky’s ear. His hands slid again around her waist to press softly just like before, against her lower abdomen. Titus gave his old friend – and new subject of affection – a kiss on the cheek, and then pulled back into step behind her, letting his hands slide back to her sides as they neared the steps.

“Actually, I hadn’t yet.” Actually he had been too distracted, but it hadn’t been a problem yet. “Everyone was too captivated by your dance to wander anyways.” He added, grinning from behind her. It was true too, but he had been more captivated than the others. “There will be a barrier behind us though once we pass the first flight of steps. Everyone seems to be moving along with the night, so you never know what will happen now.”

As they climbed that first flight of steps, many eyes were on the two elder mages. Once they were on the second floor, a light wake of wind thrust above and below the floor from where the steps passed through it. There was a solid barrier of air that would force anything back from it; it was like a powerful flat whirlwind, staying in place. From either side, it would look like a blurr; like looking through a foggy glass.

[Sky]

Sky half closed her eyes when Titus once more drew her close, sliding his hands over her abdomen as he had earlier and she couldn’t help but swallow to keep her throat from going dry as he held his face so close to her own, it was all she could do to keep herself from melting into the steps as they made their way up them all the same. She felt the use of his magic behind them as they moved up the stairs and as well, the eyes that followed them until they could no long see the pair as they moved further away and up the many steps to the top.

“Oh it wasn’t just me they were watching Titus, Ariel’s a hottie, to put it simply enough.” She then said with a half laugh. “But ya, well they don’t have us to dance for them any more, unless of course Ariel gets someone else to go up there with her later.” She continued with a smile. “She has that way, it’s those puppy-dog eyes, them damn cute eyes.” She giggled then. “Is her biggest weapon I think even before her elemental.” She gave a half laugh but was serious. “However, with mom and dad gone for the night, there’s no one else to keep them from having a whole lot of fun down there.” She then stated quite seriously.

They climbed the steps at a rather good pace, both of them accustomed to climbing the distance. Sky had climbed them so often throughout any given day that to be honest, probably climbed the entirety of the tower several times in any given day. So, it wasn’t long before they would reach the top. Once they had and they walked into Titus’s room Sky looked around and found where they had settled the bottle in question and regretful, she moved from his arms to go and pick it up from its resting place and turned to Titus.

“Well, would you like to do the honors?” She asked, extending the bottle out towards him to be opened all the while, her dark orbs looking at him with silent wonder. “Do you have glasses, I forgot those.” She then stated and asked all at once.

[Titus]

“She is too, it’s true.” Titus nodded while setting in step next to Sky with one arm still wrapped low around her waist. “She is a striking young woman, and you both put on an amazing show.” It was true too; the water mage was also a beautiful woman, but Titus had been stricken by Sky, and he knew for a fact that many other men were too. No matter the case though, those two women, especially together were quite the sight to see.

Titus laughed lightly at Sky’s quip of mom and dad. He initially thought of the obvious relationship mom and dad would have, but decided better of saying so since he was yet unsure. This was a complicated matter and though he had thought a lot on it lately, it had only been the last three days where he had been thinking that way. “I’m sure they’ll all have a blast, and I’m sure they’ll all be well enough off from it eventually.” Titus smiled as he thought of the comradery all the mages were sharing in at the time. It had been a fun time for him as well, being there with all those younger mages and simply casually socializing.

“It would be my pleasure.” He responded with a slight bow, and then took the bottle with one hand and opened a nearby drawer with the other. He withdrew a corkscrew and opened the bottle with it. Fog poured out of the bottle as the cork popped and released the well-aged seal. “I’m positive I have a couple glasses up here somewhere.” Titus smiled and took a couple steps to a cabinet where he opened a door and picked out two fine glasses between the fingers of his one free hand, then returned and set both glasses on the nearest table to the two of them and filled them each up.

Titus put the bottle down, handed Sky one glass and picked the other for himself. “To our ancient friendship,” the old mage started with a warm smile as he raised his glass towards Sky in a toast, “and to our new future, closer together.”

[Sky]

Sky laughed at his comment as to the recovery of the Mages downstairs. It was quite true, there would be a great many hangovers by morning and she was certain there would be a lot of healing magic being used to rid some of those hangovers too. It was however well worth it, as she was certain they all would agree. It had been a fun night, and she was happy to have gotten the chance to mingle with all of them and extraordinarily pleased that Titus got the chance to converse with so many as well.

After he had taken the bottle, and plucked the glasses from a cupboard nearby, she smiled up at him as he handed her the full glass and smelled the light fragrance of the well aged wine as he made his toast.

“I’ll drink to that.” She replied with a simply happy smile as she raised the glass to her lips and took a good drink of the wine. “Mmm, this is wonderful.” She stated shortly.

She thought about things for a moment and then she too raised her glass and smiled at him. “As well, to a successful party.” She then stated. “And to the best friend a person could ever have.” She continued with the warmest of smiles at Titus. “As well, may we continue to grow closer and be together for eternity.” She lifted her glass to his, her smile ever-present, as it always would be.