The Hottest Forge (orcus/LeatrixSage)

"How could I resist such a temptation?" It was obvious sarcasm, but Nerwen was grinning while she teased him. With a task to complete, a job to do, she could relax and focus. Working beside him had turned out to be far easier than talking to him. She waited until he was gone before she took a moment to stretch and wipe the sweat from her brow. Her hair was coiled in a tight knot on the back of her head, but several stringy peices had slipped free, become damp, and were now clinging to her forehead and the back of her neck. It was just the heat from the forge combined with the humid warmth of the evening air, but it was smothering. The shirt she wore beneath her vest was clinging to her skin, plastered there by sweat. She'd been through worse and tried to ignore it, contenuing on with her work at a slow, steady, perfectionist's pace.

She was nearly done with her task when she realized not only was the Drow not back, but the glow from the forge had dimmed drastically. She had only noticed because it had become difficult to see her own progress with one of the links. Sighing, she walked around to the bellows, bent down, and pressed the heavy organ to force air into the forge. The glow flared, and dimmed back away. Trying to use her arms to do all the work was going to wear her down quickly, not to mention putting an ache in her back adn shoulders that would last for days.

Frustrated, Nerwen stopped and glanced around the forge. A Small bit of rope caught her attention, and she grinned as ideas formed. As she took up the rope, she tested it, making sure it would support her weight. Once assured, she tossed it over a rafter and tied it off, wrapping the long free end around her hands and wrists. Placing one foot on the end of the bellows, Nerwen pushed down and lifted herself up by the rope. Her body weight easily pushed the bellows down, gravity aiding her work. Letting her weight shift to her back foot, the bellows rose. It was slow work, but much faster than trying to just use her arms. Much easier, as well. And so she stood, the forge flaring and dimming in steady pulses before her, her arms strung up high over her head, tangled in the rope, struggling to bring the fire in the forge back to a full burn to keep the room lit.

Nolo returned to the beautiful sight of this women who had bound herself and was lifting up and down. She was covered in sweat and bouncing up and down. Nolo couldn't help remembering the woman who had taught him all about bondage and domination. "Very nice." He said as he walked up with their food. "You figured out to do that your own. Good. Keep doing it."

Nolo dragged a metal rack out from under his table and attached it to the forge. He pulled a sheet of ribs out of his basket and laid them on it. They started sizzling. He pulled a jar out of his basket and pored it over the ribs. He started spreading it with a brush and turned the ribs over with tongs and did the same thing on the other side.

"I hope you can eat pig. I'm sure as hell not going to eat all these ribs by myself." He tuned them back over and stood up. "I'll be right back." He opened the door to his house and from the angle Nerwen was handing she would be able to what looked like shackles hanging from the sealing. He came back out with plates and a knife.

"Will do," Nerwen huffed softly from exsertion. She watched the Drow begin to prepare their food, the sight and scents making her mouth water. "Of course I can eat pig," she laughed at his remark, "I just try not to eat it every day."

She watched as he walked away, her eyes at first lingering on his bare back until the door to his home opened. It was the soft sheen of something silver-toned that caught her attention, and at the sight of the shackles, Nerwen stiffened. Her mind tripped over itself to invent reasons for those shackles to be there, but the more obvious answer was likely the right one. Glancing up at her hands, she wondered if maybe this method of working the bellows wasn't the best after all.

Deciding there was little she could do about it now, she stuck to her course and pretend she hadn't seen anything. He came back with plates and a knife, and Nerwen put her attention back to re-awakening the forge. She worked the bellows while he cooked the pork ribs. Their sweet smell seemed to fill the air quickly, and she waited eagerly for them to finish cooking.

Nolo stabbed the ribs and pushed one side of the meat over so he could see it it was cooked all the way through. "You walked into town. So you probably want a little more of this than a typical girl you size." He cut the ribs in half and slid one onto his plate. "Eat your fill. Morning's still a while off."

