The Day of Respite
The first morning was a somber day, laced with high tensions during its fasting and penance. And because it was customary that talking was discouraged, the entire city of Uthlyn had an eerie silence settling over it.
All day it was like this,a nd not many took a step outside their door, except for the anticipations of going to church and any other needed preparations for the morrow. But as the day crawled onward, and nearing the hour to reflect over the death of Ansgar himself, not many people were directing their attentions there. No. The whole of Uthlyn feared for a whole new set of deaths to come.
The poor were getting poorer. The population of their men, dwindling. More and more freedoms were being revoked, and another proposition to make Connlaoth a more 'boastful' kingdom was only gaining the ire of it's own people.
Raise taxes. Take the men. Let the homeless starve. How much more did the people have to take?
The man with the slicked black hair entered the tavern of NightWall. There was a decent crowd there, and the only ones enjoying booze were those who figured beer didn't count in on this day of fasting. Most of the men here were older, and a lot of them were men he already knew.
He approached one such man with a smirk.
"A beer to Ansgar's falling?" he jested. The man he addressed shook his head. And as the two looked around, it looked like no one was paying them any mind as Cullen took a seat and ordered himself his own mug of beer.
"It could be our last one, you know," he went on, assuring the man his consumption of the drink was purely on purpose. "Tomorrow, all the men in masks might drink it all."
And though he smiled as if it were a jest, both he and the man already knew of the plan.
The Blood Wardens (http://www.spiritsoftheearth.net/smf/index.php?topic=20321.msg290579#msg290579) wouldn't be easy to spot. Masks were a common occurrence on men's faces the next morning. But they wouldn't be chasing after children, and the chaos to ensue would not be pretend.
When he got his second beer, Cullen found himself asking the bar owner.
"What time is it, Lan?"
The man's voice was gruff.
"Twenny af'er Eleven."
Cullen raised his beer to his friend.
"Hear that? Less than an hour until the bell tolls."
"This is it, the reckoning is coming. The nobles shall see what they truly are on the outside." Aldwin said to himself as he neatly rolled up the map. After studying it for hours, memorizing every twist and turn of the city, The Witch Doctor felt like he was prepared to put his plan to action.
The Day of Remembrance, a holiday of religion in which people are too busy repenting to a god that Aldwin doesn't believe to exist. The perfect time for him to strike.
Opening the hatch to the sewers, The Witch Doctor called to his agent in an emphasized whisper. "I have prepared, now is the type to awake my creations. Today will truly be a day to remember."
Jack woke up early enough cause he had to piss, and shuffled away from where he and his companion had slept underneath the bridge. And though he was used to sleeping in compromised spaces, the crick in his neck didn't seem to want to budge as he attempted to crack it, all the while letting his stream of urine hit the Matron.
He rubbed at his neck, feeling as if his body couldn't get empty fast enough, or rather, maybe his urine just seemed to last forever as he grunted and finally reached the end. But even as he was finishing up with his business, his eyes moved towards the city, which was still as death.
He snorted while fastening his pants.
"Here goes another Day of Boring."
It was not the most pleasant sound she'd ever woken to, but Fiona managed not to comment as she sat up, groaning and cursing the criks and kinks throughout her body quietly.
"Well, boring is better than bad excitement," she mumbled through a yawn, glancing toward Jack and then away quickly, cheeks pinking slightly.
Jack gave a crack of his neck after he closed up his pants and turned to move to a better place to perch and observe the city from where they were so under it.
"I suppose so, but people in the city will also be as useless as possible, too." He sighed. Maybe they should have stayed in the under ground. Then again, he had to keep reminding himself he had baby sitting duty with miss dragon breath.
"And they would otherwise be useful?" Fiona moved toward him a little hesitantly, peering around. "How so?"
"Well, for starters, no shops will be open today. Activity limited, as well as speaking, really, for the holiday." He gave a shrug and turned to head towards the trail that'd lead them back up to town.
"Speaking?" she furrowed her brow. "What do you mean? People aren't allowed to talk?"
"It's not that they can't they just..." He shrugged. "Don't."
"But why?" She hurried her stride to walk beside him, tilting her head to watch his face curiously.
Jack groaned. "Do I really have to explain everything?"
Instead of matching his tone, Fiona decided she would try a new tact: relentlessly cheerful. "It would help, yes," she chirped.
He gave her a soured look but shook his head, looking away as he raked his unruly hair away from his face. It was sticking up in every which direction it pleased, making him appeared anything but tamed. And somehow, it looked good on him. Perhaps it was his broad shoulders and good form that complimented the rugged look. Either way, he didn't care one way or another.
"Ugh, I'm hungry. Let's eat before we even think about starting our day, alright?"
Fiona's stomach rumbled an avid agreement and she nodded quickly. "Yeah, food sounds good," she said quickly, looking over at him and licking her lips, which were rather dry.
She suddenly realized how the gesture could be misconstrued and ducked her head, hoping he hadn't seen. Jack certainly wasn't unattractive, but she'd argued with him too much to ever be attracted to him.
Right?
Lucky for her, Jack was none the wiser as he trampled forward in his groggy state. And most ungentlemanly he was itching at the front of his pants. It seemed, despite having relieved himself, he had a bad case of morning wood.
He just sighed it off, readjusted his pants, which were annoyingly tight, and just set about looking for a place to get some grub.
"I'm not sure we'll find something in the city. Considering the holiday," he went on with a frown. "There might be a street vendor or two." But you could never be too sure on the quality of their food. He supposed they might have to risk things being a bit over priced, and sour.
"Well, better than nothing, right?" Fiona glanced at him again, then suddenly crinkled her nose. "That's...kinda crass, y'know," she muttered, nodding toward his hand. "I mean- we're just out in the open, don't you care if people see-"
She cut herself off and rolled her eyes. "No. Of course you don't."
Aldwin had been giving orders to his agent. Since the abominations only listen to Aldwin, his agent was told to set up an escape route using the coordinates that were drawn on the map. After the plan had been run through for a seventh time, the Witch Doctor brought his dozen experiments up.
I was a tight squeeze, but they all managed to fit. Feeling like it was time to release a few of them, his plans were interrupted. The voices of two people carried on through the silence streets. Not wanting to take any chances Aldwin removed his mask, revealing a well featured Thanati face, and with that he left the building.
Across the music shop was a man and a woman. "Not the religious type either? I thought I was going to go crazy with all this silence." He finished off with a chuckle. Aldwin walked closer to them, trying to divert their attention from the low growls and grumbles resonating from the shop.
Jack gave a strange look to the foreigner.
"Yeah, tell me about it. But I'm more worried about finding a nice, hot greasy meal in all of this. But hey, a man can hope, am I right?"
Fiona kept her piece, glancing back and forth between the two of them and finding herself sort of gravitating to stand half behind Jack- which was ridiculous, it wasn't like her lanky frame could really hide behind him.
Aldwin sized up the two inconveniences. The man was unkempt and his face crooked, obviously a child of the streets. A piece of history Aldwin could very well relate to. But when he got to the woman, something intrigued him. There was just something so elegant...so beautiful about her. Then it hit him, he can't just let these two get caught in the crossfire of his actions.
Noticing the woman's wary stance he gave her a warming smile, though his eyes darted with curiosity and a hint of lust. "No need to be afraid my dear, I can show you a good place to get food...if you don't mind procuring it illegally."
He didn't have much time, these two have to be redirected somewhere. Get them food and get them out before his creations get too anxious. Simple right?
"I'm not afraid," Fiona lied quickly, though the way she was still trying to hide behind Jack may have negated the statement.
There was something in the stranger's eyes that sent an odd shiver up her spine. No one had ever looked at her like that before.
"Yeah, we're not afraid," Jack went on, giving the man a critical look. "Just groggy from sleeping on the streets- and hungry." He gave a roll of his shoulders, to crack them to serve his point before giving the man a forced smile.
"I don't care about legality, really. I'm just hungry and don't give a rats ass over whose day of mourning it ought to be. Just lead the way." And there was no reluctance or suspicion as Jack moved towards the man. He was too hungry to care.
Fiona glanced between the two of them, but she really couldn't do much other than follow Jack hesitantly.
Besides, she was just as hungry as he was, if a little more wary of the stranger.
Aldwin smiled and clasped his hands together. "Ah, very good! I didn't think you two were the type that cares about petty laws. Just follow me."
When every step he took conflict bombarded his mind. These two are good people, I can tell, they shouldn't be here when my creations release. But if I must make the world villianize me, I should do nothing about them right? No. I promised to keep Ailbe safe so I will keep these two safe as well. Only the nobles need to hate me, no need to waste innocent lives.
Whilst being silent the whole walk, Aldwin finally stopped infront of of a bakery. "From what I have heard, this place has some of the freshest pastries, but the prices are inconceivable. There is one legal way and many illegal ways to get the food...Pick your poison."
"Poison?" Jack made a face. "I'd rather pick some food. But wait.." he narrowed his gaze upon the man. "Are you implying we just steal some pastries?"
He wasn't sure if he was mortified, or upset he didn't think of that idea, first.
"Oh, but-" Fiona looked back and forth between the two of them and bit at her bottom lip. "I'm not sure that's such a-"
Her growling stomach cut her off and she flushed darkly.
Aldwin merely chuckles at the man's response. "Steal, coerce, con, murder, but I don't suggest the latter. Any of those could work. Though as of now theft is our most sensible option."
The witch doctor noticed the female's moral dilemma. He took a few steps towards her. Stretching out to place a hand on her shoulder, he flinched So beautiful, so rare, so exotic...what is it that makes her this way? All I need to do is touch her and this perfection could be ruined. Snapping out of his thoughts, Aldwin retracted the outreached hand into his coat pocket.
"No need to fret my dear. You and your friend will have full stomachs tonight." He then winced at the thought that it might be their last meal aswell.
Jack's stomach growled angrily, and loudly.
"Look, whatever the option is is okay with me. I need to eat alright, so.." he went on, rolling his shoulders, making them crack. "Let's just get on with this okay? What do you need us to do?"
Fiona started slightly when the stranger touched her shoulder and gave him an odd look when he flinched. Then her attention moved back to Jack and she frowned.
She didn't like the idea of stealing but...well, how else were they going to eat. "I still have some coin," she murmured. "Maybe if we just...left it in place of some food?"
Jack turned to her to give her a look.
"What? You think that'll make the owner happy, especially after we break in?"
"Well, it- it's better than nothing!" Fiona defended with a huff, folding her arms and frowning at her feet.
"Leave whatever you wish, but the results will all be the same." He began to pace before laying out the plan.
"The option that will be the quickest is if one of us goes in through the window and unlocks the door for the others." He motioned towards the pair. "Any takers? Or do you desire me to proceed with the task?"
"Quickest? Then count Fiona out. She's a bit slow, if you know what I mean," Jack went on, and loudly, considering they were conversing out in the open about breaking and entering. "And considering I don't know who you are, maybe you should do it," he went on with a nod, folding strong arms across his chest. "I might not have a lot of manners, but leaving a girl alone with a stranger isn't exactly... right, ya know? Besides, you keep looking at her funny." He leaned in, eyes narrowing on the man. "Are you some kind of pervert?" Maybe he wanted Fiona to sneak in so he could watch her ass as she crawled in through a window. But why? Why would he want to look at her scrawny ass? He looked over at Fiona, scrutinizing her from where he stood.
"What- slow?!" Fiona glared at both men and snapped, "You know what? I volunteer. What do I have to do?"
Slow. Jackass.
Aldwin's eyebrow raised at this accusation. A pervert? He's never been called a pervert before. Sure a creep, monster, sadist, and various curs, but never a pervert. "Me? Perverse? Oh no no no, you misunderstand me. I am a man of science and art. Your companion just has an aesthetic beauty to her. Is it wrong to see the beauty of human structure in Connlaoth's most cultured city?"
He stepped back, ready to take the task. He began to advance towards the window when the Witch Doctor heard the girl volunteer. Stopping, Aldwin turned around and clasped his hands. "Perfect! We will await your success."
Jack gaped at the man for a moment before snorting.
"Cultured city? You must be new around here.." he muttered, glancing away from them both.
Pretty much ignoring them both, Fiona made we way to the window and tilted her head, taking stock of her options. She glanced at the two men, then shifted to hide her movements from view and fiddled with the lock, claw like nails sneaking into the mechanism to pop it open.
Window open, she shimmied her way inside and hurried to the door, swinging it open a crack to hiss, "Come on then, hurry up."
He hated to admit it, but when Fiona seemed to disappear from view, he felt nervous. At least he was left baby sitting the pervert. He peered over at Adwin before he heard Fiona's voice. Seeing her at the door, he rushed over, "Took you long enough." and slipped inside.
The place was dark, but it smelled heavenly, and as he stood there beside her and let his eyes adjust, his stomach growled loudly and soon he was able to see all of the delicious treats all around them.
She snorted and rolled her eyes, grumbling, "Yeah, you're welcome," as she stood aside to give the two men room to enter.
As the two entered Aldwin released a resigned sigh. Time has been ticking for far too long and The Witch Doctor knows that the sooner he leaves the better. Oh I hate playing the villain, but it is a sacrifice I must make. He thought before closing the door on them. He jams one of his throwing knives in the crevice to keep it from opening. "I must apologize for my actions, but you mustn't leave this bakery...for this city will see havoc soon. It brings me dread to know that innocents may hate me for this, but please know I am doing this for your own good and safety."
Hoping to hear something to help quell his guilt, Aldwin lingers a little bit. Once he thought that he's waited for a suitable length of time, the Witch Doctor left for his creations. Though in his haste he forgot a major piece...he did nothing about the window.
Penseville stared at the open window apprehensively. He had seen the group of strangers milling about the shop from his attic window. It was at times like this that the snake in his stomach started roiling and twisting. He knew that something should be done, but what?
On the one hand, they were breaking into a place without the permission of its owner. Penseville wasn't actually certain what the other hand was, but he definitely felt there was a reason he wasn't trying to stop them. Fear maybe. Or just because he didn't have any reason to like the bakery owner more than the strangers. Penseville shook his head to clear his jumbled thoughts. At the very least he could see what they were like. Maybe he could, help somehow?
He decided to stop bothering with complicated abstract thoughts and do something he was never very good at. Do something.
"Umm. Hello, can I help you?" he called out into the shop window.
Jack banged angrily at the door. It seemed to splinter, but refused to give.
"Of all the luck.." He growled, hands shaking into fists. Just stand back, ok Fiona?" He waited only a second for her to comply, rolling his shoulders to a crack before jerking his neck left, then right to do the same. Sharp jabs were aimed at the damn door, banging loudly and muting the man calling outside the window.
"Ah...alright." Fiona backed up, arms automatically moving to wrap around her middle in a protective gesture. Her tail curled around her leg and she shuffled back a few more steps.
The symphony of smashes was the only thing Aldwin could hear. They're angry...as he expected. "Shame...I dearly wished that they would see the greater picture...no...they'll know once my creations release...they'll know I was saving them..."
As The Witch Doctor finished talking to himself, he quickly broke into a sprint. He wasn't sure if he was running for times sake or to avoid having second thoughts, either way, he ran.
Aldwin put his mask back on as he reached the music shop, only to be faced with a hard pill to swallow. The door was torn open, and his creations were nowhere to be found. The cacophony of screams only confirmed his fears...he must make it known now that The With Doctor, the elusive rebel mage is behind this.
If Jack was known for anything, it was definitely the quickness of his fists. His brain could catch up later, and after a few more angered growls, he knocked the whole thing off it's hinges and tossed the door aside.
"Ugh, all of this for some damn bread."
He was pissed. But he was also hungry, and as soon as the door was open and he stepped outside, of course that little snake was no where to be seen!
"Grab as much bread as you can and let's get out of here."
He already decided to take it upon himself to remain as sentry.
"Got it." Fiona nodded quickly, though she winced guiltily as she went about gathering up an armful of food.
She hesitated, then dug a few coins out of the pouch at her hip and tossed them onto the deserted counter. She hurried to Jack's side, murmuring, "C'mon, let's move."
