asharpertongue | Let your hair down. (Closed

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Let your hair down. (Closed - For Levi) Fairy tale plot!

Lara had been riding for a solid day when she finally saw the tower her employer had laid out for her in the map Lara had been given.

In the setting sun, she looked the place over from a vantage point on a hill opposite and bit her lip, wondering how she was supposed to get in. The high walls of the castle below were in serious disrepair. Some had crumbled to just piles of rubble and the ones that hadn't looked treacherous to her eyes even from this distance. Maybe she could scale them but she would likely start a rockfall and get buried underneath it. Not worth the risk.

The tower itself though...that seemed relatively unaffected. Not that it had been repaired or bolstered in any way, just that time and nature didn't seem like they had been inclined to touch it. If she'd been a betting woman, she'd have put money on the tower being no more than twenty or thirty years old. Certainly far younger than the stones of the walls below it.

It was also at least twice as high as the highest of the walls below it. Lara groaned as she realised the rope and grapple she had brought was never going to reach the small window at the top.

She sighed and kicked her horses flanks to get it moving. At the base of the tower she set camp and lit a small fire, laying out her bedroll and putting a pot on to boil. Maybe inspiration would come after a hot meal and some sleep.

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Leviticus was bored. Just like yesterday. Just like the day before that. Just like the day before that. There was so little to do in his tower that he had done all that there was to do over and over. Even when his father came, calling "Leviticus, Leviticus, let down your hair!" so that Levi could lower his long hair and his father could climb up it.

He'd even gotten used to the pain of having his father travel up to give him his evening meal. Their conversation had been terse, Levi had long since stopped believing that he was in the tower to be protected. What he wanted was to be free, free despite how scary the world out his window seemed.

The morning was chilly but it was dewy and bright despite that. Lara stretched and shook off her blankets, standing hands on hips as she looked up at the tower.

"How the hell am I going to get up there?" She said out loud. Tapping her fingers on the amulet she'd hooked through her dagger belt, she cupped her free hand to her mouth and called up. "Hello in the tower!" If he was alone, he might give her a way up, if he wasn't...well that would at least tell her what she was dealing with.

The sound of the strange voice startled Levi awake. He thought he knew every noise it was possible to hear while in his tower but the voice of a stranger was new. Only his father had ever come to visit him for years now. Something new though was finally happening!

Rushing to the window he looked down out of it to the person at the base of the tower.

"Hello down there!"

Lara squinted up at the figure that leant out over the windows ledge. She couldn't make out much of him and he undoubtedly could see as little of her, but she smiled her best smile anyway. It was a start.

"I've been sent to find you by...someone." Maybe there was a hidden door or something. If the man could give her a hint... Even the vaguest notion... She might find something to help. Well that'd have to come later. She needed to win his trust first. "I mean you no harm. My name is Lara. What's yours?"

Find him? Levi was supposed to stay up in this tower though, away from people and their noisy thoughts. His father had made it clear to him what would happen if he left the tower, how he'd be a monster that heard what people could think.

But would that be so bad? Would it be any worse than being stuck here?

"My name is Leviticus. Leviticus Astor the Third."

"Hello Leviticus." She called up. "It's a pleasure to meet you. I'd shake your hand if I could but, well..." Lara made a sweeping gesture at the tower. "Maybe you could come down?" It was worth a try.

"I can't," he said, which was the problem. If he could get down he would but the only way was to climb his hair, which he couldn't do when it was attached to his head and there was nothing sharp in his tower that could cut it. His father said that was to protect him.

"I can lower my hair down so you can climb up though?" he offered. The idea that he would get to meet someone new far outweighed his fear that they would be dangerous.

"Your...your hair?" Lara asked disbelieving. She raised her voice. "I'm sorry - did you say that people climb your hair to get up to you?"

"My father is the only one that visits and yes, it's the only way to get up here," Levi explained to her. Was that really so difficult to understand? It didn't seem so to him.

Lara blinked at him. "Doesn't that hurt?" She asked. It had to hurt. Although the boys mother said he had magic. Perhaps this was part of it? Hair that didn't hurt when the weight of a person was swinging on it? She shook her head. "Well if you're sure...Would you mind if I came up?"

