And then there was Fire [DragonSong]

[Goldie]

@DragonSong

Idris wiped the sweat from his brow with the back of an arm as he placed the horse's hoof back on the ground with a fresh shoe snuggly in place. He hated shoeing horses, but that was his job and Herald didn't seem to want him advancing in his career at any point in this lifetime. Horses brought in money and Idris was young and spry and more likely to survive if the horse spooked and kicked him in the face.

He stood and sighed. That was the last one so he was finally finished and could go back to doing the little side projects at the forge he was allowed to work on once the jobs for the day were done. He was working on a bracelet that was giving him a run for his money. It made his eyes strain to look at all of the tiny engraving details he had decided to etch into it. Not to mention the tiny interlocking chains that wove into designs that looked like swirling wind. It was a piece of art and had taken him months to figure out.

But he needed to be finished today. Marigold was going to come by and he needed it to be ready. He needed it to be perfect. Why? Because she was perfect. And once she showed it off to all of her friends, he was bound to get a influx of orders and then Herald couldn't keep him an apprentice. He would finally get out of the horseshoe business and into jewelry.

For now, he jut had to finish it.

So he packed up his tools and stepped out into the sunlight before starting the twenty minute walk back to the shop. They were on the outskirts of the town which was safer if a fire ever took their business, but it was also more dangerous because bandits and thieves liked going after people on the outskirts. Thankfully their worst encounter so far had been a man stealing a dagger or two. Since then, they put their more expensive work in their storefront deep within the city and only kept the working items in the forge.

Idris usually kept his head down and his feet quick on these walks back, but today was different. He breathed in the crisp afternoon air and smiled. Today she'd see him. She'd really see him. He'd be more than just an apprentice - he'd be an artist. The sun made his dark hair glimmer blue and his eyes were a stunning light violet today and really glittered with excitement.

Everything would change today.

And that's when he noticed Adrianna. The flower girl. And he stopped.

"How much for the whole basket?" he asked her excitedly.

[DragonSong]

Spring was usually her busiest--and most successful--time of year. The blooms she sold were fresh daily, and the weather was warm enough that most of her customers would forgo the pesky cloth coverings that prevented her from sneaking a bit of nourishment from a brush of fingers or a handshake.

So it seemed to be just dumb luck that she was growing so hungry this last week. It seemed every lady she interacted with wore her gloves--they were back in fashion this season--and there'd only been one man who had expressed interest in her wares in the last four days. And he had been in such a rush that he all but snatched his bouquet from her and went on his way.

So it took nearly all her energy to summon up even the barest trace of a friendly smile as she waved to passerby and called, "Buy a flower, love? Just two bits for a bouquet!"

Gods, she was so cold. Warm spring air on her skin, and her hands and feet were like blocks of ice. If she hadn't been so used to it by now, it would have been downright painful.

"Crocus for good cheer?" she tried, smiling at a pair of young women who strolled by arm in arm, with either their child or perhaps a much younger sister--she looked too much like the azure-haired woman to not be related--clinging to one of their hands.

The girl paused, attention grabbed by the basket of bright colors, but the two women smiled and shook their heads. "Not today, thank you."

Of course not.

She didn't even have enough energy--or emotion--to be disappointed. She was so listless as the little family walked away that she didn't notice Idris until he was right in front of her.

"Oh." She blinked at him, dark eyes vague rather than surprised as they should have been. The blacksmith's boy--well, not a boy anymore. Hadn't been for a while, clearly. She'd seen him before, but he'd never actually stopped to talk to her, let alone buy anything. "The whole...basket?"

Wait.

The whole basket?

Her eyebrows went up, and she looked down at the woven basket of blooms on her arm before her eyes flicked back up to him. "That, ah...a silver, ser." Just a bit more than the flowers were actually worth, but if he cleaned her out she would have to go pick more, so she figured it was just about a fair trade.

She looked down at the basket and back up again before adding slowly, "If you, ah, if you want the basket too, that'd be...one silver and two coppers."

[Goldie]

He grinned almost madly at her, such was the joy and hope he was feeling today. His last gig had landed him a few silvers that he had charged extra for a rush job that Herald wouldn't miss - nor did he even know about the upcharge - so her fee wasn't anything to gawk at. And he was in a good mood. What was a silver to him today?

