Losing Your Mind (Closed)
It had been a few days since Vanessa met Jasper, and also a few days since she'd seen her husband - Till. Watching her two sons - Gambino and Edgar - practising the sword moves their father used to teach them from the park bench, the tanned woman could only sigh with worry over where her husband was. The money from Till had stopped coming in since a few days ago, and Vanessa's income from her new seamstress job could barely keep up with the daily bills.
"Oh~? Fancy meeting you here~" A sexy and masculine voice said beside Vanessa's ear.
"?!" Turning around to see the man, she blushed hard as her fiery eyes met with Jasper's that were a few cm away. "Jasper?" She asked in surprise before turning her head away with a deep blush on her cheeks to keep watch over her sons.
The handsome man chuckled, as he took note of the woman's reaction, before sitting beside her on the bench and responding, "I was in the area doing errands and happened to see your lovely figure sat here~" He glanced at the two boys in their early teens sparring with branches and noticed the elegant clothes they were wearing, "These your boys?" He asked with a soft, teasing smile.
Vanessa looked at her sons and smiled lovingly at them while subconsciously rubbing her empty ring finger, "Yes. Gambino is the older one, Edgar is the younger one." She then turned to look at Jasper, "Thank you again, for buying the clothes for them. It's made them the happiest they've been since coming to this city." She smiled brightly - her eyes filled with genuine gratefulness.
Jasper smiled softly while smirking inside, "Think nothing of it~! After all," he lifted his right hand up to reveal the silver ring on his pinkie finger, "I got a nice accessory out of it~" He lightly kissed it while staring at Vanessa's lips - something which Vanessa noticed and blushed at.
"Ah, well...I'll be sure to make an outfit for you once I get my shop started!" She pumped her fist up - revealing slightly toned arm muscles - before slumping into the bench, "But I need to save up enough money to rent out a spot in the market..."
Jasper made a concerned expression as he noticed the woman looked a little thinner than before, moving his hand to brush against her cheek before cupping it, "Why do you seem to have lost weight since we last met? Are you not eating enough?"
Vanessa slowly removed Jasper's hand while quickly glancing at her sons. Seeing they were too engrossed in their sparring match, she subconsciously sighed in relief before revealing a wry smile to the handsome man, "My husband hasn't come home in the last few days, nor has any of the usual money he sent to us...I'm a little worried that he died on a mission..." Tears began to form in her beautiful eyes as a wave of despair began to wash over her.
Taking the opportunity to influence her mind more, Jasper internally smirked as he subtly and smoothly wrapped an arm around her shoulders and gently brought her close to him. He used his free hand to wipe away the tears beginning to form, "Hey, don't start crying~ You'll ruin that beautiful face of yours and worry your sons."
Vanessa leaned into the man's well-toned chest and cried a little more as she couldn't hold back the negative emotions she'd been bottling up ever since Till had started working as an adventurer. "It's just...he never says a word about what he's doing until he's done it! *sniff* He sometimes comes back with claw marks all over him, or bite marks from dire wolves, or an arrow in his shoulder...Why can't he take a safe and stable job where we know what he's doing?!" She exclaimed while crying into Jasper's shoulder.
Using the shadows of the tree hanging over the bench, Jasper subtly waved his hand to make him and the woman more hidden before he caressed her arm and whispered in a low and enchanting voice in her ear, "Because your husband is selfish and doesn't care about you~ He wants excitement and the rush of living on the edge~ Living a stable life won't keep him interested for long~"
Vanessa's eyes glazed over a little, as her crying slowed to a stop, before responding in a monotonous voice: "Yes...he doesn't care about me...he is selfish...he doesn't want a stable life...he's not interested in being with us..."
Gambino struck against Edgar's wrist - making an audible cracking sound - before the younger boy dropped his branch and knelt down while grabbing his already bruising wrist. The sound brought Vanessa out of her trance and she smiled apologetically to Jasper before rushing over to check on her son's injury. Jasper smirked at the results of his minor compulsion, happy that her resistance was weakening, as he leaned into the bench and observed the two boys with irritation in his eyes. He then smiled deeply as a thought crossed his mind, before getting up and walking over.
"Is he all right?" He asked with seemingly genuine worry and concern.
Vanessa showed a focused expression as she felt the wrist bones of her youngest son before slowly shaking her head, "No...I think it's broken but I'm not too sure..."
Edgar was wincing in visible pain as his wrist was already swelling and bruising a lot. Gambino was kneeling on the ground beside him with tears in his eyes as he repeatedly kept apologising to his brother for the injury. Vanessa smacked him on the head before gently pulling Edgar up off the ground and stroking his head, "We'll go to the temple and have it checked." She glared at Gambino, "I've told you many times to be careful when sparring! Don't be reckless like your father!"
Gambino hung his head and slowly nodded, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to hit so hard! I thought he'd be able to block it!"
"Enough!" Vanessa raised her hand to motion for her son to be quiet, before softening her face and smiling wryly at Jasper, "Sorry, Jasper, that you had to see this. I'm afraid I'll have to leave you, since Edgar needs his wrist checking."
Jasper smiled softly, "Don't be sorry~ Family comes first, right~?" He glanced at the boys with kind eyes before continuing, "I need to be going anyway. Still have some more errands to do before the day ends. Hope to see you again soon~!" He waved at them before leaving.