But she'd be met with Jack's arm in her way, and he- making a funny face off into the distance.
"Jack?" She frowned.!"What's wrong?"
"Something... seems... off," He hated feeling so uneasy. And he hated feeling so vulnerable. After all, it was dark and he could barely see a thing. Just movement. "Someone's coming.. we should get outta here and quick."
Fiona's eyes widened. He didn't need to say anything else to convince her, and she nodded quickly, muttering, "I'm following you."
Her tail twitched nervously under her skirts and she had to force it to still against her leg.
He kept his eyes clearly on those moving in the shadows. It was strange. If they were people, they were sure moving sluggish. Maybe they were drunks? He wasn't going to wait around to find out, but as they turned a corner, he caught another figure- a growing shadow, heading their way. And it had the same, unusual, sluggish steps as whoever it was out in the city trees.
A sharp hiss of surprise slipped passed Fiona's lips and she suddenly pressed tight into Jack's side. "What are they?" she muttered, an uneasy shiver crawling down her spine.
Jack grimaced.
"I don't know... but I don't like it." He rolled his neck before giving it a rightward crack. "Something feels off...." He turned, moving in another direction, which unfortunately was into the heart of the city. "Let's try another road to get the hell outta here."
She nodded quickly and followed after him, so close her toes kept snagging on the heels of his boots.
And he cursed her for it. It was annoying.
"Stop that!" he hissed. "You trying to trip me? If I fall down and break something, you know we're both stuck out here dealing with whatever.. whatever the hell it is that's going on!"
He didn't like it. Not one bit.
"I'm sorry!" Fiona hissed back, face pale. Well, paler. Her fingers twisted nervously in her skirt and she felt her wings press against the fabric of her dress in her anxiety.
It seemed this way was relatively empty, but it lead to a lot more guards lurking around. This time he slowed and made sure Fiona was at his heels, but his eyes strayed in every which other direction as they moved.
"This whole city is starting to feel eerie." He rolled his shoulders, cracking his neck. "I don't like it. It's too tense. Like a poker game I'm forced to play." And he'd been in that scenario too many times and hated each second of it.
Fiona nodded. "It's making my scales itch," she muttered without thinking, arms wrapped tight around her body.
Then there was a scream. It came from just the other road over. Then there was the shout of men. Grabbing onto Fiona's hand, Jack pulled her back and pressed both their bodies against the shadows of a building. He tried to tame his breath, but his chest was heaving and she'd feel the sweat of his palms. In the dark, she might see the strain in the whites of his eyes, as he tried to see what was going on, while keeping them both outta sight.
She gasped quietly, eyes going wide. "What's going on?" she hissed, gaze darting around.
there was an odd movement to these 'men', as they lumbered into the street-
and from the shadows of their movements.. something savage and strange to how they.. simply attacked- using limbs like clubs and claws like rabid beasts.
He found his grip on Fiona tightening.
"Something is really not right.." He took a step back, only to knock over a nearby planter, which shattered at their feet...
and gained the attention of one of those strange... things that lurched suddenly and began to barrel their way.
Fiona's heart stopped and she squeaked, shrinking back in terror as the figure lurched toward them. Her tail whipped around under her skirts, an instinctive panic seizing her body.
"Wh-what do we do?" She clutched at Jack's hand, looking around desperately for a path to escape.
Jack was frozen too, not sure what to even make of the things. But as they lurched nearer, it was evident they were anything but human. A grip on her hand tightened before he yanked her along.
"We get the hell out of here!" he told her, as he began to run, dragging her along for all he was worth.
It didn't take much convincing for Fiona to fall in behind him, a small cry escaping her before she swallowed it down, hiking her skirts up in her free hand so she could run faster.
Her wings strained against the fabric of her dress and it took nearly all her self control not to just snap them open and take to the air.
Fast as he ran wasn't enough. They turned a bend and right there- he came to a abrupt halt, clean into a pack of them! And the only thing Jack could think to do was..
Punch the one right in it's face that was in his way and body slam another, cursing and dragging Fiona clean along.
"Hang out!" Cause what else could she do? The things were everywhere with unhuman like lurchy grabs that they got caught up in suddenly when one got a hold of Jack's boot and he stumbled, hold faltering on Fiona's hand as he fell to the ground.
"Jack!" Fiona staggered as his hand was wrenched from hers, then cried out, forcing herself forward to stand over him, defensive.
She had no idea what she was doing, but she spread her arms and drew herself up to try to make herself appear larger, as though attempting to scare off a wild animal. Her tail cracked through the air and she growled, heat building in her throat.
But the creatures were mindless, and it deterred them not. Jack groaned and moved to stand, only to feel one latching onto his leg again as he gave a grunt and began to kick at it, and kick so hard the damn beast woman's mouth nearly came off. But he managed to get his leg free, just as the rest of the ghoulish group draped their hands around them, and pawed then at contact, hungry for something sinister, something dark.
By now Jack was on his feet, stumbling and guiding Fiona to move back with him, but they were surrounded.
"What the hell are these things!?" he found himself asking, as if anyone outside around them would know.
The half-dragon girl trembled where she stood, moving woodenly as Jack hauled her back. A frightened growl rumbled in her chest and she shook her head, eyes wide. "I don't- I don't know!" she wailed.
Fire burned her throat, begging to be released, and she swallowed, clenching her hands into fists so her nails bit into her palms and drew blood.
Every which way they turned the creatures were there, until they were chased clean into the center of town where Jack stumbled to a halt.
"What the heck.."
Before them was a wave of,people, angry and shouting and throwing rotting food.
"Tell me this is some kinda bad dream."
Fiona gave a soft little cry of surprise and slammed to a halt. "Wh-what's happening?!"
His face crinkled as he looked around.
"These.. at least look like normal people." He gave Fiona's hand a squeeze. "I think I'd rather take my chances out there than with.." He cringed and didn't look back. "Come on." And he pulled her along, dodging fruit and shoving through people angered and shouting and city guards being overwhelmed, hoping to keep the riot back.
Fiona swallowed nervously and nodded, ducking along behind him. She clutched at Jack's hand, keeping her head down and hoping desperately that they could just get through this without being noticed.
It seemed there was no reprieve the deeper into the city they went. In fact, things got worse. Rotten fruit may have been catapulted out of spite towards the nobility and any snobbish military trying to wave their banners to declare order, but Jack could already sense the hostilities rising, and knew it wouldn'tbe long before there was blood.
"We gotta get outta here."
But as he rounded another bend, they were completely overwhelmed as a mass of people came marching through- pitch forks and torches in their hands, all chanting the same thing- all calling out for justice unserved.
Fiona panicked.
Her life had mostly consisted of her own room and her mother's shop, and little else in between. The anxiety and instinctive terror of a hunted animal had been building for days now, and it finally snapped.
Her tail lashed out and her wings strained against her bodice, and without thinking she grabbed for Jack, pulling him close both to protect and be protected and hissed at the crowd, eyes flashing a prism of colors while an ember-hearth glow built on her tongue.
But it was mob mentality. And she wasn't even seen as anything else but something in the way. And soon the mob was pushing into them, pushing past them-a nd nearly trampling the pair over.
Too many, too close, fire flashing in the corner of her eye, people shouting-
With a panicked shriek, Fiona wrapped her arms around Jack's waist and her wings suddenly tore through the fabric of her dress, pumping desperately to get them airborne as she just tried to get away away away.
"Woah.. woah.. woah!" Jack clung to the now flying Fiona as his body rocked, legs dangling carelessly, each time her strong wings gave a pump. And up, up and away they went, he uncertain what the hell was going on (not that he had forgotten Fiona could fly, mind you, but the whole situation was disconcerting).
"Woah.. h-hey.. don't drop me alright! Ansgar's name!" he squeaked. "We're up pretty damn high!"
It wasn't until they were some fifty or sixty feet in the air that Fiona entirely realized what she was doing. Once she did, she gasped and clutched at Jack harder.
"I- I won't," she stammered out, sounding far from sure. Her eyes darted around frantically, trying to find some place to land that wasn't overrun with the mob of people.
Preferably before her arms or wings gave out.
Her tail thrashed nervously, throwing off her balance, and she squeaked as they suddenly banked left, hard.
"Holy shit!" Jack clung to the poor woman tighter. And he was hardly a small man. He was heavy and muscled, dense and about as thick as his head could be. It probably felt as if he might be crushing her. But he didn't want to fall, after all.
After a moment, he did happen to notice the state of Uthlyn and swore.
"What in the world..." There were people everywhere. Filling the streets and making noise. It was dizzying. They weren't even an army. This was an organized mob of very angry citizens.
"Fiona.. just keep on flying if you can." He honestly didn't want to deal with this- any of this, as he could feel the tension mounting from the people below.
"Wh-where?!" She wasn't yelling at him, exactly- she was just desperate and panicky, not sure how long she could keep this up but not seeing anywhere that really looked safe to land either.
"Anywhere but down!" he shouted. His eyes scowered the land. "There. See where it's all dark across the lake?" It was quite a distance but hey.. it appeared nothing was happening there due to it's lack of light and mass of people. "Get us across there, and fast!"
She wasn't sure she had the breath to speak, so she just nodded sharply and banked again, giving sharp, powerful beats of her wings in an effort to move them as fast as she could.
She started losing altitude above the lake, and they'd barely cleared the bank when she gave a little cry and her wings just refused to work properly, forcing her to fan them out in an effort to slow their fall of the last few feet before she hit the ground and rolled. A sharp cry of pain was pulled from her lungs as she felt one wing snap closed, painfully, against her back.
The landing wasn't anything graceful, and Jack felt himself land and roll over his own shoulder in a rather painful manner. It took him a few minutes to collect himself, groaning as he popped his shoulder back into place and looked over to Fiona.
"Hey.. you alright?" she looked like a bird that had hit a window. He moved closer to her side.
The half-dragon whimpered, curling in on herself. Her dress was torn in several places, the rips that her wings had made only widening in flight, and her tail had curved up and ripped several long tears through the skirt.
She raised her head blearily. "I- I think I dislocated my wing," she murmured, face white with shock as her tail twitched back and forth.
Jack cringed.
"Bet that hurts like a million gold." He shook his head. "Look, hold still. I can pop it back into place, okay?" And without so much as a warning (since he wasn't much a man for finesse) he placed a boot in the middle of her back and crack. the wing was set back into place.
Fiona screeched, back arching and eyes blowing wide as pain lanced through her. She tried to scramble away, but she was still out of breath and off-kilter, and only managed in getting to her feet just to fall back again.
Panting, she shot him a glare and ground out, "Thank. You." She glanced back over her shoulder, first at her wing, then out across the lake.
"What the hell was that?"
"You're welcome." He seemed unphased by her pain. He was too on edge anyways, and was dancing around where he stood, as if ready for a fight. His hands were even in prepared fists at his side.
He glanced across the lake at her question.
"Beats me. But we shouldn't stay anywhere near her longer than we should." He examined her with a frown. "You able to walk any at all?" He really didn't want to have to drag her ass around, though he supposed she just did that with him.
She nodded, and reached her hand up to him. "Help me up? I just...need to get my balance back," she mumbled.
He helped her up with one quick, unceremonious pull. She was a bit heavier than she looked, so he helped steady her so she wouldn't fall clean back onto her butt.
"That help at all?" he looked her over, then anxiously over his shoulder. He could still hear the Uthlyn crowds.
"Yeah."
Without missing a beat, she pulled back her arm and slapped him hard across the face. Taking a step back, she straightened what was left of her skirt and said calmly, "That was for not giving me any warning about the wing."
She glanced back at the city, then forward again. "Do we have anywhere to go?"
Jack made a face as he held his cheek.
"Hey! Shouldn't you be thanking me for the help!?"
Fiona ignored him primly, though her skirt shifted as her tail twitched back and forth like an angry cat. "We can't go back to the city," she murmured, almost too herself. "Those...those things. What were they?"
"I don't know nor do I want to. Guess we should probably pick a direction and just go in it." He made a face. "Can't say it'd be wise to remain anywhere near Uthlyn." Which included not going back to his home. Who knew who'd steal it this time.
"Then where?" She wrapped her arms around herself, shivering slightly as the shock of the situation really started to set in.
"Why are you asking me? How should I know? It's not like I knew the whole town was going to go crazy! Hell, if I knew that I would have just stayed at your mom's."
Fiona's trembling grenmore violent and she bit her lip. "Then wh-what... Should we go back?"
As terrifying as Uthlyn had been, she balked at the idea of returning to her mother's home.
Jack made a face.
"It's kinda far,.. but I guess we could." He gave a shrug. "Why? You have any better ideas?"
She shrugged, then shook her head, eyes lowered.
"I don't want to go back," she mumbled, voice thick. Oh great, now she was crying. She scowled at her feet.
"Well my home's off limit so looks like we just gotta pick a direction and move!"
If he had been effected by her crying, it didn't appear so. He simply cracked his neck and gave a roll of his shoulders before saying, "Come on. We shouldn't rest for too long here. Who knows how fast the craziness will spread."
Fiona gulped a breath and wiped at her eyes. She needed to get a hold of herself. "Okay. Which way then?" Her voice was still a little rough, but her eyes were sharp as she looked up to him.
Jack groaned, rolling his shoulders.
"I don't know!" He just threw his hands out, and pointed in the direction he felt was the most away from the chaos. "There.. let's just go that way." And of course, there was no road as he began to stomp along the muddy grass set beneath a thick array of trees.
She could do little more than nod quickly and start after him, catching her toe on her ripped skirt and nearly tumbling over head first.
"Ah- damnit!" Glowering, she paused to rip a wide strip off the hem of her skirt, shortening it enough that it wouldn't hamper her legs in it's current state.
Jack turned around and fetched her by the arm.
"What are you doing?Come on! We gotta keep moving! "
She stumbled again when he grabbed her arm. "Wha- hold on! If you'd just give me a second-"
Skirt adjusted, she managed to get her feet under her and glared at him as she started walking. "I couldn't walk straight in that thing, I had to fix it."
Jack gawked at her.
"Are you pulling off your skirts?" But then he saw what she was doing, but it still illicited an eye roll.
"You sure you're okay now?" he asked, leading her in who knows what direction they were going.
Fiona made a rude gesture at his back, scowling at the ground as she followed after him. "I'm fine, thanks," she grumbled, falling into step beside him.
"You know most women wear skirts."
They seemed kind of a hassle. Then again, if men wore skirts... he guess it'd make it easier to piss. Kind of. Maybe not. He contemplated hiking up a skirt to take a whiz and made a face at the idea.
She shot him a look, eyebrow arched. "I am aware. Y'know, seeing how I am in fact a woman and all," she drawled.
With the ragged tears to her dress and the amount of fabric she'd had to rip off the hem, it was nearly impossible for her to hide her wings and tails, not to mention the scales that traced her body. She hunched her shoulders a bit, arms wrapped around her middle. She wasn't used to feeling so exposed, and she didn't like it.
Woman. Right..
She was a woman.
"Well, maybe you can show me more of that later to prove it. For now, we should keep moving."
Wait, did he just hit on her? No, he just out right asked her for a fuck. Kind of.
Angsar's name! What was wrong with him? Oh well, maybe she'd be okay with it. It'd been a while since he had sex and sex was sex. He jsut needed it. It wans't like he wanted something romantic out of it. If not well..
Maybe he'd hit up a whore or something. He was never good at flirting or anything of the sort. Then agian, his statement probably made that obvious. Yeah...
He cracked his shoulders.
Maybe she'd just slap him. That normally is what happened when he accidently said he wante dto see a woman's boobs.
Fiona nearly tripped over her own tail as it whipped around in surprise. "Excuse me?!" She gaped at him. Her cheeks went very red, and she was caught somewhere between wanting to smack him across the face again and- well, sort of wanting to "prove it", just to get him to shut up.
Blushing deeply, she growled, "If we weren't in a hurry, I'd hit you for that," as she stomped along ahead of him, although she had no idea where they were going.
