Slight of Hand

[Winters-Feather]

OOC: sorry for this being short, but i gotta wake up in the morning ><
IC:

Exhausted and still cautious about the men who were hunting for them, Jazbel more or less tuned Ellarrah out of his head as he took the time to think. He wasn't actually keeping a room in the inn they had caused a fight in. No, his was  a couple of streets down, in a medium sized inn, mainly foor families. It wasn't too far of a journey; he could take Ellarrah there. The man glanced over towards the woman. She was several inches shorter than he, but he figured she would be able to fill out his clothes, especially the womanly ones.

She snapped him back into attention as she clenched his arm.
"Ouch," he muttered, examining her hair. He couldn't find anything.
Jazbel gave a dry grin at her comment about buckets of ale.
"Aye, we can treat ourselves soon," he agreed. "I've a room not too far from here, if you'd care to join me. I've some clothes that you might find suitable, as well, I think. "
In any case, she wasn't in any condition to walk there. The man frowned at the blood on the ground.
"Allow me..."
The man bent over to carry the woman, this time sweeping an arm underneath her legs with another supporting her back.
Like a knight with his lady love, he thought with a cheeky grin as he began to make his way out of the building.
Jazbel was pleased he was still capable of doing this.

[visualspice]

"Unfortunately I don't got any money for an Inn or ale," she griped and before she knew it,s he was swept into his arms.
"Hey now, watch what your hands are fondling now," she remarked, noticing his cheeky grin.  "And don't be enjoyin' this much. If my feet were bleedin' an' on fire, I'd be-" then she noticed the cloak starting to work it's way open as she gasped and clenched it shut with a fist. "Oh, piss on me, Ansgar," she grumbled.  "At least oneof us looks happy,"s he quipped at the man's grin again and sighed.

"Some clothes would be nice, but are you sure your type of clothes would fit on me?" She peered up at him questionably. "I mean, look at this, cloak-" though if he looked she growled and would push his face away. "Don't look too close at this cloak, you pervert," she she, blushing and clutching the cloak even tighter. "This cloak seems a bit, big, doesn't it? Though, it sure beats rompin' around in a towel," she siad, and smiled silently at the thought. "THough it was kind of ridiculous." SHe sighed, irritably. "Men!" If a man didn't want a piece of her ass, and throat she wouldn't be in this predicament to begin with.

"So that inn room of yours got a bath tub or something?" She peered up at him again. "I woulda been cleaned had someone not shoved me in a cellar with him." She stuck her chin out slightly, expecting an answer.


OOC: Short posts happen :P no worry, and so does bed time, ha, ha. Me? I'm still awake, trying to get my house clean >.> the endless struggle!

[Winters-Feather]

Jazbel did look, but he wasn't surprised to find his face roughly shoved away. He figured.
The nodded at Ellarrah's question about the clothes. Yes, he was more or less certain. The man took in a deep breath as he readjusted her weight in his arms. The lad was a lively and fiesty one, that was for sure.
And maybe this is taking a bigger toll on me than I had thought, he mused as he broke into a sweat.
"Be glad it's too big and not too small," he pointed out.

"Be glad you're covered in dirt and not in your own blood and guts," he said, rolling his eyes about her complaint about cleanilness. And again with the whining! Jazbel could only take so much. Didn't she know how to say "thank you?" Her tongue was a clever beast, but an awfully vain one.
Women, he grumbled in his mind.

---

A lantern hung in front of the inn, as if protecting the building with its light. Jazbel was eager to go inside. The rain fell cold and hard, and the inside felt warm. From outside, Jazbel could hear a merry tune being played, and people laughing and talking. Jazbel calmly opened the door and quietly walked through the hall, making as little as a scene as possible. Of course, people stared, now and then, but the man ignored them. There was nothing wrong or queer about aiding an injured woman, after all. He walked towards the back of the inn, where the his room was.
"I have to unlock the door, Ms. Ellarrah," he said as he gently placed the woman back on the ground to her feet.