He left the knife for her and ripped one of the hot ribs off. He wasn't very quiet about chewing it up and eating it. He was taking his time and enjoying it. "One of my 'consorts' gave me this sauce. There's noting finer in the whole valley."

Nerwen untangled her hands from the rope and stepped away from the bellows. She took a moment to catch her breath, and then came around to here the Drow had already began to eat. Where as he was right, she would probably eat the entire half of the rack he had left for her, she cut it in half once more before sliding the ribs onto her plate. He wasted no time on ceremony, and neither did she. She ripped a rib free from the set she had and bit eagerly into the warm meat.

She chewed more thoughtfully after his comment about the sauce. It really was fantastic, and she had to wonder why she was less enthusiastic about the meal now that she knew it was partially provided by one of his flings. After cleaning one bone of every scrap of meat it could provide, Nerwen licked her lips clean and ripped free another.

"She may have not been morally sound, but at least she was a good cook." It was a flippant comment, maybe even a little teasing. The ribs were very good, indeed. "Although, I have had better." She glanced at the Drow, grinning a little as she took another healthy bite. "Of course, that was far outside this valley."

"There's nothing immoral about her." He said with a side ways glance between chews. He had to finish another rib before he could respond to her second comment. "You would have to go pretty far to find better sauce. You'd also have to pay money for it." He chuckled. "When people give each other pleasure they grow to like one another. We're a community here. We need one another so it's important that we all find ways to get along."

"As if a Drow could claim having a moral compass that actually pointed north." The comment was out of her mouth before Nerwen even realized what she was saying. Once it was said, there was little she could do outside of blushing in a mixture of self-condemnation and embarrassment. Never in her life had she been so careless with her own words. Particularly not to her betters.

He's not better, she mused as she finished her second rib and set the bone on her plate. He's a Drow. She frowned at the thought, and then set her plate and the few ribs she hadn't yet touched aside. Her stomach twisted, still hungry, but not wiling to eat anymore. That way of thinking was exactly what made her an outcast in her mother's world.

"A community," she mused aloud. "It's just a word for a place where many homes and families are forced to share the same space."

Her apatite thoroughly ruined, Nerwen turned away, and then realized she had no idea what to do with the dirty plate. Turning, she tapped the edge of the plate as she asked, "Where should I put this? And the left overs, where would you like them put?"

Nolo hadn't heard that ward since he was a child. He barely even knew what it meant anymore. Still, the fact that this outsider who he was sharing his food with was insulting him in this way. Than he listened to what she said next. "We aren't 'forced' to live together. You don't seem to like other people very much. Maybe you should take a closer look at your morals before condemning others for not living up to them." He yanked the plate away and stormed into his house.

((His house looks like some kind of plush dungeon with furniture designed to hold women in helpless positions to be pleasured. There are also painting and illustrated that display all sorts of sex acts.))

Nerwen jerked slightly, more out of surprise than anything else, when he snatched the plate from her hands. She couldn't have expected any better, not after what she had said. Sighing, Nerwen turned on her heels and trotted after him. "Wait, let me explain..." her words trailed off as she stepped inside his house. Eyes wide, she looked around slowly, whatever it was he had been going to say so far from her mind that she couldn't have hoped to remember it even to save her life.

Half of the things she saw she didn't fully understand, but the pictures... those she couldn't help but understand. Horrified and fascinated, she moved from one to another in an obvious display of how naive the young half-elf really was. She stopped in front of one and frowned slightly, studying it. It seemed to be a half-elf woman like herself, her hair cut short, showing the slight points of her ears. The man beneath her had long hair, she couldn't tell for sure what race he was, but he was holding her arms to keep her in place. Another was kneeling behind her, this one a Drow like her host, with a tight grip on her hips. The woman seemed to be rather enjoying herself, with her head flung back, her eyes closed, and her mouth open in a silent scream.

Nerwen's frown grew as she backed away from the image, wanting to block it out but finding it hard to look away.