"Oh come on, I'd love to see you try it."
She whirled and grabbed the front of his shirt, tail lashing and sending her skirts whipping around her legs as she growled.
"Why do you do this? Don't we have enough problems to deal with right now?! Why do you have to- to antagonize me?"
She was clinging to his shirt to avoid hauling off and hitting him again. As satisfying as it had been, she didn't want to get into the habit of just smacking people who got on her nerves.
"Hey, woah, woah, relax," he went on, hands over top of her wrists. "It's not my fault you got all skirts riled over it."
"Gah! Why are you like this?!" Eyes flashing, she tried to pull back from him.
Something stopped her. An instinct she didn't understand, but caught in her throat and wouldn't let her move. No. No, bad idea, very bad idea. No, Fiona, stop-
She leaned in and bit him, pressing her teeth into the curve of his neck and shoulder. It wasn't hard enough to draw blood, more a show of dominance than an actual attack meant to injure.
Which was exactly what it was, though she didn't realize it consciously. Reminiscent of a larger drake biting the back of an irritating dragon's neck to get the other creature to leave her alone, or at least acknowledge her power.
Jack didn't fully realize what was happening or not, but his mind pretty much went in very few directions. So naturally he just punched her in response and wrenched her off of his neck.
"What.. what did you just.. just do?!" His cheeks flushed and he reached back to feel...
Was there blood? Or was that just her saliva?
"Ansgar's name, Fiona... what are you .. did you just.. are you just...?"
he wasn't sure if her eyes were feral or lusty. Somehow he interpreted the latter. "Are you trying to get kinky with me?"
Cause he wish he got the memo because he would probably not have punched or.. or something!
Gasping, Fiona staggered back. One hand flew to her mouth and she stared at him, panting.
What the hell did she just do?
"I- I don't- I didn't-" She gulped in a breath, then glared at him. "You punched me."
"And you bit me!" came his retort. "Did you draw blood? Or is this slobber.." he made a face and looked at his hand. No blood from what he could see- but he didn't have the best eye sight.
"I didn't mean to-" Fiona snapped her mouth closed and folded her arms with a huff, flushing scarlet.
"It just...sorta...happened..."
"How do you just KINDA bite someone!?"
"I don't know!" She threw her hands up in exasperation. Honestly, she was a little terrified that it had happened, and she hadn't really seemed to have much control over it.
Jack grit his teeth at her.
Okay, maybe he wouldn't try to flirt with her. She was probably a virgin anyway, right? But did that matter? He guessed it was supposed to. He just shook his head.
"Hey, slow down. I thought I was leading the way!" he grumbled after her.
"Fine. Okay." She slowed her pace so she fell into step beside him.
After a moment, she muttered, "Sorry. About the bite..."
Jack rubbed at it, his expression sour.
"If you were sorry you shouldn't have done it," he grumbled.
She folded her arms, eyes downcast. "I told you, I didn't mean it," she grumbled. "It just happened."
"But how can you mean NOT to bite someone," he grumbled still. He never knew when to let things go.
"I don't know." She glowered at him. "I just- I wanted to show I was stronger than you so you'd shut up!"
It wasn't until the words left her mouth that she realized they were accurate. She paused, eyes wide, and blinked. "Huh."
"Oh come on," he replied with a roll of his eyes. "As of that'll ever happen."
Her eyes snapped back to him and she growled quietly, the sound low and feral. Then she clapped a hand over her mouth.
She did not like this. Had giving in to instinct once awakened a whole mess of them?!
Shaking her head, Fiona muttered, "Let's just keep moving."
"Yeah, we probably should get moving," he went on, sighing as he looked at the road before them with a frown. "Before you try to bite me again or something." He idly rubbed at the spot where she bit, frowning.
"Did you leave a mark?" he asked, making a face but not seeming to stop moving to actually let her check.
Resisting the urge to just drop her head into her hands and groan, Fiona actually cast a look at his neck. Then she winced and looked away again quickly.
"Um...yeah. Probably." Definitely. She may not have drawn blood, but that was certainly going to bruise.
And for some godforsaken reason she actually felt a little flash of pride at the realization. Shit shit shit. That is...really not good. What the hells is wrong with me?!
"Are all of your kind like that?" Jack whined. "Biting others just when you see fit?" His face was still sour. And it seemed childish. He couldn't just let things go. "Hell, last time I was bitten like that might have been from a playful whore too high up on something." He was shaking his head at the memory. "Hell, didn't even get myself a joy ride before it." He rubbed again at the mark, rambling still.
That snapped her out of her bizarre reverie quickly enough. Fiona gaped at him, then snapped her mouth shut and glared.
"You are an ass," she informed him on a growl, turning and flouncing away down the road in front of him. Her tail twitched agitatedly under her skirts, though she didn't seem to be entirely conscious of it, muttering under her breath about "impossible men".
Impossible Men seemed avoidable, for as they moved forward some voices could be heard.
"You think they'd pay if he's dead? I thought we needed that dragon... alive."
The other man went on, bragging about how easy it would be to pick him off-
Even Jack had to scoff at that. Some man thinking he could pick off a dragon?
"Please.."
It seemed someone heard Jack's retort, even if he hadn't been invited into their conversation- and the men turned towards their direction- but neither party saw the other.
"Who's out there?" one of the men called.
How much had they said? And how much had these people been listening in? Did they hear the name of the dragon? And that they aimed to kill 'em?
Jack rolled his eyes, and seemed about ready to reveal himself and stroll on over to the men and give them a piece of his mind. He hated men that ran their mouth.
His fists did all the talking there.
And he was itching for a fight.
Eyes wide, Fiona lunged forward to grab Jack's sleeve in an effort to hold him in place. "What are you doing?" she hissed at him, shaking her head almost frantically.
Whoever these people were, if they thought they could take on a dragon than they were at least armed, and most probably dangerous.
...It only occurred to her as an afterthought that if they were after a dragon, a half-dragon might also be of interest to them.
Jack made a face at her.
"What are you doing? Doesn't it annoying you there's men out there running lousy mouths?"
Jack cracked his knuckles- and the men, who weren't too far away, were obliged to reply.
"Lousy mouths?"
One man spat.
"Come out here so you can say it to our faces!"
They weren't about to go scrounging around for the man running his mouth and get shanked. However, the man running his mouth needed addressed. Only a fool would talk to them that way!
Jack rolled his eyes.
"I don't think it needs said to anyone's face how stupid they are to hunt after a dragon." Jack replied, stepping out into the streets and eyeing the group of men up critically. There wasn't many of them. But then again, not many people were out at this hour either. Either way, he hated those who ran their mouths. "Besides, I guess the pair of you forgot what country you're in."
They simply stared at Jack.
"Connlaoth doesn't have dragons."
Said the man standing in front of a lady dragon.. of sorts.
Fiona gritted her teeth, swallowed a torrent of cursing, and stepped out after Jack.
"You're an idiot," she muttered to him under her breath. Her eyes flicked over the "dragon hunters". Jack was right--dragons didn't exactly frequent Connlaoth.
Or at least, not any that could be recognized as dragons. That was how she had happened after all, according to her mother.
"Where exactly are you thinking to find this dragon?" she asked, hoping her voice sounded more collected than she felt.
The men clearly didn't like their attitude, especially that of the loud mouthed Jack. They sneered in their direction, eyes glinting dangerously with their growing irritation.
"You clearly know nothin' 'bout dragons," one man growled.
"I think I know well enough," came Jack's cool reply.
"Dragons ain't even what they seem. 'specially when sneakin' into lands like Connlaoth. Some even take a human form."
That, of course, just made Jack laugh.
"What's so fuckin' funny?" one of the men snapped. They clearly didn't see the amusement that the other man did, even if Jack only barked out a single laugh.
"If that's the case, you could just ly and kill any person just claiming they were the dragon you were hunting."
The response Jack gave them was not the one they expected, and they simply stared at him, confusion and anger clearly twisted upon their faces.
Fear tingled down her spine. She tried not to let it show; she knew it wasn't logical, there was no way these people could know who—what—she was.
But Jack's point was correct. And a little terrifying. They wouldn't have to know.
She didn't want to bait them.
"Let's just go," she muttered to her companion, tugging lightly on his arm. "Come on—this can't be worth it."
Right?
"Worth it?" Jack cracked his neck left, then right. "Apparently you've never had an itch to fight after being bitten."
He gave a sniff and wiped his nose as he peered back at Fiona with a half grin.
"Sometimes you need to fight just to fight."
He looked over at the men and got a brief glimpse of the paper drawing of a dragon they were carrying.
The men sneered and backed down, ironically.
"Oh yeah? And who said fightin' some thug is even worth it to us?" t he man nudged his companion. "Come on. Let's get goin'. We ain't got time for this."
And the men moved to leave.
"Jack." She tightened her grip on his arm and desperately tried to ignore the heat that had begun to pulse through her own blood. "Let's. Go."
It wasn't worth it. It wasn't.
But there was a part of her, a part she had never truly acknowledged until presented with these men claiming to hunt dragons, that was fire and pride and wanted to fight.
Abruptly, her eyes were no longer pale glass, but something clear and burning and ancient.
She swallowed, trying to force the feeing away even as her wings tingled against her shoulders and her skin heated steadily.
Jack was all but resigned to leave things at that.
But then he heard one of the men mutter, "Cunts."
So Jack turned around and popped the man clean across the back of his head.
"Jack!"
Fiona hauled back on his arm desperately, but the blow had landed. It was too late. Wide-eyed, she just barely managed to duck out of the way as one of the "dragon hunters" took a swing at their assailant and nearly hit her instead.
But Jack hit him back, and with a roar, charged into the man and knocking him clean to the ground, giving the other time to respond by leaping onto Jack's back and producing a knife.
"Stop, stop it!"
Fiona had always hated the maidens in stories who stood by or swooned while menfolk scuffled. But now that she was in the middle of it, she realized there wasn't anything she could do. They were all moving too fast--she was just as like to hurt Jack as help him if she tried to insert herself.
But when she saw one of the men draw a knife, she reacted on instinct. She slammed her shoulder into his, shoving him back with more force than a woman her size should have been able to muster.
"Bitch," someone spat behind her, which was all the warning she got before someone grabbed her hair and threw her backward onto the ground. She cried out, catching herself awkwardly with one hand and whipping her head around to try to find her attacker.
The man was just staring at her. Fiona blinked, unable to process what he was looking at for a long moment. At least, until she realized how far her skirts had ridden up, revealing the last few inches of her tail twitching nervously back and forth.
She blanched, trying to scramble back to her feet and get some distance. "St-stay away from me!"
But the man noticed something else.
The strange lump against her back side.
He was over her in an instant, over powering and ripping at her clothes.
He had seen that scaley tail before...
And it would explain a lot why these two were so butt hurt about dragon hunters...
Wings.. if he could expose those wings...
And just as the man heard a most satisfying rip of clothing, there was a painful cracking sound of Jack's fist hitting his skull, and the man went down- hard.
Fiona thrashed and fought, clawing at her attacker like a wildcat, but she hadn't been able to get her feet fully under her before he was on her again, and he was just too big for her to throw him off from the ground.
Panic closed her throat and she whimpered, scratching at his face and neck as he tore the back of her dress--
And then he was gone, Jack was standing over her.
But the damage was done. Her dress--already tattered from travel--was barely held up by the strips of fabric at her shoulders and the sash around her waist. The back had been almost entirely ripped away, and a large slash through her skirts had opened up when she'd tried to get to her feet and trod on the hem.
She just stared up at Jack in silence, panting and terrified. Her tail lashed side to side, and she had to exert an enormous effort of will to keep her wings folded tight to her back. Not that it seemed to make much difference--they were burnished gold when the light hit them, hardly subtle under the best of circumstances.
Jack gave her a once over, breathing heavy.
"Can you stand?" Cause they probably shouldn't linger. He could already hear someone calling out to the guards...
"I—I..."
Fiona simply stared at him for a long moment, too stunned to do much else. Then she snapped her mouth closed and nodded in a sharp jerk, climbing shakily to her feet.
Without thinking, she grabbed for Jack's hand. "Let's—let's go. Please..." She was shivering violently in a way that had nothing to do with a chill, and her already strange-glass eyes had gone dull and almost colorless.
Seeing her move and her clothing nearly falling off, he shrugged off his shirt and tossed it to her.
"Here, put that on before the rest of your clothes fall off. " He peered anxiously over his shoulder, partly perhaps to give her some privacy but also to keep an eye out for trouble.
She took his shirt with shaking hands, wrapping it tightly around her shoulders with a softly murmured, "Thank...you."
The extra fabric seemed to help calm her somewhat, at least enough that she regained the presence of mind to wrap her tail around her leg, hiding it from view under her skirts.
She took a breath, then reached out to carefully place her fingers on Jack's arm. "Where do we go?" she asked quietly, pressing in closer to his side almost unconsciously.
"Just follow 'ol Jack. I can find my way out of trouble in this town blindfolded." He gestured with a jerk of his head. "This way. Come on." And he began to lead her through a winding maze of back alleys.
There was little else she could do but follow him. Fiona clutched his shirt a little tighter around her frame, startling at every slight sound or quick movement, but she managed to keep up with Jack easily enough.
Jack paused and gestured for her to stop- then to draw closer. He could hear voices and they sounded as if they were coming from both directions. He was trying to discern if that were true, as sometimes voices carried strangely in the alley, depending on where you were, and they were in a section that more often than not, carried more noise than it should, for the houses here were lower than the ones around it.
He peered up and noticed an open window- something the next floor up, but doable to crawl inside.
Should they risk an entry? It could draw more attention. But the next way over was a series of bridges and homemade waterways that opened up into the sewers.
They could probably make that..
Assuming the noises coming from their left were fake and the sound was actually to their right...
"...Jack?"
Any fire Fiona had held earlier had clearly been dampened by their run-in with those dragon hunters. Her voice shook slightly as she pressed into his side, looking side to side as she tried to parse through the conflicting sensory information.
"What--what do we do?" Her wings twitched against her back, rustling the fabric of his borrowed shirt, and the tip of her tail began to twitch against her calf in agitation.
He grabbed her by the hand.
"Come on. We're gonna chance the sewers."
And he began to pull her down the cobblestone street just as a pair of guards showed up from the alley.
"Hey! Stop! You two! You're in violation of the curphew!"
Jack swore and ran harder.
"Just keep running. "
Fiona gasped, stumbled, then managed to right herself and run as Jack pulled her along. "Won't—won't they follow us to the sewer?" she gasped as she forced herself to keep up.
"City guards following us into the sewer? You've got to be kidding me. They'd never go into that rancid place. Come on!" He urged her to run faster. "We just gotta make it to the bridge at the end of this road."
Unable to do much else, Fiona ran faster, trying to hitch up what was left of her skirts with the hand Jack wasn't tugging her along by as she followed him.
"How—how do we get to the sewer—from the bridge?" she panted. She had o force herself not to glance back over her shoulder as the sound of pursuing footsteps grew louder.
He looked at Fiona and gave her a toothy grin.
"Know how to swim?"
She returned his look with wide, glassy eyes. "Um, a little?" Her wings didn't take well to water. But if it was their only option...
Oh gods.
They were fast approaching the bridge.
"Hope that's enough you don't drown. " And he stopped suddenly before the bridge, scooping her up into his arms and dropped her cleaned over the edge to the water. He chanced a quick glance back at the approaching guards before hefting himself up and over the rail where he joined her with a splash.
Fiona screeched, a sound that was quickly cut off when her mouth filled with water. She floundered to the surface, sputtering, and frantically tried to keep her head above water as her skirts, wings, and tail all worked to drag her under.
"Jack? Jack!"
She had absolutely no idea where she was supposed to be going.
Jack resurfaced, hair once untamable hair slicked back in waves away from his face. He turned to Fiona briefly before eyes darted to the angry shouts on the bridge.
