Spirits of the Earth

Well...it looked like she'd lost him.

Humming happily to herself as she made her way to her room--ah, being a Mordecai definitely had its perks; they got rooms in the palace itself!--she couldn't help the all-too-pleased grin that spread across her face, an expression of victory. The day's mission was complete, and to top it off there were no signs of that blasted man, Kuro, anywhere. Instead of his usual flashy bullshit, there was peace and quiet! Servants scurried from room to room, tending to chores, but other than that the palace halls were silent save for the soft thud of her boots against the polished floor. Nowhere in sight...no Kuro. That always made her happy.

...And if he decided to do some stupid ninja move and suddenly, BAM, be there right when she got back to the Mordecai quarters, she would bloody scream. And leave for somewhere Kuro-less.

It wasn't that she hated him that much...he was useful as a soldier. He just rubbed her the wrong way, that was all. Treating her like a damsel when she could handle herself just as well as any male soldier--and had the scars to prove it! That, and he almost got himself killed over her! Idiot. Wounding yourself trying to protect someone else from a worse injury was fine...but what he'd done by protecting her had been to wound himself more than she would have been wounded in the first place! That was just counter-productive. And anyway, she didn't join this operation to be coddled. Hell, she was one of those few Mordecai that actually turned themselves in voluntarilly, and even if she hadn't been a Mordecai, she would have wanted to work for the military, anyway. It was something of a family tradition.

And then there was Kuro, flashy and annoying and doing his damnedest to show her up and make her look like an incompetant ninny.

At least, that was how it made her feel...then again, she couldn't help it if she was competitive...

To her great relief, the Mordecai quarters were blessedly Kuro-less! So, beaming even brighter and looking forward to some downtime, she opened the door to her room and, closing it, plopped down on her bed, yanked off her boots, and, too lazy to change fully out of her uniform, simply unbuttoned her shirt, slipped it off her shoulders, and started to undo the cloth strips that circled her chest. If she was gonna lay around like a blob for a while, she'd better get comfortable, and there was no way she could easily do that with the tight bindings there. Yes...she wrapped her chest. Couldn't let certain bumps get in the way, and it hurt like a bitch if she got hit in the chest without any protection.

Finally...peace. Maybe she'd go visit the library and read something for a while. Or nap. She hadn't gotten much sleep these past few days; her schedule had been pretty busy.

Whatever the case, she was going to eat up these few minutes of free time.

She swore she would stab anyone who wrecked this...

Setting the bindings aside in a nice, neat, rolled-up pile, she buttoned her shirt back up and plopped backwards onto her bed with her arms folded behind her head, stretched out and sighing. What was the sound? Nothing!

God, she loved this...

[edited because I realized I forgot a very important part...d'oh.]

It was apparently going to be Hek who got stabbed… Because he was about to intrude on the poor female Morde-something. Hek had heard them call him that, but he still didn’t know what the hell it was, or how to spell it. Bah, they probably called him a morde-something because he looked funny, it was the lavender hair, and eye, he knew it. The man walked around with the shovel less shovel pole and glared at the passing people, Hek did look like a pathetic farm boy because had just recently come from one, and there was no one yet around to tell him what the friggin’ hell was going on. He just knew he was in some-place important, and that he was getting weird looks because of his clothing and looking like a bum… The maids looked clean and he blinked slightly, this place was weird. Hek wanted to go home, but he was apparently “needed by the people of Connlaoth to keep out troublesome magic users� or some such hogwash. Hek was very against being here until he opened a door and saw a rather pretty lady lounging around. If he had been under the age of twenty, he was sure he’d have drooled, but being older than that, he managed to keep his jaw shut and the drool safely under his tongue so it couldn’t leak out and dribble down his chin.

�…Uh…uh… I …managed to … lost… Hi.�
 
One would never acquire Hek of being a good conversationalist and an even worse conversation started, and the fact he was staring didn’t help much. It wasn’t as if this was the first time he’d ever seen a girl, but it was certainly he first time he’d seen one not being a maid in the palace. Blinking for a moment, he just stood there and stared at her, okay, it was rude, and he actually had pretty good manners except for when he walked in on pretty ladies with no chest binding things and…Boobs… Hek blinked for a moment than propped his shovel less shovel pole against the wall and stepped closer. Assuming she was someone of slight importance since she was in here all alone had nodded his head and looked around again.

Standing at 6’2 and maybe half an inch, he was a rather handsome fellow beneath the dirt and grime, the left side of his face looked odd and glittery with lavender specks and his eye was a straight lavender, while his hair, which was gravity defying, stood up for the first inch or so from his face, which was, of course, a distinct lavender colour. He was built well and looked like he could pack a wallop, probably because he was a constant farm boy before he came here against his will. Which Hek will point out at every possible moment he’d given. Clearing his throat, knowing he’d made a bad first impression of a half-wit, he hooked his thumbs between his criss-crossing belts and looked around sheepishly with his mismatched eyes, the one on the right being a near black colour of brown.

�Sorry, my tongue was tied and I couldn’t talk… I’m Hek, I’m new here… I don’t know where do go and I was wondering if you could help me since the maids ignore me.�

This of course wasn’t spoken to the lady but to her chest, which was very interesting, or rather, it should have been with the amount of attention it was getting form the male standing the doorway while smelling of freshly cut grass and dirt. He actually didn’t smell that bad, just, looked worse than he smelled, one would expect him to smell of sweat and horses, but he'd been around less horses than fingers and would much rather cut wheat than ride one. Horses were a phobia of his and didn't go near them unless he absolutely had to... His eyes flicked towards the womans face for a moment before falling back towards  her chest.

Yup, he was defianltly getting stabbed.

Beatrid was just starting to doze off when the sound of her door opening broke through all the blessed silence. Oh, of course! Her blue eyes snapped open and she practically slammed her fists into the mattress as she scrambled to sit up, more than ready to tear into the intruder and stab them with biting words--unless it was someone important, like a maid or soldier or another Mordecai that wasn't mister-know-it-all. Because, well...while a literal stabbing with knives and all that...repeatedly...sounded nice, nooo, stabbing your peers was baaad. Tempting at times, but baaad. And what the hell? Hadn't she locked her door? Gah...

"Dammit, I swear I'm gon--! Oh..." The glare she turned upon the intruder was a rather scary one--until her eyes took him in better, in which case it softened, and any further words froze. A soft expression was a rather rare thing to see on Beatrid, because usually she was around so many annoying bastards all the time that it sometimes felt like her face had been frozen into a constant, irritated scowl. Wasn't her fault, though. She thought herself a nice person...just not when the wrong buttons were pressed, and people just seemed to love to get on her bad side.

She swung her legs over the side of the bed and planted her bare feet on the ground, listening to him stutter and studying him briefly. He certainly looked...unique. Not just his unusual looks--Beatrid had seen stranger--but he looked like...well...like he was just very out of place. A commoner--hah, it felt funny to think that, especially considering she herself was a commoner!--from the looks of it. A country bumpkin, maybe. And from the looks of it, he was just as confused as she now was. How'd he get in here...? It seemed odd that some guy off the street could get past all the servants and guards, or that if he was here for an audience or something that they'd just let him wander around...

As he seemed to snap out of whatever trance he'd been in and stepped forward, Beatrid also rose to her feet to be safe, tall for a woman at five feet seven inches, but still a good six or seven inches shorter than him. Her long brown hair, gathered back in a braid that reached down to her waist, hung loosely over one shoulder as she planted one hand on her hip and regarded him as he continued to speak. She hadn't yet noticed his wandering eyes, for she was more concerned over figuring out who he was and what he was doing here. New here...? Wait a minute...

Shifting her weight from one leg to the other, she tilted her head to the side a little as she looked up at him, then took a step closer. She could feel something there...she could never describe what it really felt like, because, well, it was a feeling she was used to and had lived with her whole life. She could only feel it in others when she concentrated, too. It was one of those things that you only felt or noticed when you thought about it, like breathing or the feeling of your heart beating. It was automatic and worked all on its own, and until you drew attention to it, it was background noise. That was how she thought about her ability as a Mordecai, only the difference was that, unlike breathing and a pulse, other people didn't notice it at all unless they were also a Mordecai. Or a mage, in which case the results she imagined were less than pleasant.

Hell, she hadn't even known there was anything different about her until a run-in with some mages when she was younger. Her mere presence had struck them dumb. It was just that normal and natural.

"Hey...you're a Mordecai, aren't you? New guy, huh?" Beatrid grinned. Looked like he was another one that had been snatched up. Seemed a lot of Mordecai came in that way. And, if he was a new guy...well, damn, it was good she got to him first before some other bastard. Wonder who she could be thinking about, ahem. Extending her hand out toward him--which was usually gloved, but was now also bare--she nodded. "Beatrid. Nice to meetcha He--"

That was also when she noticed, with a small spasm in her right eye, that he was so not looking at her face. He was looking much lower. So, instead of shaking his hand, she used the hand she had been reaching out to him to smack him one upside the head, right over his ear--which she knew from experience tended to hurt pretty good. "Hey! You, eyes up here. Yes, I have breasts, but until they grow mouths and start talking you would do better to keep your eyes above the neckline, thank you!" she growled, her eyebrows contracting.

Argh...men! They were all the same. Damn, that was another reason she bound her breasts. Gods, but what would happen if she went out on a mission like this, with no wrappings? Probably the damned idiots would get shot up since they'd probably be too distracted by two bloody bumps. Argh...

The last thing Hek really wanted to do was piss someone off, really… But apparently this lady was just a bomb ticking and waiting to go off, at least… He thought so since she looked like she was about to rip off someone’s head with her bare hands and than dig out the brain from the neck joint. The mental image Hek gave himself made him look oddly at the female before he took a step back and looked around for some way to escape, which was the door that had managed to close it’s self… Like hell Hek wanted to present his back to this evil beast! Ha! But, than the evil beast spoke and he could feel his heart rate slow down. But what the hell was a mordecai? And why would he be one? Ah… He knew…  Mordecai was probably some nice way of saying ‘freak’ here, it was probably an insult! But, he would pretend he hadn’t figured that out and just nod than ask what it is. Hek, of course, would be very wrong and glad he didn’t say “hell no! You’re the mordecai! Nyah!â€? than stick his tongue out and walk away, and be lost. Hek decided staying here would be a better idea… He was very wrong.

�Mmba? … Yeah I guess so… but what is a Morde-Kyaa!?�

The “Kyaa!?â€? was because he had been looking at his rather grimy hand when a rather hard hit got him on the ear, right on a piercing. He cupped his ear and glared at her, than stuck his tongue out in a very childish manner before making a ‘ks’ sound and huffing, rubbing his now red ear. Catching her speech on how her eyes weren’t attached to the bouncing bundles of joy on her chest, he looked to her face and fluttered his mismatched eyes.  Hek could only imagine what he looked like. Probably very creepy because the years of looking like a cute seven year old passed eighteen years ago when he was seven going on eight, that and he didn’t have the weird pupil less eye along with a glittery face and weird hair when he was charming a cookie out of his mother before supper. Hek stopped and just stood in a very manly pose that probably looked ridiculous on him, chest out, shoulders back, and hips just… Hek stopped while he was ahead and looked sheepish.

�Sorry… It’s just that… Your chest was the most interesti-… Hi! I’m sorry… don’t hit me again… “

He took a step back and put his hands over his ears to protect them from the weapons that weren’t meant to be weapons at all. Hek liked this Beatrid lady, so he winced and smiled at the same time while ducking just incase she decided to throw something, one would never be able to be positive with the female species. They were like mood rings, it all depended on the temperature on which colour they were and Hek was almost positive that she was slowly turning red with anger which meant that it was either getting hot in the room… or he was pissing her off.

Hek-Akiz hopped that it wasn’t the room temperature, because than it would suck if they were ever outside together, she’d be as cold as a icicle and he didn’t like those… they were sharp and if you stuck your tongue to it, you’d get stuck and have to rip your tongue off. Rip it off the icicle, not rip your tongue out, stupid. Lowering his hands form his ears, he took another step back.

�Let’s start all over again! I’m Hek-Akiz, I’m new here and I was wondering if you could help me out!�

Smiling again he looked around the room and decided it must have been hers, which would also explain why she was so testy, either that, or it was just him… Or males… Hek decided it was males so he took a step closer, but just far enough out of arms reach. He’d make a point of wincing every time she’d walk past him from this day on, just to see what she’d do. The devil on his shoulder would be laughing maniacally and the angle would be shaking his head sadly. From this day forward… Hek would be stuck to Beatrid like white on rice, unless she’d showering, Hek didn’t think he’d be allowed to follow her into there.

((Whoot! 743 words! 8D))

If she wasn't so annoyed at that moment, she would have been amused at how suddenly shocked he looked after receiving that cuff to the ear. Not to mention the way he was ducking and covering his head...heh...that was cute and oddly satisfying.