"Yes! I'll take that too, then." he reached into his coin purse and produced the silver and coppers as requested. He even threw in two extra coppers just because. "Nothing can go wrong today, eh?" he beamed at her, then looked around suddenly to make sure he wasn't going to accidentally run into Marigold.

"They're for Marigold." He couldn't contain himself, "You know, the nobleman's daughter over that way?" he gestured behind him, "I'm finishing a commissioned piece for her and..." he stopped and just smiled as he handed over the coins. He wasn't going to count his chickens just yet. He still had to finish it, "Let's just say it's going to be miraculous. Lights and everything."

[DragonSong]

Adrianna forced her smile to stay in place, despite how difficult it was to put on any air of interest just then. She would have felt guilty about it, if she could have--he was clearly so excited.

But all she could think about was just how that excitement could sustain her for days, if she only had a chance to sip at it.

"Well, that's lovely, ser," she told him as sincerely as she could manage. She shifted the basket off the crook of her elbow so she could hand it over, holding out her other hand to accept the coins as she did. "I'm sure she'll be thrilled."

She paused a moment, then reached out to shift the flowers slightly so a cluster of daffodils rested at the top of the carefully placed pile. "For kind regard," she told him. "Not sure if Lady Marigold speaks in flower, but it's a nice thought."

[Goldie]

Idris took the basket from her, especially pleased at the care she took when placing the daffodils - kind regard indeed.

"Thank you!" He grabbed her hand with both of his firmly, "It must be prophetic that I saw you today. I usually just rush by from one job to the next. But I have to go! The bracelet won't finish itself and she's going to come pick it up soon."

He gave her hand another quick squeeze before turning and rushing off with his newly purchased basked of flowers. Nothing could go wrong today. Nothing.

[DragonSong]

It took every once of her self-control not to drain that excitement right from him when he grabbed her hand. Gods she could have wept at the warmth of it against her frigid skin.

Luckily, he seemed to be in too much of a state to notice anything amiss. Nor the fact that the smile she gave him before he pulled away seemed much more relaxed and genuine than the one she had fixed like porcelain on her face for the better part of the day.

Just a tiny sip. That was all she'd needed, just a little more to keep her going.

"You're quite welcome," she told him with a little wave. "And thank you, ser."

[Goldie]

As he was about to round the corner, the last person in the world he wanted to see right now was there. Gods she was beautiful. Her hair was the color of moonbeams and her eyes were as bright as the clearest ocean. Even her skin was like alabaster. She was wearing a blue satin gown that whispered against ornately decorated shoes that must have been new because they weren't even creased yet, and behind her were three other women of similar rank - all were giggling and stopped short when they saw Idris standing there with his basket of flowers.

"Oh! Idris! My goodness, I didn't expect to see you in town. You will still be able to keep our appointment I trust?" she flashed him a warm smile.

"Yes, of course, Mar-My Lady." he gave her a deep bow to hide the flush in his cheeks. He still smelled like the stable and dirt was clearly visible on his pants and leather apron. Even his fingers were dark with soot and soil and he just hoped that maybe, just maybe, she didn't notice or better yet didn't care.

One of the ladies whispered something that caused the others to chuckle behind their hands and he saw Marigold shoot them a look. Idris hated her friends. They were catty, rude, and undignified. Mari often complained about them when she came by to sit with him to watch him work on her commission.

"It is finished then?" she asked.

"Nearly. Just a few more chains to solder and then add the light you requested. Shouldn't take long."

She nodded and then looked at his hands that held the basket of flowers. Her gaze remained there a few moments too long to be anything but judgmental and Idris felt his stomach sink. It was ruined. It was all ruined. They were here and he...he was a mess and smelled like dung. Why did he have to work in stables most days?

"Those are beautiful." she finally responded, shifting her eyes to the flowers instead of his shit-stained common hands. "Are they for someone special?"

Idris froze. What should he do? It wasn't suppose to happen like this. In his mind they would be alone in the forge. Herald would be sleeping and he'd bring out the flowers and the bracelet and she would be so taken with both of them that...that then they'd share a kiss and...It shouldn't matter! He wanted to be with her and she had more than expressed enjoyment from his company. Where they were or how events unfolded shouldn't matter because they were just right for one another. He would make her beautiful jewelry - they would be together and as an artist he would finally be of a rank suitable for someone like her. Hadn't she said as much just the other day? One day, when you're a famous artist, we'll be able to prove to my father that breeding means nothing. That's what she had said!

