And then there was Fire [DragonSong]

[Goldie]

He blinked at her a few times while her words marinated; slow realization dawning over him. First, it had worked? The flickering had worked? Then, she could utilize it like she did emotions?

"Oh, Kia....!" He exclaimed once the gravity finally sunk in, "You could...! You just....!"

He couldn't contain himself. He wrapped his arms around her and gave her a single, whooping spin before placing her back down.

"So that means....that you....that this....but how!?"

[DragonSong]

"I don't know!" She laughed, though tears were still coursing down her cheeks. "I don't know, and I don't care! It worked, Idris, it worked, it...I can..."

She pressed both hands over her mouth, breath shuddering. She didn't understand what was happening--she'd held plenty of Idris' light-filled creations, why was it only working now? Why had she never noticed that feeling before?

What if it...stopped working?

No. No, she wouldn't think about that now. She couldn't think about that now.

With a sound that was caught between a laugh and a sob, she threw her arms around Idris' neck and squeezed tight. "It worked..."

[Goldie]

Idris held her a for a few moments, reveling in her excitement and sharing in her joy. This could change everything for her. No, it did change everything!

"So...so you'll let me help you now? Because it's the magic not the emotions? You'll let me keep you healthy and you won't fight me anymore?" He didn't want to assume anything at this point and the last time he'd tried to trick her into taking care of herself she'd seen it as a betrayal and...well...he didn't want to repeat that mistake. He'd still fight her on it if she chose to be stubborn, but he'd keep her full with her consent.

"Why now?" He pushed her away gently and cocked his head to the side, "You've been wearing that bracelet for months, shouldn't it have been noticeable all this time?"

[DragonSong]

She laughed, shaking her head at him, but not in denial. "Yes," she half-sighed, letting her head drop onto his shoulder and nuzzling in. "Yes, you can help..."

She took a breath, then forced herself to step back from him and looked down at the bracelet on her wrist. "I...I don't know. I've never felt that--that buzzing before when I touch any of your other pieces either." A slight frown tugged at her brows and she traced her fingers over the links of the bracelet. "Nothing," she murmured, shaking her head. "I don't understand--I mean, I've met my share of mages, you'd think I would have noticed..."

Her eyes widened and her hand sudden flew up to the choker around her neck. "I--I felt it," she whispered in realization, staring vaguely over Idris' shoulder. "When they...I felt it, but only when they were activating the spell. I thought it was part of the--the way it tightened, but it was the same. I could feel them using the magic..."

[Goldie]

Idris thought about that for a moment, chewing on the implications, on the possibilities...

"How does that necklace work?" He finally decided to ask, "Is it something latent? Pre-spelled? How do they make it...you know...the...thing it does?"

It would be too good to be true, right? If she could...if this was the answer to...no...it would be too easy...

[DragonSong]

"I--I'm not entirely sure," Adri responded slowly. "When they...gave their little demonstration, it was activated with a word, but I saw their mage casting. Like...the word made it start, but the mage was pouring power into this medallion thing--same metal as the collar--to keep it going..."

She looked up at Idris, something that didn't quite dare to be hope shining behind her eyes. "Do you...do you think...?"

[Goldie]

Idris frowned in response to her question, realization dawning on him at what testing the theory out actually meant. And he didn't like it. He didn't like it at all.

"But you can't feel it now?" He asked slowly, fitting the puzzle together in his head, "and you can't feel the light once it's in the crystal? So...if we wanted to test this theory..."

He shook his head, he wouldn't do it.

"No. It's too risky. We can't do that."

[DragonSong]

"Idris." She shook her head slowly. The idea was terrifying, she wouldn't pretend otherwise, but... "We may not have much of a choice."

She was quiet a moment, then shook her head briskly. "Well. Regardless, it doesn't matter much right now. Illuvieau hasn't actually asked anything specific of you yet. And even if he did, and you did disobey, he'd have to have some way of relaying that to the guy who had the medallion--oh shit, or maybe he has it... We'd have to be right in front of him to make sure that was what was triggering it..."

She trailed off, trepidation warring with consideration. If she was being pragmatic...honestly, this could be it. This could be how they got out of this.

If she was being honest--well, she hadn't gotten as far as she had in life without a healthy sense of self-preservation. The idea was terrifying.

[Goldie]

Idris shook his head again but more fervently this time, "No. absolutely not. Adri, you can't. We'll have to figure out another way. If you're wrong you'll die and...and...I won't let you do it."