No one had ever been up in the tower before besides his father. He'd heard stories about how scary or evil other people were but this person didn't seem to be like that. Besides, Levi was so bored that he'd risk being murdered.

"I guess that would be alright," he said. Gathering up his hair he looped it over the hook outside his window before tossing it down. Hair and beard tumbled all the way to the ground, just in reach for her. "Okay, come on up!"

The boys hair flowed down the side of the building and hung just within her grasp but Lara didn't move for a second, just taking in the sheer strangeness of the situation she now found herself in. Absently, she started taking off all the heavy parts of her armour until she was left with just her thin leather jerkin and pants and the amulet his mother had given her. She kept her boots and the knives contained in discreet sheaths. The boy didn't seem dangerous, but you never could tell.

Shrugging, Lara wrapped her hands around the thick, sturdy feeling hair and started to climb.

It didn't take her all that long to get to the top - she was nimble and the stones were good footholds - and she swung up to crouch on the window ledge, hands red and sore from the effort held out in front of her to show she meant no harm.

She looked over the...man, she now realised, not a boy at all. She'd assumed and been wrong on that score and the mother hadn't exactly been forthcoming with details. He was a grown man, broad and strong looking despite his obvious containment in the tower. He was extremely attractive too, and Lara smiled, appreciating the view close up.

"Thank you, for letting me up." She said, stepping lightly into the room and bowing slightly to him. "We can make proper introductions now. My name is Lara."

She was lighter than his father, that was for sure, although he had gotten used to it enough that the pulling on his hair didn't really bother him. His hair was relatively well kept, even that of his beard, although it was a little more wild looking that the rest of his hair. The woman (and she really was a woman, he'd read about them in books before) looked so much different than anyone he had ever seen before.

But she also smelled. And not pleasantly either. He couldn't help but wrinkle his nose.

"I, uh, it's nice to meet you too, I'm Levi."

Lara smiled in greeting and relaxed a little. There was nothing in the man that read dangerous or violent, and she'd been around enough dangerous and violent men to know the difference. Levi was harmless. "A pleasure to meet you Levi." She said, looking around her.

The tower was warmer than she'd imagined. Richly decorated and furnished with a collection of books on one wall and a large bed set against another. It was also spotlessly clean. She looked down at her dirt encrusted boots and wondered if she should offer to take them off. She shook the idea off as pointless and turned back to him.

"I've been sent to rescue you." She said, cutting straight to the point. "If you want to take anything with you, I suggest you stick to things you can carry easily or things we can throw out the window and pick up at the bottom."

"Rescue me?" he said, giving her a puzzled look. Levi wasn't in any danger, that's why he was in the tower. The tower kept him safe from all the bandits, murderers and other people out there that would hurt him. And, you know, also keeping him from anything fun.

"I don't need to be rescued, this is where I'm safe. Also, I can- okay, I'm sorry but does everyone out there... smell like you do?" he asked, trying not to make a face and only partially succeeding. She really did smell bad. "Because if so I am definitely not being 'rescued'."

The smart reply Lara had in response to his protests towards staying died on her tongue. She frowned and looked down at herself. Alright, she was dusty and a little muddy from the road and it wasn't like she'd had a bath-house available last night, but there was no way she smelled as badly as Levi was making her out to.

"I just rode for two days and a nights, slept rough and then climbed a two hundred foot tower. Let's see how you look and smell after that. Oh that's right, you wouldn't know because your father has you locked in a tower. I bet you've never been dirty a day in your life, have you?" She grumped, pushed her untidy hair back with her, admittedly grubby, handss and folded her arms defensively across her chest. "You're going to have to deal with it on the journey back, you know. Your...benefactor sent me to get you. You're coming with me, smell or no smell."

"Umm, I'm not going anywhere," he said, micking her pose with his arms across her chest. He'd never had anyone to be defiant too before, he never would have dreamed of doing so to his father (at least not to this extent) and had to admit it was kind of fun. This woman seemed... fiesty. He liked it.

"If you want to talk, you go take a bath first," he said, pointing to the large metal basin that served as his bath. "You pull the handle and hot water comes out by magic. To let it out you pull the plug at the bottom of the basin."

