Niamh hadn't minded the sudden decision to depart but had, on the contrary, loved it. It had been nice taking a break in Arca and all, but she'd never been a homebody. Adventure was in her blood and she liked playing it by ear, liked not having solid plans so everyday was a mystery with endless possibilities. The home in Arca would just be their base, a place to go back to when they wanted to feel grounded or just needed a break. When that would be again? Who knew. She just knew she preferred the idea of thinking of the world as her home and, unlike Nexus, she didn't have endless lifetimes to see it all in.
And like she'd said months ago, if Nexus asked her to go with him, she'd go. She'd meant it and, well, here she was!
Not all of the trip had been sunshine and daisies, though. While Niamh was used to traveling and walking great distances--though, granted, much of her time with the Lumenari had been spent on horseback--she was also more accustomed to open spaces where she could see for miles around her. She liked it like that, born and bred in the desert, and she did have issues with claustrophobia...so when Nexus had told her that they'd be having to go through a forest, no, she hadn't been thrilled. Forests were dark and closed in so that already fed two of her fears, but then...ugh. The sounds. Night was the worst. In the dark she was practically blind, and with so many weird sounds coming from every which direction and not knowing who or what was behind them...it had been freaky, she wasn't ashamed to admit it.
She had some reason to believe that Nexus had rather enjoyed their time in the forest, considering she'd found herself scooting closer and closer to him until she'd been cuddled up against him for warmth and safety, or the fact that, since he could produce more light with his magic than her limited ability allowed, she often wound up walking close to him with one armed locked around one of his. Which was all well and good, except it seemed like he may have also gotten the wrong idea about those gestures...like when he'd decided to go all..."frisky" on her. That hadn't gone over well, and hell if she hadn't let him know it! For one she was tired, and two he had to remember their deal!
And that they weren't married or even engaged.
Cuddling, however, was fine by her as long as he kept his hands from roaming. That she enjoyed--once she mastered the art of getting into a hammock without flipping right out of it. Those had been some embarrassing moments...
Their time in the mountains had been more enjoyable for her than the forest--save for the temperature and climate. The air was freezing and thin the higher up they got and she hadn't really expected to feel out of breath after just a couple of steps. Nexus had made her appropriate clothes so she wouldn't freeze, and aside from the cold and the thin air...it was nice. The view from the mountains was gorgeous, there were no thick, forboding forests, and from way up there she felt somehow closer to the Sun. Sunrise and sunset were her favorite, and having someone to share the view with was even better.
Finally they'd come to a mountain town at the base, and by then she'd been more than happy to come out of the mountains and frigid air to breathe some nice, good oxygen. The climate was still cool here, but it wasn't as bad. She still remained all bundled up in her nice warm clothes, though, a large, fur-lined overcoat pulled over thick baggy breeches and a couple of layers of shirts. She also wore gloves, those with the fingers as opposed to Nexus' fingerless ones, and her usual traveling boots. If not for the way she was bundled up, she might have looked like she belonged in a cold climate since she hardly looked like she saw any sun. Unfortunately for her, she was actually more suited for a desert.
As Nexus examined various items in the market, Niamh looked at the wares just across from him, her back turned to him as she bent to examine some detailed charcoal drawings someone had done. Those were pretty...she always envied artists that could do that because she certainly didn't have the skill. Sure, she liked sand painting and she did her best, but she was an amateur and it showed.
Straightening up again, she turned to move toward another display, but a sound behind her made her freeze in place. A very familiar sound, one she'd heard quite often--the tell tale sound of Nexus' boots, and right now he seemed to be trying to sneak up on her. Failing, but trying. Niamh smiled a little and for a split second debated whether she should spin around and foil whatever plan he had or just...stay put and see what happened. But before she could decide on either option, something jabbed her in the back of the head.
That made her spin around and, what do you know, there he was, muttering some curse under his breath and looking put out. "Hey, what're you doing--"
And then Niamh's expression changed, her eyes widening and a huge, amused grin spreading across her face about a second later as she realized what he'd been trying to do. "Pffft, well that was smooth!" she chuckled, reaching up to give his hat a playful tweak--knowing good and well how much that bugged him--before side-stepping out of the way. "Points for effort though, I guess, but that was pretty great. I didn't even have to do anything, you foiled yourself. Anyway...um...hmm. Well, I haven't really found much. I did find some--uh...? Nexus...is it just me, or are those people staring at us?"
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Ah, civilization! How Demaht loved it. Maybe it was contradictory, given her hatred for humans, but...she was a complex, demi-godly being of beauty and majesty! If she wanted to be contradictory, dammit, she was allowed! Besides. She wasn't being contradictory. She was just too complex for all those silly mortals to understand.
Walking beside Tzak, she knew they were an odd pair but she didn't mind the looks. She also knew she probably looked even stranger in this chilly town, given she hated shoes and went barefoot all the time, and given she was dressed in next to nothing. Oh sure, everything vital and naughty was covered, but it might as well not have been with the amount of skin that showed. Her billowy pants were sheer and red, though the material was thicker around the crotch, and her top had just enough red, thick material to cover her breasts, leaving her midriff bare, save for a topaz piercing in her naval. Golden rings, anklets, bracelets, and earrings adorned her body, clicking together with every subtle movement, and a gold ring even pierced her left nostril. A matching amulet like the one Tzak wore hung from her neck, smaller than his but just as detailed. It would have looked gaudy and horrendous on anyone else, though the gold went well with her brown skin. Well...it still looked gaudy even on her, like she was just setting herself up to be mugged, but hell if she cared.