"Best get to swimming. Come on," and he began to swim his way towards the much larger bridge down river that was held up, from what it seemed, a bulge of dark shadows. Jack knew under there was easy access to the sewers, and from there a Network to get them back home. Well his home, anyway, even if it would take some time in doing it.
He turned back towards Fiona to see how she was fairing when a weighted rope net unceremoniously dropped ontop of him, another set of guards screaming for them to hault.
Relieved, Fiona paddled awkwardly after Jack as he led them toward e next bridge. She really was an atrocious swimmer, floundering and panting as she struggled to keep up. The wet fabric of her dress tangling around her body certainly didn't help.
Which was apparently something of an odd advantage, as she was too far back when the net dropped on Jack to be caught in it.
Shit shit shit!
She grabbed for the weighted rope, first struggling to tug it off, but she could barely keep herself afloat. That wasn't working.
One thing she could try then.
"Jack, go under!" she gasped, the only warning she could manage before she pursed her lips and blew a thin stream of white-hot flame onto the netting.
The wet rope didn't burn easily, but dragonfire was a force to be reckoned with. She kept it up as long as she could, until she had a hole big enough for a grown human to fit through.
He was about to protest but the weight of the net was forcing him under, and although he struggled against it it felt in vain- that was until some really fucking hot fire surged over head, startling Jack as he just stared dumbfounded at the net's charred hole. But he didn't waste more time than that to swim through it before he resurfaced, gasping for air.
"What.. what just happened?" He shouted. "Are they shooting fire at us?" He was so confused!
"No time!" Fiona was struggling to stay afloat in earnest now, gulping water with every other breath. "Where—where's the entrance? I can't—"
She went under, and it took her a few too many seconds to surface again. When she did she coughed wretchedly, lungs heavy with liquid and her eyes stinging.
Jack grabbed her with his large hand when she resurfaced and pulled her close to his strong form.
" Get on my back! I'll swim us the rest of the way. Just hold on tight!"
She wanted to protest, but they didn't have the time. Her dignity wasn't worth their lives.
With no other options, she wrapped her arm around his chest and clung tight to his back, head tipped up in a frantic effort to keep her nose and mouth above water.
By the time she was fastened onto his back, he moved to swim.but- something yanked him leftward into the water as ge went down. A moment later, he opened his eyes and glanced down through the rampaging bubbles splashing between their forms to where he saw his leg stuck on the damned weighted net. He reached down, yanking the knife free from his boot and worked at cutting his way free
A moment later, they were able to resurface as Jack gasped for air. "Hey you alright back there?"
Fiona coughed, sputtered, tried to answer, choked, coughed up more water, then managed to croak out a weak, "F-fine, just hurry!"
Jack growled through his breath.
"Hold on to your tail feathers." And his arms tore through and pushed them through the waters as fast as he could, it seeming to take an eternity to cross the remaining short distance but once the pair made it beneath the shadows of the over pass, Jack sighed with dramatic relief.
He moved to pull himself up onto a dark ledge, one that was just barely within his reach and once the pair were far enough from the river, he squat down and instructed, "Okay, jump down. The rides over. "
Once she was far enough out of the water, Fiona rolled awkwardly to the side, coughing up a few more mouthfuls of water before she could draw in a true breath. She braced herself on all fours, shivering, and looked around.
"What...what now?"
A very shirtless, rough and tumble Jack was already pushing himself off of all fours as he pointed into the dark, his eyes slowly adjusting.
"There's a way in over there. Sewers here ain't as nice as the ones at my home but.." he gave a shrug. "Beggars can't be choosers." He stood up and dusted off his trousers, for all the good that did them as they were soaking wet, fully of river grit, and it simply shuffled the dirt around.
Now on his feet, Jack popped his back. Then moved to crack his neck.
"Hope you love to crawl and ain't much afraid of tight spaces."
His eyes were mostly adjusted and he stepped deeper into the shadows where a rusted, iron door hung limply to one side. It made a godawful creak when he went to move it fully out of their way.
He then turned to Fiona.
"Gentlemen, first." And he shuffled inside, body just squeezing to fit in and lead the way on his hands and knees.
Great. First swimming, now tight spaces.
Not to mention dragon hunters.
Today sucked.
With no other choice available to her, Fiona could do little but struggle to tie her tatter skirts up by her waist so they were less of an impediment and attempt to squeeze in after Jack. She wasn't as broad as he was, so there was a bit more space for her to work with, but not much.
Thankfully it didn't take long for the pair to shimmy through the narrow entry way. It did move into a small labyrinth, but it seemed Jack knew where he was going- mostly. He only got lost once and circled back to find his way finally to his destination, and began to move, awkwardly, face first down a ladder.
"Careful on these next steps," he commented. "Don't want you to fall on your pretty little head. Gotta use your hands like your feet and-"
Was he trying to show off? Not that it mattered- because if he was trying to make it appear as if he climbed down a ladder, hands and head first, he was doing apoor job of it as he slipped and began to fall, and landed most uncomfortably on his face in the sewer walks below.
Oh for--
"Jack?" Fiona froze, calling down into the dark. Was he even conscious after a fall like that? "You okay down there?"
Jack's groan confirmed he infact, wasn't dead.
"No, no.." he coughed and made a wince as he righted himself. "Well.. mostly okay." He rubbed at the back of his head. He'd be feeling that tomorrow. In fact, he was feeling it right now.
Goodness sakes.
Fiona clambered the last few steps down the ladder until she was on level with him and narrowed her eyes. She could see better in the dark than most, and it wasn't too difficult to make him out.
"Here, lemme see." She reached out to him, trying to coax him down to her so she could look at the back of his head.
"I dont think looking at my head is gonna fix it. I'm afraid this hard head is also a lot harder to break than most." Did she forget he was a fighter? And did so.. I'm a ring.. for money?
"I'm sure itll just add to the other lumps I already got back there." Plus he was used to not being fussed over.
"A glass orb that hits the ground a thousand times can still break on the thousand-and-first," Fiona snipped back. "Trust me. I've done it. Now stop being a baby and hold still."
She seemed suddenly much more alert than she had since their encounter with the dragon hunters. Something about focusing her attention on someone else's wellbeing allowed her to forget the threat to her own and the cold terror that had stolen over her.
She passed her fingers gently through his hair, brow furrowed as she skimmed over the bump. "Well, you're not bleeding, so that's good," she murmured. "Unfortunately I don't have much skill with head injuries—fire is about all I've got, and it's only occasionally useful."
She started, then drew her hand back quickly and ducked her head. "That's, um...what it was before. With the net. I can...breathe fire. Sometimes."
Jack grunted a bit when she fussed at his hair. But he still felt weird about it. He shrugged as if to internally shrug it off before looking up at her confession.
"Guess that makes sense," he admitted. "Being a dragon girl and stuff."
She laughed. She couldn’t help it—it was more a sound of vaguely hysterical relief than amusement.
“Right. Dragon girl and stuff.”
She chuckled again, then gave herself a little shake and looked around the tunnel they’d wound up in. “So. Where now?”
Jack groaned.
"Well give my head a moment, lumps ain't easy to ignore," he touched it with a wince. "Still tender." With a groan, he looked around and tried to get his bearings.
"Pretty sure we go down that way."
"Pretty sure?" Fiona but her lip, then sighed. "Well, I suppose that's better than not a clue." She pressed in against his side as they started off, unwilling to allow much space between them with their path so uncertain.
They made it far enough inside the sewers that, while it stunk, it was better than it could be.
"We just need to wait here until morning. I doubt the guards would be able to recognize us. "
"Lovely," Fiona muttered. But, hells, it was better than being arrested.
Not that it was a high bar.
"Where do we go in the morning?" she asked quietly as they picked their way along. She had no real plan, no idea of what to do next.
...Her mother was probably so worried about her by now...
"Probably to get a bath," Jack answered without missing a beat.
Fiona snorted. "Yeah, alright, hard same, but where exactly? Is there anywhere in Connlaoth you're not a wanted man, for example?"
"Hey woah woah woah, Wanted Man?" Jack rolled his eyes. "I'm hardly at the top of any wanted list that's for sure."
Those... little incidents aside...
"Besides it ain't like I got a recognizable face."
If anything he could have maybe sorta been handsome, in the 'his nose got punched in a bunch of times' charming way.
"Well, I've seen you get into enough fights out of the ring to know you don't need an actual arrest warrant to be a liability," Fiona pointed out, but there was no real condemnation in her voice. There sort of couldn't be—they were rather stuck with one another for the moment after all.
Jack rolled his eyes again.
"Look, hey, it's not my fault some people just deserve a good punch to the face, alright? I'm a victim here too!"
Fiona snorted. "I don't think anger management issues constitutes victimhood, Hack," she pointed out wryly—then Yelp as her foot slid on a loose, damp stone and she nearly toppled sideways into the sewer.
"Anger management? Pardon me Miss Dragon but I'm not the one here with a literal hot head. If anything," he rolled his shoulders casually and cracked his neck. "I'm the cool one, remember?" Although he rarely used it, he was an ice mage. Sometimes even he forgot. He was just getting used to suppressing it.
"And another thing Miss Dragon I- Oh Ansgar's balls, WHY ARE YOU FALLING!" As if she had a choice! He groaned as he stood at the edge looking down at her. He made a face. "You... you got like poop or something stuck to your hair."
“Oh really? Do I? Thank you, Mister Ice Fists of Fury, I hadn’t fucking noticed!” Fiona growled, clambering awkwardly back up onto the stone ledge and trying desperately not to think about what had just happened.
“Fuck, just—can we get somewhere with clean water, please? I’d take a damn rain puddle at this point.”
If 'poop' in her hair wasn't enough of a surprise, the thing behind her certainly was. Jack was stammering, trying to interject between Fiona's complaints before he just gave a loud, annoying sigh and grabbed her roughly by the arm, '"Get out of the water now! There's some sorta giant rat thing right behind you!"
"What are you—hey!"
She stumbled as he jerked her out of the water, trying to crane her head to see what in all hells he was talking about.
The rat was large and in charge, with a chewed up pair of ears, a crooked snout with pocks of fangs jutting out between curling lips as it scrambled its way after the pair and attempted to bite after Fiona's retreating form.
He was rewarded by a punch to his face, courtesy of Jack.
"What the fuck?!"
Fiona staggered back, kicking out at the creature instinctively, but then her attention was quickly darting about the tunnels. She'd dealt with enough rats back home to know that they were hardly solitary creatures.
"We should move, now!"
A blobbing movement of shadows alerted Jack to the same.
But before he could retreat the damn rat lunged forward and bit him, latching onto his arm.
Jack cried out and slammed his fist again and again into the rat's face but it's grip felt permanent.
"God damn mutant sewer rat! Get off my arm!"
What the fuck what the fuck what the fuck what the fuck.
How did rats even get that big?!
"Hold—damnit, try to hold still!" Fiona tried to grab for the rat that had latched onto his arm and yank it off.
Something large and fuzzy ran over her feet and she jerked back, squealing and kicking out at the half dozen creatures that were harrying her ankles.
Hot blood was running down his arms from the stinging bite of the oversized rodent, only further angering Jack until his punches turned into ice. That's right, with one hefty slug of his fist he released an explosion of frosty fury that engulfed the rodent latched to his arm and froze the entire thing solid. A follow up punch forced the frozen beast off his arm in a glittering explosion of frozen rat pieces.
He wasted no time and turned to Fiona.
"You okay?" But he answered his own question with a curse.
"Ansgar's ballsack!" And slammed an icy fist into the first rodent nipping at Fiona's heels.
With another disgusted, partially fearful squeal, Fiona jumped away from the clustering rats and grabbed for Jack’s uninjured arm to haul him back, halfway behind her own body.
Fuck this.
Colorless eyes glaring, she opened her mouth and spat a stream of white-hot fire at the bundle of squeaking fur.
“Come on!” She spun, pulling Jack along with her as she took off. “Since when in the hells are you that accomplished of a mage?!” What little magic she had seen from him before had never seemed so controlled.
Jack glared at the burning rodents as they squealed in pain. Rolling his shoulders, he shook out his hand which snuffed out the ice powers coating it.
"Look, mage shmage, do I really gotta explain my lack of usage when we're in the city?" Sewers seemed safe enough. Who the hell else would be down there. "Besides, you breath fire." As if that made his argument.
"I'm half dragon!" Fiona protested—or defended. She wasn't sure which, or if it was really either.
And suddenly, she started laughing.
"We—" She choked on a giggle, panting as they ran. "We really are a pair—aren't we? Fire and ice." She shook her head, vague hysteria building in her chest. "No wonder we're constantly at each other's throats."
Jack raised a brow.
"What does fire and ice have to-" but he wasn't paying attention and walked into a wall, face first. He dropped to knee and clutched his face, swearing... just in time for another fat rat to show up and bite at his leg. And oh did jack scream... for he was pissed. A second later, the rat was toast- or rather a mass of ice once Jack slammed an icy fist into the thing!
"Shit!"
Fiona tried to drag him back to his feet, kicking out blindly in the direction the rat had come from. "We need to get out of these sewers! How many of these fucking things are there?!"
Jack groaned as he stood, his ankle was fine but the damn wound burned.
"Probably hundreds and they carry awful diseases. So don't let the damn things bite you." And he moved to continue further into the sewer.
"Jack—Jack!" She tried to pull him back, looking around for another way out. "Going further into the sewers just means more rats and more filth and more disease! We need to get back above ground."
Jack growled and tried to shake her free of his arm.
"Did you already forget why we're down here? Come on. Rat's don't stand a chance against me. " he went on with a roll of his shoulders.
"And you don't stand a chance against dysentery!" Fiona snapped back. "And you're already covered in bites! And we can't see three feet down here!"
Frustration heated her scales—her blood. A very faint, orangish glow actually started to emanate from the veins in her wrists and neck. She didn't even notice, so irritated and panicked that her attention had narrowed to her companion and nothing else.
"Well lighting up your body is one way we can see better. Now come on, we gotta get moving before more rats need a bruisin'."
"Lighting my—"
She glanced down, finally noticed the faint glow, and gave a quiet screech of surprise. As the anger was replaced with shock, the glow faded.
"I—I didn't—I've never done that before! I didn't know I could..."
The light faded entirely. She hissed put a low curse. "Well—fuck! How did I do that?!"
How had she flown for the first time two days ago? How had her anger come to live so close to the surface since she'd met Jack?
Nothing made sense anymore.
"Seriously, why would you turn that off now? Now I can't see a damn thing again, " he grumbled.
"I didn't do it on purpose, you jackass!"
The veins in her throat lit up. She froze.
Huh.
"Jack." She snapped her eyes to him, the strange, glassy effect of them reflecting the faint light. "Make me angry."
Jack's face scrunched in confusion. "Fiona, we don't have time to exactly fight right now..."
“I don’t know how else to—to make this happen!” She gestured toward herself. The light at her wrists and throat flickered. “You piss me off without even trying usually, come on! Make me angry!”
She took a step into his space. The heat under her scales rolled off her, warming the air around them. Her wings twitched against her back and she had to focus on keeping them still.
"Piss you off? Oh ho, wait a second now, dragon doll," Jack began. "Did you ever stop to think it wasn't me but maybe your own impatience?"
"My impatience?! Who starts swinging the moment someone looks at him funny? Who decided to fight those dragon hunters? Who jumped out a damned window when I met him?!"
With that, lines of gold-orange fire lit her body, strongest where her skin was thin and pulsing with a gentle heat.
Instead of trying to control herself, Fiona let it burn. Her eyes flashed and her tail whipped against the ragged cloth twisted around her legs.
"Okay, we can fucking see. Let's move!"
"Fucking see? Fucking see about what? And hey, those dragon hunters were after you you know! What was I supposs to do? Just let those guys go?"
"See as in have light to see," Fiona replied with a heavy roll of her eyes. "And yes you should have let them go! Sure they were after me, but they didn't know they were--I don't look like a dragon! We could have just walked away."
She ignored the memory of the visceral terror of that conflict. She didn't have time to break apart just now.