Nolo stepped between her and the painting. He had no trouble blocking her sight of it with his wide and bare chest. "This is why I told you not to come in here. I know it seems strange, but these are the things that the women who come to see me want. I make them feel good. Better than anything else." He pointed in the direction of the door. "The only people allowed in here are those who understand or are willing to understand. If you aren't ready than you need to stay out there."

She nearly jumped out of her skin when the painting vanished behind the broad expanse of the Drow's chest, one arm rising slightly as if to defend herself from an attack. Nerwen stared up at him as he spoke, shocked that she was afraid of him. "I'm sorry I..." Her eyes darted around the room as she backed away. He was right, she didn't understand any of this. "I just wanted to apologize." Her eyes swung back to him, and she stared for a moment, before turning and fleeing right back into the forge, the door slamming sharply at her back. As soon as it shut, she leaned back against it. Her heart was pounding so hard she heard it in her ears.

"Breathe," she whispered to herself, forcing her lungs to take a long, deep drag on the hot, humid air. Gradually, her heart slowed, and Nerwen pushed herself away from the door. She wondered to the few links she had not completed, and made herself begin the work again. The physical task gave her something to distract her mind with, but it didn't help much. Instead, the image of the Drow in the painting and the striking figure he cast were blending somewhere in the back of her mind, causing a stirring she was bound and determined to ignore.

Nolo sighed at her. She really was a hand full. He took a moment to grab another rib and began to eat it as he walked back out to the forge. He was glad to see that she was still there even if she was only toiling away at the links. For a while he thought it best to simply let her think on what she had seen. He glanced at her now and again. When she finished the last link he picked up another ingot. "I need to make a shovel head. If you want to stay than work the bellows, but I'll understand if you want to leave."

"I need the work," she answered simply, but quietly. "And," she thought it was fair to add, "I have nowhere else to go."

She returned to the bellows, reaching high to catch the rope and tangle it securely around her hands and fingers again. Amusement at herself sparked a small laugh as she placed one foot on the bellows and again started the trying task of pushing air through the forge. Earlier she had seen shackles and thought perhaps basically stringing herself up had been a bad idea. Now she had seen far more, and she was more afraid of standing close to the man.

In time, thoughts faded as she settled into her task. The groan of the bellows, crackling of the fire, and the tinging ping of the hammer the Drow used to shame the steel where all the sounds that filled the night. In time, she was again coated in a thin sheen of sweat, and occasionally, when the light caught his skin just right, he seemed to be as well. It was hard work, but it was honest, and she could live with that. He was strange, but he seemed a good man, if not the kind she was accustomed to. She could live with that, too.

Nolo was hammering on the metal meticulously now. A shovel head was one of the simplest things to make. It didn't take him long to have the basic shape done. He glanced over at her from time to time. The silence was good enough for him. He didn't know if she would truly stay or go. Once he was done with the hard part he got started on the rest of it. He began to carefully curve the iron where the wooden handle would go.

Nolo glanced over at Nerwen just in time to see her coming down on the rope. She was sweaty from the work and looked so very sexy. But he brought his attention back to the work and focused on making the shovel head into just the right shape. When he was done he dipped it into the water so it could cool. The water hissed at the shovel head and steam burst from the bucket for a moment. He set the shovel head aside.

"The next order is a basic dagger. I want you to take the hammer for this one." He stood up and left the hammer and the last third of the ingot for her. "just heat the metal and shape it like you've seen me do all night. You want to make it long, narrow and flat."

Nerwen froze when he spoke, surprised by the sound of his voice. The silence had become comfortable, even familiar, and she hadn't expected him to hand off his hammer so soon. She had to mentally shake herself to get her thoughts straight, and then shifted to work on getting her hands free.