Yet for now, it was probably smart of Hek to have covered his ears and taken that step backwards and out of her reach, because the look Beatrid gave him then wasn't pleasant. Okay, most guys were at least smart enough that, after getting caught and smacked over it, they wouldn't continue to dig a hole by drawing even more attention to what they'd been doing. This guy obviously wasn't the sharpest arrow in the quiver. Rolling her eyes, she started to huffily cross her arms over her chest, but stopped herself before she could and twitched her hands back down to her hips. She would not give some idiot the pleasure of getting to her. Never mind that he'd already coaxed out a reaction that kind of gave that away...she couldn't help it! Immature horndogs bugged her.

"Ha ha, very funny," she told him dryly, eyes slightly narrowed in that universal "I am so not amused" expression. Ah...the life of a woman soldier. Hrm. Maybe he didn't even know she was a soldier if he really was this clueless. He looked pretty backwater, now that she really looked at him--ahem, and none of how she was now perceiving him had anything to do with her current opinion of him at this moment, oh no!--so maybe she'd just have to be the one to enlighten him.

When he finally stopped his little cowering act, which had also given her a few much needed seconds to gather up her already threadbare patience--killing a newbie would be baaad--she inhaled quietly and gave a small nod. Right. Starting over looked like it was in order. Hopefully that also meant this guy had learned something...and that said lesson would also stick with him.

She ran a hand through her short bangs, collecting herself. Patience, patience. "Right. Because you're new, I'll let all that crap slid. Anyway, I'm Beatrid, Hek-Akiz. And yeah, I can help you out. I'd rather it be me than someone else, anyway..." she said, glancing off toward the door briefly before looking back up to him. She made sure to watch his eyes, too, to make sure they were where they were supposed to be. "Anyway...ah...I'm gonna assume you haven't been told much at all if you don't even know what a Mordecai is."

That left a lot of information to be covered...

Hoo boy, Hek might regret asking her. Once Beatrid got started on explaining something like this, she got started.

Glancing toward the ceiling thoughtfully, she decided to keep it short and concise. She also decided that, if she was going to be the one to explain everything to him, well...she didn't really want to be alone with him in her room with the door closed. Not that she couldn't take him, but she sure as hell didn't want him to get any ideas in that head of his, either. Taking a step backwards, she settled back down on her bed and began to pull her boots back on, talking as she worked. "Alright, first things first, Hek. Mordecai. That's what you are, that's what I am, and that's what a few other people here are. I'll introduce you to them when they come around, but there's not very many of us. In any case, what it means is that you have a rare ability--mages can't use magic around you. It just doesn't work. So I'm sure you can imagine why we'd be wanted. But, with that said, you can't tell anyone. Of course, our leaders, military and political, know, but other than that, it's to be hush hush. You know, no telling anyone from the general public, that sort of thing. It's fine to talk here."

Standing up, she tapped the toe of each boot against the ground to settle her feet in them better, then made a motion with her arm to hint to him that they were leaving her room. Since he was closest to the door and sort of in her way, she wanted him to either move aside or lead the way out. "So, anyway, Mordecai are, aside from all that, a soldier class. You'll be learning how to fight, but even if you prove utterly useless you'll be put to use doing something. Even if you can't fight, you'll accompany a specialized party on raids or battles involving mages. Just your presense is enough, because even if you just stand around the mages won't be able to use magic, and the other soldiers can take care of the rest."

She finally decided she wasn't patient enough to wait for him to move or lead the way out, so she simply squeezed by instead and opened the door, slipping out and holding it open. It seemed that, for now while she was in lecture mode, she'd temporarilly forgotten about his past transgression.

"I'm also a Mordecai. And a soldier."

Or...maybe not.

She made sure to put plenty of emphasis on that last word.

Had he tamed the wild evil blood lusting beast that he had angered earlier? No… not in the least, but at least she didn’t look like she wanted to cut off his hands and use them as coat holders for the back of her door. Unconsciously Hek put his hands behind his back while she put her boots on, curling his hands into fists to keep his fingers safe from the evil hand holder coat maker lady. Blinking  a few times, after trying, and failing, to get the word ‘mordecai’ to stick in his head. It’s the trauma, just like a dog wearing an electric collar will expect o get zapped every time he barks, Hek will expect to get hit in the head when he fininishs off “Mordecaiâ€?, either that or he just wants to piss people off, it’s probably a mix between the two. Rolling his mismatched eyes, he took a breath and let it out loudly, missing the part about soldiers or something… Hopefully she’d repeat it. Since he was lost in his oh-so deep thoughts, he didn’t see her wave her arms, but he did notice her being about an inch away from him for a moment.

�Uuuh…�

Hek blinked and grabbed his dirty wooden shovel less pole, which he had brought from his home and walked out of the door, giving Beatrid a half-assed salute at her soldier comment. Than he stopped dead and turned around to look at her, giving her a once over â€" skipping the obvious region of her chest- and than looked at her arms. She was a solider? Hek blinked again and poked his own arm, he had more muscle than her, which was probably a good thing since he was a guy, than reached over and poked hers. Meh, okay, so he was more manly than a female soldier… It wasn’t a bad thing. Than it hit him, he looked down at her with a rather blank look on his face.

�You don’t kill the mages… Do you?�

Sure he’d slaughtered pigs before, but they couldn’t talk… They didn’t stand on two legs, and they weren’t killed just because they were ‘special’ pigs, a hard glare was given to Beatrid, and his eyebrow drew together in a frown. He was starting to not like this …Mordecry stuff. So, standing there about three feet from her, trying to look intimidating, he glared down at her. Of course, the lavender half of his face probably made him look funny… Apparently scowling was a no-no for half lavender faced men.

((gyaah! So short x_x))

Beatrid snorted at his little salute, then not a few moments later found herself swatting his hand away when he poked her arm, pausing in her stride as he suddenly stopped. The hell was that about? Almost without realizing it, she wiped at the part of her arm that he'd touched with her other hand and gave him an odd stare, one eyebrow raised in a sort of "what the hell?" expression.

That was when she also noticed that he was looking at her with an equally odd expression, though his face, unlike hers, was blank. Oh...probably the soldier thing. Let her guess, he'd never heard of a woman being a soldier before. Well...she supposed she couldn't fault him too much for that. There weren't too many. Not to mention that some of those women not even Beatrid could recognize on a glance as women! If some people thought her tough, some of those other girls could pass off as full-blown men. Almost, barring some parts, of course, heh. Anyway, some of the other women were recognizable as women, others weren't; it sometimes made it hard to differentiate in that respect.

But so far as she knew, Beatrid was the only female Mordecai.

Lucky her.

Hek's question caught her off guard, though. She'd been expecting him to say something stupid...well...more stupid than the question he asked, at least.

Um...duh?

"Sometimes," she told him, meeting his glare cooly and indifferently, though inside she could feel a thread of confusion weaving its way through her. What was with that look? Jeez...one minute he was talking to her breasts, now he was trying to be macho and scary? At least, she assumed that was the look he was going for...didn't mean he pulled it off, though. Talk about random. "We mostly just subdue them and bring them in for questioning. Sometimes a kill can't be helped, though. It can get kinda chaotic. Why? Blood make ya queasy?"

Don't tell her he had a weak stomach...

Yones Mallak groaned inwardly as he stalked down the hallway. He had just returned from a particularily unpleasant mage-hunt, and was covered in blood and sweat. He had been looking forward to taking a rest and a bath, but of course he had been required to make a full report. And now they wanted it in writing. Nothing pissed Yones off more than beuracracy. It was true that these mages had been up to some very peculiar activities, but frankly, Yones didnt' give a damn. He wasn't in this business by choice.

The servants of the castle had long ago learned to avoid Yones, and he continued down the hall unimpeded, playing with one of his many knives. He had lost a few during the fight, and they would need to be replaced. Just one of many things he had to do. At least his clothes were mostly intact. It was a good thing that he wore mostly red and black, the stains tended to be less noticeable that way.

When Yones entered the area of the castle reserved for Mordecai, he came upon an unusual sight. His fellow Mordecai, Beatrid, talking to a very dirty boy who looked as though he had lost his mother in a market square. The boy was holding some sort of stick like it was the most valuable thing in the world.

Yones had never gotten along with Beatrid. She was so haughty and self important. Oh how hard it was to be a female in an order dominated by male warriors. Hah, bullshit. She was at least as well off, if not better, than the rest of them. Yones would enjoy having a chance to mock her.

"Ah, Beatrid. Who is this fine, attractive fellow? A suitor perhaps? Well, you always did have good taste. Try not to make too much noise now, but don't let me stunt your enjoyment at all. I'll be in my room writing a terribly exciting report on my latest hunt."

A jab like that couldn't fail to get on Beatrid's nerves. As for the farmboy, he didn't look like he would even understand what Yones was talking about. Even if he took offense, Yones was sure knocking some sense into him would be easy, if boring and a waste of his precious time.

((yeah, he's a bastard.))

Blood didn’t make his queasy, the only thing that probably made him queasy was someone throwing up on him, and that didn’t happen to often. And if it did, he’d be manly and just gag a couple times before undressing the burning the clothing. He looked down at the ground for a moment, still standing in front of Beatrid. Killing people… Just because they could use magic? It made the Connlaothians sound like a bunch of jealous pricks on a playground, going after someone because they had a new toy and so-and-so didn’t. Hek made his ‘ks’ sound again and glared down at her again, only in a more bemused way than the creepy blank look from before.

�Me? Queasy because of blood? Do you have any idea how much blood is inside animals? Or how much you get on you when you gut them? I didn’t think so… But, you don’t just… Attack them because they use magic right? You wait until they attack your first or… hurt civilians… right?�

Okay, maybe he was trying to be to… heroish. Call Hek a softy, but he didn’t think that attacking helpless people who used magic very fare at all, and his views on these ‘mordecrabs’ was slowly diminishing. Some power they had, these guys were nothing but a bunch of murderers, and they didn’t seem to be the nicest people around from the looks of this new fellow who just walked up. Hek looked down at him and blinked, what the hell was he here? A giant? If Hek could have read this fellows thoughts about him looking like a boy, let alone a boy who had lost his mother at a market, he’d have laughed than called him a nasty name, but he couldn’t so he just stood and stared. Nope, the people here weren’t nice at all… Probably had that silver spoon stuck somewhere else, if you know what I mean … Hek took in what the fellow said and just looked at him, it was final, and he defiantly had that silver spoon stuck in the wrong hole.

�…Look, I don’t want to hurt your feelings, but I’m not into little boys…And don’t worry, if Beatrid and I ever have hot wild sex in her room, I’ll be sure to be really loud… Just so you can hear us from what ever little hole you thrive in.�

Though his brain yelled at him to stop, as it had done so earlier, but he hadn’t listened to it then, and he wasn’t going to listen to it now.  Hek tightened his grip on the old meter long thick stick of wood before looking to Beatrid and jabbing his thumb towards the newest arrival who smelt like blood and sweat… maybe not his sweat, but if you were close enough to get someone else’s blood on you, you were close enough to smell like them too. Then using a stage whisper he leaned towards Beatrid while looking at this Yones person.

�This guy’s a brat…�

Leave it to him to point out the obvious while right in front of the person and use a stage whisper while doing so.


((Yay! Sneaking on to post! *goes to bed* XD))

Beatrid's expression turned amused. He was asking her if she knew how much blood animals had in them? Heh...hadn't she just told him she was a soldier? She'd done more than put an animal down. However, the wry amusement soon left her face as he went on...and she almost palmed her forehead once it dawned on her just what he was getting at.

Oh don't tell her...he was one of those types.

"Hek..." she began, staring up at the ceiling once more as she tried to think of a way to put this as gently as she could. Obviously, he'd lived a very sheltered life, otherwise he wouldn't be thinking that kind of nonsense to begin with. Okay. Not his fault he was ignorant. It just meant he had some things to learn...not that she had the patience to be a teacher by any means, and it was an effort not to just outright ask him what hole he'd crawled out of to not know such basic...stuff! "Mages do hurt civilians. I take it you haven't seen what they've done to the city recently, then? I'll have to take you there if you don't believe me. It's a fuckin' mess, and magic was the source. There were civilian casualties, too...and a lot of people got hurt. Hell, just a few days ago me and a few other Mordecai went up against a bloody demon, okay? Nothing good's ever come from magic."

She probably would have continued her lecture, too, if Mister Sunshine himself hadn't decided to interrupt.

And, indeed, his comment didn't fail in its job. Beatrid froze in mid-speech, her body stiffening with a little twitch, and she turned her head so she could glare at him as though she were willing him to drop dead on the spot. What the hell? Opening her mouth, she prepared a retort, but Hek's reply came quicker.

And her glare turned into an amused grin. Hah! Good one! Heh, you know, it looked like Hek might not be so bad after--what the fuck?

"Like hell, Hek. Sorry to disappoint the both of you, but the only chance either of you have at hearing 'loud noises' is if you pay a solo visit to Mister Hand. Now you go have fun with that little report of yours, Drones. I won't be tempted to interrupt you." Oh yes, the feeling was very much mutual. She'd never gotten along with Yones, either, and just like with anyone she didn't particularly like, she made no effort to hide that fact.