She also ignored that a part of her felt...safer, when Jack had fought them. Like she wasn't alone.
But that was stupid.
The tunnel branched ahead of them and she slowed. "Alright, smartass, this was your idea. Which way?"
Jack rolled his eyes in return, muttering something under his breath. And then they were at a fork. When she asked which direction he shrugged.
"Probably left." And he began to trudge in that direction, ever wary or any monster rats to be had.
Probably left.
Great.
"You have no idea where we're going, do you?" she sighed as she trudged after him.
"It's a sewer. All paths lead into the city."
"Uh-Huh. And where in the city?" Fiona pressed. She was still irritated, but the surge of anger was fading, and so was the light.
Damnit. She didn't want to hold onto that kind of emotion just to give them a night light.
Jack snorted at her fading light.
"Guess I'm not that annoying," he grumbled. But soon light broke ahead and the pair were beneath an open sewer grate. Jack craned his neck up and upon noticing no movement above, told Fiona, "let me check it out. This could be our way out." And he began to climb the metal rungs upon the wall.
"I—are you sure?" Fiona called up after him, worrying at her lower lip. Irritation was swiftly replaced with concern as she watched him climb—gods this was exhausting.
Once at the top and he saw the coast was clear he gestured down to Fiona.
"Looks like we're in luck. It opens into an alley and I don't see anyone around. " He moved his large hands and grabbed a hold of the grate and grunted as he found himself needing to exert extra force to open the damn thing. His muscles strained, the still shirtless man left nothing to the imagination as he pushed open the grate to freedom.
Crawling up onto the street, he lowered a hand down to Fiona and urged, "Come on! While the coast is still clear!"
"I'm coming, I'm coming!" She scrambled up after him, taking his hand gratefully and letting him help pull her to the surface.
She looked around, blinking as they came out into the light. "We..."
She looked down at herself and wrinkled her nose. "We need a bath. And new clothes. We'll draw too much attention like this."
"Bath houses ain't open at this hour but we could settle for one at the whore house." He placed his hands on his hips and looked around, trying to get his bearings.
Fiona gaped, then glowered at him. She opened her mouth to shout at him—then closed it abruptly.
"I guess...beggars can't be choosers," she bit out through gritted teeth, an embarrassed flush already starting to creep across her cheeks at the mere idea.
"Well we could find an inn but whore houses are always open, " he went on with a shrug. "And they're good at washing your back. You can't really get that kinda service at an inn."
"I am perfectly capable of washing my own back," Fiona snapped. Her facade was by now positively crimson. "But sure. Fine. Whatever's cheaper—we don't exactly have a lot of coin, remember?"
Jack tensed and remembered that little detail.
"That.. brings up a problem." He sighed and rolled his shoulders, cracking his neck left, then right.
"Maybe we should just go back to the river." But that didn't offer them cleaning soaps- only water. He supposed anything was better than nothing.
Fiona swallowed a groan. She supposed they had to take what they could get.
"The river upstream of the city proper, I hope?" she pressed. "Otherwise the water is nearly as dirty as the sewers."
Jack was starting to walk on one direction then paused and turned around.
"Yeah right.. upstream. Come on. Before the guards smell us."
"Right behind you." Fiona sighed as she quickened her stride to keep up with him. Back out in the open air, she was suddenly much more self-conscious: they were both filthy, but more than that, she knew it was soon going to be a struggle to keep her wings and tail hidden with the rips in her by now very ill-fitting clothes.
Once the river was in sight, he paid little attention to much else as he dropped into the water, rubbing at his skin and clothes were the grime clung the most. He was grumbling about how soap would make it easier as he leaned into the water to rub down his pants.
Fiona crinkled her nose and waded in behind him, shivering at the chill of the water. She glanced around quickly; once she was sure they were unwatched, she purses her lips and blew a thin stream of flame over the water, warming the eddies around them just slightly.
If the chill had even bothered Jack, he didn't show, but the warming of the waters wasn't unwelcome. He peered at her and noticed her wings, half caught up in his shirt.
"You know, with my clothes half falling off your body, the guards will think we were up to something else. "
Fiona valiantly tried to ignore the way her face heated. She knew he was teasing—as he had a thousand times before—and that she was too easy to get a rise out of.
Didn't stop the blush from deepening.
So she glowered at him and quirked an eyebrow. "If you have a remedy to the situation, I'm all ears," she said dryly. "But as I believe we've established, this dress is falling apart and hardly does anything to cover the...scaly bits. Frankly, I'd rather people assume we were out for a quick tumble."
Jack couldn't help his laugh.
"It sure as hell would feel a lot better than we've been through." He peered at the wounds on his arms, tightening his fists and muscles to see how the wound reacted to tension. He hoped it wouldn't get infected. Rat bites (of any size) were nasty.
Fiona snorted and rolled her eyes, but her expression flickered with concern when she caught him eyeing the bite.
"Here." She moved toward him, one hand slightly outstretched. "Let me take a look?"
Jack shrugged at her request and produced his arm.
"It's a bite. I'm sure even your dragon eyes can confirm that."
She gave him a droll look as she took his arm. "Yes, thank you, I gathered that." She bent slightly to cup some water in her hand, blew until it was boiling, then allowed it to cool before she dribbled it over the wound. "I just figured cleaner water might help."
Jack shrugged.
"Yeah, probably. And I can't lie..." he cracked his neck. "The hot water feels nice."
Fiona glanced up at him through her lashes, thoughtful—then a wicked grin lit her face.
Crouching slightly, she breathed another thin stream of fire over the water—just enough to warm it around them—then cupped her hands and sent it up toward his face in a short, concentrated splash.
"Oh? How about that water then?" She laughed, slipping back a few steps toward the middle of the river, colorless eyes dancing.
Gods, that felt way too good. After the last few hours—the last few days, really—she just wanted to do something juvenile and impulsive. She's nearly forgotten that was why she'd left home with him at all. To have a little fun.
Jack sputtered as the water caught his face.
"Come on now, what was that all about?" But as he rubbed the waters from his eyes and caught her laughter, he smiled and eyed her up.
"OH is that how you want to play?" He threatened, weaving a hand into the waters just far enough away from her that as they flowed closer to her, she'd feel their uncomfortable chill.
Fiona's laugh turned into a shrill squeal and she backpedaled further, until the water was nearly at her waist, dragging heavily at what was left of her skirt.
"Alright, Frostbite, you're on," she mock growled, grinning, and suddenly whipped her tail over the surface of the water to send a sheet of the icy spray right back at him.
Jack closed his face and just let it hit him before staring over at Fiona with a look.
"Really? Is that a you got?" He goaded, swiping off the running water down his face and letting his fingers dance as it turned into a round white snowball..
Which he promptly launched at her face.
:Heads up, dragon butt."
Her eyes widened and she just barely managed to exhale a puff of orange flame that collided with the snowball and turned it to a jet of steam that spiraled up between them.
Laughing, she swiped her tail at him again, this time not to splash him, but to wrap the end of it around his thigh and send him crashing into the water.
Unfortunately for Fiona, she was deeply inexperienced with using her tail in such a way—or at all, really—and she couldn’t get herself disentangled in time before she was dragged down into the water right along with him with a startled, “Oof!”
Tripping Jack in the water was far easier than attempting it on land. The rocks were slick and the current rather fast and Jack, being top heavy as he was, was easily caught off guard by her tail and splashed unceremoniously into the water along with her, while limbs became entangled and a thrashing Jack soon had his head colliding with hers as he let out a swear.
“Ow!”
Fiona reeled back, sputtering, and floundered as her skirt and Jack’s shirt tangled around her in the water. She managed to sit up, barely, and spat water as she reached toward Jack.
“Shit, sorry, you alright? Guess I don’t know my own strength…”
"Strength? Strength has nothing to do with it. If anything, you have one hell of a hard head!"
Fiona snorted, brushing wet hair out of her eyes. "I meant that I didn't mean to drag you down so hard. If anyone's got a thick skull between the two of us, it's you."
Jack was about to make a retort when his foot slipped on the river bottom and he floundered under, a flailing arm clipping onto Fiona on the way down and forcing her under with him again.
With nothing she could really do, Fiona found herself drawn underwater again, flailing in an effort to clear her vision of the swirling fabric of her skirts and Jack's borrowed shirt.
Jack used clobbering arms to push and right himself out of the water, sputtering a few curses as he realized one of his gold hooped earrings got caught on his shirt that was now attached to a very soggy and probably equally sputtering Fiona.
He had no real choice but to hold onto her as he tried to figure out blindly just where his earring was attached as he let out a yelp at her movement, strong arms moving in hopes to still her.
"Woah! What! Hold still, dragon girl. You got my ear all caught up on ya!'
"Ow ow ow ow ow," Fiona muttered petulantly as Jack dragged her around in the water, then suddenly wrapped his arms around her to hold her in place. "What are you doing--oh. Um, sorry?"
She went still, now pressed flush against him with his head practically on her shoulder as he tried to disentangle them. She became abruptly and uncomfortably aware of her own breathing, and had to resist the urge to hold her breath as the water around them began to calm and flow on its merry way.
Jack winced each time a movement yanked at the ring.
"Easy! I don't want to rip it clean out!"
Not only would it be painful, but Jack owned few things of value and he honestly didn't want to have to buy another gold earring.
"Can you see where it's stuck?" He asked, still holding her close and attempting to look her way without actually twisting his body, which proved somewhat impossible in his current position, less he dare rip the earring out himself!
"I--no?" Fiona could do little more than hold as still as possible, unable to turn her head to try to look without risking jerking him along by the ear.
Was it suddenly warmer in the water than it had been a moment ago?
"Here, just...hold still. I'll see if I can feel it," she mumbled, and cautiously reached up between them to try to brush her fingertips along the curve of his ear and see if she could detach the earing by feel alone.
Jack grimaced. How in all the nine lands did he manage to get his earring stuck on his own shirt? Okay... granted he did lend it to her... that kinda made it even worse now didn't it?
Jack winced and swore when he felt the earring pull again.
"Careful!" He hissed, his own hands fumbling up towards hers. "You find it yet?"
"Hold still! Ansgar's sake, would you gimme thirty seconds?" Fiona grumbled as she struggled to find exactly where the earing was attached. She slapped his hands away with her free one, finally catching at the edge of the metal with her nails with a small, victorious huff.
"Alright, almost...got it!" She felt the snap of thread and a sudden release of pressure as the earing came free, and leaned back quickly with a pleased grin. She had somehow wound up half sprawled over Jack's lap in the mini-struggle, and quickly tried to lean back, get her feet under her--only to succeed in slipping sideways on the slick riverbed, one hand flailing for the bank as her legs slid awkwardly against his.
Before she went under, Jack's powerful hand grabbed her and kept her still.
"Woah, easy there." His voice came out throaty, nearly a growl, which complimented the wild, dirty, disheveled look in their after math, the two looking as if they had sex in the mud. His strong body showed off slick, wet muscles that glistened in the moonlight, and strong legs still entangled with hers.
He rubbed at his ear lobe where the earring was now free, water dripping down from stalks of his dark hair the hung over his equally dark eyes that sparkled subtly when the moonlight touched. And there was something strange in his eyes, some sort of a haze as he looked at her.
But then a noise startled him and he jerked to one side, yanking her along with him, against him which pressed their wet bodies closely...
If they looked like they were mating before, the visual was all but confirming now...
"Shh, keep still," he growled beneath his breath, breath a hot contrast to the chill of the river and night, a breath that was focused close, at her ears.
"I think I heard something. "
Unable to get her balance back, there was little Fiona could do but accept his help when he grabbed at her to steady her. But then she was pressed up against him again, which was what she'd been trying to avoid, and he was just--just looking at her, like...
She froze when he pulled her even closer, his warning at least cutting through the fog of confusion that had been trying to settle over her. She lowered her head slightly so her mouth was closer to his ear and told herself that it was just the chill of the water that was making her shiver.
"Where?" she murmured, focusing on making sure her wings and tail didn't start twitching in agitation as tension settled into her body.
A moment later he tensed and the words , "Damn, it" growled from his lips, tickling her ears as he moved.
"A guard. I can see his light. " He wasn't close, but the pair were still in the water. Who knew how long until they could call others in to chase them down.
"We should get out of the river... " he said, an arm still around to hold her in place so she didn't fall. "Slowly.. and as quietly as we can."
But then something caught Jack's attention, and a petite and mischievous laughter, not unlike a tiny sound of a bell could be heard from the grasses nearby.
Jack turned as a small silvery light twinkled subtly in the marshy grasses near the river Bank.
"Oh no " Jack muttered. "Not fairies."
"What?"
Fiona tried to twist to see what he was looking at, but with the way they were tangled together it was awkward and difficult. "But--I thought they didn't come this near cities. Aren't they supposed to stay in woods and the like?"
"Yeah... something like that," Jack muttered. "Except these fairies know me."
She pulled back far enough to see his face, frowning. "Jack," she whispered slowly, for the moment forgetting just how closely entangled they were, "why do these fairies know you?"
Jack grimaced.
"We can talk about that later. Right now.. we need to slowly stand up and peel ourselves off one another."
"Wait, what if they haven't seen us yet?" Fiona protested in a rushed whisper. "If we get out closer to the middle of the river, we could move upstream and..."
Well. That would work if they were being tracked by scent, maybe sight. How did fairies track?
"Oh, trust me." That light and alien like bell laughter tingled again. "They have." He moved to slowly lift one of her legs off his when a silvery glowing fairy zipped over head. He yelped and unceremoniously dropped the leg to avoid the fairy.
"Don't let their dust touch you!"
"What—why? What happens if the dust touches us?" Fiona asked nervously, trying to scramble to her feet without kneeing him somewhere unfortunate.
Jack finally pulled himself free of her but kept crouched low and wary of fairies.
"Let's just say I was young and stupid and these damn fairies pheromone dust almost had me knocking up some broad from the south alley. " he grumbled as he saw a second silver glow in the tall grasses. "Here I almost forgot that sad part of my youth," he muttered and grabbed Fiona's hand. "Come on. Come real slow to me. "
Well that certainly sounded bad.
"Okay." Fiona swallowed nervously, casting glances toward the fairies as she crept toward him. "Okay, I'm coming. Where do we go?"
A fairy zipped past her, giggling out as it kicked a trail of dust. Jack swore and pulled her rough and close, nearly squashing her against him with his biceps when he heard the guards call from across the way.
"Ansgar's ballsack! We gotta run." And with absolutely no finesse, he yanked Fiona behind him in a run for the river Bank. Hopefully their clumsy run would chase off their mischievous fairy assailants and they could disappear into the back alleys until dawn
"Ow! Hey, watch it—Jack," Fiona hissed in protest as he dragged her along, but she started to run as he urged them on. "Where are we going?" she demanded in a panting whisper, nearly fetching up against his back when he made a sharp turn she wasn't expecting.
They were almost clear of the tall grass of the river Bank when a silver light fluttered infront of Jack.
"Tayu?" Jack stammered as the teeny fae was close enough for him to see his face.
"We're here to help!" The little fairie chimed. "Find you a mate! Find you a mate!"
The words would have sounded playful to most, but Jack knew it was nothing but trouble.
"No, Tayu! don't you dare-"
But he was flittering off over Jack's shoulder and towards Fiona's form. His little eyes were large on his face as he let out a triumphant,"Find him a mate!" And Jack watched in horror as the little winged mischief fae let out an explosion of twinkling twilight.
Jack let out a cry and barely had enough time to think as he jerked Fiona into his arms and toppled over her form- sneezing as the glitter dust fell over his eyes.
But hey, at least he peotected.. her?
If one could call it that as Jack's lumbering form appeared to smash her down into the river reeds.
Well fuck.
Crying out, Fiona wriggled desperately in an effort to get out from under Jack as they went tumbling over each other through the underbrush. She thought she heard tinkling laughter, caught the edge of a silver shimmer, but that Hangul of seconds was really something of a blur.
"What the hells?" she groaned, rolling onto her side as she tried to push Jack off of her. "What in—oi, you alright?"