"Um..er...yes. Yes in fact they are." He took a deep breath and swallowed his fear, "I thought they belonged to the most beautiful woman in the city." he handed them out to her and waited.

And waited.

She looked surprised. Even her 'friends' seemed stunned. But he wasn't crazy! As an artist he could ask for her hand!

And then the laughter. The awful catty chuckles that turned into full belly laughs. His heart plummeted as he watched the tiniest of smiles hint at the corners of Marigold's face. No...no no...not her too?

"They're for....me?" she asked slowly, her face once again a calm mask. She waived her hand behind her at her entourage and they immediately fell silent. "I'm the most beautiful woman in the city?" Idris gulped and nodded. "Oh, Idris." and then her mask fell and there was annoyance and spite behind her smile. She took the basket from his hands and picked up one of the daffodils, "You are so common. These are so common."

"But..." he couldn't form words. It was like a dagger was ripping through his gut. He wanted to be anywhere but here, "I'll be an artist soon..."

"But Idris just think. No one would take us seriously. Look at yourself. Look at me. We are from different worlds."

"But...your..." he cleared his throat, "We'd prove to your father that breeding isn't...." the laughter echoed through the streets and this time Marigold couldn't keep it back despite trying to cover it up behind a gloved hand.

"I'll send a servant to collect my bracelet this afternoon." She told him, "Clearly you need to remember your place, apprentice. Master Herald will get all of the glory from anything that you make, you know this. You are no master, you are a student."

And with that she dropped the basked onto the ground and she and her friends walked over it, crushing the flowers under their perfectly shoed feet.

Their laughter rang in his ears like an executioners drum.

[DragonSong]

It wasn't like she was spying. Once Idris had bought her basket, Adri needed to collect more flowers. It was barely noon, after all, that was near half a day of sales still, if she was quick enough. And it just so happened that her nearest "garden" was in the same direction her most recent customer had been heading.

So she was really only half a block behind him when the whole sorry affair unfolded in front of her.

Oh dear.

She almost wished she hadn't been able to take that sip of his excitement; it was enough that her stomach twisted in sympathy and second-hand embarrassment as the women started laughing. The discomfort was quickly accompanied by a flash of anger at the sheer spite she could see radiating from the woman in the lead--Marigold, she had to assume.

Common. Common flowers, common man. And oh, she could just see how much fun the damned woman was having with it, enjoying the way she could flaunt her status over this poor lovesick apprentice.

The group swept passed Idris, heading in her direction, and she made a split-second decision. Rather than ducking out of the way to defer to their right of passage, she held her ground and kept walking, eyes downcast to make it seem as though she wasn't paying attention to where she was walking.

She swerved at just the last moment, checking her shoulder sharply into Marigold's rather than smacking into her full-on. The dainty lady squealed indignantly and whirled on her.

"Watch your step, you ungainly clod!"

Uh-huh. Not even a hint of the gentility she'd started with when speaking with Idris. Because Adrianna was just a passing waif, not someone who Marigold's manipulations could offer any amusement. How long had she been stringing the poor thing along, waiting for some sort of opportunity?

Maybe it was an unfair judgement on Adri's part, but she was angry, and just being able to feel the anger felt so damned good. For a brief moment, in Marigold, she saw every snotty rich lass who had turned her nose up at the shoeless orphan huddled in a doorway with one hand out begging for coin, for the barest scrap of kindness.

"Apologies, m'lady," she mumbled, tucking the satin coin purse that her sticky fingers had slipped from Marigold's belt into the folds of her own modest skirt.

Marigold huffed, then turned and carried on her way, the catty laughter of her entourage once more floating back through the air.

Adrianna sighed, finally lifting her head to glare at the woman's back before she chanced a look in Idris' direction. She approached cautiously, like he was a wounded bird who might startle away from her.

"...I can give you back the silver," she offered quietly once she was in earshot. It was rather poor effort at comfort, but it was all she could really do.