Nodding at Hek's poorly veiled whisper, she grabbed for his wrist and gave him a tug to drag him along as she marched off. Of all the other Mordecai she knew, only Hek and Tyne were bearable. "Yeah...he is. Most of the guys here are, you'll find..." Hek included, but at least she had an oppotunity to break him in! She definitely wasn't gonna let Yones get to him. She found him first anyway, dammit! Well...he walked in on her...same difference. She had first dibs on him.

...Not in that way, sickos.

Yones grimaced with displeasure at Hek's comment. The big lug had a tongue on him alright. Still, it didnt' explain why he was here with Beatrid. He wouldn't put it past her to do any "fooling around' with some big backwater farmlad. There was really no other reason for him to be here except...

Of course! Stupid, stupid, stupid. Why hadn't he realized before? Hek had that distinctive prescence Yones himself had. He was Mordecai. It seemed as though he would have to re-evaluate the situation.

"Unfortunately Mr. Hand appears to be covered in the blood of tainted rebel mages at the moment. Actually I've heard that you're in to that sort of thing. You certainly don't seem to have a problem with mud." Yones looked disprovingly at Hek. "If you want to leave this one here, I'm sure I can find some time for you before I start my report."

And then there was the brat comment. It was a whisper, but quite obviously he was intended to hear it. Dammit, where did he get off telling Yones he was a brat? It was true he was among the youngest Mordecai, but he was just as deadly as any of them was he not? Stupid, filthy, backwater little... It was a good thing Beatrid towed him off at that point, or Yones very may well have carved him a second smile. And a third, maybe even a foruth.

"Have fun you two." He retorted lamely. Tossing his knife again, he headed into his room to start his full report. And they wondered why he was so angry all the time.

Yes, Hek was a bit of a pervert. Leave him be, he’s a man in his prime and he’s not afraid to blurt out the first thing that comes to mind. If he hung out with Beatrid much longer, he would defiantly be stabbed, but he’d deserve it and Hek-Akiz knew that too, the bastard. Looking down at ‘Drones’ he pushed his hands between the crises crossing belts before giving Beatrid another look… Did she just talk about what he thinks she did? Hek replayed a few choice words over again in his head and than gave her a look, all because he mentioned hot wild sex between the two of them… Hek didn’t think it was such a bad idea, than again, he was a male, and he was a bit of a pervert, even if he didn’t admit it vocally all that often. Hek was looking at Yones oddly and made an odd yelping sound while he got yanked away, mud? Hek looked down at himself, okay, so he was covered in a layer of dirt-dust because he’d been working in the field before he ‘got here’ and he did need to take a bath or something to stop smelling like cut grass. Hmph. Mud…

â€?Hmm... Bumblebee, I’m not â€"that- dirty am I? If it enlightens you I wasn’t exactly planning on doing anything important today… You should shove me somewhere and make me bathe.â€?

He paused his talking for a moment than looked over his right shoulder, towards the younger man before turning back and looking forward, still dragged by Beatrid by the hand. It looked ridiculous, and Hek chuckled softly and pulled his hand away and began to walk beside her, his hands at his sides, and his head turned towards her. A slight smile was on his face, glad that she’d been the first mordecai he’d met if that fellow had been one, and from the odd feeling of being around him, like he had with Beatrid, he was one. If that guy was bad, Hek-Akiz could only imagine what the others were like. Hek replayed the little run-into with the man over in his head and snorted softly in distaste, he played Beatrid out to be a whore. Hek could only image what little things he could say to a female he saw with Drones now. Once again he turned around and waved cheerfully.

�It was nice meeting you Drones!�

Any idea that that might have been insulting didn’t hit Hek because he didn’t know the fellows name, and the name he was giving was Drones. Poor fellow would forever be Drones in his head. Sweet revenge. Hek looked back at Beatrid and held up his hand that wasn’t holding the old pole of wood, and wiggled his fingers. If Beatrid could anticipate what he was going to say, she’d probably hold a hand over his mouth.

�Well, Mr. Down-There doesn’t really like Mr. Hand at all, so that’s out of the question. Actually, I don’t think he likes it here at all.�

At this point, hek was indeed looking at his crotch and it probably looked like he was talking to it instead of using third person instead of saying ‘he’. Hek looked toward Beatrid and wiggled his eyebrows up and down before rubbing his elbow against her arm and winking. Hopefully she’d be able to take a joke because his next comment would get his stabbed… Or yelled at.

�Want to help him out? I’d sure he’d love you for it.�

What the hell was Yones implying? Okay, well, actually, she knew quite good and well what he was implying, and the thought made her grimace in frustration. Bastardly...bastard! She was about two seconds away from spinning around on her heel and telling him just where he can go shove Mr. Tainted, Blood-Covered Hand, but Hek interrupted that plan with a question. Probably for the better, because, yeah, this was all kind of childish, and it would probably only continue to escalate--maybe even to the point of physical contact; Yones was an angry little bugger, and he had knives on him, and Beatrid, hell, she could be rather violent herself when the right buttons were pressed a bit too hard. Heh...the famed Mordecai of legend. Hoo boy, would those folk tale writers ever roll over in their graves if they saw how Mordecai really lived...

Beatrid's full attention came jerked back over to Hek. "What? Bumblebee? What are you...did you just call me 'Bumblebee'? The hell is that?" she asked, her blue eyes comically big as she stared at him while they walked, not in anger this time but in pure and utter incredulation. Yeah, she was far too surprised by this little turn of events to be mad. Bumblebee?! Where did he get that! Oh God, was that a pet name? Was he already giving her a pet name? Ugh...she really hoped he'd maybe just seen a bumblebee buzzing around here somewhere and had decided to coment on it randomly for some reason, but that didn't sound plausible, as much as she wished it to be so. Maybe it was slang. She really hoped it was slang. Her name sounded nothing like that! Well...maybe a little. The "Be" beginning of her name was pronounced like "bee", she'd give him that. And, uh, she certainly wasn't yellow and black...unless that was supposed to be...a veiled commentary on her bottom...

She closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them again and shot Hek a dangerous look. However, she said nothing else, as she realized a bit too late that if she gave too much of a reaction, it might only further encourage him. Patience, Beatrid. Patience. He was new. And compared to the others...well, she'd probably never admit it off the bat, because that was just how she was, but what she'd seen so far...yeah, he wasn't bad. He certainly wasn't arrogant and bitter like Yones, or patronizing like Kuro. And after how he'd responded to Yones...she had to give him points for that; that had been rather clever, and Yones certainly hadn't seemed to like it. That earned her respect. Sure, he'd gotten off on the wrong foot with the pervy breast talk, and yeah, he had some things to learn, but in the grand scheme of things...he wasn't bad.

Yeah.

So. Moving on from the Bumblebee talk, and here's hoping he'd forget that. If not...she'd make him forget.

"It's not that bad. You just smell like you've been rolling in weeds...for a few hours. It's your clothes that's bad. If you don't wanna get teased more or mistaken as a peasant off the streets--" Or, she mentally added with a small grimace, as some lover she was sneaking into the palace...which just went to show how much people truly knew about her, which wasn't much at all to say the least. "--I guess it's a good idea that we get you cleaned and into proper clothes."

She glanced over her shoulder as Yones told she and Hek to "have fun" and snorted. Case in point.  However, what Hek called out to Yones made her actually burst into laughter before she could help it, it was simply so unexpected! He actually called him Drones! She quickly whipped around so her back was once again fully to Yones, and she clapped one hand over her mouth in order to try and stiffle the laughter that wanted to bubble out. Oh man...that was too great! And the way he said it...he probably had no idea that that wasn't the man's real name, but a mocking nickname she'd given him! He was so cheerful about it, which made it even better! After all, no one had said his real name in that encounter...and Yones hadn't bothered to correct her when she'd called him that! Hah! And she so wasn't going to correct Hek, either! Bwaha...take that, Yones.

So amused and currently pleased with Hek was she that she could have never been prepared for what was to come, and she was still grinning when Hek held up his hand and wiggled his fingers. She should have interpretted that as a warning sign.

The next thing she knew, he was staring at his crotch and talking about how Mr. Down-There didn't like Mr. Hand...or this place. Talking...to his groin.

Now, while that would have been weird enough as it was, what made it even better was that there were poor little servants scurrying around, most of them women. And not soldier-type women used to crudeness, either.

Beatrid nearly choked, torn between laughter--she was far from a prude herself, if her past comments were any indication; she just didn't like being hit on by horny bastards. It was annoying, especially when they couldn't take a hint--and horror that he would say, and do, something like that in front of so many innocent bystanders. Yeah. It looked pretty wrong.

"Hek!" She took it upon herself to whack him upside the head with the palm of her hand, though this time the blow wasn't over his ear, nor was it as hard as that first one had been. This was mostly just to get his attention...and get him to please remove his eyes from his no-no area, fascinating as it probably was to him.

His next comment, however, was different.

She eyed him warily as he waggled his eyebrows lecherously and nudged her arm, winking...that...could not be a good sign. Her guard went up...

And not a second after his question, her own elbow thrust out sharply to jab him in the side. It wasn't a knife, but her elbow was still sharp! "In your wet dreams!" she grumbled, taking a few pointed steps off to the side and away from him. And then, right in the middle of her irritated mental rant, an idea suddenly popped into her head. Actually...she could help him out...

"Actually, now that I think of it...yeah, I can help him out," she said suddenly, an oddly sweet smile on her face. Which looked kind of scary on her. "C'mon...let's go get you bathed and changed. Follow me." And then, still smiling, she started walking off to lead the way.

Yeah, she'd help him out all right.

Yones paused with his back turned to Beatrid and Hek. What had the ovegrown lug called him? Drones? Beatrid might be able to get away with that. She was a proper Mordecai, and at the time Yones had been more concerned with other insults. But for this 2 bit, little, overgrown, stupid, GRAH!

Yones shifted his knife in his hand, played with the others at his belt. He was deaf to most of the following conversation as he imagined all the awful things he could do to Hek. Until...

Quote"Actually, now that I think of it...yeah, I can help him out,"

What? Had Yones been right after all? He had thought he was just being witty. Establishing his intellectual superiority over the other two, but could it be that Hek actual was a suitor? Honestly Yones didn't think Beatrid was into mud or dirt or whatever it was, that had just been a joke. No, she probably had something in mind other than that... but it sure sounded incriminating didn't it?

Yones headed towards the nearest servant, who was obviously trying to evade eye contact with him. Well, she wouldn't have much luck. Yones grabbed her and spun her around, probably scaring the life out of her. He leaned in close towards her face.

"Make sure those two aren't disturbed this evening. They will be very, very busy. I wouldn't want to be the one to interrupt them. Make sure you get the word out among the servants would you?"

Yes, malicious rumour spreading was a specialty of his. Turning once again towards his quarters, Yones wondered why he was so irritated by this. Normally he'd just ignore any insults thrown at him. Must be because he was having such an awful day. He wasn't normally this insulting was he?

When the servent scampered off to tell the other servants, a familiar voice could be heard directly behind Yones,
"Judging by the excessive amount of blood you carry on your clothes, I take it the perpatrators you were sent to apprehend didn't come willingly." The voice came from none other than Kuro Kiraa himself. The only ninjaesque figure in Connlaoth. Funny how he wasn't there a moment ago. His yellow, emotionless eyes stare at his fellow Mordecai's back as he stands with his arms crossed over his chest. His scarf around his face seems dorment for the moment, due to the lack of movement in the ninja. Aside from the usual, one thing that stands out the most on him is a small hole on the left shoulder of his outfit. The hole is surrounded by dried blood and has a matching trail of dried blood running down from it.
"You were never known to bring in any mages peacefully, Yones. Always have to make a mess of things." Kuro throws in another comment, still staring at the man's back. If he was still the assassin he used to be, he would have found Yones' back a little tempting to slice open. Unfortunately, allies are valuble assets. But in Kuro's eyes, they only get in the way.

The day just kept getting better and better didn't it? Yones really didn't have the patience to talk to Kuro right now. The damn man always acted so superior, so... impersonal.

"Ha, do they ever come willingly?" Yones nearly spat. "At least I've taken care of them. You have a tendency to mysteriously lose your targets. Maybe you're slipping Kuro."

Yones examined the hole in Kuro's outfit. Had the assassin been wounded? But the blood was dry already, surely Kuro hadn't been gone long enough for that.

"Looks like you're in a bit of a mess yourself. Was this last one too much for you to handle? Get yourself down to the infirmary."

Damn but it was hard to insult Kuro. He just didn't care.

"I'm going to my quarters to write my report. And if anyone else interrupts me, they'll find that they will suddenly be able to breathe and eat through their chest."