"How long do I heat the metal?" she asked as she worked her hands. Slowly, panic began to settle in. Sometime during her work, she had managed to get the rope tangled around her hands far more than she had intended. "Shit," she gasped, yanking at one arm and then the other, even pulling herself to stand on the bellows while she struggled. It was no use, her fingers just couldn't reach the knot.

Feeling defeated, Nerwen looked helplessly at the broad expanse of the Drow's back. She licked her lips nervously, and then called out weakly. "Would you... would you help me, please? I... I seemed to get myself stuck."

Nolo took a moment to admire her as she dangled helplessly by the rope. She was so sexy there. She chuckled away his thoughts and walked around behind her. He put on arm around her waist and lifted her up, holding her against him as he freed her from the ropes. Once her arms were loose he carried her over to the anvil and plopped her down on the stool. "You heat the metal until it goes from red to bright yellow. And when you shape it you always hit the anvil every other hit to knock off any splinters."

Nerwen clenched her jaw as his eyes traveled over her, a light to them that she was certain she shouldn't welcome. She swore she felt where hie eyes travel and where they lingered. When he finally chuckled and came around to help her, Nerwen let out a breath she hadn't known she had been holding only to suck it right back in on a gasp as his arm slipped around her waist. Hard muscle grew taunt just beneath her breasts as he pulled her back and lifted her up. He lifted her as if she weighed little more than a child, and then held her against the broad expanse pf his chest. She could feel the heat of his skin sinking through her thin layers of clothing, and an involuntary shiver ran up her spine, leaving her trembling slightly while he freed her hands.

She expected him to set her down immediately, but when he didn't, there wasn't much she could do beyond let him carry her. By looking at him alone, she hadn't been able to judge just how strong he really was. When he finally set her down, she could breath again, even if her hands were shaking a little. She listened to his instructions, and then nodded mutely as she set to her task, praying it brought her mind away from how it had felt to have his body pressed so tightly against her back... that image in the panting flashed through her mind, and she blushed as she stabbed the steal into forge and watched it's colors slowly shift.

Nolo kept his mind on her work as she heated the metal. She was being very careful about letting it get hot enough, but there was such a thing as the metal getting too hot. "That's enough, pull it out or you'll loose some." His voice was calm but commanding as he instructed her. "Now start shaping it at the tip. The thinner the better. Just let the hammer do the work."

Nerwen only nodded in response to to his directions, more focused on her task than worried about answering him. It took more time and care than brute strength to hammer the metal down. Stroke by stroke forcing it into shape she wanted. It surprised her how quickly the metal cooled and how often she had to press the slowly forming blade back into the flames to keep it malleable. Working the metal into a thin strip became simpler as she worked, slowly learning her own way of manipulating the steel into doing what she wanted it to do.

She shaped it as she was used to seeing daggers, with the slightly raised spine and long tang so common among Elvin weapons. She lifted the dagger, taking in it's crude form. The tip and sides narrowed into thin sheets, the tang was nearly as wide as the blade, and the added wait of a handle should balance it out beautifully. Not perfectly, she was sure, but at least well. Holding it with the tongs, she stabbed the carefully shaped bit of metal into the water, listening to the satisfying hiss as steam billowed up.

Nolo watched her work carefully. She was going for a more elven style, but that wasn't bad. Ultimately he was satisfied with the nascent dagger she produced. He walked over one side of his shop and opened another hatch in the wall. This one held a large grindstone and subtle ruts in the shop floor turned out to be something of a track as he dragged the heavy machine from its hiding place. He patted the seat and pointed at the peddle. "Sit here and push on that with your foot. It'll take it a bit to get up to full speed but we're in no rush."

"This, at least, I have done before." Nerwen smiled as she walked over to sit on the seat and rest a foot familiarly on the peddle. The rhythm of peddling the heavy stone came back quickly, and she waited patiently for it to get to it's full speed before leaning over the wheel and slowly drawing the edge of the dagger at an angle across the stone, working from the base to tip so that it would keep a smooth, fine edge that wouldn't stick when it is used. Her focus narrowed, blotting out the rest of the forge and Drow, honed in on the simple task of creating the finest edge she could without taking too much from the width of the blade.