[Goldie]

Idris was too stunned to move. Too stunned to do anything but stare at the trampled flowers in the middle of the road. People whispered as they passed and he caught a few "how embarrassing"s and "that poor boy" that were spoken louder than intended. His whole world felt like a lie now...

How long had he worked on his skills for this? Pushing himself to the limit in order to transcend his station and make something of himself? He had dedicated a decade of his life to blacksmithing and even at 25 he was still an apprentice and....

She was right. Any accolades he achieved would be credited to Herald, the master blacksmith. After all, he was the teacher, right? Anything Idris could do was directly because of him. And if he were ready, he would have been promoted right? But he wasn't so the world thought him lesser. Herald made sure he would always be lesser.

He was those flowers. They wouldn't come back after being kicked and smashed underfoot and neither would he.

"No." He responded to the flower seller, his eyes still glued on the ground, "No. I don't need it."

He pulled out the rest of his coin purse and held it out for her to take.

"I won't need anything."

[DragonSong]

"Here now, none of that," Adri said briskly. She couldn't deny that the coin purse was tempting, but she pressed it back toward him with one hand and took his arm with the other.

"Why don't you come along with me for a minute, lad?" she offered quietly, shooting a quick glare at a passerby who was gawking a bit too obviously. "I know a quiet spot not too far from here. You can sit yourself a moment and get your head on straight."

[Goldie]

Idris looked at her listlessly. It didn't matter. She could take him to the moon and it wouldn't fill this hopelessness that threatened to engulf him.

"It won't matter." He responded, but didn't stop her guiding him wherever it was she wanted to go. He didn't care anymore. "Nothing matters."

He was a laughingstock. He had fallen in love with a girl who could never love him back. No...not just someone who couldn't love him, someone who went out of her way to deceive and manipulate to get what she wanted. That was so much worse.

[DragonSong]

"I know," Adri sighed as she led him along, linking their arms together like they were any other pair of folk out on the street. "I know..."

She did know what that felt like--not from despair, but from apathy. The thought that nothing mattered, so why bother?

But she'd never let it win, and after seeing that, she wasn't going to let it win with the blacksmith's boy either.

It didn't take long to reach a relatively abandoned corner of town, and she led him down a narrow alley that opened up into what had once been a tenement house of some sort, but was now little more than a few crumbling walls and the outline of what had been a foundation.

And flowers. So, so many flowers, growing stubbornly through cracks in stone or gracefully from mounds of loamy earth that she had spent many backbreaking weeks hauling to this spot. It was a riot of color and scent, and with the sip of excitement she'd taken from him earlier, she was actually able to appreciate it.

"Here." She steered him toward a half-fallen wall and offered, "Sit a moment. It's quiet here, you can...get yourself together a bit."

She waited until she was sure he would sit before she knelt and started plucking blooms that she could sell, focusing on the sunny yellows and blushing reds. She was quiet while she worked, though she kept glancing up at her--her guest, she supposed, with mild concern.

[Goldie]

He sat down where she directed him and couldn't bring himself to do anything else besides relive that horrifying moment over and over again.

You're common....The flowers are common....

The numbness started to be replaced with something else. Something boiling beneath the surface. Something that had the potential to turn into pure unadulterated evil.

"Gods dammit!" He shouted and slammed his fists into the floor hard enough that the whole building seemed to shake. "Gods fucking dammit!" There were tears of rage in his eyes. He hated her. He wanted nothing to do with her ever again while at the same time he wanted to see her suffer.

[DragonSong]

"Hey, easy now."

Adrianna sat back quickly, giving the man a wary look. She never did this—she never did this, but... Gods. She couldn't do nothing, not after seeing all that.

And besides, if he took her up on this, who was he gonna tell?

...Alright, probably best not to think about that too deeply, or she'd talk herself out of it.

"Alright, here." She stood and took a few steps to pause in front of him. "Listen, I can—I can help. With what you're feeling. The...pain. The anger. I can make it...quieter, for a bit. Just for a bit. Do you...want that?"

[Goldie]

Idris was so lost to his emotions that he didn't really hear what Adrianna was saying. In his own mind she didn't really exist in the moment - nothing did but the drive to just do something. To make Marigold hurt as much as he did. To embarass her, humiliate her. He hoped that one day she'd meet someone who would just rip apart her soul like she had just done to him.