Very pleased with the outcome of his nickname for his brand new friend, he safely stored it away where  Hek would use it at a later date until it became a constant thing. He didn’t get a whack in the head for that, so it was probably not as bad she was letting him believe. Hek still didn’t like Connlaoth, too, high and mighty and the people here weren’t to great either, probably against the odds to find a half decent one. The whack in the head was a bit of a surprise and he even bit his lip, he yelped again and let out a pained laugh, and grinned down at Beatrid oddly happy that he’d managed to piss her off. The elbow made him twitch and move away, now they both seemed to be on opposite sides of the hallway, Hek still giggling and Beatrid looking positively evil. After what she said Hek slinked as far from her as he could go but turned around and walked backwards for a moment, noting the two men. Two? When had that black one got there? Hek blinked for a moment and than looked like he was about to ask Beatrid when he walked into a maid, well, he only stumbled, she flew and made a ‘wumph’ sound when she landed on her many skirts.

�I’m sorry! Here, let me help you up.�

So, Hek helped out the poor lady he banged into and smiled slightly, she gave a curtsy and ran off. Hek looked towards Beatrid and slowly made his way back to the otherside of the hall. Right behind her, so he didn’t bump into anyone else, and if he did it’d only be Beatrid and she was a tough cookie, and he was only seven or so inches taller than her instead of nearly a foot. Poor maid. Hek wasn’t used to maids, usually if he made a mess with anything he’d have to clean it up. Noticing Beatrid, or rather, Bumblebee had quiet the lead on him, Hek ran to catch up, wondering vaguly if he was allowed to. Would he get detention? Hek stopped mid stride and just walked quickly while looking around guiltly. Sheesh, here he was, a twenty-five year old, and afraid of a maid for chewing him out for running in the halls.

�Hey! Beatrid! Wait up! What do you mean you’ll help him out? That smile isn’t very calming you know…�

Hek caught up and hooked his arm around Beatrids, and mumbled something about not wanting to lose her again and running into a maid. Hek blinked around and noticed they weren’t in that hallway anymore so he looked around and than back at Beatrid.

�So… Bumblebee… Where did you take us?�

Tilting his head back, Hek looked around and than looked back down at Beatrid, still clinging to her arm. He’d get lost here no problem, he’d have to either draw a map, or noticed little landmarks.

Poor Beatrid, if only she knew what Yones had done...

But she didn't, nor was she aware of the arrival of Kuro, for she was already leading the way briskly toward another hallway, her smile only growing bigger as she noted that Hek had distanced himself even further from her. She <I>was aware of Hek colliding with one of the maids, though. They made a rather loud sound when they bumped into one another, the poor maid ending up on the ground. Beatrid paused and glanced back over her shoulder at the two, then blinked as Hek apologized and helped the woman up.

No...he definitely wasn't all that bad. He was weird--why the hell was he walking backwards?--but at least he didn't act like a prick with a superiority comple--ACK! For a moment she had looked beyond Hek, and there she saw him. Kuro. Standing around by Yones. Beatrid's eyes widened and she quickly faced foreward once more and, without waiting for Hek to get the maid situated, started marching off again at an even quicker pace. Damn! What was he doing back already? And here! ARGH! She knew it! She knew it was all just too good to be true!

Why did he always find her, no matter what she did?

So, now she had even more of an incentive to get Hek to the baths. Hell, if it even came down to it, she'd hide out with him, just to avoid Kuro. Hopefully he hadn't seen her, though. Um...then again...well...her braid kind of was a big distinguishing feature. Drat.

She didn't realize how fast she was actually moving until Hek called after her and caught up with her, hooking his arm around hers. Her initial instinct was to disentangle herself from him...but instead she just sighed and used that as a means to hurry the man along down the hall more quickly, practically dragging him with her. Or trying to, at least.

"It means exactly what I said. I'll help you two out. You asked if I would, right? So I will." She flashed another innocent grin his way, which only broadened when he said her smile wasn't very calming. Bwaha...aww...was the pervy little bastard nervous? Good, good...

She didn't say anything more than that until they went down another hallway and she pushed open some doors, leading them into a room. Squirming her way out of his arm-hold, she closed the door behind her, then locked it for good measure--you could never be too safe. The room was rather large, the floor tiled and a few closets lined up along the walls, and the room opened up more to reveal an even larger room, which consisted of curtained stalls, for privacy. Each little room was big enough to get changed inside, the tub separate from the rest. Opening one of the closets, Beatrid pulled out a towel and shoved it into Hek's arms, then promptly began pushing him along.

She pointedly ignored the Bumblebee comment. She could deal with it for now, considering she was about to get some sweet revenge on him.

"You said you needed a bath, right? So, here we are," she told him, stopping in front of one of the stalls. She pushed aside the curtain and went in to begin preparing the water.

Poor, poor Hek. She made sure that that water was as cold as she could possibly get it. Perhaps he'd figure out on his own what she meant when she said she'd help him out. A nice dip in some freezing cold water should take care of those raging hormones just fine!

Satisfied with her work, she came out and promptly pushed Hek inside the room and closed the curtain for him. "Get undressed and get washed and don't come out 'til you're clean. I gave you a towel, obviously, so you don't have to drip dry...there should be soap in there," she told him, and retreated back to lean against the wall and wait.

No way she was leaving this room. She figured it was pretty safe here...no one should think to look here. And if Hek took a long time washing, all the better!

Besides...she couldn't leave and risk missing any reactions her little trick would produce! And if he complained, she could just say the hot water was broken or something. She doubted a country-looking guy like him could figure out how to work the thing. It had taken her long enough as it was. Grinning mischievously to herself, she folded her arms and waited.

"Slipping?" Kuro repeated the word Yones used to describe the ninja. Not likely. "That's the word I use for this forsaken kingdom. I'm beginning to lose faith in my current 'home."
Kuro's word didn't seem to pick up any emotion along the way he talked, but he mentioned it like he was trying to make a point.
"Perhaps a visit to the infirmary would be a good idea, but what good would it do if the wound is long gone?" Kuro noted to Yones' comment about the infirmary while looking at what is a scar by now. That is definately a battle he will not forget. The dark Mordecai looks to the blood soaked Mordecai one last time when he mentions his precious report, before walking away from the bloodied man.
"You do that. I'm sure showing them your newly dyed attire would be report enough. I see no point in the political game." Kuro's words were harsh for once. Something that he has almost never done since he's been in Connlaoth. Has he grown an attitude? Has some recent occurance impacted him in someway to allow him to express thoughts? If Yones decided to turn to face Kuro, he would notice that the ninja would be nowhere to be found in sight.

Being pulled along like a horse on a lead rope made him feel like a stock animal so he paused suddenly and nearly fell on his butt before he regained his balance and was nearly spun around at the pace Beatrid went about Hek could only blink and look at her oddly. He was about to lift a finger and inquire about something rather important that he didn’t see laying around but he felt ‘little’ hands on his back pushing him forward into the stall thing with the running water and the towel. Hek was about to turn around and once again point out what was missing when the curtain shut in his face. Grumbling Hek rolled his eyes and decided to wait until he was all wet and naked before pointing out he didn’t have any other clothes to wear except for the ones that smelled like ‘he’d been rolling in weeds’. Hmph. City dwellers.

Hek looked at the water in the tub and wrinkled his nose. He’d kick it if he knew that it wouldn’t hurt him more in the end unless he was a superpowered hunk of man-flesh that could break rock with a pinky. But Hek wasn’t and he was now looking around for someplace to put his clothing beside the ground, which was bound to get wet. He settled for the rail that held the curtain closed, first came the shirt, he pulled it up over his head, the lavender fan of hair flopping back into place once it slipped over his head. The white shirt was flopped over the railing, next came the pants and everything else, his boots were put on the other side of the curtain by his hand while his body would be unable to be seen from the other side. Where Beatrid was waiting for him, at least he assumed since he didn’t hear and doors open or close.

So, there he stood, naked as the day he was born with pretty lavender swirl like thinks on the left side of his body. Once more he looked down at the water in the tub and slowly got in, it was really cold, but he’d be able to live with it, right? Right. Okay, he was all squashed in and freezing cold and his teeth were chattering, but this was normal for city people, right? Hek ducked his head in and than came out gasping. Holy hell it was cold, glaring at the curtain he looked at the thing that the water came out of and began to poke at it, and began to turn them, Ah ha! That’s how it worked. Feeling very prideful of himself, he turned one on and held his hand under it. It was getting warm, he quickly turned it off and made his ‘ks’ sound while his teeth were chattering. That brat! Hek stood up in the bathtub dripping wet, and pushed the curtain open. Glaring at Beatrid.

�You Brat! You made the water cold on purpose! You are SO dead!�

Hek, whos’ lavender fan of hair was now flopped against the side of his head dripping with freezing water, was glaring at Beatrid and standing there butt naked. His fists clenching and unclenching,  before he went and walked over to her, about a foot away he looked down at her and his eyes narrowed, crossing his arms over his chest and tapping his foot against the ground. He was already frozen, what would standing around do what the freezing water didn’t do already?

Beatrid waited patiently, staring up at the ceiling and yawning. This wasn't really her ideal way to kill an hour, but at least it was a closed off room and with Hek in the tub and Kuro out there, she was once again left in a relatively quiet state of peace. Well, save for the rustling of clothes, which did make her turn her ear toward the tub more. This was probably pretty mean of her...she knew it. That water had been freezing the way she'd left it, probably even colder than the lake and river water would be this time of year. Or maybe he was used to that type of thing. Maybe she was just assuming things from the way he dressed, but if he did come from the country, maybe he normally bathed in cold water in streams or whatever? If so, that would kind of suck, because this wouldn't have the effect she was going for...though it would still be inwardly amusing to her on some sadistic level, given she knew all about the warm water and he didn't, heh heh...

Of course, it might have also helped if she'd realized that she'd forgotten to get Hek a fresh change of clothes. But...she'd been so preoccupied with Yones and Kuro and now Hek that the thought had never once crossed her mind. Big mistake. She'd remember soon enough, though...

She heard a bit of splashing as she assumed he got in...then more splashing and a gasp. Beatrid smirked to herself. Not one peep out of him, either, except that he sounded in pain with the way he was breathing, and he was lasting a long time in there, too. Bwaha...ah, revenge. She didn't even need a big reaction to be satisfied; it was just knowing that he was suffering needlessly that was satisfying enough, and after this he'd probably be too cold to act like an idio--eh?

Squeaking. The sound of knobs being turned on the other side, and water running. Beatrid blinked, but didn't feel too worried, in fact she just snorted softly and shifted back along the wall so that her backbone wasn't pressing into the tile uncomfortably. It took a while for the warm water to heat up, so if he did discover that knob, he'd probably think it only spilled out cold water, too. That's what had happened to her at first.

That was when the water gave one particularly loud splash and the curtain flew open...to reveal a very naked, wet and glaring Hek. Who yelled at her. Because he'd obviously figured it out...

Crap...

Oookay...of all things that could have happened, Beatrid might have expected to hear yelling from him. Maybe for him to even come out of that little room and march over to her ominously--but with a towel on at least! He had no towel! At least, he did, but it wasn't on! For a moment, all Beatrid could do was stare, face blank, eyes wide. Then she realized she was staring, and he was walking over to her after proclaiming that she was "SO dead!", and she jumped in alarm and took a few quick steps back and away from him, toward the door. What the hell did that mean?

"What the hell are you doing?! Damn, not everyone wants to see that; put a bloody towel on, that's what it's there for!" she growled, straightening up to her full height authoritatively and glaring back up at him--an effect which was somewhat lost with her cheeks flushed. Fuck. Not that she was embarrassed, because she'd been living around guys since forever and, hell, wasn't like it was anything she hadn't already seen--okay, yeah, she was embarrassed. So what? Wasn't everyday a crazy naked guy confronted you. Naked. Damn...he had no shame, did he?

"Get back in there and get some damned clothes on, Hek!" she warned, planting her hands on her hips to show that she wasn't intimidated.

"Beatrid..." A familiar voice could be heard just outside the door, but only loud enough for Beatrid to hear, since she was closest to the door. Apparently, it sounded like Kuro, but is not as stern and emotionless as his voice usually is. There was something, different. One thing's for certain, he assessed the situation from the outside and determined where everyone was standing by the footsteps and the yelling.
"I would like to bring your attention to a certain rumor that Yones has decided to spread, concerning you and the new Mordecai. It'll be throughout the Palace in no time, considering that it is spreading through the word of the maids." Leave it to Kuro to be a spy. It's amazing how useful a ninja can be from time to time. How unfortunate it is that no one seems to find Kuro as useful. The very ninja stood outside the door, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest.

Beatrid could only think of a towel at this time? She had deceived him! He was the victim! She was the ‘attacker’ and Hek was out for sweet revenge, his angry face turned into an evil grin and he looked down at his lack of clothing. Heks mismatched eyes narrowed slightly, but his evil little grinned stayed when she puffed up her chest and glared at him, flushed. Taking a wet footed step closer, he leaned towards her ear, not touching her, and put his mouth to her ear, barly a hairs width away.

