Feather of Fate [M] [DragonSong]

[Juno]

She snorted softly at that, smiling and trying to ignore the pleasant tingling his touch elicited. "That doesn't work... You can go if you didn't want to stay the night," she reminded him.

[DragonSong]

"Hey now." He smiled and stroked her back gently. "As much as I know I should, no one said I wanted to leave." He kissed the top of her head. "Really, get some sleep. I'll make sure I'm outta here before Kura wakes up."

[Juno]

Penny giggled softly, pressing close and nodding against his chest. "Not like she can kick you out if we were caught," she pointed out, smiling to herself and shaking her head gently. "But probably wise, she would be annoyed if she saw us."

She was fairly worn out, though, despite her racing thoughts. The quiet and peace of the moment was wearing on her resolve, her eyes closing with a soft sigh as she nuzzled into Mal's warmth.

[DragonSong]

Feeling her start to relax, Mal's smile turned a little crooked and he stroked her back rhythmically. Almost unconsciously, he started to hum under his breath.

[Juno]

She was defenseless to it, the soft sound soothing her to sleep little by little. Her hands curled loosely against his chest as she became more relaxed, her face nestling against the crook of his neck as she drifted off.

[DragonSong]

Pleased that she finally seemed to have fallen asleep, Mal allowed himself to drift into unconsciousness with her, his head lulling back onto the pillow with a soft breath.

[Juno]

Without even realizing the night was passing her by Penny had slept well into the morning. Kura had bustled about taking care of morning chores before she came to rap at her door at midday. "Penelope? Are you awake?"

The younger mage startled awake at the sound, eyes blowing wide as she scrambled to sit up while her heart did its best attempt at escaping her chest. "Sorry- ...Sorry, is it late?"

"It is if you're going to join the living at all today," the older woman joked, chuckling softly and leaving her with that as she returned to the main room.

Penny cursed under her breath, hurrying to get up and dressed and attempt to tame her mane of hair. She needed to at least look put together before facing her teacher.

[DragonSong]

Mal, having curled his body around Penny's as they slept, woke with a start when the knock came, eyes going wide, and silently scrambled off the bed to crouch beside it. When Kura didn't enter he sighed and stood cautiously, blinking.

"Oops," he muttered under his breath. Seemed he'd have to sneak back to his own room while the older woman was distracted.

[Juno]

Penny snorted at the dry verbal reminder of their predicament, shaking her head gently as she did up the buttons on her frock in a hurry as though she half-expected Kura to come back to check on her.

"At least she didn't try to wake you up," she whispered, eyes crinkling in amusement that he'd managed to stay the whole night again.

[DragonSong]

"Ha ha," Mal replied with a droll scowl. "Just...keep her busy for a few minutes so I can get down the hall, would you?" he muttered as he set about pulling his breeches on as quickly as he could manage.

[Juno]

"Mhm," she agreed with playful cheeriness, crossing the room to head for the door once she was ready and giving his cheek a quick peck as she went by.

She left the door cracked behind her, holding her breath until she caught sight of Kura. Blessedly the older woman had her back to the hall as she sat in her chair and Penny quickly made her way out to greet her, leaning over to hug her from behind. "Sorry, was reading a lot last night," she mumbled, not entirely lying with that.

She settled her head over her shoulder as if trying to make out what her own teacher was reading, trying to maintain a casual barrier so she might not turn and catch Mal.

"Won't be useful to us if you're too tired, Penny," she reminded her gently, adding teasingly, "There's breakfast stuff in the kitchen if you want it for lunch."

[DragonSong]

Mal waited a moment, then darted from her room to his, carefully closing the door behind him. Huffing a quiet sigh of relief, he quickly changed into a new set of clothes before stumbling out into the kitchen, rubbing at his eyes.

"Morning," he yawned, not having to fake it at all.

[Juno]

Kura tensed when the quiet sound of a door closing down the hall was not immediately followed by footsteps. Penny felt it in her teacher before she'd even turned her head to listen and it was all she could do to just stand there and pretend she didn't already know what was going through her mind.

As Penny saw Mal out of the corner of her eye she slipped her arms away from Kura and darted for the kitchen with her head down and her shoulders tense to busy herself with fixing something up for them.

"Good morning, Mal," Kura greeted him evenly, though she was studying him pointedly now for the way Penny had reacted -or rather, not- to the phoenix's entrance. "Didn't sleep well?" she guessed.

[DragonSong]

He shrugged, evidently unconcerned with Penny's behavior. "Slept fine, actually. Just taking a while to wake up," he said with a crooked smirk, stepping into the kitchen.

He spared the younger mage a cursory, "Morning," before moving to take a seat at the table. 

[Juno]

Penny glanced at him over she shoulder, smiling briefly before her eyes met Kura's over his head. She couldn't hide the tinge of guilt on her face, but she looked away to turn and bring a plate of toast and fruit to the table to share between them. "Hungry?" she mumbled, plopping herself down to slouch back in her chair and stair up at the ceiling as she munched quietly, silently willing Kura to not broach the subject whatever was on her mind.

Kura let it lie for the moment, humming in acknowledgement and reopening her book to read quietly while watching them out of the corner of her eye.

[DragonSong]

"Always," the phoenix laughed, snatching up a piece of toast to munch on.

"So. What's the plan for today?" he asked after several moments of quiet. "More research?" There was no hiding the exhaustion in his voice, though he smiled through it.

[Juno]

"Most likely," Penny agreed with an apologetic smile. "I was thinking we might try some...tests outside, as long as the weather stays good."

[DragonSong]

"Alright," he replied with an easy shrug. "What were you thinking, exactly?"

[Juno]

She chuckled anxiously, her cheeks going a touch pink as she thought back to the notes she'd seen. "A, um...teleportation spell? It's short-distance, but...maybe if we put you far enough away it'll stick?"

She thought she'd heard a quiet snort from Kura across the room but the older woman seemed fully engrossed in whatever it was she was reading.

[DragonSong]

A small shiver of trepidation ran down his back at that, but he hid it quickly. "Yeah, okay. Worth a try, right?"