The room wwas simply furnished in the inside, with a bed, table, chairs, and a water pitcher and basin.  Jazbel's bag of possesions sat neatly in the chair, while his instruments laid spewed on a table. He gestured for Ellarrah to walk in before taking the time to stretch out his sore arms and back.
"No baths in here, I'm afraid, but the inn has a bathing room," he said. "But clothes first."
The man walked over towards his bag and rummaged through it before pulling out a simple, but pretty  blue dress, one a Serendian maiden might wear.
"This should fit you," he said, approvingly as he laid it on the bed.
He realized that her pride as a Connloathian might prevent her from wanting to wear such a garment, but Jazbel figured that now wasn't the best of times to be picky. Of course, she had proved him wrong, before.

[visualspice]

Ellarrah looked around the room and made some grumblings about a bathing room.
"Maybe I'll just deal with the cobwebs in my hair," she griped, then watched him interestedly when he went about fetching some clothes. She was, however, surprised to see him pull out a dress.  Wrinkling her face, she exclaimed, "Angsar's beard," She looked at it. "You expect me to wear a dress? What am I, getting married or somethin'?" Though she scratched her head at it and poked at the blue piece of fabric.  "Though I guess beggers can't be choosers. And at least it'll cover more than your cloak." she said with a smirk and looked over at Jazbel. "I guess it'll have to do."  She went to move to undo the cloak, but paused a moment before she turned to Jazbel and cleared her throat.

"You mind givin' a woman some privacy to dress?" she cocked one brow at him warily. 

OOC: Ugh, sorry for the shortness of the post D: I'll try to post more in my next one~

[Winters-Feather]

Jazbel scoffed at her indignation at the dress. As he figured, the lady wasn't much appealed by the notion of wearing a dress. A pity really; he personally thought most ladies looked better in skirts then in britches. The man chuckled at her notion of getting married. It amused him to watch her examine the thing, as if the dress was somehow going to consume her. Finally ,though, common sense seemed to knock into her as she agreed to slip the thing on.
I'll take that as a thank you, Jazbel thought.
"I'll suppose it will," he agreed.

Jazbel scowled at Ellarrah's suspicion.
"Of course," he replied, feigning shock that she would suggest anything but.
"It would be rude not to..."
Jazbel's eyes sweeped across the room as he left before he closed the door behind him. He made it a point to examine things when she wasn't looking. The lady was a thief, after all- he didn't trust her.
"Tell me when you're done, m'dear," he called out as he reached a hand into his pocket to pull out the puzzle. Nobody was around, it was safe to check.  His finger brushed the pattern on its surface.
Such a troublesome little thing.
He knew better than to play with it, but the item was such a marvel, he couldn't resist examining the treasure.

Jazbel envisioned what Noki's surprise would be once he returned it to her. That would get him handsomely paid, more than anything. Jazbel smiled broadly at the prospect.

[visualspice]

"Don't worry, I'll let you know when I'm decent, love," she called after him with a roll of her eyes. He didn't need to check the area, though he was smart to. She wouldn't have considered looking around and nosing about into his property until she realized he was going through the notions that she would.  She scoffed at the idea and poked around a bit, slipping off the cloak and slipping on the dress.

After smoothing it down, she pulled her hair out and fluffed it around the dress then stood before a dingy mirror and stared at herself for a moment.
"I look like a damn Serendian waif," she commented, but  inwardly admired the fact she looked a bit more... feminine in the damn thing, maybe even pretty.  She fussed over the skirts a bit, even pressed her breasts together to see how the girls would do, and sighed, adjusted the dress some more so it at least showed some cleavage. Sadly, Ellarrah only ever knew the simpler methods to get a man's attention.  Sweet talking, after all, was never her specialty.


"I think I'm decent enough now," she spoke, after having approached the door and opened it.  "And thanks for making me look like some strange foreign woman, now get in here before we're seen!" she gestured to him, grabbing him by the wrists and pulling him lightly to force him to get a move on it.

