The skin trade. [Lion-O!] [M]

Rhindeer · September 18, 2016, 01:26:47 AM

"No, I wasn't an urchin!" Aysel said with a huff. "I have a home! And a job! Now, I'm not rich or anything, that's true, but I'm not homeless and living on the street. I live with my folks, but I'm no loafer. I earn my keep."

She gave a little shrug. "There's not too much to tell. I'm a street artist. I paint peoples' portraits, mostly. Sometimes make pretty, magically enchanted art. Just little parlor tricks, really, though I'm trying to teach myself more exciting stuff! My life was pretty normal and average until, you know, the whole kidnapping bit."

A sudden though struck her, one she hadn't allowed herself to entertain before, and she grimaced. Her parents. Gods, how long had it been now? They had to be worried sick...and she still didn't really want to think about that, the thought making her stomach twist.

She rubbed the back of her neck, smooshing a mosquito in the process, and made a face before wiping the dead thing off onto Quinlan's sleeve.

"What about you? You know, aside from the whole soul selling thing."

Lion · September 18, 2016, 10:55:41 PM

It was an unconscious motion of his arm, to sweep it around her shoulders and hook in against him. Quinlan gave a huff and trudged on. As long as they were getting to know one another, he saw no point in using Aysel as a walking stick. She ought to make herself use more often.

"Hrm, what's to tell?" he asked, trying to shrug it off. He grinned, trying not to think about it, trying not to focus on the life he'd left behind.

"I was born, I grew up, I made mistakes, and I'm here now. Besides, I'm not all that interesting. You know, minks. Those are interesting. Those little suckers are fierce."

Rhindeer · September 19, 2016, 11:40:50 AM

"'Not all that interesting'? You singlehandedly saved like...all of us! Killed a guy without being anywhere near him! Took down a buncha dirty slavers. Defeated a gods be damned literal monster! I don't know what you think minks got to do with anything, but I'd say you're as fierce as one. I guess. Never really seen a mink alive."

Since he had her tucked in all close to him, she saw no reason why she couldn't reciprocate. She slipped an arm around his waist as they continued along, happy to soak up his body heat.

"So what was with that girl? The one you came to save?" she asked, not at all taking his hint. "Was she someone you knew?"

Lion · September 19, 2016, 01:19:38 PM

He could tell when he was being overly flattered. And it only reminded him of how exhausted he was. There was a moment he smiled, remembering he still had to get paid for his job, hoping the slave he freed survived somehow. He was paid to get her back, but the guy didn't give him compensation for getting captured. That was going to cost him extra.

"Nah, I didn't know her. Just got a name, a description and was paid to find her. She was someone's property but not Gwen's. I guess one of her guys nabbed her up. Probably didn't care she wasn't for sale, and just thought to make an easy coin. I hope she got away. It was all blurry when I fell."

He looked at the scabs on his palms. "It's always blurry when I fall."

Rhindeer · September 22, 2016, 08:27:11 PM

That took Aysel aback.

She had expected that they knew each other or something, not that...not that she was owned by someone else.

Not that he was paid to retrieve her.

Someone's property...

Her voice was quiet, barely above a whisper, when she asked, "Would you...have returned her to her master?"

Lion · September 22, 2016, 10:35:57 PM

"Oh, yeah, probably. I mean people don't tend to hire other people that do things half-assed. It's hard enough to find decent paying work as it is, without breaking my back doing some farming or labor. Honest work...is for honest people," he admitted.

"It was the job I was paid to do, that's all. But she got away. Don't know where she is now. I hope she's okay though, wherever she is." He shrugged.

"Why? Is that a dealbreaker?" Would she finally go away?

Rhindeer · October 16, 2016, 10:30:24 PM

"I...um..." Aysel looked at him in the darkness, words fading off. That was not the answer she had been expecting--or the answer she had been wanting. He hadn't been trying to rescue the girl.

Letting out a held breath, she slipped out from under his arm, crossing her arms over her chest. He would have returned the girl to a life of being a slave, without a care as to who her master was? Just because he had been paid to do the job? Really? Just because he was too lazy to do honest work?