Jack groaned but the whistle of town guards was sobering.
"We.. we need to run. " he closed his eyes as he stood, nearly toppling over with how dizzy he felt.
"Aw hell." He rubbed at his face and steadied himself from falling ontop of Fiona again.
Then he heard the little tinkle of Tayu and he moved to grab Fiona's arm.
"Dodge! Don't let the fairy glitter you!"
And just as the little tinkle terror of light came soaring their way, Jack raised a fist back and hurled it at the thing- sending Tayu screaming through the air like a tiny, silver firework. Jack groaned and turned to Fiona.
"He.. he didn't get you, did he?" Cause hell, if Tayu sprinkled them both...
Jack would have a lot of explaining to do come morning .
Fiona squealed and ducked as the little silver blur flew by her head, then looked up at Jack with wide, glassy eyes.
"I—I don't think so?" He hadn't, had he? Surely she would have felt it...although things had been happening rather quickly.
But they didn't have time to worry about it. She could see the light of a guard's lantern getting closer with every breath and grabbed for Jack's hand, yanking him along. "C'mon, we've gotta move," she hissed urgently—then realized how he was swaying on his feet and quickly ducked under his arm to offer some support. "Can you run?"
Jack looked a mess, as if he were about to pass out. At Fiona's touch he flinched and recoiled
"Fi.. Fiona I... I think it's best to warn you now," he went on, wobbling and ignorant of the impending peril. "Tayu.. he.. I... I got dusted. "
Fiona's eyes went very round. "Oh..."
She started to pull away from him, then awkwardly lunged back to grab his shoulder and try to keep him on his feet while simultaneously keeping him at arm's length.
"How, uh...how bad is that, exactly?"
Jack groaned and raked a hand over his eyes.
"Bad..." he shook his head, still wobbling. "Real bad. I won't be able to counter it." He grit his teeth. "But we.. we still have a few minutes before I turn into some aphrodisiac fool. Just.. just run." He tried focusing his gaze but was seeing a swimming ribbon of warmth. "Run for the nearest alley with a low place to hide. "
Fiona started moving, but she was eyeing him warily. “Should I—should I run from you?” she asked nervously.
Because yes, okay, she’s admit a certain level of—often very frustrated—attraction. But that didn’t mean she wanted that to manifest in some bizarre, fairy-dust induced stupor!
The possibility of simply tying him up until whatever was going to happen had passed occurred to her, but she hesitated to bring it up. She was fairly sure he wouldn’t care for the idea but…well, it may unfortunately be her best option.
Her eyes were starting to itch strangely, but she blinked to clear her vision and tried to force it from her mind.
Lucky for her, it seemed the tiny amount of fairy dust that had sprinkled over her was being counteracted by her dragon-ish heritage. Unluckily, there was no real way of telling exactly how those two magics would interact.
Jack swore.
"Shoulda let you get dusted," he groaned. "Coulda just tied you up until morning. " He didn't think it through all the way and may have screwed her over more so, and both figuratively and not.
Alright, so tying was an option then. Good to know.
"Come on, Jack, just a little further," Fiona muttered as she ducked into a narrow alley, dragging him along. There was a crooked window frame near to the ground, looking into an obviously abandoned flat.
With no better ideas, the half-dragon swung up to straddle the sill and reached back to pull Jack up beside her, then tried to nudge him into the dark room. "Alright, you, in ya get."
She didn't have any rope. Maybe there'd be something in the abandoned room? She supposed if it came down to it she could rip up his shirt...although that would leave both of them in little more than rags for the foreseeable future.
Jack managed to pull himself inside but fell painfully on his side as he tried to combat the onset of Tayu 's mischief.
He groaned and tried to sort his thoughts through his swimming mind.
"Fiona?" He managed to push himself up to peer at the window
“Shhh.” She turned back to him quickly, abandoning thoughts of looking for a proper rope and setting about shredding his borrowed shirt.
“It’s okay, Jack. You’re gonna be okay,” she murmured, glancing up at him worriedly. “Look, this…whatever’s about to happen, I’m going to help you, okay? You’re going to be alright. Here, give me your hands.”
His head was swimming, but at her suggestion he shook his head.
"Look, Fiona," this time he did take her hand. ",you gotta tie me up or something before..."
Oh crap. He could feel the tingling heat in his loins. He tried to fight it down, his body tense and shaking.
"Qu-quick or you and I are gonna have one hell of a night."
"I know, I know." Moving as quickly as she could without hurting him, she bound his wrists with strips of cloth, then moved to help him sit back against a dilapidated armchair. Well, what had once been an armchair.
"I'm really, really sorry about this," she muttered as she set about tying him to the leg of the chair. "Shit, Jack, how long is this gonna last? Are you—"
She cut herself off, biting her lip and flushing deeply. "Jack, if...if this gets really bad, what should I do? Do you want me to, errr...help?"
Even just offering nearly had her swooning with embarrassment. But she had to ask now, before the fairy dust took over his mind completely. She didn't want to do anything he wouldn't agree to in his right mind.
Jack had a peculiar look in his eyes as he stared at her. Sweat covered his brow.
"H-help?" He nearly choked on the words. He closed his eyes, heat rising. "Fiona, if you help, you and I aren't gonna be done until well into the morning."
Oh hell, that sounded good. He swallowed hard.
"And it's not just sex "
Damn fairies.
"We.. if... Hell, Fiona, unless you want to carry a baby Jack in your belly, you may want to just knock me out."
Fiona swallowed and skittered back a few paces, eyeing the knots that bound him to the chair. “Right. Okay. Um…h-how do I knock you out?”
She licked her lips, nervous but not really wanting to hurt him either. Well…she was part dragon, wasn’t she? She could handle herself. Surely she could do something for him.
“I don’t—I don’t mean I’d untie you.” Her face was scarlet and she couldn’t make herself meet his eyes. “Or…or let you touch me. I could just…”
She made a very vague motion with her hand, embarrassment heating her face until she thought she might be in danger of breathing flame accidentally.
Alright. Maybe knocking him out really was the better option, if it meant he’d forget this conversation. She only wished she could do the same.
Jack didn't respond. He couldn't. The compulsion was winning over and he let out a husky moan, full of feral want and need. He was beginning to sweat, body beginning to ache as he squirmed against his bindings.
"Gods above, " he moaned, eyes hanging low as he spoke husky, voice guttural. "Fiona... I.."
He panted and leaned in her direction.
"Getting kinda kinky now, ain't ya?" He was tied up...
Jack laughed as his lips peeled back in a hungered smile. But part of him winced, his eyes moving, growing hazy as he tried to fight it before growing silent as he dipped his head. His body was visibly shaking now, more sweat beading across his bare skin.
Fiona leaned away from him, instinctively wary but still feeling worry tug at her heart. God, could she really not do anything for him?
“You—you’re okay, Jack,” she whispered from where she knelt a few paces away from him. Her eyes flickered over the knots, reassuring herself that they would hold. “I don’t know what you’re feeling right now, b-but I imagine it’s not pleasant, and I’m sorry. But you’re going to be okay. I promise, you’re going to be okay.”
With nothing else she could see that she could do, she devolved into murmured reassurances and silent prayers that she wasn’t lying to him. She may have been a creature of magic in her own way, but up until a week ago her only experience with real magic had been her own abilities. She’s never seen anything like this.
"Not pleasant?" He laughed and licked his lips, biting into them to hold in a moan- which he didn't, he moaned right through his closed lips.
"Oh it feels very pleasant." He assured her, eyes husky with need as he smiled over at her with a lop sided grin. And when his eyes met to hers, she'd see the intensity and hunger there in...
Which may have distracted her from hearing some city guards calling down the alleyway outside .
“Shhh!”
Unthinking, she lunged forward to clap her hand over his mouth, wide eyed as she looked to the window they had scrambled in through. Her tail twitched back and forth under her ragged skirts like an anxious cat.
“Oh god,” she breathed, trying to listen, to figure out how close the guards were. “Oh god, okay, I don’t know how lucid you are right now, but we need to be quiet,” she whispered fiercely to Jack, praying that somehow he’d understand her urgency in his current state.
The second she clasped her hands over his mouth she would feel the vibrations of his lips as he moaned. A tongue darted out, mouth nibble biting towards her fingers, seeming completely oblivious to the dangers.
"I don't know if I can be quiet," he panted hotly against her hands. "Especially with you." The last part came out as a soft purr.
“Sh sh sh sh, Jack, please,” Fiona whispered desperately. The voices were closer. Her hearing was sensitive enough that she didn’t recognize the tread—though she wasn’t necessarily conscious of the evaluation she was doing—so it wasn’t the guard who’d chased them from the square earlier.
That didn’t mean they wanted to be caught hiding out in an abandoned building.
But Jack wouldn’t shut up, and she didn’t know what to do. Looking around frantically, she heard the voices growing nearer and bit back a small, much less pleased groan of her own.
“Alright, well, this is happening,” she muttered to herself before turning back to Jack. Colorless eyes suddenly burned in the darkness around then. “Jack, I am really, really sorry about this.”
She dropped her hand, moving it to the knots that bound him to the chair, making sure they were as tight as she dared, and leaned forward to crush her mouth against his. She pressed as close as she could risk, keeping her body separate from his with a careful balancing act, one hand on the floor and one on the chair behind him, and squeezed her eyes shut as she tilted her head and parted her lips against his, praying it would be enough to at least muffle the sounds he was making so the guards would just walk by.
And trying very, very hard not to think too much about what she was doing.
Oh God, he’s gonna be so pissed…
Her lips tasted like cherries, and when she continued the kiss, he furthered it with hungry exploration of his tongue. She'd be able to feel those moans she muffled as they kissed, his body aching and arching up against the restrains in attempts to meet her the rest of the way.
And he fought her lips for breath where he could, voice whimpering and full of need.
"Gods, Fiona. " His kisses intensified."Please don't tease me. " His head titled in to deepen the kiss. "Let me have you, " came his panted reply.
"Shhhh," she breathed against his mouth, stomach twisted into knots she didn't know how to describe or explain as one hand came up to cup his jaw, both just to hold him and to hold him in place.
She whimpered quietly when he deepened the kiss, heat suffusing her whole body. The guards were still in the alley, and she tried to wrack her brain for something else she could use to muffle him but all she had was her own clothes, and they were already so wrecked that she worried ripping any more fabric off might just shred them entirely.
Which was really not what the current situation called for, no matter what her body was telling her.
"I can't--" she whispered, throat tight, and then she found herself kissing him again as the sound of footsteps slowed. "Not like this," she murmured against his mouth, so quietly she wasn't even sure he'd be able to hear her. "You don't want me, Jack. Not really. You just want someone. I'm sorry..."
Jack whimpered at her words, leaning in to steal a kiss.
"I don't want." His voice was gravily. "I need you," he persisted, moans of lust, desire growing louder as he tried to fight the confines of the battered chair- which creaked and cracked, threatening to collapse beneath the sudden heavy rocking from Jack.
"Let me have you," he purred again.
"Jack, please." The creaking from the chair made her flinch back uneasily, eyeing the makeshift ties.
Damnit.
Damnit damnit damnit.
"Okay," she whispered, not meeting his eyes. "Okay, I'm going to help you, alright? But you have to hold still. And be quiet. Can you do that? Promise."
Jack's eyes were hazey as he stared back at her, so much raw emotion shining in those dark eyes.
"Oh I can't promise that, doll. I want to scream your name. "
Taking a chance and praying she was right, Fiona leaned away from him, putting as much space between their bodies as the small room and her efforts to keep hidden allowed.
"Then I'll find another way to gag you. If you can't be quiet, I won't touch you," she told him in a whisper, but her voice was firm.
It sounded like the guards had moved passed the window, but they were still far too close for comfort.
But then something at the window stirred. A whisp of light and a flicker of shadows and Fiona might have been able to see the tiny fairie sneak up on them.
"Oh no you fucking don't," Fiona hissed, and lunged around Jack, grabbing the first thing her fingers touched—part of an old child's toy, maybe—and hurling it at the little wisp of light.
Tayu shrieked and tinkled out of the way, his light flittering by the window. The little fairie shook his head, an act barely visible in the dim light .
"Oh, what a peculiar taste in a mate!" Came Tayu's small voice as he fluttered near the window. "Why have you not mated with him yet?" The fairie hovered in place, his voice curious. "My magic is very potent! I help lovers out!" And even at the distance, she would probably be able to see the whites of his teeth as he grinned
"Go away," Fiona groaned, glowering at the little creature, before she glanced back to Jack and bit her lip. God, she hated this.
"JAck, I'm really, really sorry." She took his face in her hands and forced him to meet her eyes, trying to focus through the strange reaction her own natural magic was having to her tiny dose of fairy dust. Her colorless eyes seemed to almost liquify, shimmering pools that dragged him in as she held his gaze...
"Go to sleep," she begged, but it came out as a command, her voice doubled into a strange, one-person harmony. One threaded with magic, her "dragon's stare" serving as a weak form of hypnosis in her current heightened emotional state. The fairy dust may have been bolstering or hindering the process, she had no way of knowing--not to mention no way of knowing how he might respond in his current condition.
But she had to try.
Still holding his eyes, she answered the tiny creature angrily, "Because he doesn't want this, not really! Your magic just takes his mind from him, and I will not take advantage of him like this. Now go away, you horrid little creature!"
Tayu flittered back and forth.
"Not want?" His voice held his frown. "I do not give what he does not want " he said in earnest.
Tayu stared over at Jack who, for the time being, seemed to be lulled by Fiona's eyes. Tayu flitted , annoyed.
"What are you doing, half-dragon?" Tayu asked.
Fiona groaned, looking around for something else to throw. "Okay, fine, maybe he does want it—" her stomach flipped— "but I don't. Not like this, not when he's out of his head and can barely string a sentence together without moaning!"
A hot flush of color had risen to her cheeks and she finally snapped her gaze to the fluttering little creature, glaring. "So unless you are going to fix him, then leave us the fuck alone! Or—or I'll...I'll...I'll breathe fire at you!"
Tayu fluttered back and forth.
"Fix?" He asked, genuinely confused.
"Take it away." She gestured angrily toward the still blessedly silent Jack. "Whatever you did to him, undo it!"
Tayu's face twisted.
"What's done is done. The magic must run its course."
He studied the dragon, still frowning.
"Do you really not wish to help him?" It seems absurd. And she was ruining his fun!
He turned to glance down at Jack. His face made him look like he was running a marathon, except he was just sitting there.
Then his moans were getting louder.
Tayu turned to Fiona.
"He sounds like he really needs your help." Didn't the woman wish to mate with him? Jack seemed very intent on it!
"No," Fiona snarled. Sweet gods, this fairy was worse than any of the pushy men her mother had had to turn from the shop. "I said I don't want this. Not..."
She glanced at Jack and winced, biting her lip. She really, really hoped he wasn't going to remember this when he was back in his right mind. "Not like this," she repeated in a low mumble, looking quickly away from him.
Her glare snapped back to Tayu. "If you can't fix him, then just leave us alone." Fine. If the magic had to run its course, then she'd let it. She just didn't want the damn pixie hovering the whole time, this was already uncomfortable enough.
Tayu, still frowning, suddenly brightened.
"You should let me help you! I'm great at finding mates!"
Oh, that was it.
"Out," Fiona whisper-screamed, and a flicker of flame lashed from her lips toward the bobbing silver light in the doorway. "Get out, and leave us alone!"
Jack laughed a chuckled moan when he was finally coherent enough to pick up on their conversation. He leaned closer towards Fiona and smoldered, "He's not lying." His eyes remained heated and hazy. "Just think about how good it'll feel Fiona.."
That was the very thing she was giving her damnedest not to do.
"You say that to me when you're not enchanted, and then we'll talk," she muttered, trying to push him back against the chair without getting too close.
She shuffled back once she'd double checked the knots, letting her back fetch up against the wall and her head fall back until it met the wood with a soft thunk. Surely this couldn't last much longer—he'd exhaust himself eventually, right?