Ellarrah was never the patient type.  It was then she noticed the puzzle box as she stepped back into the room, folding her arms upon her chest as she took a seat upon my bed.
"You also need to explain to me about that little trinket you're holding," she said with a cat like grin.  "Please don't tell me something like that was what they were trying to cut my neck over.  The things looks old and rusted."

[Winters-Feather]

Well, now, there was a sight! Jazbel stood at the door frame, admiring the effect. Blue was fetching on the woman, he was pleased to admit. Plus, he was pleased to see that he had been right. The dress was only a bit too long, maybe, for its hem hit the floor, but since her body was much more shapely than his, it snugged at certain areas  and fit her frame just fine.
"No problem," he teased when she accused him of making her look Serendian.
There was nothing wrong in that. The dress almost gave the illusion of her being a proper lady... but the scowl on her face and her disordely hair broke that illusion. The man grunted as she tugged at his arm.
"Yes, ma'am," he muttered when she insisted they stayed inside the room. 

He leaned against a wall.
"Oh," he muttered as Ellarrah eyed the puzzle from the bed.
Of course she would be curious about that. Still, it wasn't his place to disclose all the information.
Not that I know everything, anyways.
"No, no.  Don't be silly," he replied.  "They were trying to kill you because they trying to kill me. You were in the wrong place at the wrong time, was  all."
He smirked as he placed the puzzle away.
"Though I suppose hurting one of their men naked didn't help matters, either."

Jazbel frowned as he looked down at her bare feet.
"How are they?" he asked.

[visualspice]

"So they were after you then? You who can't even handle a sword?"  She had a hard time believing that.  "And they'd think that I'd associate with the sort?" She made a distasteful face, but smirked soon afterwards.  "You'd think they'd believe a classy lady such as myself, would never be interested in partnering up with such a rascal." She stared down at her finger nails idly, that same, playful smirk on her face as she jested at him, but then she frowned at all of the dirt that stained under them.

It was then he asked about her feet and she sighed, looking down at them.
"I think I'll live, but it'll be a bitch to walk on 'em, that's for sure." Sighing, she collapsed onto her backside on the bed and stared up at the ceiling.  "So what are we going to do now?" she asked, not realizing how unladylike her position on the bed really was- after all, she wasn't used to wearing a dress and had no idea the responsibilities it entailed.

"Do you think those men won't think to look for us here?" she paused, idly examining the ceiling.  "Unless you're a clever enough man at hiding your tracks," She said thoughtfully as she rolled onto her side as she layed stretched out upon the bed, an elbow resting into it while that fist rested just beneath her chin to support her head as she looked at him, the other hand hanging loose across her legs.

"If they never find us, we could just haul up here for a while for a bit 'o fun and drink," she suggested, growing thirsty over the idea.  "I think ale might make me forget all about the stupid glass that cut up my feet."

[Winters-Feather]

Jazbel grunted at Elllarrah's jest. He was old and wise enough not to get riled up by her jest. Besides, there was some truth in it; he didn't know how to use a sword. Why did he? His music and words were all the weapons he needed, most days.
Daggers the rest.
The man tried not to chuckle at the 'classy lady' statement. Classy ladies did not sprawl themselves upon beds the way Ellarrah did.

Jazbel shrugged at her questions.
"They won't find us here," he reassured her, though he couldn't garantee it.
There were plenty of inns and taverns in the city, and those men probably wouldn't look in half of them, thinking that Jazbel and Ellarrah were still on the streets. Besides, their inn was close enough to the other one to be considered an unlikely resting point. Though Jazbel knew that they had left little to no tracks- the roads here were smooth and hardly left any prints, plus the rain would have taken care of the rest- there still was the possibility that the men would come check. And who would be more suspicious than a middle aged old man carrying a woman in a cloak? 

