Peace and quiet...about damned time.

[Rhindeer]

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.]

[Anonymous]

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.

[Rhindeer]

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...

[Anonymous]

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))

[Rhindeer]

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.

[Anonymous]

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))

[Rhindeer]

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...

[Anonymous]

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.))

[Anonymous]

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))

[Rhindeer]

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.

[Anonymous]

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.

[Anonymous]

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.�

[Rhindeer]

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.

[Anonymous]

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...

"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?

[Anonymous]

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.

[Anonymous]

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."

[Anonymous]

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.

[Rhindeer]

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.

[Anonymous]

"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.

[Anonymous]

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?