She looked away from him, stunned, not quite knowing how to react to that and trying to digest his words. In retrospect, she knew she shouldn't be shocked, though. He had dealt with a demon, hadn't he? He played with blood magic. And yet...

"I...I guess I thought you were a hero..." she said quietly.

Lion · October 16, 2016, 11:14:09 PM

Her disappointment was not lost on him, but he wasn't going to try and play it off. There wasn't anything to gain in lying to this girl. But he told her the truthc, perhaps it wasn't what she wanted to hear, that was the case in most things. He shrugged, slapping his hands against his thighs, and soon poising them on his hips.

"I never said I was a hero," Quinlan pointed out. "I'm just trying to survive. Just like everyone else in life, y'know. You can't condemn me for that. But I'm still alive - shockingly - and so are you, Aysel. The other slaves, they're free I guess. The ones that lived anyway."

He didn't know what else to tell her. Damn if he didn't need something harder than a beer now.

"So what are you mulling over? That I'm some big baddie that can't be trusted? I won't question whatever you decide, paintbrush. It's up to you, but really what you should be thinking about is whether or not you want to stand here alone or walk with me to someplace in a Not-Forest."

Rhindeer · December 21, 2016, 12:13:21 PM

Would he...sell her out, too, if he had the chance and the right price? Maybe she was more naive than she thought; it was true she'd never been more than a mile from her home. But she had kind of thought...kind of thought that she'd made a friend. They'd been captured together. Killed a chimera together. He'd saved her. He'd licked her blood!

But now she'd just learned that her hero wasn't a hero after all, but the sort that would exploit people for a pretty coin. Just like the slavers. She knew she shouldn't be that upset about it--they hardly knew each other, after all, and had met under dire circumstances--but for some reason, right now, it felt crushing. She was tired and lonely and scared and stressed and had no idea how to get back home, and now her idol, and the only hope she had of getting somewhere safe, might be just as scummy as the others. Maybe he would sell her off, too, provided the opportunity.

Her eyes burned, but she blinked back the tears and looked away, out at the forest, and hoped the darkness would hide it. Crying was childish. "I'll go with you," she said quietly.

Lion · December 22, 2016, 11:46:01 PM

There wasn't any saying in what would happen in the days to come. Quinlan never thought that far ahead after a job was done. For now he just wanted to wind down, collect himself and then figure out just what he was going to do with himself before he came and suffered another set of needles in his veins. Quinlan couldn't blame her, and he wouldn't.

That much he could promise. She was free to run off if she wanted, but for now, she was either an asset or dead weight.

He sighed and started walking. Almost unconsciously he put his arm around her shoulders and squeezed her in, perhaps apologetically and used it to allow her to keep pace with him. "You had a beer before, Aysel? Of do you prefer the harder stuff?"

Rhindeer · December 23, 2016, 02:21:25 PM

"Beer?" That snapped Aysel out of her miserable thoughts, and she quickly dashed her tears away before she gave him an incredulous look.

"No, of course not. I've only ever had cider. Beer is not for ladies."

Lion · December 23, 2016, 09:41:30 PM

"WHAT!?". Quinlan looked to her incredulously. "The only women I've ever had beer with have been nothing but ladies.". He nudged her back and brushed back a stray tear. "You should give it a try. Unless you're chicken."

Rhindeer · December 24, 2016, 02:54:04 PM

"Me? Chicken?! I was kidnapped and just fought a bloody monster! I'm hardly chicken!" Aysel boasted, puffing out her chest. "Call me chicken..."

She scoffed at the idea, unconsciously brushing her cheek where he had touched.

Lion · December 25, 2016, 01:41:25 AM

"No need to get your feathers all ruffled, mother hen," Quinlan continued to tease. He chuckled and kept on quietly while they walked between the trees and assessed their surroundings. He wasn't much for forests, but he could survive a few days if he had to. He did it before.

" So would you call yourself a city urchin, or a woodland nymph?"