He smiled at her idea for 'a bit o' fun and drink.' A little sport, he figured, would do him well,  and the idea was most appealing. Still, first things first. The man gestured for the woman to sit back down.
"You're not going anywhere like that, quite yet," he scolded her, rummaging through his travelling pack. He pulled out some bandages, a rag, and poured some water from the pitcher into the bowl. He carried it over towards the bed side, and sat on the floor.
"Let's take care of your feet first," he said as he reached for her left foot.

[visualspice]

Ellarrah sighed.
"Fine, but I want ale next." she said with a grin, moving closer towards the edge of the bed, offering him one of her 'dainty' feet.

"So you a doctor as well?" she asked, but her mannerism was that of a flirt as she looked down at him, admiring the fact a man was looking after her.  After all, it had been sometime, (if ever) she had ever had some nice attention for a change.  "And be gentle with them, I'll be needing these feet when we have to make our get away. And also," she added with a wider grin. "To help walk me down to get the ale, unless that is," she smirked again, a hand resting under her chin. "You wish to carry me down to the pub like a blushing bride."

[Winters-Feather]

"Agreed," Jazbel said when Ellarrah demanded ale, next.
The man shook his head at her question at him being a doctor, smirking at her commentary.
"Oh, aye?" he said in a teasing tone. "You don't look much like a blushing bride. More like a vexed shrew..."
Jazbel was as gentle as he could, washing the cuts before wrapping up her feet.
Why am I doing this? he thought.
The man realized he could have just ditched the lass and go his own way. Giving her his cloak was kindness enough, and the woman knew how to defend herself. Why the extra baggage?
My soft spot for women in need will kill me one day, he thought as he secured the bandages around her left foot.  He reached for her right, and started the process all over again.

A few moments later, he was done. He rose to his feet and wiped his hands.
"Let's go," he said as he grabbed his shawm and stuffed it into his pocket, just in case he needed to play to earn a few extra coins for drink.

---

"Two ales please!" he asked the innkeeper.
Jazbel turned towards Ellarrah, paused, and changed his mind.
"Make that four."

[visualspice]

"Thanks, love," she told him, smirking quite widely as she patted him upon the shoulder. "And I'll have to pay you back someday for your kindness... and the ale." (among other things..)
"Let's go have that drink!"

Following him to where the innkeep was, she kept close to Jazbel, excitedly anticipating her drink. When Jazbel changed their order, her cheeks flushed as she kissed him light upon the cheek. "Looks like we got a learned one!"s hes aid, taking both the first rounds of ale for herself as she moved off to the corner where a small, square table had two boxes for chairs.  She pushed one open with her foot, gritting at bit as she had almost forgotten the condition of her feet and looked down at them with a pout.

"Oh, bugger," she grimaced, taking a seat and plopping her wrapped foot onto her lap. Some blood was seeping, but not a lot. "You did some fancy work here with the bandages, I'll give you that." she told Jazbel, raising her glass to him in honor as she grinned and took a long, delicious swig of her drink, not caring as some dribbled down her chin. When the beer was nearly gone, she chinked the glass onto the table and gasped happily, then wiped at her mouth and licked at her ale-stickied fingers.

"Let's get bloody hammered tonight and forget all about all worries, what say you?" she asked him excitedly, hoping to find a nice buddy to get drunk with.  "I could drink a whole boat load of this stuff." She started into her second drink.  "The dizzy rush never gets old." she said with a giggle.  "It also adds to some of the satisfaction of having some handsome company for a change. So where did you say you were from again and where are you going? You got a purpose in a little old town like this?" she said, leaning forward ontop of her box, two elbows resting upon the table and making her ample cleavage nearly burst out from the low neck line of her dress.

[Winters-Feather]

Jazbel followed her to the  table, and sat down across from her. He rubbed his lower back as he wolfed down half of his first round, all in one gulp. Practice made him a professional. His eyes scanned the crowd. Though it was a family-friendly sort of inn, not that many children were present, just some young infants clinging to their mothers. Pressed against the wall was a pair of eager lovers, though they were minded. Nobody seemed to notice, though. Two men were having an arm wrestling contest in the middle of the room, and a small crowd had gathered to watch. By the fire place were musicians, playing a frenzied tune. Jazbel couldn't help but to tap his foot to the beat, the notes playing in his head.