Lara narrowed her eyes at him but she already knew she was going to do it. She could imagine the empty bath full and the idea of sinking into hot water and being clean was appealing. She didn't normally worry about that kind of thing when she was on the road but if it would make him more comfortable then she was willing.

"Fine. If it'll make you happy." She said, lifting her chin and walking past him. Her tightly braided blonde hair was first, dropping down her back as she unlaced her jerkin and stripped it off, not caring that he was watching as she did it. She'd gotten undressed in far more unpleasant company. She walked bare breasted to the bathtub and set it filling as she turned to face him, hands on hips, amulet laying between her breasts.

"Towels?" She asked with a raised brow as she hooked her thumbs into her waistband and started unlacing those too. "Some kind of soap?"

Levi opened his mouth to say that it wasn't about being happy, it was about her scent not being offensive. But then she just started removing her clothes. Modesty wasn't really something that you had to deal with when you lived all alone in a tower. But Levi felt his cheeks redden and flush and he quickly looked away, knowing that staring wasn't polite.

But he wanted to stare, he wanted to stare very badly. The glimpse that he got before he looked away was thrilling and arousing and he'd never had another person make him feel like that.

"It's- um, it's all over- all over there by the wash basin."

Dropping her leather pants, Lara looked where Levi was flailing a hand whilst avoiding looking at her. She grinned and walked naked to the little shelf of lotions and oils, taking the stoppers out and sniffing them.

"You sure do have a lot of soaps and stuff." She murmured. The man clearly did value cleanliness, but when you live alone in a tower away from the world, you probably need something to spend your time on. Lara could think of worse things than taking care of yourself.

The water was probably hip deep so she grabbed a couple of bottles and poured some of the oils into the water, setting a bar or soap and a cloth on the side before getting in gingerly.

The groan she let out as the water closed over her legs and hips sounded obscene even to her own ears but she couldn't help herself. It was glorious. Maybe tower living wasn't so bad after all.

Levi continued to look away, although even that didn't help when the woman began to groan. He had never heard sounds like that before but the way they made him feel were... both embarrassing as well as amazing. At least she would smell much better now. He couldn't help but wonder what she looked like freshly scrubbed and...

"And, ah, once you're done we can wash your clothes. No sense in getting all clean and then putting on dirty clothes again, right?"

"Yes sir, Master Levi." She said, rolling her eyes. Despite herself, Lara had to admit the idea of clean clothes on top of clean skin was a really good one. She smiled as she scrubbed, peeking back over her shoulder at him standing stiff and tall. She'd seen that before.

Lara grinned and cleared her throat as she soaped up the cloth again. "Could you help me with my back?

Levi floundered a bit, unsure of what to say or do to in regards to her request. It was difficult to wash your own back and it was important to scrub thoroughly but... But nothing. She had asked him so she must have been okay with it.

"Of course," he said, clearing his throat as he moved over to stand behind her and picked up a cloth before tentatively scrubbing the admittedly filthy skin that was there. He made sure to keep his eyes focused on that and only that though, as much as he was tempted to look elsewhere.

He wasn't looking at her. That was new and unusual. So was the feeling of actually wanting him to look at her. Normally Lara had to dissuade with extreme prejudice and here she was, warming to this ridiculously polite man who was blushing at the thought of seeing her naked and at the same time still willing to do as she'd asked. It was a little thrilling and enormously endearing.

And he was good at it. She let her head drop back and groaned. She hadn't had this much attention paid to her that she hadn't exchanged coin for in quite some time. Lara lifted her head and looked at him, half-smile on her lips. "Have you washed many womens backs? You're pretty good." She said, watching him flush as she arched her back a little and his hand drifted down to what was only technically still her back. "Maybe you should take it up as a living when you get out of here." Now there was a thought. "What are you good at? I mean, you're going to have to earn a wage at some point. What have you been doing with your time up here?"

"You're the first, but I have, um, a lot of experience cleaning," he said. flushing as much at the admission as the sight of her leaning forward. Her back was arched enough that he could see where the curve of her back started to flow into her hips and ass, how it-

Washing, how it needed washing. That's what he needed to focus on here. She was a woman that needed her back washed was all.

"I don't know. I just read and paint and exercise in here. There's not a whole lot to do. I've never needed to do anything before."

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