Lessons From the Devil and the Plowman [M]

DragonSong · October 21, 2016, 05:29:50 AM

"Alright, alright, calm down." She stuck next to him as she tugged him down the alley.

Lion · October 21, 2016, 11:21:01 PM

He calmed down enough although he was sure he could feel eyes behind him. He played it cool, bundling the jacket tighter around his arm. He sighed and curled a free arm around her waist.

"So when do you get paid? And how do you know your employer didn't decide to sell you out?" he asked.

DragonSong · October 22, 2016, 12:24:29 PM

"He's never sold me out before." She shrugged. "I'll get paid once he's sure the job's done- which probably means before sundown, I just have to make sure I'm in the right place."

Lion · October 25, 2016, 11:35:51 PM

"That's comforting to know," Vance sighed as they moved along. The commotion behind them was gradually getting louder. When they turned a corner and emerged on the other side of the street, Vance fixed the coat over his shoulders, pocketing the coins he'd earned while dancing ridiculously in the street.

Damn.

He flipped one of the gold ones and tossed it to her. "Hard to believe I've been to Cerenis so many times and never walked along that posh street. People sure know how to tip."

DragonSong · October 26, 2016, 06:23:53 AM

Aria giggled as she caught the coin. "See? Not so bad being a bard really, is it?" she teased with a little bump of her shoulder against his.

Lion · October 28, 2016, 07:19:40 AM

"You're doing much to sway my opinion, but I can make an exception to the norm. You're a bard that's largely tolerable," he said and poked her right back.

DragonSong · October 28, 2016, 07:34:38 AM

She gave a dramatic sigh and an eye roll. "I'll wear you down one day, just you watch," she grumbled playfully. Her eyes flickered around warily despite her air of levity, prepared to fight or flee at a moment's notice.

Lion · October 29, 2016, 12:11:48 AM

"Wear me down? Like an old wagon wheel, eh," he mumbled and could feel her tension. He held firmly onto her. "You feel a tail coming on us? We being followed?"

DragonSong · October 30, 2016, 08:07:30 AM

Aria shook her head subtly. "Not that I can tell, but it pays to be cautious," she replied quietly.

Lion · October 30, 2016, 09:59:11 AM

They weren't immediately being followed, but it was a given that some eyes trailed them after they vanished from the street. A small urchin, a child of no more than 9 or 10 years had eyed the couple and saw them go into the alley, and slowly loped along behind them.

Vance suspected nothing, but kept himself on alert as they walked back to Aria's contact. "Is he expecting you alone?" he asked.

DragonSong · October 31, 2016, 07:06:55 AM

"Probably." She shrugged, glanced over her shoulder, and frowned. "Shouldn't be too much of a problem. I'm left to my own devices often enough."

Without warning, she whirled and grabbed the child's shoulder, pulling him out from an alcove. "Hello, lad. Need something?"

Lion · November 05, 2016, 09:03:57 AM

The child faltered when grabbed. He yelped and struggled against her grip. "Let go o' me, witch," until his shirt was sufficiently wrinkled from doing so. He panted and kicked her shin.

Vance snatched his arm firmly. "Got a death wish boy? What's your name?" he hissed.

"Will! Now release, alley dogs!" And lunged another leg against Vance's gut.

DragonSong · November 05, 2016, 10:02:03 AM

"Whoa, hey!" Aria grabbed the boy's shoulders and turned him to face her, bending to his level. "Look, lad, no one's gonna hurt ya. I just wanna know why you were following us, alright?"

Lion · November 05, 2016, 10:50:54 PM

"I wasn't following you, I was following your smell. I wanted something to eat... Ya'll smell like fish and seaweed," he griped and continued to fight against Vance's hold on his arm. He successfully did so but not without a swipe to the back of his head.

Vance wasn't having it and scowled at the boy. "Cretin."

"Fuck you, swine herder!"

DragonSong · November 06, 2016, 05:28:08 AM

Aria sighed, fished around in her pocket, and tossed a pair of copper coins at the boy. "There. Go buy yourself a meal, and forget you saw us, alright?"

Lion · November 09, 2016, 11:26:37 PM

Will snatched the coin with a scrawny grip and he just glared at the pair of them. He didn't say anything and just watched as Vance shoved him off.

"He saw something and he ain't telling. We shiv him and nobody has to know," he said with an indignant sniff.

DragonSong · November 10, 2016, 09:20:29 AM

"Vance!" Her eyes turned flinty. "We are not killing a child," she said firmly, ice and steel warring for dominance in her tone.

Lion · November 13, 2016, 11:48:04 PM

"He's a rat," Vance said unwaveringly. He shrugged, careless and washing his hands of the matter. Maybe it would have been realistic to have more sympathy for the urchin. Since he was after all in the same situation at one point in his life.

But he was here now, and the job was done, so what more was there to go on. "Where's the meeting place?" he said matter of factly.

DragonSong · November 14, 2016, 07:37:18 AM

Aria decided not to pursue the matter. "Edge of town. He should be there in an hour," she muttered as she kept walking.

Lion · November 15, 2016, 10:46:33 PM

They kept on in silence and Vance forced his irritation away. Once they cleared the area and were now in the town's outskirts, they stopped beside a wayward inn, one a little worse for wear than the one they had met in. But Vance felt his hackles raising.

"Fuck," he murmured and turned around, only to see a head peeking in a window suddenly drop down. "It's the kid. The kid you paid to go away. He's back."