He chuckled at Ellarrah's compliment and touch glasses with her.
"Thank you  very much," he said, wiping the excess ale from his chin with his sleeve.
He smiled broadly at her suggestion to get hammered. No, he'd have to pass on that. Drunk he'd get, aye, but he needed some of his wits around. He had the puzzle to protect, after all. Better to keep an eye on it. And her, too, the little minx. His smile grew as she flirted, interviewing him.
"Handsome company?" he said with a laugh as he ran a hand through thinning purple hair.
"Aye, I'm quite ravishing, if I do say so myself."

"Matron's Hallow. I said I was going there," Jazbel said, though he purposefully did not mention his business, again. He perhaps had told her enough, already.
"What about, m'dear?" he smoothly asked as he took another swing of his beer, his eyes boldly falling to her cleavage before quickly going back up to her eyes again.
"You're not from around these parts either, aren't you?"

[visualspice]

"Oh, that's right," she said, wrinkling her nose with glee at remembering. "Posh, I haven't been 'ere in a long while." she said, taking back another swig, her beer nearly empty.  "And of course I'm not from around these parts, I'm not from any parts." The stap on her dress fell down her shoulder, but she felt too lazy to fix it, so just let her company enjoy some more show of skin (not that he hadn't seen enough already!)

"So how about you and I have a little drinking contest, shall we?" Ellarrah perked up at her own idea, eyes beaming like a child's.  "We could get to know one another and get a good little buzz goin' on!" then she set her empty mug onto the table. "but first I'll need seconds!"  Seconds, because she forgot that's exactly what she had just finished.

[Winters-Feather]

Jazbel arched a brow at Ellarrah's statement.
Not from any parts?
"What do you mean by that?" he asked, curiously.
Was she born on the road, like he was?
Besides, that still didn't answer the question why was she in Reajh. For all he knew, she could be another spy of sorts. Though judging by her behavior, that was highly unlikely.

He waved his hands wildly at her suggestion.
"Oh, no, no, no, no, no," he said quickly as he started on his second one. "You know I can't."
No way was he going to be dragged into this, though Jazbel was awfully tempted to. The competition was appealing.
I shouldn't even be drinking to begin with, he thought with a smirk.
Too late for that.

[visualspice]

OOC: I realized I never wrote what duchy she was from in her bio, lol. I guess I'll just pick one :P
and I might as well go with the one I made up for a few of my other characters~ lol

IC:

"Yeah, I just travel alot," Ellarrah informed. "Though if you want to know about the place I was born, it was in the duchy of Allar, though I haven't been there in a while. I just stick to the open roads these days."

Then at his formal rejection to her drinking contest she raised a brow at him.
"Oh come on, Jazzy, it'll be fun.  Just you, me, boozin' it up!" She held up her drink, which again, was empty then smirked at him.
"But if you don't want to join me, at least can you help fill up my cup here, love? And at least keep me some sort of company. I can't be making a buzz-headed fool of myself on my lonesome now, can I?"

She swished the empty cup before him again.
"And just a few more drinks with me couldn't hurt."s he added, inching forward on top of her crate, eye lashes fluttering at him as she pressed her breasts a little tighter together, all the more in helping to entice her victim into another round, or.. at least helping her with her next.

[Winters-Feather]

Jazbel nodded thoughtfully at Ellarrah's mention of her birthplace.
"I see," he muttered.
So she was a traveler by choice, or was forced to. Either way, that was unusual for a lone lady. He wondered if she had been travelling in solitude for the entirety of her journey.
"Oi!" he protested as she tried to get him to join her in 'boozin' it up'.
"I'm having fun as it is."

