Nirael found himself shocked to the very core of his essence, the realization striking that he had tangled himself into a web of beings far more powerful and with far-reaching consequences easily felt beneath the surface as he beheld the sight of the two memories, the image he had never expected to learn. The very reason for this journey, this task he'd undertaken, and the people standing proud and strong there in the village, Nirael could not help but wonder if he had been so selfish and self-indulgent he had become blind to the beauty of the place and blind to the clues that should have keyed him in on things earlier? Yet hindsight was always clearer than the vision seen along the path, and he would have to see what the path would be once the memories had run their course.<br/><br/>He could find a bit of sympathy for Teimu's wandering nature, but at the same time a bit of embarrassed guilt. Being a child of such travels left in the wake of a wanderer, he could understand the disruption it could be to a life, and especially with powerful lives. To indulge in free passions was one thing, to chase them was an option that could be taken, but he hoped that those who took a wanderer's road learned to protect their partners from at least unwanted surprises. He hoped that the imprisonment of this being had taught it about the things that lay in horizon, the consequences of a scoundrel's wandering journey. Just as he felt he had become a touch more mature along the way himself, he was still a shameless scoundrel but at least he hoped to have improved to a point where his care for those he lay down with could be seen. Hopefully so would this Teimu as well once his imprisonment came to an end.<br/><br/>Finding himself back in the Matriarch's arms and shuddering with pleasure embracing her tightly, he listened to her tale while seeking both her bliss and his own, but paying more attention to the words being spoken than in the desires flourishing within, he wanted to make sure not to miss anything crucial because of the heat in those moments. The realization of how they had come to be here, and even on his own line at the end, he shuddered as passion took both of them in that time.<br/><br/>Shaken and breathing with rapture, he listened to her words after the peak he worried about the implications of how close things had gotten. Rather than a fight against a kobold horde or a battle with a fiend, he was facing the crisis of these brave people who had stood guard but now found themselves in peril because of choices made by others in the times past. Panting warmly and nodding his head in understanding, and acceptance, he signalled his willingness to take up the task.<br/><br/>To say he was surprised when Mara revealed herself as more than she had seemed was to call water a little wet. He liked to think he could understand a lover and seek to fulfill desires both his own and those of his companion when it came to intimacy, but he had been proven to be almost notoriously good at missing some hints, some of which should have been as clear as an iron mace to the face. The voice and the touch were familiar, the realization who he was really dealing with another. All this time he had feared a battle with a fiend he could not hope to win against without going outside the normal constrictions of a challenge, yet he had not anticipated the revelation, and it embarrassed him that he had already treated Mara poorly in the past.<br/><br/>The days in their journey, hurried as they were, had left Mara unfulfilled and wanting when it came to the intimate embraces and the exploration of those passions. He had sympathized with her tale, wondering how much of it was factual and how much was just part of the cover as the revelations came, but the end result remained he had not cared for her as well as he should have, and though he feared the fiend as a foe yet readied to face it to a bitter end if need be, to realize the truth like this he was unsure how to take it. The previous plans pretty much had to make way to a new one, to yield ground for a different kind of a match then. At least he believed that Mara would give him a chance in the end, a chance to prove himself to Mara'adaki'zain.<br/><br/><strong>"Then I shall give you all I have to show in order to convince you, and I will admit despite my surprise I am relieved that it is you whom I face. Our dance before has been but a prelude has it not?"</strong>He smiled in a warm, relaxed fashion while caressing back against Mara's side with one hand, another giving a pat to the Matriarch's side as he gazed back at the fiendess over his shoulder, seeking her lips.<strong>"I may offer my prayer to Shoni but I never deny that Ah'mie's faith has its place, and her magic has shown itself life-saving in circumstances, and life-enriching in others."</strong>He smirked a bit, thinking back at the delight of exploring Mara's tastes before the priestess' gaze, unaware that he was fooled at a certain level, and yet without any hostility for that deception as he found in the end, the reason was solid and though he feared a final battle and stood resolved to walk into it, this challenge had become a lot closer to him quickly, and he would not wish to displease Mara, fiendess or not.<br/><br/><strong>"You have but to name your terms, though if I were to dare guess..."</strong>He ran his hand down to give a warm pat to her backside with his hand, a playful smile on his lips.<strong>"..I'd take it that it is not his wanderlust trait that is being put to question... but the leanings towards the primal, and what passions have been inspired by that?"</strong>He quietly wondered if he should seek to call out a few force toys for aid in the play if it was that, if he should seek to restrain her, yet at the same time wondering if using any of those would lessen his image. In the end, perhaps what would be called would be his touch. Of course he could find himself entirely wrong there, but he did wonder. Returning his gaze to the matriarch, he bowed his head slightly and gently began to pull back some, to slip out of the intimate embrace though with a hand at her still in those moments, merely seeking to stand free if the test was primal in nature.<strong>"I thank you, m'lady, for the answers to many a question in mind before, and the most blissful embrace, and beg forgiveness from parting from the glow so soon but I would not do to ask for delay when so much is at stake."</strong><br/><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">ooc</div><div class="spoiler_body">He's hoping for a bit of confirmation to his suspicions, a bit small in terms of actual progress on my part I know but I can post another reply after he's confirmed what's on his mind. I apologise for the inconvenience. </div></div>