The Sirrush and the Scam Artist

[kleineklementine]

"No... sure... you're right... that's... fine..."

Cautiously, as though she were approaching a feral dog, Kaya crept up to Quinlan's back. Cautiously, she smeared the salve onto her own hands. Cautiously, she forced herself to put her hands against his bare skin.

Then very haphazardly smeared it all over his back. Really, it should be rubbed in. But... but... he was a man! She couldn't rub it in!

Kaya was grateful Quinlan was facing away from her, so he couldn't so how flush her cheeks were!

[Lion]

"You want me to heal faster don't you?" he asked, feeling the stuff uncomfortably on his back.  "You got to rub it in.  I won't bite."

He carefully avoided the word 'Hard', and just smirked to himself.  Sure he was a man, but this was her idea!

[kleineklementine]

"Errr.... Yeah. I do... Yeah, I want you out of here.... of course..."

And she did, but Kaya was too transfixed on the idea of rubbing it in. Of touching a man... that much! It had sucked all the bluster right out of her!

Cautiously, she approached him again. And put her hand on his back. On the bare skin of his back. Oh leaping lizards, her mother would kill her. Oh goodness, she was touching a topless, almost naked, strange, foreign, grown, adult man. Kaya gulped, eyes wide, and forced herself to rub the salve into his burnt skin.

See... This was fine... She was still totally the one in control. She just needed to rub in the salve so he would heal, then get him out of here!

But she was touching him! She could feel his bare skin. She could feel the muscles underneath his bare skin. She was touching the bare skin of a man. A real man. A stranger.

Leaping lizards.

[Lion]

If he couldn't see her bluster, he could certainly feel it in her touch.  He smirked, facing away from her and thankful for it.  But...would it be so bad to have a little fun?

Quinlan slowly leaned back against her touch.  And flexed the muscles of his back.  A soft escaped him, a little exaggerated, but that was the point.  "That feels so good," he hissed, leaning back against her hands even more.

[kleineklementine]

Kaya jumped away from him so fast he could have been on fire. "It does not!" she countered loudly.

Then, realizing how childish the reaction might seem, added crossly, "You better just have meant, you know, the salve."

She peered at his back. It wasn't done done, but maybe it was done enough! She didn't even want to think about whether or not he'd been able to reach all of the front!

[Lion]

"Of course I meant the salve!  What did you think I meant, sicko?" he said, moving his back into a more comfortable posture.  His brow just quirked at her, looking innocent.

"I think that's good enough.  Thanks," he said and shrugged.  "I guess you can just leave me here now.  Unless you'd like to get my legs.  I can't really reach the back of my thighs."

[kleineklementine]

"What? Er -! No, I mean, of course I meant- I didn't think!" Kaya sputtered, blushing so hard she thought there must be actual heat steaming off her face. "I didn't think anything!"

Unless she wanted to get his legs. He couldn't reach his thighs.

Despite herself, Kaya found herself staring at his bare thighs, mouth half open in silent protest.

[Lion]

Thank the gods she was looking at his thighs and not his face because he was smirking.  It vanished rather quickly and he recovered with grace.  He tilted his hips a little to expose the underside of his right thigh.  "Just right here.  You see the tether is a little tight, I can't get all the way underneath."

[kleineklementine]

"But... but..." Kaya stared harder, looking very, very nervous. What had happened? Only minutes ago she'd been the one smirking! Feeling smug and in control. "But I can't touch you there!" she protested.

[Lion]

"Well, okay, but I'll just have to stay here and recover longer.  It's fine.  I know you have things to do," he said, shrugging and waving it off.

[kleineklementine]

Kaya set her jaw. Why was she acting like such a scared child? He was just a stinky pig-man from the north. Who cared if she touched... if she... She blanched.

But he was right. He would have to stay longer if he didn't heal! Nasr would make him. Nasr had made it quite clear that he was only going to not tell on her if she treated the man like a guest. Well, she wasn't quite treating him like a 'guest', but she could make it look like she had by the time her cousin returned. But not if he still had burns...

"No, no," she said, a look of brave determination on her features. "You're a guest. You have to recover. I'll just... uh... um..."

Her cheeks colored again. So serious was this situation to Kaya, that it didn't even occur to her that Quinlan might be intentionally trying to embarrass her. She just thought he was trying to trick her into letting him out of the restraints!

"I'll just..." Kaya bit her lip, then nodded in determination, and put more salve on her hands. "Uh, can you, er... turn a bit more...?"

[Lion]

He turned obediently, just enough to get the underside of his leg.  He kept himself covered however, because really she was still just a baby-child, even if he did think she was a smug arrogant little shit.  She had her charms, he supposed, despite her determination to treat him like a dog.