�Aww, Bumblebee, you’re not blushing because I’m naked are you? Or maybe it’s because you’re too hot…?�

Pulling his head away slightly, Hek stuck out his tongue and licked Beatrids face from the side of her chin to her hairline, making a noise while he did so. Yup, Beatrid was defiantly hot, and if Hek felt like making her blush more, he’d probably comment on how she ‘tasted’ too, which would be an exaggeration since she tastes like person which isn’t very tasty at all. Wrapping his hands around Beatrids waist, he pulled her closer and yanked her with him on his way back towards the stall. All this happened in a matter of seconds, but he did her a voice from the other side of the door while he was quite for those few moments before he licked her face. Hek called through the door.

�Sorry Sir, the lady and I are busy right now, come back later.�

Hauling Beatrid with him back to the bath, he pushed her in front of him and leaned over her, pushing her closer and closer to the edge of the tub, his head beside hers and his wet hair dripping down her front. Sweet revenge indeed, well… More like wet cold revenge but it was still revenge, so it was still sweet. Heks hand opened slightly at her abdomen and he bent over, pressing his chest to her back and he whispered again in her ear.

�Guess what? I really do think you’re hot…�

At the word ‘hot’ he let go and pushed her towards the freezing tub of water, and after he had let go, he went and grabbed the towel and wrapped it around his waist, covering his <I>stuff</I> so that Beatrid wouldn’t have to stare at it anymore. Dusting off his hands and running them through his hair, he looked at her and smirked.

Goddammit!

Beatrid came very close to just screaming in frustration as an all-too-familiar voice came to her from the other side of the door. ARGH! If she'd thought things couldn't get any more retarded, boy, was she wrong! Now she was trapped. Kuro on one side, a naked Hek on the other. This was just...just...so damned ridiculous, she didn't know if she wanted to just scream or burst out laughing. Well, whatever the case, the door was locked and he was on the other side...which meant she was trapped in here with a naked newbie. The naked newbie seemed like her first priority, so she just ignored the voice and went on acting tough and intimidating.

At least, until Kuro mentioned Yones and a rumor and the "new Mordecai" all in one sentence. "What?!"

For one split second she looked away from Hek and toward the door her back was just inches away from. Oooh, she should have known better that to take her eyes off of Hek for even a second. Bad Beatrid, slipping up on her training...well, now she'd quickly learn why you never took your eyes off an eminent threat.

In any case, she soon forgot all about this whole "rumor" bit, because, well...other things forced her to file away that information as currently unimportant.

Warm breath on her ear made her give a jolt, and when she turned her head back around, bam, there was Hek. What the--the--?! Hot?! Holy hells! Eyes narrowing, Beatrid cranked back her fist, about ready to wail into him for invading her personal bubble so closely...while naked...and calling her hot...which was overall just making her feel more and more utterly creeped out--but what he did next was so unexpected, she literally froze. Which was probably a good thing for Hek, because at this point she was also quite ready to put her knee to good use--he was just a wee bit too close for comfort, and dammit, but she wasn't about to take any crap from him, more tolerable than the others or not!

Of course, that was before he...licked her...?

Yeeeah...that had to be the weirdest fucking thing anyone had ever done to her.

And, indeed...it did coax an even darker blush from her, her eyes widening, her face heating, but her body freezing up. What. The. Hell.

She came to soon enough.

"You basta--AH!" That was when he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close, which was a smart move on his part because she couldn't knee his groin from this angle. Nor could she do much in the way of punching or other bodily harm with her own body all squished up against his and the side of her face pressed up against his bare chest. Um...yeah. This was just a wee bit awkward, considering his chest wasn't the only bare part.

By this point, Beatrid was both pissed off as well as growing increasingly worried. What the hell was he doing?! Dammit! With a growl, she did what she could to slam her fists into his chest, though it was difficult with her so close--it was nigh on impossible to get a good blow in. "Dammit, Hek! Let go!" she ordered, struggling against him and trying her best to push back against him, though her boots did little to gain traction on the now wet tile. Wherever he was lugging her, she was not going. Especially not after that little comment he'd thrown out to Kuro. What? Like bloody hell! When her punches didn't work, she used her nails, digging them into his chest and pinching the skin there as hard as she could, for once in her life cursing the fact that she kept her nails short. "Hek! I mean it! I'm gonna fucking kill you! Don't dick with me, Hek!"

Whatever happened, she was not calling on anyone unless she absolutely had to! No! She was gonna take this little bastard herself!

Seeing as how scratching and punching hadn't worked, she was about ready to start biting him--and not in a kinky way, either; she would tear off skin if she could help it!--but then he suddenly turned her around, still keeping a tight hold on her and pressing against her back. She blinked when she saw the tub looming in front of her, her chest heaving and heart pounding, a small shiver coursing through her as cold water dripped down her chest. What was he...? She wasn't going to let herself find out. With a grunt, she once again began twisting in his grasp, and this time tried to find a good way to elbow him in the gut.

That was when he leaned over and whispered in her ear.

And she didn't have time to register anything more than the fact that, suddenly, she was hurtling toward the bathwater.

A second later, and Beatrid was scrambling to sit up on her knees, drenched from head to boot in the cold, freezing water she'd set up for Hek. She sat up with a sharp, choked gasp, water plastering her bangs to her face and her clothes to her body in a most uncomfortable way, though she was too damned frozen to notice that at the moment! Sputtering and coughing up water that had made it's way up her nose, and shivering like crazy, she reached up with shaking hands to brush her hair out of her eyes.

The first thing she was was Hek, blessedly covered with a towel. But that was the furthest thing from Beatrid's mind at the moment. Ooo...she was going to take that towel and strangle him with it!

A smile crept across her lips, though it didn't look as intimidating this time with her cheeks flushed from cold and embarrassment, and her body quaking and soaked in cold water. In a bath tub. Shaking her head, she rested her hands along the bath tub's rim and tapped her fingers idly against it. Ooo, yeah, he was gonna get it. "Funny. You're a funny guy, Hek, ya know that? Too bad you're gonna die!"

With a grunt, she lunged to her feet--and slipped and fell right back into the water with a yelp, splash, and a very loud curse. Ow. Glaring up at Hek, she yanked off her boots--damned things were filled with water--and instead of tossing them over the side, chucked both of them, one right after the other, at Hek. Aiming, of course, for his head, which was nice and violet and provided a good, clear target. Then she quickly hauled herself up, more carefully this time, stepped over the side of the tub and made a mad--if awkward--dash for the cupboards where the towels were kept. Might as well arm herself.

Sliding to a stop, she wrenched open the cupboard and grabbed a towel, which she quickly shook open. Then, just as quickly, she wound up the towel until it was nice and tight. It wasn't wet yet, but it would do until she could get back around him and dunk it in the tub. Then it would really hurt when she smacked him with it. Still smiling, she held the wound up towel like a weapon--almost like it was a bow and arrow--as she lowered her own body into a defensive stance. "You're goin' down," she announced--and snapped the towel out at him.

Okay, not the scariest "weapon", but...it would do!

...This would be kind of fun...

Kuro maintained his position against the wall during the whole commotion inside the room. The was almost no reaction out of the ninja when the new guy called out to him. If Kuro knew Beatrid any better, this cocky new guy will soon be losing his manhood. Beatrid did sound like she was in a bit of distress, but what damage can be done by a fellow Mordecai that one is supposed to work with? The slashing of water sounded a bit out of place between the struggling, but deffinately not something Kuro has any reason to ponder over. It was the time Kuro heard the snap of a towel, that distinctively sounded like a whip, when he decided to take action. The door slowly swong open on it's own, or at least that's what it seemed like. No one was there, but Kuro's voice could be heard as he called in without looking at what's going on.
"Are you two done in there?" Kuro was still up against the wall, beside the doorway with his arms crossed. He'd only really intervene if asked to do so. Hardly ever any danger within the Palace, otherwise.

If he was an evil conqueror, he’d put his hands on his hips and laughing evilly… But, since he isn’t and when he laughs out right he sounds stupid, he just stood there and grinned evilly at her while she flopped around in the ice-cold tub like a fish. Ha! It would be colder since she was clothed, and he had actually gotten used to it after the first seven seconds of being in the tub. Though the cold droplet’s of water that ran down his face and neck made him shiver and he looked at his back but his attention was stolen by Beatrid and her statement of ‘you’re goin’ down.’  He blinked once and felt a slap against his chest, he paused and just looked down before the red almost welt showed up on his bronzed and lavender chest.

�Yeeaaaooow!�

Hek rubbed the spot and heard the door click open, he looked at it oddly before hearing the voice from outside. Giving an odd look at Beatrid, than looking evilly, Hek turned his head slightly but kept his mismatched eyes on his attacker who left the red mark on his chest. The floor was wet and slippery, and his eyes flicked towards the tub of cold water and how far she was from it. Clearing his throat slightly, he took another step towards her.

�No, we won’t be done for a while, you should probably leave…�

Another step, and as an after though, Hek added.

�And would you mind closing the door? Ya know, privacy.�

Hek took another step and narrowed his eyes, his hand quickly shot out and grabbed her towel before she could wind it up and whip him with it again. The scratches and bite marks she hit him with stung and they would probably sting, so Hek would mention her helping him patch up after their little water fight. Grabbing Beatrids wrists, Hek stepped into the tub and ducked until his head was in, he pulled and pulled his head up at the same time. He looked pretty normal, and he smirked again before a stream of cold water came out of his mouth and aiming at Beatrids neck, his eyes flicked to her chest area but quickly snapped back to her face and grinned.

�Guess what Beatrid, I have initiated a water fight... I’m a country bumpkin, I hope you know that I’ve had plenty of these.�

If the yanks before didn’t get her into the tub of cold water, this one would, and if the last ones did, this one would pull her so she was about a foot from him, either way. Pulling, she would get into the tub or land on her butt. Hek would be pleased with both because if she fell on her butt, he’d splash her. Either way, she’d get wet and Hek-Akiz would be happy, this was going to be fun indeed. And the soap still wasn’t wet, amazingly, and Hek still has some dirt smudges on his face.

Long live procrastination. Though this was certainly an extreme way of not bathing.

Hah! A grin broke out on Beatrid's face as the blow connected, and she might have even laughed at the yelp it produced if she could have laughed. But her teeth were chattering too badly and her body was positively quaking. Yeah. This sucked. If she'd been naked like Hek, it wouldn't be so bad. But wet clothes clinging to her skin? Not fun. Very cold, heavy, and uncomfortable, and her long braid didn't make it any better, but it was worth it!

Of course, a very cold body did make for slower reaction times. It was hard to quickly wind up the towel for a second round with her fingers all numb and thick feeling and her hands shaking wildly. And, for a second time, her attention was pulled away when the door clicked open and Kuro's voice came through. What the...? Hadn't she locked that? Damn! Well, she'd whack him too if he came in here--this was an official warzone, and anyone that entered was fair game as far as she was concerned! Her eyes narrowed slightly, and she prepared herself to shout something out at Kuro, but Hek beat her to it.

And a look back Hek's way told her that, once again, she should not have taken her eyes off of him.

"Hah, yeah, privacy," she scoffed through chattering teeth while rolling her eyes, and started winding that towel up again, ready to smack him one good.

But he snatched it up before she could and grabbed onto her wrists, which were probably quite cold to the touch and certainly felt quite numb to her! So, instead of any actual words coming out, what instead came out was a surprised yelp, something that Beatrid didn't do much of. "Ack! Hek!" Oh well, she was cold, give her a break! Which was something she would blame all her delayed reactions on--that she was freezing to death, yeah! And dammit! But Hek was dragging her back to that tub again, looking thoroughly evil! Nooo! She was already dripping! She couldn't get anymore soaked at this point short of drowning! Hek stepped into the tub--he was insane--and Beatrid braced her feet up against the side of the tub, wary of being pulled back in again. Argh! She was no pushover by any means, but damn, he was taller than her and, obviously, stronger as well. But she was also very cold. That could sap strength. Right.

He ducked his head into the tub, and Beatrid wasted no time in trying to wrench her wrists free. Or to figure out a way to get him back. The thought crossed her mind that she could kick his rear while he was bending down with his face in the tub, but that would also make her lose balance and, probably, end up right back in the tub.

Especially when he gave her a pull.

"Gah!" was all she could say as she pulled against him--and hoped he wouldn't be evil and let go suddenly, because landing on her butt would hurt. "What are you doi--"

And that was when he smirked.

And sent a stream of water out of his mouth and down her neck.

Beatrid yelped yet again, the cold water inducing a convulsive shiver from her, and she tugged at her wrists. She was too occupied with other things--like staying out of the bath tub--to notice his eyes stray down South, though she wouldn't have been able to punch him at this moment with him holding her wrists so firmly. And kicking...well...not unless she wanted to fall forward into the tub.

A water fight?

Erk.

Not a second after he'd said that, splash! He yanked on her arms, and she pulled back and away from him, but the tile was wet and slippery and she lost her grounding. Into the tub she landed, the cold water a shock to her system, especially since she's gotten used to the wet clothing. A little. She came up spitting out water, feeling like a drowned...something...and not a foot away from Hek. Well then. If it was a water fight he wanted, it was a water fight he'd get! He was on!