Tayu flittered about, eyes going from Jack to Fiona.
"But he might not tell you what he wants when he's not enchanted!" Tayu protested. He didn't understand why she didn't want it, or care if he was under the fairies spell. After all, it wasn't like Tayu forced Jack to want something he truly didn't want. He just made it... well...
something incredibly, insanely difficult for him to say no to! Especially, if it wasn't something he was actually against the idea of....
"Clayton Willison told me he wanted to mate! So I've only been trying to help!" Even if it was in his nature to be mischievious about it! Tayu continued to flit impatiently back and forth. "He does want you." He folded his arms, growing impatient. "He keeps saying so. Why wait until later?"
Fiona gritted her teeth. She was fairly sure all sorts of unpleasant curses would fall on her head if she actually squashed a fairy, but the idea was becoming more and more tempting.
"There are only so many ways I can say the same thing," she groaned, letting her head thunk back again. "Look, it's--if this was alcohol, I'd be saying the same thing! Sure, maybe he wants me sober, but if he's not telling me that, then I'm certainly not going to take advantage of him when he's falling over drunk!"
Even just saying the words "take advantage of" made her blush, because it sounded exactly like something her mother would have said.
She wasn't the only one growing frustrated. The fairy flittered back and forth before throwing up his hands.
"You're no fun!"
And he attempted to flutter closer to Jack, where he hoovered over top of him with a frown.
Jack looked positively drunk and high and anything else that made his face look anything butlike his own. He might have even appeared a stranger- considering the normal, ordinary scowl he wore was gone and he was still whimpering, murmuring, begging with a needy, little smile.
Tayu was examining the ropes, then when he felt confident enough he might be able to help Jack, he flew down and perched on his back where the ties where and-
attempted to do just that- untie the man. But it was quite the thing to attempt, considering how small the fae was.
"Stop that!"
Fiona lunged forward when she saw the fairy dipped behind Jack's back and--curses be damned--attempted to swat him clean across the room. That was the last thing they needed--she knew exactly how strong Jack was, and she wasn't sure she could convince him to let her restrain him again peaceably.
Of course, the lunge flung her halfway over Jack's lap, her chest pressed to his for a moment, before she quickly scurried back again.
"If you don't leave," she seethed at the fairy, and her reflective eyes had gone suddenly, dangerously dark, "I will fry you to a goddamn crisp."
Tayu yelped and dodged easily enough, but Jack? Jack was all groans, his whimpers becoming more urgent- and once Fiona left his side he was nearly choking a sob, begging, "Gods... Fiona. Stop teasing me! We ... I..." he shivered, eyeing her. "Please, can we fuck? Gods, I really need to fuck you so good right now..."
Tayu fluttered back and forth, his glittering lights twinkling like a flying star.
"See? You're torturing him!" Tayu stamped a foot in the air. "And I'd like to see you try!" He was feeling bold, for a little thing.
"You--!"
Ears scarlet and cheeks hot enough to fry an egg--Jack's commentary was not helping the situation--Fiona surged to her feet and snatched up the first thing that looked heavy and long enough to reach the fairy.
It turned out to be an old fire poker, which she swung wildly in Tayu's direction, practically spitting sparks as she growled, "Try me, you tiny menace!"
He was small, so it might not have been noticeable, but he stuck his tongue out at Fiona. The little fae was feeling bold! And flew back and forth, gracefully teasing the half dragon girl, Jack groaning, moaning, whimpering pathetically in the background as Tayu flew back and forth over his head.
That roiling, startling anger she'd been feeling in bursts and flashes over the last few days rushed full force to the surface, and Fiona's eyes actually started to glow in the darkness--like when they'd been in the sewer tunnels, only the light beneath the surface of her skin was much fainter.
She didn't even notice, swinging wildly but heavily as the fairy darted around the room, muttering curses and threats under her breath.
And then the poker hit something, something much too large to be a fairy, and she froze.
"Oh...shit."
And a loud 'THUMP' of a crash followed-
and then silence.
No more moaning, whimpering and yewling with lust...
Since Jack now remained on his side, completely unconscious with (probably) a growing lump on the side of his head.
Tayu fluttered back and forth before exploding with silvery colored lights as he gasped.
"What did you DO!?"
"Oh shit." Fiona dropped the poker and knelt quickly beside Jack, trying to see where she'd hit him without moving him too much.
Without looking up, she snapped, "Don't you start, this is all your damned fault!"
Tayu fluttered back and forth, a bit frantic.
"Did you kill him?" his little voice asked.
"No," Fiona sighed with relief as she sat back. "He's just knocked out."
Which meant—and oh God she felt awful for even considering an "upside" to this—but it meant she might be able to actually get some sleep tonight too.
"If you dust him again, I really will roast you," she breathed as she slumped to the ground and curled up on her side, evidently ready to fall asleep right there.
Tayu frowned and fluttered over head.
"I couldn't if I wanted to. My magics can only affect him once a day."
And he hadn't even been affected for an hour yet!
And still no mating...
He sulked.
"Good," Fiona sighed, already starting to drift off. "Good..."
And she was out. In her defense, it have been a very, very long day.
With his fun long well extinguished, the little fairy took his leave. And it would be late morning by the time Jack stirred, groaning as his face was smashed into the ground and he- bound to some rickety chair.
He rolled over- but couldn't.
"What the hell-"
Fiona groaned herself as Jack's voice tugged her toward waking, mumbling sleepily, "Jack?"
Her eyes fluttered open and she saw his face, saw that his eyes were clear, and relief swept through her. "Jack!"
Without thinking, she threw herself forward and wrapped her arms around him tightly. "Oh thank God, you're back to normal," she laughed, pulling away to start working the ropes off his wrists.
Jack groaned and gave a yelp at her shouting.
"Angsar's ball sack, not so loud it feels as if..."
and he winced when his hands were freed and he felt the tender lump on the side of his head.
He blinked and turned to ask her.
"Did you.. knock me out?"
His memories were slowly swimming out of the fog.
Fiona winced, pulling back with the rope in hand and tossing it away. She wasn't quite looking at him as she nodded guiltily.
"I didn't mean to," she hastened to add. "I was trying to hit the damned fairy, but, ah..." She bit her lip and finally glanced back to his face. "Sorry. How...how do you feel?"
"Tayu?"
He felt the sudden anger the fairy caused him at his initial memories of what the fairy did to him in his youth...
and then what the fairy had just done to him now.
or at least not too long ago.
His face flushed as he recalled the events what happened with a hazy recollection and felt his hands shake into tight fists.
"If I get my hands on that little trickster..."
Fiona sighed tiredly, slumping back against the wall. "Get in line," she muttered, glowering at just the memory of the little creature.
Looking at Jack sidelong, she bit her lip gently and said cautiously, "Are you...alright, now? I mean, really alright. I'm so sorry I hit you, I didn't mean to, maybe we should...try to find a healer?"
Jack sat up, groaning and then wincing as he went to adjust his pants.
"No.. I don't think I'll need a healer." He gently touched the tender wound again with another wince.
"But I might need a brothel."
It.. was more than evident Jack was still reeling from some of the tail ends of Tayu's 'mating' affects.
Fiona's stomach went tight, her tail twitched, and her mouth opened before she could stop herself.
"Or, y'know...we could...ahem."
She looked away from him, blushing scarlet. Because yes, on the principle of the thing she had not been about to sleep with him in the state he'd been in the night before, but that didn't mean she didn't want to.
She wanted to more than seemed truly reasonable, actually.
It took a moment for Jack to get exactly just what was implied when his face went flat, eyes very, very wide. It took him quite a long time to digest just what she said-
and his head hurt.
His dick inside his pants ache...
and his mind whirled over just how ridiculous he must have acted when under the influence of Tayu's mating curse.
"Wait... woah... wait.."
He still wasn't sure he calculated this all out.
"Are you... saying you.... want to.." and he gestured down to his pants and...
He wasn't sure if he ought to be upset, elated or...
even hornier.
Because one way or another if he didn't fuck something he felt as if he'd go insane.
And even though his head wasn't clouded by the fairy....
"Did.. I... do something to you.. cause of.. Tayu?"
Why couldn't he believe she wanted him? Why was he being difficult?
She was cute enough and well...
It wasn't like he didn't want to but...
Well, hell. He wasn't sure he could. It almost felt like he might be taking advantage of her. He was supposed to be helping her yet....
"I mean I'm not saying no but..."
He was an idiot. And had absolutely no finesse in the love or lust department. It was.. part of (or okay the MAIn reason) he ended up bargaining with Tayu...
But didn't that make it worse? Didn't that mean that Tayu... won?
Oh hells.. he wasn't sure how much he cared right now, but his blood was on fire.
“What? Oh—no! No, you didn’t,” Fiona hurried to assure him, waving her hands and blushing harder. “You didn’t, it was fine—I mean you were, ah—it was fine. Really. I just thought…I know you didn’t really want me, you just wanted someone, but it, um…I…”
Oh god. She half hoped it was possible to just expire of embarrassment. That would at least put an end to it. She shifted on her knees, hands fisting in what was left of her skirts as she bit her lip and her tail twitched again.
“It’s not that I didn’t want to, last night, and I know I annoy you and honestly you drive me absolutely mad sometimes but I’m not blind and you’re very nice to look at and—oh dear gods, kill me—and I’m only out here wandering around with you because I wanted a chance to see more of life and this…this seems to qualify?”
She chanced a peek up at him, blushed harder, and dropped her face into her hands with a groan. She was overheated, the faintest glimmer of light shining under her skin again. “I’ll—I’ll just stop talking now…”
Jack stared.
"You're a virgin?"
He was never the best with words.
And.. that idea didn't help his situation either.
She wasn't sure how it was possible, but Fiona's blush ramped up yet another few tics. The soft light pulsing like fire through her veins actually flickered brighter for a moment as she looked away.
"Yes," she mumbled, sounding almost petulant about it, which really wasn't making her feel any less embarrassed about the whole thing. Exasperated, she threw her arms wide and huffed, "When exactly would I have had the--the opportunity to--"
She snapped her mouth shut and looked away again.
He thought over what she said carefully and couldn't help himself as the idea was a bigger turn on then it was before.
But their actions wouldn't be without consequences. After what Tayu did... he was... a lot more potent since he ne er had his release
But what the hell, if they started fooling around, what would it hurt? Would certainly make travel easier. And he hadn't knocked up a lady yet (that he knew of...)
Then a coy smile began to draw across his lips as he regarded her.
"Have you been masterbating over me?"
Yes, Jack, the seducer.
"Wha-- No!" Fiona screeched, then clapped her hands over her mouth and shot a furtive look toward the window they'd snuck in through the previous night. Of course, now that it was nearly daylight, no one was actually patrolling. She didn't think there would be anyone in this part of the city until it was dusk again.
She twisted to glower at Jack, huffing and folding her arms self-consciously over her chest. "Look, I just figured it was the easier option, but by all means, go find...someplace else, if that's what you want," she mumbled.
Jack couldn't help but laugh before looking around the room.
"Guess this is a better place to lose your virginity than where I did. Hell, even this abandoned shit hole is better than some places in the slums."
He eyed her, and couldn't help but smirk. And he felt.. almost odd for it. He wasn't a big smiler- he realized. But he couldn't help but be pleasantly amused by this.
But he didn't approach her. This was her first time, and if they were actually going to do this...
"Hey, I'm game if you want a ride on old Jack over here. But I should warn you... I've been told I'm a bit... big, if you catch my drift."
Jack, the humble seducer.
Fiona's eyes went a little wide as it became apparent that he was taking the offer, as it were, seriously.
Something in his smile simultaneously put her at ease, and made her very, very nervous. She licked her lips, glanced down, went crimson, and looked up at the ceiling quickly.
"I...noticed," she admitted through gritted teeth. She had been in and out of his lap more than she wanted to admit over the course of the night, and it was...hard to ignore.
Jack might be slow on the up take, but subtle, he was not. He saw how she fidgeted and began to work at his buckle.
Well.. she wasn't saying no.
And a moment later, he was standing up and discarding this clothing, stand there- completely naked in the dusty light.
Still staring resolutely upward, Fiona was only aware that he was moving, not what he was doing. At least until he stood, and suddenly filled her entire vision.
"You--" She squeaked, wide eyed, and just stared at him in silence. Then she closed her eyes, slumped back against the wall, and snorted a vaguely hysterical laugh.
"Really not wasting any time, hm?" she noted wryly, quirking one eyebrow at him and cocking her head where she leaned against the wall. She managed to keep her voice blithe, but there was a telling movement from her tail beneath her skirts as it flicked back and forth in some combination of nervousness and anticipation.
Jack stood there and slowly cracked his neck. Left, then right. He smirked at her and rolled his shoulders.
Even in the dim light, Jack's naked form was impressive, with thick muscles lining all of his body. He had scars, plenty to boot, only adding textures to his sun bronzed skin.
"Yeah well, you're offering and I just suffered all night with night with severe case of blue balls, " he went on, casually approaching her side of the room.
He eyed her dressed form hungrily and gave it a light tug.
"So we doing this thing or am I jerking myself off in the corner?"
His manhood stood at attention, swollen , turgid and wanting. And he wasn't boasting when he said he had some size. A hand rested on the wall above her, his shadow slipping over her. His hand fiddled with her / his shirt. He was close enough but only that his sex brushed her.
"One of us is over dressed."
Ironically, her clothes was half falling off and ripped
Fiona got to her feet as he approached her, but she let him back her up against the wall and lean over her as he braced a hand against the wall behind her. She tipped her chin up and gave him her best nonchalant smirk, though her chest was rising and falling faster than normal as her breath picked up.
"Well." She tilted her head at him and challenged quietly, "I suppose you'd better fix that then."
Her clothes were barely holding together as it was, anyway. It wouldn't take much from him to get them off.
Jack stared at her, the smallest, knowing smile on his lips. Then with absolutely no grace, he grabbed one shoulder of her dress and ripped the thing off in one jerk of his strong arm and tossed the limp and useless old shirt of his aside.
He moved to step into the small distance between them, his hard member warm and eager, pressing against her belly as a large hand moved to smooth down her shoulder, his body shivering at the soft touch of her skin beneath his.
“Oh.”
Alright, she had basically dared him, but still somehow there was a flash of surprise when he literally ripped the dress off. She stared at him, eyes wide and lips parted, then shivered when he stepped forward and she felt him pressing against her.
“Jack…” She licked her lips, tail flicking back and forth so her scales rasped against the wall behind her. Her wings, no longer bound down by what had been left of the dress, unfurled slightly to cup around her arms, a shimmering gold cocoon that caught and reflected back the soft light shining from her wrists and throat.
She dropped her eyes, suddenly very aware of…all her “extra pieces”. She chewed nervously at her lower lip, glancing up at him through her lashes.
“You, um…you’re sure about this?”
He stared at her, eyes seeking hers. He moved a strong finger to lift her chin to look up at him so their eyes could meet .
"My body has long been sure." He paused, holding her gaze. "The rest is up to you."
Fiona stopped breathing for a moment. Her tongue flicked out to wet her lips, then she smiled at him.
"Alright then." She reached up to wind her arms around his neck lazily, leaning forward into him as she did and curving her wings just a bit so the edges brushed against his arms. Her tail wound around her own leg and she shivered as she pressed against him.
"Show me what to do, Jack."
He grinned a knowing cocky grin as she made her move, shivering at the touch of her wings to his arms. A hand moved to grip hers before leading it down between them.
"Well, for starters. Why don't you touch it? I'll be inside you. You should feel what's about to come. "
"Oh, um..."
Fiona let him guide her hand, keeping her eyes on his face for a few moments longer before she dropped her eyes to actually look at what she was doing. At the words "inside you" the flush in her cheeks and firelight in her skin flared a little brighter, but she shot him a quick, wry look.
Cautiously, she wrapped her hand around him and peeked up at his face. "That's—that's alright, isn't it?"
Jack looked like he was about to choke. His face was almost purple, an odd quick procession of colors before he panted.