[kleineklementine]

Crud. He listened. That meant she would have to... touch his... Oh dear.

No. Come on, Kaya, pull yourself together. She handled Sirrush and Kaadir every day! Surely that was scarier than... Than a man's... Oh dear.

But Kaya wasn't going to let this stupid abjad get the better of her! Nope, no way, no how, not today she wasn't! So she moved in quick determination, slathering her hands with the salve and then thrusting them onto Quinlan's thighs.

Then she froze.

Because she was touching. a man's. thighs. Bare thighs. She'd never even touched a grown man's bare back before today! And this was, well, and he was only wearing, well, hardly anything! Certainly nothing that was between her hands and...

Oh dear.

Suddenly Kaya realized that she was frozen, swore something embarrassedly in her own language, then started to smooth her hands over his burnt skin. Trying very, very hard to be clinical and not to feel the muscles of his legs or... Or think about... Oh dear.

[Lion]

Quinlan was remarkably patient with her, despite her fidgeting and he wondered just how long he could play this out.  He waited until she was done before he realized he couldn't reach underneath his arms, and just along his ribs.  Because, well, this time he really couldn't.  Not that he could've reached his back any better.

He lifted up his arms and gestured to .  "Just this last one, I swear.  And I'll try to do the rest myself," he reassured her.

[kleineklementine]

Kaya withdrew her hands quickly as soon as she was done. Starting at his thighs as though they were some great peril that she had miraculously survived.
So when he lifted up his arms, she balked. How was this not over yet?! But of course it was because of her plan, and she wouldn't back down. Determined as she was to be brave and not outdone by the stupid abjad, Kaya simply nodded and took the shortest route to reach his ribs and get this over with.

Which resulted in her half-straddling his lap and reaching under his arms to his ribs. It was all so embarrassing that she had forgotten that just reaching from behind him would be much less so!

[Lion]

As funny as this was, even Quinlan was starting to get a little weirded out by all this.  He was silent during the whole process, careful to maintain his composure.  He was after all still technically a guest in her care.  A tied and bound guest, but one all the same.  At least until he could get the hell out of here.

He just stared up at her, watching her face for a moment, looking for those similarities to someone else he had spotted so easily before.  Yup there they were.  And a flicker of a smile passed on his lips.

[kleineklementine]

Kaya worked as quickly as she could, in focused determination and determinedly not looking Quinlan in the face! As soon as she was done, she got off of him so fast that she half-tripped herself on the bonds tangled around him.

She caught herself with a hop-skip, and turned, face scarlet. Whether from her clumsy retreat or the act of touching him, who knew.

"Wellokaynowyou'redoneandyousaidyoucouldgethterestsoI'mgoingtogonowIhavelotsofworktodo," she blurted out, stopping only long enough to sputter out that sentence before turning on her heel and literally running from the tent.

[Lion]

Quinlan did smirk at that!  And when she was gone, he clutched his hands over his mouth to keep his guffaws from echoing too loudly outside.  Because it was hilarious!  When he stopped huffing over it, he finished, sorta, what she started and rubbed in what she could before reclining back on that pile of pillows.

The worst part about being bound was the boredom.  There wasn't much to do in that tent.  And even if he did plan to stay in it without the need for bonds, he would've wanted to find ways to make himself useful.  Which was precisely what he wasn't able to be now.

After another whole day of this hole fiasco, Quinlan's skin was largely peeling, feeling a little tender, but much better than it had before and he was well enough to not need so much salve as before.  Except for certain parts of his back.

His stomach rumbled from not eating much of anything.  And from the dying of the day, he figured it must be sometime around dinner.  Or whatever they called supper in these parts.  He wondered if after the other day, she forgot to feed him on purpose!

[kleineklementine]

When Kaya did finally return, she showed no concern for whether or not Quinlan had eaten. She simply flopped down in front of the unlit stove, completely ignoring him. Rather than produce stone and flint, however, Kaya simply crouched in front of the stove, rubbing her hands together. After half a minute, a flame appeared in her palms, with which she carefully lit the stove.

Then, still ignoring Quinlan, she set about making tea. Once the samovar was brewing, she took out a bowl of half fermented bread down and began kneading out a flat bread. Ignoring Quinlan!

[Lion]

She could ignore him all she wanted, but Quinlan wasn't going to stay put.  He slowly crawled closer to the stove, because the air was getting colder, and because he was tethered to the heavy stove anyway, so he could move closer to it.

And sat down beside Kaya, looking at the bread.  "Knead any help with that?" he said, smirking.  "Get it?  Knead...and need."