And seeing as her legs were now free, and she was as wet as she could get...

And Hek was standing oh-so-nicely...

Flopping over so she was sitting on her bottom braced up on her arms, she stretched out one of her legs and quickly hooked it around one of Hek's, then gave a swift tug to trip him and bring him down into the tub, as well. Which would also, sadly, make his towel pretty darned useless. Oh well. Rearing up onto her knees and grinning triumphantly, she promptly took action and...began splashing him while he was down. "Two can play that game, farm boy!" she announced with a laugh, still shaking, which could be heard in her voice. And probably looking pretty ridiculous. "Maybe you'll even get <I>clean in the process!" she added, splashing at his face for emphasis.

Yeah. Never in her life did she think she'd end up having a water fight with a practically naked new guy not a half-hour after meeting him.

And enjoying it!

Chuckling softly at her reaction he wasn’t ready to get pulled in as well. Taking a mouthful of water, he came back up coughing which resumed when he got the face full of water, his lavender eye was closed and his hand was covering his mouth while he hacked up the water that he managed to inhale, once he was done with that, he shook his head and showered everywhere with a fine mist of cold water. Looking at Beatrid, he stuck both his hands in the tub and splashed water at her before he shuffled over to try and dunk her in. He failed and actually managed to slip and fall on top of her, one of his legs between hers and one of hers between his, his head hurt, but he didn’t think much of it. Hek blushed and moved his hips up, only to have the towel slip from its ‘knot’ in which he pressed back down and tried not to think about that. What his hand was on did make him look though and his blush to deepen, on the left side of his face, his cheek turned a distinct lavender colour.  Of course, Hek actually had to squish what his hand was on before he clued in to it being Beatrids breast, his hand, of course moved and he put it on the bottom of the tub and grinned sheepishly at her.

�sorry… Um…�

Hek tried to look down between them, but it didn’t work and he just banged foreheads with her. A smear of blood was on her forehead and he looked down at her.

�Beatrid… Bleeding… or…�

Hek moved his left hand and reached across his forehead where he found the throbbing spot he thought was just a bump. Great, been in this place for less than two hours and already he was bleeding. Hek sighed and than looked up, they hadn’t closed the curtain, and if that fellow who was standing outside came in right now, he’d see more than he’d probably ever want to. It looked like he and Beatrid were up to other things than a water fight.

�Don’t hit me! If I move, my towel will float away and I’ll be naked on your leg for about two seconds. So, you have to hold my towel closed and we both have to stand up if you don’t want to see me naked again.�

His left hand went up and he wiped the blood from his forehead, and that small but semi-deep cut. Great. Bleeding. Just what he needed right now. Looking down at her, looking very sheepish with the blush still in place. He looked up and than back down.

�Can we stop the water fight now? Blood and water don’t mix, and … I need dry clothing…�

Finally, he got to say the clothing thing that he had been wanting to say earlier. Hek closed his eyes for a moment and shifted, than quickly stayed still, just incase Beatrid decided to slap him across the ear again. The piercing in his ears were cold and his ears were now red, and, Heks lavender fan of hair was dripping on Beatrids face. He murmured sorry before staying still.

Beatrid started choking soon enough, as well, as a nice wave of water struck her face right as she was laughing, which thus resulted in her inhaling a mouthful of water. Coughing, she raised an arm up to shield her face from any more water that would come her way as she attempted to recover.

Weeell...

Her arm worked as a shield from the water, but when it came to a full-grown, six-foot-two male body landing on her? Didn't do much good.

Splash!

For the fourth time during this whole encounter, Beatrid resurfaced spluttering up water, but only managed to raise up so far as her elbows, because there was a weight pressing down on her hips. Shaking her head to clear the water and wet hair out of her eyes, she opened her eyes fully...and the first thing she saw was an oddly blushing Hek. Slowly moving her eyes downward, a dark flush quickly painted her cheeks as she fully took in their current, ahem, position. Ooookay. Uh. Yeah. She gave a discreet cough and began to wiggle a little in an attempt to carefully break free--and quickly stopped, about the same time Hek did. Her blush only further deepened as, yeah, it quickly became obvious to what extent their legs were entangled...like that one of her legs was pressed against a very delicate spot of his...and one of his own legs wasn't quite where it should be...

Suddenly, her eyes narrowed a little as she returned her eyes to his face, a familiar warning look. He was blushing, too, and oddly quiet, so she was going to let this slide for a mistake, but now he was lingering for just a liiitle too long. "Alright...off. Get off, He--" Her words cut off abruptly with a small squeak, an odd sound coming from her. Then again...it wasn't often that she was...squished...

"Whatthefuck?!"

Anger dissipated from her face in a heartbeat, replaced with a look of mortification as, yes indeed...<I>something was being...squished. Her eyes widened, her blush darkened, her face burned, and she went absolutely rigid. Lucky for him he seemed to realize what he was doing and move his hand! Lucky for him she couldn't move her own hands--well, not unless she wanted to fall backwards and get another mouthful of water--or she would have strangled him! Sorry! Yeah right! "You did that on purpose!" she managed to get out, her voice strained with embarrassment.

And then he went and banged heads with her.

Oooh yeah, he was making just a lovely impression right now.

"Ow..." she winced, her own head now throbbing, and when Hek mentioned her name and bleeding in the same sentence, she opened her eyes and glared up at him. This was ridiculous. He was on top of her, he'd groped her, and now he'd made her blee--wait, no, the blood was coming from him, she noticed as he pressed his fingers to his forehead. She scoffed softly. Served him right. "Right, great, now get off," she told him, and this time she did shift a little so that she was balanced precariously on one elbow, so that she could free up her other hand and push it against his shoulder in an attempt to dislodge him, and at the same time she started to shift her legs, to begin to squirm free and shove him off, and to hell with the fact that, um, yeah, it probably didn't look right. Nor did it feel right, but she'd ignore that for now! If she could only stop blushing.

...This probably looked so wrong. Didn't help that she was breathing sorta heavy from exertion and hacking fits. Blargh!

What Hek said next, though, made her freeze again before she'd barely begun her fight to get loose. Nice save for Hek, too, because she would have resorted to smacking him if he didn't get the hint soon and get off her...or doing more painful things, considering where her leg was.

...Argh...of course...

"Fine! I'll hold the bloody towel. How the hell did that happen, anyway?" He probably did it on purpose. With a groan, she lifted her free hand off his shoulder and then gave a grimace. Hold the towel closed. Hold the front of the towel closed? Oh damn, if that didn't have "potential for disaster and mega embarrassment" written all over it. This was insane...

"Yeah, yeah, truce. Just...don't grope me. And if I grab something else by accident, it's an accident! Alright? Alright." She was still blushing horribly, and shivering now as well--all that running around and whatnot had gotten her kind of used to the cold, but now that she was just laying there, she could feel the cold once again--but she managed to grab onto one end of the towel with her free hand, and feel around until she had a hold on the other end. And she was rather relieved that, no, she didn't accidentally grope him...though this still looked so wrong. She purposely had her eyes averted as she clung onto the towel and shifted slightly, her left leg starting to go numb.

"Got it, now move..."

Dry clothing? Yeah. She needed some now, as well. But this was top priority right now! When they were both up and disengaged...that was when she'd worry about clothes! She shook her head slightly so the water from his hair wasn't dripping in her eyes.

Wincing slightly at the pain that was slowly covering his whole head, Hek closed his eyes for a moment than opened them quickly incase he pressed his head down and fell asleep, which would be on Beatrids breast, which wouldn’t do him any good. Holding himself up, he shook his head and kept his eyes closed, just for good measure, that and the blood was running down his face over his eye. Shit. Hek listened to Beatrid and felt her hold the towel closed. Sitting up on his knees, he followed Beatrid and then replaced her hands with his own. Smiling thanks he kept his right eye closed because of the blood running over it, before shuffling to the side of the tub and slowly and cautiously stepping out. Wiping the blood from his eye, he went to his black pants and held them against his head, trying to keep the water from keeping the blood running.

Hek walked over to the towel closed and looked over his right shoulder to make sure Beatrids back was to him before switching towels, and threw the sobbing wet one to the ground. The clean white one now around his middle, he took out another one and tossed it to Beatrid. Smiling slightly, he took another one and wiped his head with it, as if pulled by strings, the lavender fan of hair returned to its upright position. Smirking over his shoulder towards Beatrid, Hek stood there and looked around.

�I am sorry about touching your um… breast… So, should I put my old clothes back on or… wait here while you help find me other ones or… what?�

Feeling very awkward for no apparent reason, Hek looked at the sopping wet ground and looked to his clothing that should have been on the curtain rob, but were on the ground sopping wet. Sighing he picked up the clothing and wrung them out before folding them neatly and looked towards the open door, that fellow out there never did close it. Looking around at Beatrid, he smiled and than walked towards it. Hek poked his head out of the door and smiled, it faded after he saw what he was smiling at. Yikes. He wasn’t scary as in ‘Aaaah, run away he will kill usss!!� but scary in an “I eat babies and am made of stone!� way. Though Hek actually didn’t know what that way was, because he’d never come across a baby-eating statue before. Stepping out of the bathroom, he stood a bit away from Kuro and held out his hand.

�Hello, I’m Hek-Akiz… I’m new here.�

Did he even know how to shake hands? Or was he weary? Hek wasn’t hiding anything on his body; because all he had on was a towel around his waist, and even that didn’t cover much other than was had to be. Looking inside the bathroom again, Hek stood there with his hand out after his little introduction and chewed on the inside of his cheek.

This was perfect. Hek couldn’t wait to meet the rest of them. Not.

Ugh. Finally! Yones had hastily finished his report, and was practically running through the halls towards the bathing room. He'd given the report to a servant to deliver, which he'd probably get a reprimand for, it was supposed to be top secret. Not that any servant would have the guts to open it anyway... Besides, it wasn't like the report was terribly detailed anyway, Yones just needed to get it done and out of the way.

But hell, Yones needed a bath, and a long nap. This day had been terrible, so his best plan was to sleep through the rest of it. First though, a bath. He was still covered in blood and sweat, and his clothing could use a wash as well. Served him right for wearing his favourite vest into battle. Something to remember for next time.

Hopefully none of the others would be around, and he could relax in peace. Beatrid was annoyingly superior, Kuro was just a little creepy, and that new one, the purple haired farm-hand or whoever he was, was a stupid lug. Yones didin't want to have anything to do with them.

Unfortunately, all three of them were at the bathing area... Kuro, standing still and staring into the room. Hek, half nude and reaching towards Kuro... and inside was Beatrid, who appeared to have taken a bath without taking any clothes off... Did he really even want to know? Probably not.

Yones halted in his tracks, staring at the trio with a raised eyebrow in a look of disbelief. Just what exactly were they doing? Finally, he managed to find some words:

"Alright, this better not be what it looks like! Whatever the hell that is."

Yeesh...that was some cut he got. Beatrid glanced up at his face as they both awkwardly got up, and resisted the urge to shake her head and snort. Not a couple hours in and he was already injured; his first battle wound. He probably got it when he fell on her, though she couldn't remember hearing a bang or anything, but then again, she had been more focused on getting...fallen on. They'd have to get that taken care of after they got some clothes on, though it probably wasn't as bad as it looked. Head wounds just liked to bleed a lot; even a tiny cut could spurt blood when it was really nothing.

Klutz.

...He might need something for those scratches and stuff, too. And...did she bite him? She couldn't remember biting him, but maybe she had, because one mark on his chest looked like it was made by teeth.

Whoopsies! Heh heh...

She, on the other hand, came out without a scratch...well...unless you wanted to count some bruises from falling all over herself in the tub...and that she had also been fondled. Ugh. Stepping out of the tub, she started wringing out her dripping clothes and hair, glancing around at the room as she did so and not bothering to try and be neat. The room was already quite effeciently thrashed, with puddles of water all over the floor, some water even beading on the walls. Whatever maid had to clean this mess up would probably hate them. But damn, that had been fun! Even with the...squishing...and all. Er. Yeah. She'd just keep on letting that one slide until it slipped right on out of her memory. Anyway, everything else had been a blast! Including the part where she got to beat Hek up a little, but, then, she just had a sadistic streak and rather liked to fight, soo...

She looked up when a towel almost hit her in the face, and she caught it and looked at it for a second. It wouldn't really do much to help her now...she was in sopping wet clothes, and the only good that towel would do her was when she was out of them, which...would not be happening any time soon, and certainly not here. Well...she'd hold onto it until she needed it, and in the meantime, she just wrapped her hair up in it so at least that wouldn't drip all over the place. Her clothes...eh, nothing she could do about them now.

Walking across the room, she stooped to reclaim her boots--which she had previously hurled at Hek and which were about six feet apart from each other--and looked up just in time to see Hek's hair perk back up. Beatrid raised an eyebrow. He was like one of those birds...a cockatoo? Was that what they were called? Chortling quietly at the mental image, she turned her boots upside-down to shake out any remaining water as Hek spoke up, apologizing. Again? Eh...so it really had been an accident, then...either that or he was trying really hard to cover up his tracks. Except...he'd said that apology so loud! Maybe not really, but to her ears it sounded loud, what with him practically announcing out loud that he'd grabbed her breast! With the door open!