Rhindeer · December 27, 2016, 09:16:02 AM

Aysel may have been upset and confused by him, and she SHOULD have minded the arm around her, but that didn't stop her from pressing in close to him for warmth. It was cold out, and the slavers hadn't exactly been concerned with properly clothing them all.

"Ummm...human?" she said, then snorted. "No, I'm a city urchin. Completely. I, uh...I've never been this deep in a wood before..."

And it showed. Now that they no longer had any immediate danger to deal with, the forest sounds and shadows were beginning to play on her imagination. An owl hooted somewhere above, and Aysel jumped and scooted even closer.

"I reeeally miss the city."

Lion · December 27, 2016, 11:22:35 AM

"Yeah, me too," he admitted. "I ain't got time for no lions, tigers or bears. I need a beer, some good food and maybe something to keep me warm at night.". He smirked at her and gave her a wink. "There's bound to be some kind of civilization around here."

One that would only be found if they kept walking. As they did so, the trees seemed somehow less gnarled, and black. They were grey but had smolderings of life to them. The sun would be up soon, but I'm the meantime they still had the dark to deal with.

"So tell me about yourself Aysel. Anything really important I should know about?". Quinlan pulled the collar of his jacket up over his neck. "Because you look like a dangerous gal."

Rhindeer · January 03, 2017, 06:51:27 AM

Something to keep him warm at--oh. Aysel felt her cheeks heat and she shot him a scowl. How on earth could he be thinking about that at a time like this? Her every thought was on not getting eaten! And then on passing out for a long, long time snuggled in some blankets.

Hmph, men.

"Dangerous? Me?" Aysel blinked up at him and scoffed. "I'm no criminal, if that's what you mean. But yeah, I'm dangerous! So you better watch out, mister, if you ever get any thoughts about delivering me off to someone like that girl. I've got a very creative mind."

She gave a firm nod at that. "Seriously, though, I do. That's how I made you that shield."

Lion · January 03, 2017, 09:49:27 AM

So that's what she was getting salty about. The point was made clear by her threat. Even if he wasn't really buying it on a mentally global scale. Quinlan glanced down to Aysel. "So that's what you were all being weird about. That I'm gonna just sell you off?".

He didn't dare respond to that. Not yet, as he wasn't sure whether he actually would or not. They weren't even out of the woods just yet. In retrospect it may have been better to just keep his mouth shut. It was too late now wasn't it.

"You've made a point of showing your displeasure. I never said I was a knight in shining jacket. I guess I'm just prone to disappointment." Quinlan walked on in silence and as they travelled there was the faint glowing of light in the distance between the trees. He paused and pointed forward. "Looks like a farmhouse up ahead. What d'ya think?"

Rhindeer · January 04, 2017, 10:53:11 AM

Uhhh, yes! That was precisely what she was being weird about! That was kind of a big and legitimate thing to be weird about! With another scowl, she opened her mouth to tell him precisely that, but he distracted her with something else first--actual good news!

Aysel shut her trap and squinted off into the darkness--then grabbed his arm hard when she too saw the light, a rush of relief and excitement arcing through her. "What do I think? Wat do I think? I think we go there!" she said, and tightened her grip on him as she started to march that way, without a thought to the potential risks. Like, you know, that it was a random farmhouse in the middle of nowhere, where no one could hear you scream--

...She paused and looked up at Quinlan.

"Wait. You think it's safe?"

Lion · January 05, 2017, 04:46:28 PM

"That remains to be seen,"Quinlan muttered. "Truthfully I think it's better than wandering the forest for another few hours only to be spooning off in a ditch somewhere. So I'm willing to take my chances. It's our best and only shot. So what d'ya say we take it, huh? Of course, it could be some witch waiting to throw us in a pot the first chance we get, but then again it could not be."

Quinlan pat Aysel along the side of her head and was the first to step from the edge of the brush. Venturing forward and onward. The quiet was very troubling, and yet Quinlan pressed onward. There was the cawing of a crow nearby and he jumped. "For fuck's sake," he whispered under his breath. Could it be anymore storybook? More than that, he didn't trust crows as far as he could throw him.

Oh yeah there was definitely a witch here.