The three Wallner's watched the man walk away from their line of sight before Edgar looked up at his mother and asked, "Mother, who was he?"
Vanessa smiled reassuringly as she stroked her injured son's head, "He's a friend of the family. Now, let's get your wrist sorted!"
***
A few more days later, Jasper heard a knock at his room door and so opened it to see an angry, teary-eyed Vanessa. Immediately shifting his expression to show genuine concern, he gently grabbed her arms and leaned in to better see her face:
"Vanessa? What's wrong? Is Edgar's injury worse than anticipated?" He paused before widening his eyes, "...Your husband isn't dead, is he?"
Vanessa's eyes turned more rage-filled as she punched into Jasper's chest before handing an opened letter him. Not minding the weak punch - since his body was more resilient to injuries - he grasped the letter while subtly brushing his fingers against the woman's own, and carefully read it. Vanessa crossed her arms as she stared intently at the letter with anger.
"Oh~? So he's gone to Gelderholm to better improve his sword skills while getting more money~?" He continued reading and then noticed the date on the letter, "Sent over a week ago from Gelderholm..." He glanced at Vanessa and saw the frustrated rage in her fiery eyes. He smiled wryly before motioning towards the stairs, "Want to have a few drinks and share your woes~? I'll pay, of course~"
Vanessa took the letter and stormed down the stairs, with Jasper following behind while smiling gleefully over this development.
Reaching the tavern area, Vanessa found an empty table and sat down before re-reading the letter Till had sent her - her hands crumpling the edges in anger the more she read it. Sitting beside her with a wine bottle and two wine glasses, Jasper expertly opened the bottle before pouring the contents and offering a glass to the woman.
"Here you go~"
Vanessa grabbed the glass and gulped down its contents before slamming the glass onto the table - causing a visible crack to form in the wood.
"What does he think he's playing at?! Gelderholm is a war zone!"
Refilling the glass, Jasper subtly brushed his fingers against Vanessa's to tell her the glass was full again before responding in an enchanting masculine voice, "It seems he only has money and training on his mind, going by his letter. He doesn't care about how his family is coping without his presence~"
The tanned woman downed the contents of the glass again before looking at Jasper with half-drunk, half-glazed eyes: "He doesn't seem to care about us as much as before...It's like the him before our business collapsed was a pretence..."
Jasper gently caressed Vanessa's hand before grasping the empty glass and pouring more wine into it, "Then, how about I help you start up your shop and see if he'll come home~?"
Vanessa blushed at the contact between their hands, before smiling wryly at the handsome man, "How can I let you do something like that, Jasper? You've already helped me with buying those clothes for my boys."
Jasper smiled softly before tracing his fingers over Vanessa's outfit, "Don't think I haven't noticed the tailoring you did on your son's clothes~ I sensed some kind of mana emanating from them, and this..." He rubbed a finger against the embroidery, "...this also has some hidden within~"
Vanessa blushed while smiling proudly before gently removing the man's hand from her clothes, "I'm surprised you noticed! It's one of the skills my family honed over generations of being in the sewing trade! We can imbue magic into clothes while sewing different symbols and such into them!" She smiled brightly before looking frustrated, "Not even Till noticed when I embroidered his trousers just as he was starting out as an adventurer..."
"Such a bad man~" Jasper responded while picking Vanessa's glass up and bringing it to the woman's lips.
Taking the glass from him, with her hands over his, she gulped down the wine before smiling wryly, "Yes! He is very bad! Such a reckless idiot who doesn't pay attention to the details! Yet I married such an idiot and had two wonderful sons!" Tears began to form in her fiery eyes as she let go of the glass and leaned into her arms on the table, "Why did I have to fall in love with such a fool...?"
Jasper subtly rubbed his leg soothingly against Vanessa's under the table while his tail gently caressed her arms, "We all become fools when in love..." His eyes turned black as he gazed hungrily at the woman, "It would be better to no longer love such a man~" His eyes returned to their soft look as his voice no longer held that enchanting resonance, "I think you've drunk enough for tonight, my lady~"
"Mmnh..." Vanessa had already cried herself into a tired stupor.
Getting up from the table, Jasper gently wrapped an arm around Vanessa's waist and helped her to her room upstairs. Reaching the Wallner's room, he ensured there was no one around before holding Vanessa's head and whispering in an enchanting voice beside her ear: "You will dream of me giving you immense pleasure, as you feel nothing for your husband~ You will choose to rely on me more and feel fulfilled when with me~" He then moved to her moist lips - still wet from the wine she'd been drinking - and lightly licked them before kissing.
Vanessa began to regain her consciousness and found Jasper with an arm hooked around her, trying to look for her room key without inappropriately touching her. Pushing him away gently, she wryly smiled before apologising for her behaviour. Hugging him in thanks for listening to her complaints, she unlocked her door and went inside before closing it.
Returning to his own room, Jasper had another laughing session as his body shivered in delight over the little snack he got from kissing her just then. Licking his lips, he smiled menacingly as he muttered to himself, "Such a mellow, yet vibrant flavour~ Only a few more steps to go, little lioness~"
[
OC: Jasper and Vanessa, cameo from Gambino and Edgar|
Setting: Scribel City - Park, Tavern|
Word Count: 2139]
[OOC: Tagging
@Quaesitor for using Vanessa, Till's wife]
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