"I'm.. s..sorry. I forgot how horny I was."
He tried to keep himself I'm check. He could really hurt her if she wasn't ready.
He swallowed and nodded.
"Ye.. yeah. Your touches feel, " he panted. "Good."
“Jack?” She frowned, voice laced with concern. Then he explained and she choked a little herself, eyes wide. “A-ah. Sorry?”
But…well, he had said it felt good…
Slowly, she started to stroke her hand up and down. The other came to rest on his chest as she leaned in a little closer, pressing her own legs together with a slightly sharper than normal breath as her body started to remind her that she’d had quite the frustrating night too, as it were.
“Can—can you…” she swallowed through a suddenly tight throat and squeezed her eyes shut. “…Touch me?”
Jack said nothing, simply obeyed and large hands moved to smooth between her legs, towards the heat, that warmth. And then he felt how slick she already was and shivered as he slid a single finger inside and breathed.
"Daaamn, Fiona. You're soaking wet " he bit into his lower lip.
"You're almost as ready for this as I am. "
And he had magical torment to build up his crazed need.
"Oh my—!"
Fiona was by no means a saint, and she knew her own body fairly well. But her own touch had never felt like that, and it was enough to leave her breathless. She shivered and whined quietly, shifting against his touch as her body adjusted to him, then she continued her own ministrations, growing gradually more confident as she moved her hand up and down his length.
"M-maybe," she agreed, voice whispery with want and her colorless eyes now reflecting his own back to him, heated and bright. "But, ah, should probably still take things slow? Just to be safe?"
Jack was trembling.
"I..." he paused his finger inside her a moment while his other hand stopped hers from working him.
"I.. w.. wait. I.. I need a minute. It.." he winced. "It's like ready to burst. Just.. one second. " He swallowed thickly.
"We.. should probably do this now before I get spent by your hands "
"O-okay." Fiona bit her lip a little harder and left her hand still under his. "I'm...all yours," she murmured, swallowing thickly as her hips shifted and drew his finger in a little deeper.
She lifted her hands to rest lightly against his chest, her wings giving a nervous little flutter before they pressed in tighter around them both, her body heat reaching something nearly feverish.
Jack has been so careful before, but now he was all but rushing to get inside her. With his finger slipping out,he lined his tip against her, panting as he rubbing his dick against her opening before sliding just his tip in as he paused.
He closed his eyes and shivered.
"Y.. you're gonna have to take over. I.." he licked his lips, adjusting himself. "I don't want to end up hurting you ." He coaxed her.
"Just... do what you want.".
The very idea he left this in her hands had him aching.
"Just. Just know if you m.. make me come inside you.. I.. could probably knock you up."
Even now... even his precum was potent.
“O-oh…”
Fiona squeezed her eyes shut and bit down hard on her lower lip as her whole body shuddered. She nodded, showing that she heard him, but she didn’t think she could speak. It took another few breaths before she managed to get words out.
“Okay,” she whispered, blinking her eyes open to look up at him hazily. Her wings fluttered again, and her tail whipped back and forth behind her as another shiver rushed down her spine. “But I, um…I think I need you to lift me,” she murmured, voice raw as she desperately tried to rationalize what she was feeling.
They were almost exactly of a height, but with them both standing she still wasn’t sure she could…take over as it were, without him giving her a little leverage.
At his second proclamation, she hesitated a moment, then gave him a quick, wry smile. “Jack, I’m a half-dragon. Most of the time people like me can’t actually, y’know…get knocked up.”
Jack obeyed, not missing a beat and panting as it forced himself that much deeper into her.
"Ansgars name.." he bit into his lip and looked back hazily. "G.. go easy on me, " he said with a smirk. "Unless you want a full release. Hell.. " he shivered. "It'll feel so good though.."
“Ah—fuck.” Fiona gritted her teeth as he slid deeper, fingers clenching on his shoulders. She took a few breaths, letting herself adjust, then met his eyes as she started to let herself slide down on him, inch by painstaking inch.
“Oohhhhhh, fuck,” she repeated, voice ragged. Her nails dug into his skin where she gripped his shoulders, and her wings swept forward to wrap loosely around them both. She moved slowly, carefully, learning as she went—and gods she was so hot, skin near burning to the touch, so ready, that by the time her hips touched his it wasn’t nearly as uncomfortable as she’d been expecting.
“Holy—oh my—just…just one second,” she panted raggedly, and let her head drop onto his shoulder with a soft moan. She squirmed in his hands, adjusting, then gasped and bit down on the slope of his neck and shoulder. “Oh gods…”
Jack winced. Not because it was uncomfortable, quite the contrary. He was ready to go at a moments notice.
"You and me both." He panted as he remained hilt deep within her. He felt himself twitch and think back to what she said.
"Y.. You sure I can't.. you know.. if i.. " he panted. "Cause if you don't mind... I'm going to unload inside you as much as I can. And.. it'll be a lot. And way more times then I'm used to."
Well.
No one could fault the man for not being up-front.
"I—" Shw shifted slightly against him, whimpered, then gasped, "I'm pretty sure. Almost positive. Oh fuck, Jack, I don't care anymore, I—this—please."
The fire under her skin pulsed, lighting her up gently from the inside, and her eyes reflected the light into burning, burnished gold as she clutched at his back and forced herself to be still against him.
Jack winced as he held back his own release.
"You.. you need me?" He asked, almost disbelieving and almost teasing. His hips moved painfully slow within her. He shivered.
"Yes." She groaned quietly and turned her face into the crook of his neck. Her tail lashed around to curl around his thigh, the tip stroking lightly over the inside of his leg. She wasn't even doing it intentionally, too caught up in sensation to be fully conscious of what she was doing. "Yes, Jack, I need you."
She rocked her hips against his once, testing. The motion knocked a gasp from her lips and she whimpered against his throat. "Please."
Jack grunted.
"Im.. I'm gonna cum, okay?"He asked, panting. "Then you can do whatever you want to me.. alright?" He shivered, his need nearly exploding at the idea.
If she was wrong about her fertility... he knew no matter what, he was probably going to knock her up. And the very idea sent him into a frenzy as his eyes rolled back and he was seeing white. He gripped onto her hips and fucked into her, wildly, sharply, hard and with need.
"Gods, Fiona.. I'm.. I'm gonna fill you up!" He panted, moaning. "You better hope you're infertile cause I'm gonna mate you all night!" And before he knew it, he was screaming out and flooding her with hot cum.
“Oh!”
Whatever she’d been expecting, it was not that. Having barely adjusted to feeling of having someone inside her, Jack’s sudden snapping of control was more than a little intense. She barely heard what he was saying, just clinging to him as he gripped her hips and moved against her, then she felt his release and shivered and mewed quietly against his shoulder at the sheer strangeness of the whole thing.
It was by no means unpleasant, just…intense.
Something in her surged up, something wild and burning and primal that lodged as a soft snarl in her throat and sent her wings flaring wide before they curved forward to cup outside his arms again. Her skin was far too hot now—not painful, but feverish—but she didn’t even seem to notice.
“Jack…”
She kissed him. Which in all this, she vaguely realized she hadn’t actually ever done. And the moment her mouth was in his she growled and surged forward against him, cupping his face in her hands as her tongue swept over his lips firmly and her legs tightened around his waist. With him holding her up the way he was, she couldn’t really do much, but it was quite clear how much she suddenly wanted to.
The kiss awoken something within as he moaned.
"Gods.. Fiona, " he shivered, then smiled. "I hope you liked that because I'm going to do it again. " and he moved to roughly take her to the floor , lips crashing as he mounted on er top of her, missionary style. "F.. fuck..," just the simple motion of dominating her had him near the edge again. "Gods above, Fiona. " he moaned and moved snd writhed with wicked need. "Gods you feel too good. "
She gave short, surprised sound when he bore her to the floor, then groaned as he moved over her and started to buck against her. She wriggled under him, panting and nearly desperate as tension and heat started to pool in her belly.
Her wings were cramped uncomfortably beneath her, and she suddenly shot him a breathless, wicked smile as her fingers tangled through his hair and she pulled him down into a kiss.
“I do believe,” she panted against his lips, “that you said once you came, I could do whatever I wanted to you.”
She gave a sharp, sudden buck upward to roll him over and landed perched over him, one hand on the center of his chest as she sat back and took him as deep as she physically could, biting her lip through a needy groan. Her wings flared wide behind her, filtering the faint light from the window into a golden halo.
“You are going to do that again,” she whispered, the surge of wildness making her bold as she started to rock against him, then ride him. “And probably again after that. And again. Until you can’t anymore, because gods you feel amazing and I am not going to stop.”
She drove down hard onto him and came with a sharp cry, but true to her word she didn’t stop moving as her body clenched around his and shivers wracked her frame, making even her wings tremble.
Before he could fully comprehend what was going on, she reversed their positions with a feral need. Jack barely had the time to gasp out his surprise when lips claimed his own, and her body wracked with need as she rode him to her own wild completion that had Jack gripping her hips to help keep her saddled as he cried out his own cries of ecstasy as he began to fill her up again.
He panted in the after math of that high as he shuddered, realizing that, despite having tried to breed her twice he was ready for thirds.
Jack shivered.
"Hells, ride me like this all day and I'll do whatever you want."
And there was a little part of him actually thankingthe infuriating Tayu. He never had such a good lay.
Fiona actually laughed, breathless and wild, and she leaned down to kiss him again as her hips finally stilled against his for a moment. She shivered, feeling him still ready and eager, and slowly started to move again as she seemed entirely prepared to do just that.
"C'mere." She leaned back, using the rhythm of motion between them to pull him up with her and frame his face between her palms for another kiss as she continued to rock against him. A delighted, slightly manic shudder ran down her spine and her tail straightened out behind her, trembling, before dropping to twine the last few inches loosely around his ankle. Her wings wrapped around until they were both enfolded in warm, soft gold, even as she started to work herself back up to her previous frantic pace.
"How many times you think you can do this?" she panted lightly against his mouth between the kisses she was now trailing over his cheeks, jaw, neck, and back up to his lips. "Because gods yes if you want to stay here all day I am more than happy to oblige."
Which...a part of her thought maybe she really shouldn't be—wasn't someone's first time supposed to be more...sensitive than this? But she didn't feel any trepidation at the idea, just a sort of thrilling, wild abandon. It didn't occur to her—and wouldn't until much later—that the tiny bit of fairy dust that had managed to land on her may not have affected her mind they way it had Jack's, but that didn't mean it hadn't done anything.
Jack whimpered.
"You planning to ride me raw?" He asked, voice croaky, but by no means deterred. A hand smoothed up her form, taking in the taste and feel of her warm, naked flesh.
"Doll, you don't gotta ask me twice to just fuck all day. Hells, I'll do this as often as you want and won't complain. " He smirked, eyes hungered with that glitter of feral thrill.
"But don't complain to me later when it becomes hard to walk," he teased, while he found his fingers idly tracing down the interesting curl of her tail and slowly, ever so slowly, he began to rock back and forth beneath her, his seed, now well over flowing, spilling out messily down her legs and onto his.
"And if I am?" She leaned into him as his hand traced up her side, trailing a few kisses down the length of his throat and smiling against his pulse. She nipped lightly, playfully, and her wings gave a little fluttery motion before settling around them again.
Then his fingers were on her tail and she gasped, going still and shivery. No one had done that before--well, no one had done a good deal of things he'd just done to her before, but that was...different. Her tail flexed around his leg almost of his own volition, arching up into his hand slightly.
Fiona growled, and there was almost nothing human in the sound. Her eyes reflected the light from her own skin and the color of her wings around them, turning them a burnished, burning gold.
"By the time we're through, I'm not gonna be the only one having trouble walking," she rasped against his lips, and surged forward against him to take them both down to the floor.
It really was almost dusk by the time the ravenous, wild impulse that had spurred her into this in the first place finally began to fade. Even still, with them tangled together on the floor of the abandoned flat, Fiona found herself moving gently against him where they were still connected, one arm wrapped around his neck as she dragged lazy kisses along his collar.
"We've got to be...nearly done," she laughed, breathless, as she raised her head slightly to meet his eyes. "If nothing else...we can't stay here another night. City watch will send a patrol at some point."
She made no effort to stand though, sprawled half over his chest with one wing splayed wide over the both of them and the other tucked loosely to her back while her tail dragged lazily back and forth over the ground, like a contented cat's.
His body was slick with sex and sweat, skin red from exertion and muscles tight from extended use. But he didn't move as they lay there, simply stared for a long moment at the ceiling then moved to glide fingers slowly over her wings.
"Yeah, it wouldn't be wise to stick around. Although, "he gave a sniff towards his arm pits. "I stink." He sighed. "Bath sure would be great after such a run ."
He paused a moment to study her before smiling.
"So I guess you like sex, huh?"
Fiona shivered slightly as his fingertips traced the shape of her wings, and they both pulled in a little tighter to her back as her tail curled up against her thigh. Then she sighed and rolled carefully onto her side, crinkling her nose.
"Where exactly are we going to get a bath?" she huffed, propping herself up onto one elbow. Then she flushed and rolled her eyes, but she was smiling a bit when she answered, "Yeah. Maybe. A little."
She tipped her head to the side and gave him a crooked smirk. "I'll admit...I had fun."
Jack smirked.
"Well glad I wasn't too terrible on your first run. Hell, I'm sure there are men ten times better than me but..." it looked as if he might have said more but persed his lips in thought before it turned into a small smile as he shrugged.
"Maybe I should just keep my mouth shut before I ruin a good thing."
She chuckled quietly, rolling to her side with a long stretch that arched her wings high behind her back, then glancing around for her clothes.
Except...pretty much everything she'd been wearing had been shredded in some way or another.
...whoops.
"If only you followed that "mouth shut" policy more often," she murmured in absent teasing, frowning as she folded her arms over her chest and tried to figure out what to do about the clothes situation.
Jack eyed her up and down before giving a rolling shrug of his shoulders and a popping crack to his neck. His eyes them quickly followed her gaze and he frowned, hands on his hips.
"Well, bath aside..." he went on with a sigh. "We're probably going to need some clothes."
"Yeah," she agreed with a low, weary sigh. "And I don't think your patched shirt is really going to be enough to....cover me." Her mouth twisted into a small frown and she shook her head. "We really did not think this through, huh?"
Jack sighed.
"Guess not. But hell," he shrugged. "I'd wouldn't need to be asked twice to do it again." His eyes darted around the room as he thought.
"Might be the easiest to steal clothes at this hour, so long as we keep down wind of any guards "
"But—"
Fiona paused, mouth open, then snapped it closed with a short, reluctant sort of huff. "I guess you're right," she grumbled begrudgingly.
A sharp gust of wind suddenly cut through the alley outside, easily trickling in through the open window and ramshackle walls of their abandoned little hideout. She shivered, wrapping both arms and wings tight around her body. "Sooner rather than later, hopefully."
Jack's face twisted as he thought over their options.
"I don't think we're a couple streets from a tailor shop. Might be a place that sells rugs, though, if I remember correctly. Some old lady sells them by the river."
He shrugged as he thought it over.
"Or we could knock out a city guard... steal h
Their stuff." He thought more. "Or I guess there would be discarded clothing at the brothel a few blocks away. Could steal from there."
She frowned. "I'd prefer no stealing, if possible." Glancing down at herself again, she a sighed and added grudgingly, "Though I guess I'm not really in any state to protest."
She glanced to the window, bit her lip, then muttered, "Maybe...I should wait for you here? We don't even have anything I can cover myself with properly to get to stealing clothes. You at least have pants."
"Yeah, we're just a little limited with options." Sighing, he raked a hand through his unruly hair, which somehow was common place and looked good on him, crooked nose and all. "Guess I'll be back, " he added dryly,moving away from her before informing, "I'll try to make this quick."
When he returned, he was tossing a burlap sack at her head that seemed to have been recently emptied if grains or oats.
"Rip yourself some armholes and get dressed. We should try to leave before daylight."