Adaly walks back into the chamber, and Sam looks handsome in his blue with gold tunic. They make a pretty pairing.
Sam comes closer to her, handing her a red rose. “You look gorgeous…. a beautiful rose for a beautiful woman.” Adaly takes the rose and smells it, before she looks at Sam and kisses him. He eagerly kisses her back. But he does break them up, grabs her free hand and guides her to the table.
He pulls the chair back so she can sit and then goes to sit himself on the opposite side. “You also look gorgeous…. You know you don’t have to do this.” She says while putting the rose back into the bouquet it obviously came from.
He smiles at her “I know I don’t have to… but I want to. When you mentioned a few hours ago that tomorrow might be our last day in the prime material, I started thinking how I would like to spend it… I would not want anything else than spend it with you…” Sam says, while Adaly sadly smiles back, as she pours both of them a glass of wine.
She takes a small sip while she looks at him. She is happy with him, she loves him. It is so sad that they only found each other so recently. Sam raises his glass “To us” Adaly clinks his glass “I thought this was not a relationship” and winks. Sam’s cheeks flush a bit red, before he says “That was one of the things that I would like to talk about… I know it wouldn’t change anything, but I would like to really consider you my partner, my equal”
Adaly takes another sip and looks him over. She kindly smiles but intentionally doesn’t look at him when she replies, “But that is the problem isn’t it… we are not equal, we have our commonalities, but we are very different people.” Sam audibly swallows but moves closer to her, lays his hand on her chin, directing her view towards him.
He looks worried at her before asking “What are you exactly mad about?” Adaly chuckles a bit, not too loud, just a minor sarcastic reaction. “I… it is just… if I had a choice, I wouldn’t be here. You said we risk the mission every time we fight, now that is true for most of the party, but not for me… every fight I have is for the mission, because the mission is my life.” Adaly says sadly.
He gently strokes her face but just looks at her in understanding. “I am sorry, I didn’t want to imply…” Adaly stands up “What? That I am reckless? That I wanted to work for Ilhoketh? Sam, please, just… we are not the same… I am not a good person. I don’t give a rat’s ass about helping the people here. I care about messing with his plans, I care about messing up the generals plans.” Adaly raises her voice while she can feel tears forming.
Sam walks closer to her and gently starts grabbing a hold of her. His warmth is welcome, but she feels conflicted about his touch. He starts whispering in her ear “I am sorry for my comment. I don’t think you are reckless, I think you are very calculated. I know you don’t want to work with him, and if you had a choice, you would just want nothing to do with him…. For me, for the others… each action we do is a risk, but you shouldn’t sideline us just for the sake of avoiding risk… we can help you” and starts stroking her hair.
Tears start streaming down Adaly’s face while she grabs Sam close. “Livia needed to be nowhere near Ilhoketh, but she shouldn’t have been alone, your mission was keeping her safe. And our mission was to try to play Ilhoketh and Es-Grenalieth against each other. In the end we both succeeded, so I shouldn’t be upset about this.”
Sam takes a step back and wipes the tears off her face “Never judge yourself for feeling upset. I said something that you were not okay with, it is okay to be mad with me. I do truly apologize for that. It wasn’t my intend, but still I shouldn’t have said that…” Adaly smiles at him “Thank you, and you are forgiven” she says with a big smile. She felt lost and knows she is lashing out for no reason, but it did hurt, so him acknowledging and apologizing feels nice.
She wipes the final tears from her own face while he just observes her. He bites his lip, clearly holding something back. “What is it?” Adaly asks. “You have not reacted to my request if we can be partners” Sam says with a bit of a shy smile.
Adaly looks him over, steps closer, her hand on his face, gently stroking it. “I love you, Sam… and that frightens me… Livia told me how Ashe got taken… Ilhoketh will use you to get to me if he gets the chance…” He swallows, seems to consider that “That is a risk that I would be willing to take… are you?” her free hand pulls him a bit closer while his hands stroke her bare back. She wants him, now.
She bites her lip “I guess so, so I guess that means we are in a relationship now… now do you want to skip dinner and just fuck” Sam smile widens “Fuck yeah, ever since you put that dress on, I have been wanting to tear it off of you.” Adaly kisses him, and quickly they get naked.
They end up on the cold floor, surrounded by dim candlelight. Once they finish Sam falls on his back, while Adaly lays her head on his chest, gently stroking his chest. Sam stares at the ceiling having a smile on his face. He looks happy, which makes Adaly happy.
“Now I don’t want to be a buzzkill, but I do want to set some boundaries. You never need to rescue me… I am strong enough” Adaly states as a matter of fact after a few minutes. He looks at her in surprise “What… are you planning something dumb?” he jokes.
She smiles kindly at him “More talking about the thing that happened at heroes feast when I was drunk. I could have taken the hit. I… I am not a damsel in distress” he chuckles “I am sure you would have been able to kill him. That wasn’t just for your protection” Adaly laughs together with him.