"Fine. Sure. Whatever." He spat, "Just make it allllll go away."

[DragonSong]

Alright. He was clearly in too much of a state to truly understand what she was offering.

So, rather than draining away his emotions entirely—as he had claimed to want—she knelt in front of him and laid one hand over his.

As soon as her skin touched his—hers still far too chilled for the warm spring weather—she allowed herself to take a bit more than a "sip". Just enough to help him calm down, to smooth the jagged edges of his anger and embarrassment, just for a moment.

She shuddered as his pain bled into her, then settled into that faint core of warmth just beneath her breastbone that always sparked to life when she fed. She took a breath, eyes closed, then looked up at him cautiously.

"See what I mean?" she said gently, but with more kindness in her tone than there had been before. "I can do that, but more. It won't make it go away, not entirely, but it should make it...manageable. At least for a little while."

She met and held his eyes as she asked again, "Do you want that?"

[Goldie]

It was like the wind had suddenly left his sails and his eyes cleared for the first time. He was angry, yes, but it was manageable now. It felt like wounds a month old instead of those that were fresh, raw, and bleeding profusely. It felt...

He snatched his hand back and stared at her, first in confusion and then in something akin to fear? He couldn't place exactly what he was feeling just that it was unexpected, new, and both exciting and scary all at the same time.

"What...did you do?" he asked breathlessly. A quick glance at his hand proved that he was completely fine. She hadn't burned him, or cut him, or drained him of blood or anything but...a part of him was gone. She had taken something from him.

His heart beat faster and his breathing increased as he tried to process something that he had absolutely zero understanding.

And then he realized he didn't care.

He held out his hand to her, "Do it again. Please."

[DragonSong]

Adrianna swallowed. She wanted to. Gods, she wanted to, she was so cold, so hungry. It wasn't as though it would hurt him—the emotion she had already drained away would return in minutes, with how strong it had been.

And even just that little bit had been so good. She'd gone hungry for nearly a week now, and it was so hard, so damned cold—

She swallowed again, hoping the desperation didn't show in her eyes. She could tell he was confused, even afraid, and guilt clenched in her stomach.

"It won't make it go away," she felt the need to repeat when he held his hand out to her and she had to use every bit of new strength in her body not to grab for it. "It's like...it's like I'm pricking a whole in a canteen that's constantly being filled, if that makes sense?"

Gods, she'd never had to explain this before. She couldn't even really say why she was doing it now—she'd gotten enough from him to get through the next few days, at the least. She could just walk away.

But she'd offered. And now he was asking.

She just had to make sure he knew what he was asking for.

"I can drain it away—a lot of it, if you want—but it will always come back. If I—" She kicked her lips and hoped she didn't look as starving as she felt. "If I drain a lot it may take a few hours to return. Are you sure you want this?"

[Goldie]

He shook his head. He didn't really care about her explanation at this point. All he cared about was the fact that for a moment even that embarrassment, that humiliation, that anger had been lessened. And if she could just take the whole thing?

"Do it." he reached forward and grabbed her hands. "Just take it."

[DragonSong]

Adri sucked in a sharp breath when he grabbed her hands, and the kicked-orphan's instinct to pull back warred briefly with her desperate hunger.

She took a breath, forcing herself to control both. Then she murmured, "Just—tell me if you want me to stop."

Another breath, and she sipped at the quickly rebuilding shame and anger she could feel pulsing from his hands into hers. Her lips parted slightly, eyes fluttering; she almost never had the opportunity to do something like this, to "drink" freely. The last time had been when she was a teenager, still living with her gang in the streets.

Some of them had known what she could do, and would seek her out when the despair became too much. She'd learned how to drain slowly from them, to force herself to gradually draw a single stream of emotion into herself so that they could feel the calm washing over them as a comforting tide, rather than an abrupt absence of passionate emotion.

It was hard. It always was. The yawning, cold emptiness inside her wanted to gulp and tear and consume, but she refused to let it. And the emotions he was feeling certainly weren't pleasant, which meant as she drew it into herself she felt all that rage, that shame, that sense of self-doubt and deep despair. It didn't last, quickly turning into a warm golden energy in her core, but each little sip was a fresh wave of that negativity for a moment.