Yet he chuckled as she tried to temp him into at least filling her cup.  What sort of name was 'Jazzy'?  Though he liked it, in a funny way. A finger ran through his mustache as he watched her, deep in thought and yearning. Ellarrah's method of persuasion was rather... effective, in a sense. Jazbel was highly tempted to join her. Oh, he knew that it would be completely against his better judgement. The woman wasn't one to be trusted. Yet Ellarrah was fine company, and Jazbel... well, he had his weaknesses. The man sighed, defeated.
"Fine," he said, holding up a finger and tapping her nose, lightly.
"Just one. Just one," he warned as he went to the bar to get them another round.

[visualspice]

Ellarrah made a cute little noise of elation.
"I knew you'd see things my way!" she called after him.  "And just one more round," she informed, then smirked and added. "Until I try tantalizing you for the next!"

When he had returned with more drinks, her eyes were wide and sparkling with diamonds.
"Ah, you're a good man!" she squealed, kissing him playfully upon the cheek before snatching her glass off of him in triumph as she took her seat and took a nice long drink of her ale.
"Ah, I could get lost in these bubble for hours," she said, hiccuping and wiping her lips on the back of her hand.  "Hey, Jazzy, why don't you try a sip of my ale?" she said playfully, hopping onto his lap as she chinked her glass playfully against his and raised her mug to his lips. "But maybe if you don't want to play a drinking game, we could play somethign else." She suggested, her eyes lingering away from him as she looked around the place, leaning off of his lap as she spotted...

"Oh! A dart board!" she said, getting to her feet. "We could play darts or something!" she was uneven on her feet as she tried to make her way over towards it with a giggle. "Come on, love. It'll be fun!"  and it was much better than remembering that she had nothign else better to do with her time thant o swindle Jazbel into a drink...

[Winters-Feather]

Jazbel couldn't help but to beam like a fool at Ellarrah's praise. The ale was getting to his head, and though he was pretty certain his head was still on his shoulders, the man felt giddier.
"Careful, don't want you drowning in them," he teased as he observed the  drunkard.
Despite her utter lack of grace, she was charming. The silly image of the woman getting lost in a sea of bubbles amused the man, greatly.
Perhaps not as sober as I imagined, he thought with little to no regrets.

The man arched a brow as the woman practically shoved her drink to his lips. Jazbel really saw no reason to drink hers- he bought it for her, after all- but he none the less took a polite tiny sip. A suggestive grin rose to his lips when she suggested to play something else.
"Well-" he started to say, when Ellarrah became distracted with something from across the iinn.
Sightly dazed, Jazbel watched as she stumbled towards the dart board. The man frowned, a little anxious.

Jazbel drowned the rest of his drink before standing up.
"Take it easy, now, miss," he said as he grabbed the woman by the waist.
It was a bit forward of him, perhaps too much so, but she had hopped into his lap earlier and was wearing his dress... It was all part of their 'disguise' for the inn, their little game.
Speaking of which, what does she want from me? he thought. She was growing more seductive by the minute (Jazbel didn't know if that was the ale or her or both) and though Jazbel didn't mind that in the slightest, there were still many unanswered questions.
"Are you sure you'll even be able to hit the board in the state you're in?" he teased.

[visualspice]

"I'll be able to hit the board just fine! Just keeping bringing me ale and I can show you how good my aim is!" she said with a grin, wriggling a bit in his arms as she gave a laugh and slipped away.
"Now, come on now, Jazzy, it's time to have a little fun!" she said, picking up the darts and eyeing up the board.  "We could always play strip darts," she said with a smirk over her shoulder after him, then proceded to throw a dart at the board when she was only half listening, and half laughing and falling into Jazbel as she slipped backwards, the dart sailing across the room,..


then sinking into the wood beside the board.

"Ah, rubbish," she said with a laugh, then looked up at Jazbel with a grin, holding up a single dart for him. "I believe it's your turn, love. Let's see if you've got better aim than I do with all this bubbly in our head, eh?"


OOC: Someone's going to get hurt, lol.