Dressed like that, she should have been freezing. On the contrary, she was wonderfully warm, even to the touch. While she was like fire, even down to her fiery red hair, Tzak on the other hand was like cold granite or steel. They were an odd pair to say the least, an all gray man that looked carved from stone and...well...her.
Demaht rather loved the talk and rumor that he was perhaps her slave. Oh yeah. That's right. <I>She was free...or as free as she could be. The roles had been reversed back to how they should have been. and she was loving it. They got the desert part right, too. Ah, she could almost like those humans for further inflating her ego and validating her all the more, even calling her beautiful--which she was, duh. Some seemed almost intimidated by her, too...especially since that incident on the first day. Just how things should be.
They knew their place.
But over time, and especially since Aurora had been dispatched, Demaht's mood had started to change. While before she'd been scathingly bitter and cruel, always looking for a chance to witness some mindless violence and gore...lately she'd become more genuinely playful, more light-hearted. Oh, she was still sadistic, she still had an explosive temper and strange moodswings, she was still bitter, but some of it seemed to have receded while some of her old self had started to push through the surface--the woman she had once been before she'd been enslaved and betrayed, the benevolent "goddess" that granted miracles because she could and who only wanted worship and adoration in return. Not much to ask, right?
Tzak was certainly fulfilling some of those needs. He knew how to feed her ego, how to treat her like the ethereal creature she was, recognized that she was superior.
Now she just needed to figure out a way to get him to loosen up. Mortals. He'd be a lot more fun if he knew how to have fun. Not that it wasn't fun torturing him. And not that she actually hurt him when she "tortured" him, but he sure acted like it. He was the only mortal--or even immortal--she'd ever been around that acted like a kiss would kill him.
Smirking a little as she heard Tzak complain beside her as they walked the streets yet again, she tossed her hair and gave him a hooded look. "A girl can never have too many clothes, Tzaky, an' don'tcha forget it," she told him vaguely. Of course, she didn't even need to buy clothes. She could alter her own appearance on a whim, which included her clothes. But it was nice to look at the styles these mortals had. She was a bit out of the loop fashion wise, being stuck in that amulet for Gods know how long.
"Now try an' look happy for a change. Honestly. Scowlin' all the time like a big lump o' coal..." And off she went muttering as she brushed her fingers over some gold jewelry that was on display, attracted to the glitter and shimmering gemstones. She only looked up again when Tzak asked his question. They? Hm?
Looking up, she spotted who he was looking at in an instant--they did stick out enough. Pale woman, darker man, short woman, taller man. They did look out of place, and they were also attracting looks like they were. She could have agreed that they were a bit like them until the man went to kiss the back of the woman's neck--and failed. That made Demaht's lips curl into a wicked grin as she turned to Tzak.
"Out of place, but not like us. Ya wouldn't do that to me. I, however, would...an' I'd have more success, too," she said with a roguish laugh before rising up on her toes and planting a quick peck on his cheek. But right as she started to pull away, ready to tease him more, she paused.
"Wait...that woman looks familiar..." she murmured, orange eyes narrowing as she squinted. "Not <I>her, but...OH! Oh oh! Solisi! I wonder if she's Solisi! She's got the look, an'...ohhh, Gods and Goddesses Tzak, if she's Solisi you'll like her!" she said, letting out a rather evil cackle that would probably warn him that he actually wouldn't like it very much at all. She remembered how those people were, and boy did they know how to party! They were like djinn in a way--or certain djinn, not all djinn were as out there as Demaht; she was an ifrit after all, quite unlike a lot of the "good" djinn that even went so far as to cover their hair. No, Demaht rather liked those people...and disliked them at the same time. They believed in their stupid goddess, after all, but...they also knew how to have fun and let it all hang out. Heh heh heh.
This was perfect.
As soon as she'd said the words, she'd wrapped one hand around one of Tzak's wrists so she could start tugging him along toward the pair, grinning like a jackal. If that woman was Solisi, Demaht could only imagine the sort of man she'd hang out with, too. Ah, poor, poor Tzak... but this was going to be fun.
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"Uh...no, they're coming at us," Niamh amended, staring blankly as the dark-skinned woman and gray-skinned man approached. What a weird pair...a guy that looked made from stone and a woman who--what was she wearing?! Or rather, what <I>WAS she wearing?! Close to nothing! Might as well have been! Everything was see-through
Abruptly, Niamh snapped her attention from the duo over to Nexus where her eyes focused upon his face with a strange sort of intensity. Or his eyes, rather. "Don't say a word, Nexus..."
Yeah...she just dared him to give that woman a once over...dressed like she'd just come tumbling out of some harem or something! Jeez. And in this weather!
Maybe Niamh should have recognized what the woman was, considering she'd grown up in a desert surrounded by lore, much of which included djinni. But it was a far cry from hearing the tales and then actually seeing them in the flesh.