Beatrid cringed. Good job, Hek, really good job. Yet she glanced up at him briefly and mumbled something that sounded like "Don't worry about it". Bah. She could forgive him. He'd apologized like three times now, and hell, it wasn't like she was really some uber super bitch--all the time.

Plus she wanted him to stop announcing that mishap...

"No, just carry them if you still want them. If you don't want them, just leave them here and a servant or something will take care of 'em. As for you...I...uh...guess I forgot clothing, huh...?" She turned back around and shifted slightly in an attempt to keep moving and get some body heat back in her. "Um...why don't you just follow me. It'll kill two birds with one stone, and I don't know what'll fit you, anyway."

Never mind that he'd be an almost naked guy walking through the palace. Oh well. Wouldn't hurt to torture him more, and she'd already discovered that she was taking a liking to teasing him. He was just...so new! And didn't know hardly anything! Heh.

...And, fine, the doofus was pretty fun.

She paused once more to set down her boots and wring out as much more of her clothes as she could, but looked up right when she heard an all-too familiar voice. Hek had moved in that short time that she'd looked away and gone over to greet Kuro--damn!--but what got her attention even more than that was the sight of Yones, still all bloodied up, standing there with what she took as a bemused expression on his face.

Perfect timing.

Snatching up her boots and straightening, Beatrid marched out the door after Hek barefoot and shivering, though she could never pass up a chance to take a jab at Yones, of course! Smirking as she passed him, she tossed a glance over her shoulder at him. "It's exactly what it looks like, Drones, and it was a blast and we got really wet!" she told him, grinning. It would be his fault if he took it the wrong way, and then she could just accuse him of being a pervert. Because all it had been, after all, was an innocent water fight. Er. Mostly innocent.

...She almost regreted that comment when she remembered the scratches and bite mark she'd given Hek.

Oh well. She was in a much better mood than previously after that little brawl, so right now she really didn't care. Plus she was too cold to care, and just wanted to get into some dry clothes. She glanced at Hek, who was trying to make introductions with Kuro, and rolled her eyes. If her hands weren't already full, she would have grabbed him and dragged him along. Yones she could tolerate because, hey, at least they were both open about their...animosity. Kuro...well, aside from being aloof and patronizing, she just never knew what he thought about anyone else. Which irritated her. He was always playing statue. Which was also creepy, like him watching she and Hek just then...

Ugh...

"Oh well...you missed out, but I'm sure you boys can have fun in the tub together!" she added with utmost seriousness, nodding to Kuro and Yones. "Wash each other's backs. C'mon, Hek. Let's give them their privacy."

Kuro had remained at the side of the door during the entire water fight. He heard everyhing that occured and did nothing, but stand watch while the two went at it. Finally, it had stopped and Kuro was still up against the wall with his arms crossed. A lavander head poked out of the room to look at Kuro after some time. Then this new Mordecai, Hek-Akiz, stuck his hand out to offer Kuro a handshake. Kuro simply looked down at the offered hand before looking down the other end of the hallway, pulling himself away from the wall and uncrossing his arms at the same time.
Not too soon after Kuro had realized someone was coming, Yones comes trotting along, only to stop at the sight of the three by the bathing room. While Beatrid and Yones tossed words back at each other, Kuro looked to the bloodied hole in the left shoulder of his outfit. For once, he's actually thinking about something other than what's currently happening. His attention was brought back to reality when Beatrid addressed, both himself anf Yones. Oh yes, Kuro would like nothing more than to wash Yones' back with his blades. That would be most fitting for the situation. Unfortunately, other thoughts overran that idea.
"Sounds like Yones' rumor is true. Only a matter of time before it reaches the Matron." Kuro finally speaks up, with an actual tone in his voice that isn't emotionless. That's a different turn.
"I would have joined you two in your romp, but I'm not sure my blades would have mixed well with your water." Kuro finishes as he begins to walk off in the opposite direction of which Beatrid and Hek are moving in. Was that a joke from the ex-assassin? Something was completely different with Kuro. Beatrid and Yones would be able to notice the change easily.

Well, the Connlaoth hospitality rate was dropping and its occupants were even worse here, Hek may have been a farm boy, but he'd seen better manners on a cow he was milking than this baby-eating statue. Since he hadn't been here all that long, Hek noticed no change, so he rolled his eyes towards Kuro and his bad manners before going back into the bathroom and getting his folded up clothes. The sound of Beatrid made him lift his head and he walked back out of the room, his folded up clothing in one hand and his boots in the other. Looking down at his chest, he remembered the nail cuts and the bite mark. If he was in the mood, he'd have grinned at both of the males before grabbing Beatrids hand and walking off with her. When Beatrid said her little blurb about them and it being really wet, Hek blinked owlishly at her. Did she just say that? She managed to spit something out before him? really? Hek pressed the heel of his hand to his forehead and pulled it away, ah, no more fresh blood. Wonderful. Hek looked towards kuro when he said something about rumours. What rumours?

"...Wow, I've been here for only two hours and already we have romours!"

Matron? If Hek said he knew what the was, he'd be a liar.

"Whats the big deal about The Matron knowing? I don't really think its much of their business when people go at it like bunnies... " Hek looked towards Beatrid. "Is everything public knowledge here, or am I used to people minding their own business..."

Hek gave a pointed look towards Kuro for this, because by all rights he shouldn't even be here if he minded his won business. The Romp comment made him look oddly at Kuro, the lavender eyebrow raised and he pressed the knot on the towel closer to his body. Was this guy gay? Did he know that Hek had been undressed for the most part? Hek-Akiz put his folded clothing on the arm that held his boots and he hooked his arm around Beatrids and looked at her. Since Hek was more or less dried off, he was only cold because he was naked, but Beatrid was wearing soaking wet clothes, and they were cold because of the freezing water... That they had forgotten to let out of the tub. Oops!

Once Hek hooked his arm around Beatrids cold one, and watched for a second while Kuro walked off before he rememberd how he was so rudly shrugged off. The "blades in water" thing made Hek raise his eyebrow again, this guy said some questionable stuff, Hek pressed two fingers to his lips and let out a shrill whistle to get Kuros attention, because he didn't really know the fellows name since he was ignored. The jerk.

"Yo! Ninja... guy... That was a handshake, its a greeting and before you dissapear... You weren't invited into our little 'romp', so keep your blades where they're useful.. Your vanity table..." Hek began to walk again, dragging Beatrid, since the mismatched eyed fellow didn't really like bad manners, he counteracted them with bad manners. Turning to 'Drones" Hek smield slightly. "Sorry about the mess, we'll tell the maids you didn't do it so you don't get chewed out. Common Beatrid, you're freezin'."

So, off he went on his marry way dragging Beatrid, whom he let go once their turned a hall.

"Okay, I'm lost, lead the way."

Waving his hand in the general direction, which was in front him, Hek-Akiz looked down at his chest, or tried too, and poked the bite mark. It looked Kinky. As did the scatch marks, poor Beatrid, been around the new guy for nearly an hour and already they'd probably done everything under the sun... Wow, they were fast.


((OOC: Posting from school because I had too! Yaay!  excuse the spelling errors >_> ))

...exactly what it looked like? ...going at it like bunnies? Had they actually...

Yones stood in utter confusion, staring at Hek and Beatrid. The rumour had just been in spite, but had they actually been up to "something" in there? Yones didn't think it likely that Beatrid would so easily fall for some backwater fool of a Mordecai, but you never knew.

But then why would Kuro be here? Was he... watching? Giving advice? Taking part... Yones quickly wiped the mental image from his head. Kuro must have just arrived. Given his comments it seemed he hadn't actually been in the room when the... activities were taking place. He was acting a little odd, for Kuro anyway, but everything seemed to be going wrong today. At this rate, Kuro would decide to take Beatrid's suggestion and wash his back.

“The only time I'm going near Kuro's back is when I stab it!� Dammit, why couldn't they just leave him alone? Why was everyone so abnormal?

And then... “the mess?� Did they...?

Maybe he would take a bath later.

“Listen. You just keep... whatever sick thing you've been doing to yourselves. No need to be announcing it in the halls. Just... just stay away from me!�

((Small, didn't you have a post here?))

[I did! But then I thought I was getting a bit ahead of myself and  better ask ya before I posted to give you a chance to respond, so I got rid of it, heh. ^_~ Didn't have to alter much. Whoaz. XD]

Beatrid grinned maliciously. She knew it! She knew he'd take it the wrong way! Both of them! And stay away from him? NO</I> problem! The dirty minded little bast--hold a second.

Yones?

Rumor?

Yones' rumor?

What rumor?!

That stopped Beatrid in her tracks, a stoic, blank look replacing her amused one as she tried to piece together what had been said and why it sounded so familiar. Oh! Rumor! She remembered Kuro saying something about that a while ago--a rumor about she and the new Mordecai--but she'd stored the news away because she'd had other things to deal with first...and then she'd forgotten about it. Well, now it had been brought right back to the front of her mind, and the way Kuro said it, it was rather...suggestive. Never mind that her own previous comment had been suggestive just to mess with the guys, and so that it might give her an excuse to punch them later if they fell into her "trap" and took it the wrong way, but that was just how she was. She didn't really think they took her comments seriously. She just liked harassing them as much as they liked harassing her. Or...Yones at least. Kuro never seemed to care, but that never stopped her.

"Wait, what?" She blinked once, then suddenly her attention snapped over to Yones. Matron? Knowing?

...Oh God.

"It better be a rumor about a fucking water fight, Drones!" she snapped, stiffening and straightening. Dear Gods. While she doubted her fellow Mordecai would really take one of her innuendos seriously--really, it wasn't like she'd had any relationships since coming here, so what reason or evidence would they have? She didn’t really care what they thought, anyway--but the servants...they would buy it! And the Matron! She probably would, too! Because it wasn't like she was well acquainted with the Matron at all; she saw her once in a blue moon. She didn't really know what she would think about a rumor, if it was the type of rumor she was thinking about; she probably wouldn't care...she didn't think. But still! The Matron? The whole bloody palace? While she didn’t give two shits what her fellow asshole Mordecai thought, she <I>did</I> care what the higher-ups thought! Like the Matron.

Her glare soon turned on Hek at his...bunny comment. "And that better have been a reference to happy water-fighting bunnies! Because that's all we did! Had a water fight! Drones! What the fuck did you start?" She tried to keep up the tough facade, but by the time she'd gotten back to Yones, she was irritated to find that her voice came out more worried and less angry than what she'd been going for.

Now she really, really, really was regretting her little comment. And that she'd scratched and bitten Hek. Oh shit. This was just...really bad timing on everyone's part...and now she just felt stupid because if this rumor was what she thought it was...she'd only helped it! ARGH!

She was holding her boots in one hand and massaging her temples with the other, trying so hard to resist the urge to just go over there and hurt Yones. Really bad. Or try to. But then if she did, he'd probably figure out some way to twist it so it came out looking scandalous, so for now, she refrained. Shit...

Still fuming, she let herself be dragged away from the scene by Hek, too embarrassed and pissed to really comprehend that she was being lead away. And then people wondered why she was bitchy all the time! Because she had to put up with them! And a rumor. Spread by the maids. She remembered what Kuro had said. Maids. Not good. It would be all over. That bastard! She'd never had a rumor spread about her before. How the hell did you get it to stop? She hadn't even seen any evidence of it yet, maybe they were both just being evil and trying to freak her out, and if so...it was working! Just the idea...her and Hek...ARGH! She didn't even know what it was truly about, but from what everyone was hinting at...she could assume! ARGH again!

Normally, she would have laughed at Hek's comment about Kuro and a vanity table--come on, that was just a great visual right there! She probably would have jabbed Hek, too, for being nice to Yones after that, as well. But now she was in her own world, eyeing each servant they passed by suspiciously. That one! Did she just give her a funny look? No, no...don't be paranoid. She was probably just imagining things. Ack! Those two were giggling! And looking at them! And...and...once she was dry, she swore she was going to corner one and interrogate them.

She folded her arms across her chest once she'd been released, shivering from the cold. But she hardly noticed it, because she had murder on the mind. Not literally, of course, but she simply was not someone who let things go unpunished. That bastard...

"What?" she snapped when Hek spoke up, not really meaning to snap at him, but she was just right back in a bad mood again and he happened to just be there. Sighing, she shook her head and amended her words. "Ah...right. This way..." she said, and turned down a corridor to lead to one of the storage rooms. "Goddammit. I swear I'm gonna kill him...that bastard..." She almost kicked the door in frustration, then decided that would be a stupid thing to do with bare feet.

Instead, she just yanked it open and pushed Hek in while, of course, giving him orders. If a bit distractedly. "Grab something that looks like it'll fit. We'll change back at the rooms. Did you get a room yet? If not, you can use mine to change. Separately. Just don't touch my crap. And how do you get a rumor to stop? I dunno about you, but I <I>seriously don't want the ruler of our bloody country thinking I'm screwing you. No offense. Damn him..."

