It would be weeks before Veleria and Adrian set off. During that time, Adrian did not once discuss the night that Veleria had cut herself. She, herself, chose not to mention it either. They had more pressing matters on their respective plates, what with Adrian preparing for their journey. She did her best to assist him; however, it was still that Adrian did not wish for her to expose herself more than she had to. At this point, Veleria felt he was being overly cautious.
There was fear in her, of course, but it had lessened since the revelation of that night. Now it was tempered with a growing curiosity.
Despite all this, Adrian had grown more accustomed to her presence. He acted more natural, and appeared to resume previous behaviors that he had curbed in her waking. The drinking didn’t change, but he wore less clothes, and she often heard women come around at night. His people, both men and women alike, also dropped by on occasion. They were kind to her. Veleria usually took a walk on the beach when Adrian’s female companions came by. They weren’t particularly loud, but she wanted to give them their privacy regardless.
On one such occasion she caught the lady of that night sitting on the porch. She was smoking some kind of long, skinny piece. The scent reminded her of a citrus plant she had seen once during a party she wasn’t technically invited to.
Veleria bowed her head on her way past, but the lady spoke before she could enter the cabin.
“Won’t you join me, dear?” She asked, head cocked in Veleria’s direction. The crimson smile on her face was genuine, further accentuated with a sweet pinkish hint by her dimples. Looking down at her, Veleria was momentarily taken aback by her beauty. There was a mole by one of her brown eyes that drew her in. Her equally natural hair gently framed her face with a few wayward curls.
Veleria sat by her, trying not to stare. On her chest was that all too familiar tattoo. The snake’s body appeared to curl between her breasts.
“It’s good to see you out and about,” the woman said. “I haven’t seen Adrian so worried about another person in such a long time.”
“Uhm,” Veleria cleared her throat. Her hands hung between her legs, and she started to rub them together nervously. She stole the occasional glance towards the woman, feeling her cheeks grow hot whenever she found herself staring. “He doesn’t need to worry.”
“Oh?” The lady shifted a little, her fingers dusting Veleria’s thigh. “Making a man like him feel something once in a while is good for him, don’t you think?” Then, she chuckled. “Well, other than the short-lived high from wetting his cock.”
Veleria’s lips thinned. While she wouldn’t consider herself prudish, this manner of conversation certainly wasn’t one of her strengths. But, it did make her think.
“What is he so worried about?” She asked, finally looking to the woman more seriously. She was still smiling, though she had extinguished the object she used to smoke. As she spoke her answer, the lady ran her fingers across Veleria’s chin, then combed her hair between them. She paused to feel the ribbon.
“Can a man like him really do right by you?” Her smile transformed into a grin. “He can be so impossibly obtuse at times.”
Veleria blinked, confused, as the woman got to her feet and dusted herself.
“By the by, I have to ask. Have you looked at yourself in a mirror lately?”
She hadn’t.
Taking her silence as her answer, the woman hummed. She then said, “Your eyes were green when I initially diagnosed your condition.”
Veleria tore away from the porch and ran inside.