Cassius' Shop of Jeweled Wonders

[Red Gypsy]

Vihata

Cassius simply nodded and smiled, "My shift into my mere form isn't painful, more freeing. But the shift back to my human form is painful. I guess because it's not a natural form for me. I don't know about other mermaids, but they tend to stay in their mere forms all the time, so I guess it's the same for them," he explained softly.

As Kota settled in against him, he found that he had to keep his hand moving through his hair and down his back over and over. He felt him relaxing against him and rested his cheek against his silky hair and closed his own eyes, finding himself speaking again before he could stop himself, "Stay with me tonight? I'm not asking for anything beyond this. I just want to go to sleep holding someone, nothing more for tonight... If you're not ready for it, I understand..." he said in a soft whisper.

He found that he loved this moment, simply holding someone just to hold them. It was such a simple thing, he knew, but profoundly pleasurable on its own. Add to that that he'd never actually slept with anyone, as in only sleeping next to someone simply holding them. That mark of trust he'd never had before now, but with Kota it felt right to him.  

[Red Gypsy]

Vihata

Cassius was disappointed but did understand that it was too soon. After Kota left, he stayed on the beach for a little longer. He felt his body cooling where Kota had sat against him, telling him that he hadn't dreamed it.

When he was certain of himself and his reactions, he stood up and gathered the blanket and dishes from their meal and packed them away into the basket before carrying it into the building. He cleaned the dishes and put them away, did the same for the blanket and hung it up to dry, and then headed upstairs to sleep.

Entering his bedroom, he paused to look it over. He noted that the entire room was decorated with seduction in mind, a habit he hadn't been able to break. But the bed was the crowning glory of the entire room, a poster bed that easily took up one entire end of the room with gauzy curtains hanging around it. Only the colors were soothing, all natural shades manipulated so that they added to the subconscious part of seduction.

He gave a small sigh and finished entering the room and stripped down before crawling between the silk sheets. He laid there awake for a long time before he finally went to sleep, Kota's eyes figuring prominently in his dreams.

When he finally woke up, he found himself frustrated by his body's demands and pushed them down as he got up and dressed before heading downstairs. He did a little bit of work to help himself relax and cast another spell to reinforce the shields on the onyx pieces in the building. He was interrupted a few times to sell simpler pieces to some of the villagers, but found himself working on a commission for one of the residents of the castle who had also supplied the gemstone for it, a large piece of rare black jade.  

[Red Gypsy]

Cassius knew something was wrong the moment the small owl flew in through his open double doors in an agitated state, barely getting the information he needed from the animal. He left a bowl of fruit nearby and told the little one to stay here then took off running towards the water, shedding his clothes on the way and diving into the water.  

[Red Gypsy]

Cassius returned to his section of beach and pulled himself up onto the sand, wondering if he should change back or wait. The answer was given in the form of the little owl flying over to land on the sand next to him with a worried trill, "He's fine. He's on his way back now. If you would do a big favor for me, though, I'd appreciate it, Little One. In the living room is a small wooden box on the table next to the big chair. It'll be easy for you to open. Inside is a necklace. It's the only thing inside the box. Would you bring it to me?" he asked the little one, gaining a pleased sound from it before it flew off to do as he asked.

It returned quickly with the necklace and he thanked it with a scratch behind his tiny ear tufts and waited for Kota to get here, hoping it wouldn't take too long.  

[Red Gypsy]

Vihata

Cassius was going to offer the necklace when Kota sat down, having admired the landing he'd made, but found himself very distracted when the man stripped off his jacket and shirt. The bare chest revealed was absolute perfection to him, and the perfect distraction. He wanted to touch him, send his hands moving over that chest and belly, tracing every muscle before he let his mouth follow...

He had to shake his head and blink to get his mind back where it needed to be, taking in a deep breath and finally offering a smile and the necklace. It was a simple piece of smokey quartz carved into a spiral shell, but carried the spells that would keep the piece from being damaged or lost as well as the important spell that would enable the wearer to breathe underwater.

"This is the necklace I promised," he said simply, pointedly ignoring the bird when it trilled teasingly at him for his distraction.  

[Red Gypsy]

Vihata

Cassius did a little pulling and shifting to get himself back into the water then swam around Kota a bit, enjoying the sight of him in the water. When he was in water up to his waist, Cass presented his back to him, "Grab onto my shoulders... Let me show you my world..." he said softly.

He waited until he felt Kota's hands on his shoulders holding tightly then swam them both out a bit further before diving under. Not much further out was the shelf of land that dropped off into deeper water.

Cass didn't hesitate and simply moved along that underwater cliff, moving slowly enough that Kota would be able to see wonders his people took for granted as the deeper corals let off their own soft light. He shifted out from under Kota's hands and took one of them in his, wanting to see his face as they moved further down.  

[Red Gypsy]

Vihata

Cass lead him even further down and smiled back at him, keeping hold of his hand now that he knew he was enjoying it. Just when the water was starting to get really cold, he shifted Kota's hands back onto his shoulders and took them both into a cave entrance hidden by a nicely placed ledge of rock.

As they went further into the hidden tunnel, the water warmed back up. They weren't in the tunnel long, though, finally emerging into a large pool of water that he swam up into, finally breaking the surface to reveal a cave lit by naturally florescent rocks. He took them over to a 'beach' formed of smooth stone and let Kota get out first then pulled himself up.

The cave was a natural sea of riches, gemstones of all kinds forming naturally along the walls and floor. None of it was onyx, though. Cass found that stone in a different cave system.

"Take a look around... This is where I collect most of my stones from. None of them all that rare, but none of the semi-precious variety either," he said softly. He had a pair of shorts nearby as well as a set of tools made for getting the stones loose as he needed them, but he didn't shift to his human form just yet.  

[Red Gypsy]

Vihata

Cass just smiled as he listened to Kota, "I take it that you like the place then?" he asked needlessly. While Kota was busy, he went through his shift. It was a slow process and painful for him, but he kept it quiet. When it was over, he put on his shorts and picked up the small chisel and hammer and offered them to Kota.

"Why don't you pick something you like, get a piece of it, and we'll take it back. I'll work on something special for you," he offered, keeping his voice soft so that it wouldn't echo in the cavern.

He leaned himself back against one of the rock formations since his legs weren't quite steady just yet. It would take him about thirty minutes to be steady on his legs but he felt it was worth it to see the look on Kota's face as he looked around at the gems and minerals.  

[Red Gypsy]

Vihata

Cassius simply smiled and nodded to his question then offered a small pouch to put the pieces into so that they could be carried easier. He always kept a few of them down here for that purpose, all of them waterproofed leather that held together nicely and could be used multiple times before he had to replace them.

"I'm fine. Just takes me a bit to get my land-legs back," he admitted softly, finding that he was enjoying Kota's enthusiasm over the cavern more than he usually enjoyed the place.

When he'd first found it, it had been a place of wonder to him. Then it had slowly become a simple resource for his craft once his shop had become more active. But now he was seeing it through Kota's eyes and remembering the joy he'd once had here.

"We can take two pouches back without any problems. So choose what you want with that in mind. We can always come back another time," he added and pointed to the piles of pouches he kept here, organized by their sizes. He only had one large pouch down here right now, draped over one particularly large piece of Malachite that he was intending to take out later on.