Yeah...she still didn't know what the rumor was about. Just an assumption. But already it was driving her insane. She probably shouldn't care so much. But...she did.

"You there." The voice of the ninjaesque Mordecai calls down a barren hallway towards a lone maid, scampering down it. His call caught her off guard and even startled her. The woman slowly turns around to show signs of being greatly intimidated by the sight of Kuro Kiraa. A lot of the maids feared him simply by hearing about what he is capable of, what he has done within the kingdom. Hardly any mages were turned in alive by him. When they were, they died of shock the next day in their cell. The maid that Kuro is confronting just so happens to be the one Yones confronted a while ago.
"How much word have you spread about Lady Beatrid's privacy?" Kuro asks, keeping what appears to be a glare on the poor woman. She backs up against the wall and slowly spits it out.
"N-none yet, s-sir. I have yet to reach the maid's quarters to pass word to the others. I was finishing my errands." The woman was very jittery about everything right now and she had all the reason to be. It's hard to look an ex-assassin straight in the eye and keep a straight face.
"Good. Let's keep it that way. The only privacy Lady Beatrid will need is when she has her well deserving rest after a long day. Nothing more." Kuro finishes, keeping his eyes on the maid. She simply nods her head without any words and dashes off for the maid's quarters to get away from Kuro. The ninja begins to walk back in the same direction he came from.

Oops. He just made eveything worse, and she still didn't answer him when he asked about everything that even happens here being public knowledge. Wincing slightly when Beatrid snapped at him, he closed his left eye and looked at her from the side, holding his clothes to his body while edging away from her. Was it that time of the month or did rumours really scare her that much? She was a legendary Mordecrab! Little things like rumours shouldn't scare her, what should Beatrid care if someone told a rumour about her? Obviously not many people would believe it if it just came out of no where. Maybe she was just over reacting..?

Before Hek knew it, he was getting pushed into a room and told to find something that fits. Of course the words after that wounded his pride more than he would ever let on, but he felt his high spirits drop since appearntly Beatrid didn't like him all that much. Hek-Akiz began looking for something that would fit him, hmph, uniforms. Hek scrunched his nose up and looked at the green and brass coloured things, they'd clash with his hair and make him stand out even more than before. Joy.  Hek, of course, thought it was a little odd that the words from 'Drones's mouth hadn't hurt him, nor had getting shrugged off by the Baby-Eating Statue, but Beatrids words made him want to go crawl into hole and sleep for a week. She said no offence, means she... Only slightly meant it. Bah! Women. At this point, Hek had made his 'ks' sound twice.

Grumbling, he yanked a uniform from the room and went out the door, Hmph, Beatrid must have gone back to her room to get changed. Ah well, he'd ask a maid for help. Even if they thought 'Beatrid was screwing Hek' they would still be helpful in helping him find a place to change, because he'd forgotten where Beatrids room was... Well, he remembered, he'd just forgotten how to find it. Ah, over there! One was dusting something, wonderful. He recognised her as the one  that was suppposed to show him his room, and he grinned, twice as good. Now, clad only in a towel and smelling like nothing in particular, he waved his hand towards her and she came over. A maid who was later on in her years gapped at him and grabbed his arm and began to drag him towards the room she'd been leading him until he'd wandered off and she'd given up on looking like him.

"There you are, now come along... I see you've had a bath, good boy, though you smelt like the forest before... I miss the forest."

On and on the Maid went until she opened the door to his room, which looking like a smaller version of Beatrids, and less girly, which was probably a good thing. The maid gave Hek a pat on the cheek, and he watched her owlishly for a moment before he heard the door click closed. Going to lock it before he got completely naked, once the lock was pulled, he dropped the towel and changed into the uniform, which he thought to be rather itchy. Rubbing his arm and doing up the buttons, he folded the towel and placed it beside his folded clothes. Opening the door and poking his head out, Hek looked around before he put his boots on and began looking for Beatrids room, going to the 'starting' point before he began to look. Hek found himself in the same hall as his room and he was about to slap himself in the forehead before he saw her door. Giving a tryumphant 'ah hah!' Hek walked over to it and knocked.

"Hellooo-ooo, Bumblebee? Are ya done yet?"

Pressing his ear to the door, Hek waited for the grouchy female.

((OOC: sorry about the slight powerplaying Rhi. ^_^;;  but yay! hek has a room! And yay! i posted! And.. ignore the spelling errors... <_<

[No worries, you know I don't mind! XP]

Beatrid probably was over-reacting. In fact, she had a feeling she was. But she couldn't help it! Gah! She hardly ever freaked out about battle, and here she was freaking out because of some stupid rumor. It was stupid. Really stupid. And she knew that she shouldn't let him get to her, but...but...erg. She didn't even know why it bothered her so much. It just bloody did, dammit!

Pushing open the door to her room, she tossed her wet boots into one corner moodily--she loved those particular boots...they were comfy and all broken in, so hopefully they'd dry and not be wrecked too much--and quickly picked out some dry clothes. She didn't have to wear a uniform, after all; she was off-duty right now, and besides, the only time a Mordecai really had to wear one was when they were on a mission with other soldiers, just for the purposes of blending in and whatnot. They had a good deal more freedom than normal soldiers and the like, though honestly, Beatrid had grown rather fond of uniforms. She could blend in more when she wore one and they hid her figure. And she didn't run the risk of messing up her good clothes with blood and stuff, not that she couldn't have gotten more made or buy more, she just found clothes shopping a pain.

Making good and certain that her door was locked this time, she peeled off her wet clothes and tossed those to the floor, a bit rougher than what was needed, then took her hair down from its towel and used the towel to dry off hastily, even though it was damp. Then came the fresh, dry clothes, which felt like heaven against her cold skin--just a pair of worn brown breeches with a belt and a long-sleeved shirt, which she made sure was a dark blue and definitely not white...no way she'd be wearing white after learning about Hek and his thing for water fights. New, dry boots completed it, and then she moved on to fix her hair...which was falling out of its braid and would, once it dried, start to poof out horribly.

Pain in the ass stuff...one day she'd hack it all off.

She had just finished brushing it out and was working on weaving it back into a tight braid when a knock on the door made her jump, and Hek's voice soon followed. Ahaha...so...he'd obviously found his way. Oops. She hadn't really meant to ditch him like that...she was just...distracted and pissed. At Yones. Poor Hek just happened to be around her which meant he was getting the brunt of it all, though she wasn't really mad at him, nor did she even dislike him. Stupid Drones. Stupid damned rumor.

Stupid...Bumblebee. God...

She needed to get out of this damned bloody palace before she went crazy.

"Not yet! Hold a sec, will ya?" she shouted, and hurried along the whole braiding process. Men. Always so bloody impatient. Fastening the leather tie at the end of the braid, she stood and strode over to the door. Unlatching the lock, she swung the door open abruptly and was suprised to find Hek there...with his ear pressed to the door. Rolling her eyes, she walked past him and whacked him half-heartedly on the side of the head as she went. She'd had a bit of much-needed alone time, and while she was still royally pissed off and plotting revenge on Yones, she was considerably calmer now. Fantasizing all sorts of different kinds of harm on that bastard helped a lot, too. "What are you doing? Trying to peep or something? Lech..." She turned to shut her door, then finally looked at him fully.

All dressed up in that uniform, he didn't look like a country bumpkin at all.

He still looked like a cockatoo, though.

And he still had a big ol' gash on his forehead. Even though it had stopped bleeding. "Hey...how's your head? Good to see you found your way back, too. I didn't mean to, uh, ditch you like that." Shifting a little, she thrust her hands into the pockets of her breeches. Typical Beatrid apology right there.

Beatrid was quick to change the subject. "Anyway, I dunno about you, but I need to get out of here before I maim something," she said, glancing up at him. "You haven't been to the village yet, have you? Do you even have any clothes? Ah, whatever. I'm getting out of here, so if you wanna come, feel free. Unless you prefer to hang out with Drones and Sunshine..."

Kuro was never one to wear a uniform or some formal outfit. In fact, he's never been seen in anything aside from his ninja garb. He's also never seen at the balls and banquets within the palace. He was usually always out and about in the city away from the castle. Always keeping watch. For the current time, the dark and gloomy ninja of a Mordecai could distinctively be seen near the front gate to the palace. He seems to be keeping watch, not like he has anything better to do. He'll probably move on to the village to hunt out any source of magic and dispatch of it. Yeah, that sounds good. Kill time by killing something. Once he gets tired of watching the front gate.

Rolling his eyes slightly, Hek smiled slightly and nearly fell into the room. Oh, oops! Running a hand though his lavender fan of hair before feeling a hand connect with his cheek, it didn’t hurt but he made his ‘ks’ sound for show and stood there and looked sulky for a moment . Looking down at his boots as he scuffed them on the ground, Hek quickly stopping incase he made a mark or something on the pretty clean floor, which would make the maids more angry and add ‘orgy’ into the rumour about him and Beatrid. Ew, that would be messy and to crowded for him, ah well, he’d get more looks which would mean he’d have to suck up more to the maids. Already he’d found a substitute for his mother and he was as happy as a clam.

Drones â€"and- sunshine? Assuming Sunshine was the Baby-Eating Statue. Hmm, them, getting maimed, or follow Beatrid to the village? The Village sounded great! What a great idea! And he didn’t have anything, not even pictures, he’d come here without notice and he hadn’t even been able to tell anyone. He thought he was being pretty calm about it, flopping into ‘routine’ like he’d gotten here a while ago and just forgot where the hell everything is.

�Going to do the village is good… I’ve never been to Connlaoth before.�

He smiled slightly and walked in the direction in which he thought the front door to be.

They were finally gone. Beatrid and Hek had gone to get changed, and Kuro had disappeared to god's knew where. Time for that bath.

Yones cautiously entered the bathing room, taking care not to step into any of the numerous puddles remaining on the floor. Now that he had calmed down a bit he was fairly sure that Beatrid was messing with him. She could be like that. The fact that Hek had confirmed the rumour didn't necessarily mean anything, he obviously wasn't too bright.

Still keeping an eye out for any "messes" he approached the tub. It was still about half full of freezing water, and there was blood along one side of it. Probably Hek's, he did have a nasty cut on his forehead.

Yones decided he'd get a servant to clean up in here before he took his bath. He really didn't want to be staring at blood while he bathed. He could use one of the other tubs, but he would still know that it was there.

He crossed his arms. Decidedly not a good day. Worst of all was the fact that Beatrid had the knew recruit thinking his name was "Drones" or some nonsense, and it seemed like the name would stick. She certainly deserved all the trouble his little rumour would cause her, whether it was true or not.

First things first though, Yones wanted a hot bath. Stepping back into the hallway, he called over a maid.

"You! Get this room cleaned up as soon as possible. Oh, and bring me a spare uniform to change into."

"...Not from Connlaoth? Really...?" Beatrid asked, blinking. A Mordecai from outside of Connlaoth? Really? She'd never heard of that before, but...it was certainly not an impossibility, not by any means! After all...people from Connlaoth did leave to live elsewhere, though she personally couldn't really imagine why; mages bred like...bunnies, to use Hek's phrasing...outside of Connlaoth. Though she knew some people also left to do their part to help the outside world.

"Ah well, whatever. Let's go." Time to escape from this lovely, lovely...place. And quick, before any of those sunny bastards stalked them or something. Kuro was definitely the most stalkerish, but Drones...you never knew. He had anger issues.

Cough...and she didn't. Ahem.

Leading the way out of the palace, she could feel her shoulders tighten and hunch up as, of course, the first person she saw was--wait for it--Kuro. Of bloody course. How the hell did he always somehow manage to be right where she was or where she was going?! Good Gods. She felt her hand tighten into a fist within the pocket of her breeches, fingers flexing--and encountering a bit of pocket lint, too!--but she didn't do anything more than glance at him, snort, and walk right on past with her head high. If at a moderately quicker pace, because she wanted to lose herself in some crowd with Hek before he could stalk them or something.

...And just to make sure she didn't lose Hek in the process, she snatched him by the wrist with her free hand.

It was just a given that wherever she was...he'd be there. And it drove her up a wall.

[Whoo, now for Reajh!]

Kuro's attention was caught by the feeling of two fellow Mordecai approaching from the Palace. He didn't turn to see who it was, because he had a general idea of who it was. Beatrid's Mordecai presence is quite familiar to him, so that one's a given. The other is a bit faint with the Mordecai ability, one that still has much to develop. More than likely, that presence is the new guy. No matter. Kuro never made himself known by saying anything. He watch the two pass by and head for the village. It was then that he decided to speak up.
"You need not worry much about the rumor, Beatrid. I believe I may have killed such rumors before they could be spread. Though, I couldn't really trust the maids with how skittish they always are. Simply saying there's a chance not to worry." If Beatrid or Hek decided to turn around to face the Ninja Mordecai, he would be gone without a trace. Something to usually expect of him.