Nolo watched with a stern face, unblinking as she sharpened the blade to sharpness. Once he saw that her form was excellent, he pulled a box out from under the work bench.He pulled out two little pieces of wood that had already been shaped and a length of leather. He placed them on the bench. "If you get done sharpening before I get back than tie this handle on and wait for me. I'll be back as soon as I can." He picked up the box that held the things he created first and started walking.

((he'll be gone for a bit longer than he expects. Long enough for Nerwen to get herself into trouble if you like.))

"All right, I will," Nerwen called over her shoulder. She glanced back to watch him leave, and then settled back into her task. She lost track of time while she worked, testing the sharpness of the blade before she moved on to the next step. The handle did not take much time, and Nerwen spent a while playing with the dagger to feel it's weight and balance. It was not perfect, but she was satisfied that it was a quality piece.

She set it aside and glanced around the forge. It was dim again, and the Drow hadn't returned yet. Nerwen considered working the bellows, but decided against it. She did not want to chance getting tangle while she was alone. The thought made her feel vulnerable, and she shivered despite the heat.

Her stomach growled, and Nerwen set a hand to her stomach. She really should have eaten more. Her eyes settled on the door to his home. There was still plenty of that pork, and he had already been gone so long that she didn't expect him back any time soon. Deciding that if she was going to eat, she had best do it now rather than later, she slipped quietly passed the door and into his home. She kept her eyes on the ground, ignoring the strangeness of his home, and didn't let her eye wonder until she found the plates and the pork.

Feeling ravenous, she ripped a rib free and began to eat. She savored every bite, but it seemed like it took no time at all before she had stripped four ribs clean. Finally feeling full, she started making her way back out. Half way to the door, curiosity got the better of her, and Nerwen started examining the Drow's home more thoroughly. It seemed that every where she looked all she saw was another tool for sex. She stumbled upon a small collection of toys, wondering absently why he would keep those around while she examined the small differences between each piece.

As she went along, she started to wonder how this Drow felt about his life. Was it full or incomplete. Were the carnal pleasures enough? Did he ever feel used by these women and then discarded when they had gotten what they came for? Her musing kept her busy and drew a new picture of the unusual man. A surface drow that plied an honest trade while filling his life with the bodies of women.

Nolo had set out to deliver the sex toys to the buyer. She was quite pleased to have them even if she was far too shy to admit it. She hadn't really expected him to drop them off so early, but was quite pleased. She even baked him an apple pie. Of course he had to wait for her to bake it, but he was fine with that. The smell was wonderful. He couldn't wait to get home and share it with his new apprentice.

When he arrived at his forge he noticed a lack of sound first. Than he saw that the forge had gone dark. He looked around for the little elf who had been helping him all day, but didn't see her anywhere outside. He felt a little sad as he assumed this meant she had moved on while he was gone. He had been kind of rough on her all day, and she had some pretty strong feelings about his sexuality.

Nolo held the pie in one hand and opened the door to his house only to be surprised to find Nerwen in there and unless his eyes deceived him she wasn't freaking out. He stepped in and placed the pie on his table. "This is a tip from our client. She really liked the items you helped make so you get some pie to."

Nerwen nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard his voice. She couldn't believe she hadn't noticed him, but she had been engrossed in her explorations. "You get strange tips from your clients." Trying not to look embarrassed, she walked over to the door, resting one hand on the wood panels. "I only helped make one piece, and I just had a good bit of the ribs." She wasn't entirely sure why, but sitting down and eating pie with him just seemed far too intimate. She fidgitted a moment, realizing that there wasn't likely an inn open anymore for her to get a room. Absently, she wondered if the Drow would allow her to sleep in the forge. "Maybe I'll have some tomorrow if I managed to secure that apprenticeship?"