103. Before Meeting With Her

Cristianno has agreed to meet with someone from his past, but he hasn't told his wife and for a moment, he feels he needs to impress that someone. He's definitely glad he has his music device with him.

"Tango Notturno" - Wiera Gran

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             The gentle waves rocked the ship ever so slightly that the boards would creak ever so often. It was that sound that usually lulled him to sleep at any time of the day, but this afternoon, Cristianno was unable to close his eyes as he stared at the hanging candle over his cabin door. In a few hours, he would be meeting with the woman who had broken his heart and had threatened to kill him. He took a deep breath and sighed slowly while an arm slithered across his bare chest. He looked down to his side, remembering that a woman was pressed against his body under the sheet. Not just any woman. His wife.

            The dark-haired woman nestled against his chest and he watched her silently. He would leave her in a few hours to meet with the other woman but he had no intention on telling Niela. Of course, it was written in the magical tome they both possessed and at any moment she could find out, but Cristianno figured it would be wise to not say a thing. If I tell her, she will lunge at her and kill her on the spot. He couldn’t stop thinking of his wife growling and attacking the other woman, daggers out and aiming at obvious points on the woman’s body, so that the bleeding could not be controlled and the woman only had moments to see his wife’s face for a few seconds before she died. He closed his eyes and shook his head a little. No, he would not tell her.

            After kissing her head, he slipped from her arms and out of bed. Niela shifted on the bed, holding the pillow he had left behind. Cris watched her for a moment and smiled before walking over to the music device a few feet from his bed. Everyone was used to the music that emerged from the device since he played it all the time, including Niela, who had to endure several of Cris’ over-excited explanations about his love for human music. He pressed the buttons and a song began. Cris took a deep breath and smiled. Old human music; his favorite.

            While the song played, he reached for the metal jug of water and a basin. He had bathed earlier when he went into Orgrimmar, but he noticed as he looked in the mirror that his usual stubble was present on his face. For some reason, he felt the urge to get a clean shave, so he took the razorblade and hummed with the melody as he began to carefully run the blade along his face. In his head, he heard himself question why he was taking such care to look presentable when he arrived at Booty Bay and met up with this woman. She tried to kill you, he kept telling himself, but as his blue-green eyes stared in the mirror, he noted that those were not the eyes of someone who held a grudge. He has asked for an apology the last time they met and she gave him a half-hearted one, but he had accepted it. He had put it behind him and moved on.  As he shook the razorblade in the water basin, Cris couldn’t help but think of her before she left him; before it all ended. He thought about the tenderness in her touch and the warmth in the way she cared for him. It was gentle and he missed that gentle touch. He looked into the small oval mirror on the wall and sighed. For a second, he imagined seeing Niela’s green eyes staring at him from the bed, but when he turned to look at her, she was asleep.

            Cris turned back to the basin and continued to shave, closely paying attention to the razor grazing against his skin. When he bathed earlier, he made sure that it wasn’t just water and a cleansing agent, but rather something that made him smell cleaner. Niela had noticed, but he simply shrugged if off, smiling to himself. If she had noticed, surely this other woman would notice as well. The music continued to play, the woman’s voice settling into his mind and heart, causing him to smile as he finished his shave. He reached for his towel and hummed along for a few measures, even dancing a bit as he walked from the basin to the bed. He looked down at his sleeping wife and reached down to kiss her head. Time was running out and he had to hop a ship to Booty Bay before it got too late. Abbey would meet him there and then he would finally meet with the other woman.

            He couldn’t say or think of her name this entire time. He felt jitters in his stomach, pesky flying insects that made him both sick and happy. No, she tried to kill you…She made you look bad in the eyes of others…She hates you… He couldn’t even believe the thoughts racing through his head. If she intended on killing him, or if it was a trap, Abbey could have at her, but he had to see what the meeting was all about.

            The meeting. A meeting with Rain. Rain. There, he finally thought it. Cris sighed and after adjusting his weapons, he quietly walked out of the cabin and prepared himself to meet his former lover and now a stranger to him. He soothed his nerves as he prepared to meet with Rain.