Kia why was this so complicated? He didn't want to be indebted to the Dagger, but he cared more about Adri's life than his own freedom. But...where was her freedom? With that collar around her neck she was in constant fear of dying anyway...

Why couldn't they just continue the way they always had? Why did things have to change? Why did they have to be like this!?

[DragonSong]

"...Okay." She nodded at him slowly. "Okay, we'll...try to figure something else out first."

She felt a little guilty, but she wasn't lying to him; she would rather prefer to figure out another solution to their current predicament.

But she also knew if they couldn't figure something else out...they'd have to try. She would have to try.

Even if that meant she had to do it on her own. She didn't want to force him into a position where he felt like he was risking her life.

[Goldie]

Before he knew what he wa doing, he took a step forward and encompassed her in a tight embrace while letting his fingers intertwine with her hair. He held her like that for a few moments, reminding himself that all of this was for her - to keep her safe. To keep them both safe.

"We'll figure it out. We'll experiment with different things. We'll figure it out. We will." Maybe if he repeated it enough it would actually be true.

He didn't want to think about what they would have to do if it all failed. She couldn't keep it around her neck...he knew that...and he also knew he probably wouldn't have a choice.

[DragonSong]

Adri's eyes widened a bit, and she was still in his arms for a moment before she began to return the embrace.

And then once her arms were wound around his shoulders, she suddenly realized how much she'd needed that. Needed him. The night before he'd been so attentive, and she was so grateful for it, but she hadn't been truly feeling it, still partially in shock from everything that had happened.

Now, with a night of sleep between her and that awful day, it was all she could feel. She went from hugging to clinging, and a bubble of emotion rose up in her throat. When she tried to swallow it back, it escaped as a choked sobbing sound.

She held him a little tighter and buried her face into the curve of his shoulder. "I've never been that scared," she confessed in a gasping whisper. "Kia help me, I thought...I thought—"

She gulped, breaths shuddered, then managed to choke out, "I didn't know if I'd ever see you again..."

[Goldie]

The fervor in which she gripped him was surprising at first, but then he hears the tremor in her voice and felt the weight of her ordeal come crashing down upon them both. So he held her tighter and longer than he'd ever held anyone before. He let her take what strength he could offer and supported her as much as he could - and it didn't feel like much from his vantage point. If they had come back to the forge together, maybe everything would have been fine.

Or maybe Illuvieau would have plucked her up the next time she was running errands by herself. Maybe none of it mattered. They were evil people doing awful things to stay in power. Dammit, they were using children to do their dirty work! Putting a death sentence around the neck of the woman who was hindering their supply of bodies was nothing in comparison.

"You're safe now. I've got you. I'm here. You're here. Everything is going to be okay..."

[DragonSong]

For nearly a minute, she couldn't do anything but cling to him and shake, gulping air in an effort to swallow back the burning in her eyes.

Gods. Was this was consistent emotion did to regular people? Did people feel like this all the time? It was exhausting.

Eventually, she managed to wrestle herself back under some semblance of control and started to pull back, sniffling and wiping at her eyes. "Th-thanks," she whispered, finding herself abruptly unable to look him in the eye. She wasn't embarrassed, exactly, but... Hells. She didn't know what she was.

She swallowed and shook her head briskly. "Sorry. I--You have work to do. I've been enough of a distraction already."

[Goldie]

"Hey." He cut her off and reached forward to turn her head enough that she could stop averting her gaze, "Hey. Stop. You aren't a distraction. None of this matters without you. None of this would exist without you.

"You're one of us. You belong here. This is your home and you will always come first. Do you understand that? I would have come after you the moment we realized you were gone if Hamond hadn't stopped me and spoken sense...but I wanted to, Adri. I wanted to find you like I did that night...not knowing if you were safe or hurt or..."

He took a deep shuddering breath, "It was awful."

He let her chin go quickly as he suddenly realized it was still against his hand and blushed, "So...ah...you being here isn't a distraction. It's good."

[DragonSong]

Adri found herself staring at him for several long moments, speechless. She didn't even know why, exactly—after all the time they'd spent together, she rather thought she knew how much they meant to one another. Hearing him express it plainly shouldn't be surprising.

And yet it was.

"...Idris."

She grabbed his hand before he could pull it away entirely. She stared at him, mouth slightly open. Gods. She had to just say it.

"I love you."

She took a shaky breath. She didn't want to put any expectation on it—but she realized she'd needed to say it out loud. She honestly couldn't even say herself how she loved him, she just knew that she did.

[Goldie]

Idris felt every cell in his body just freeze as the words left her mouth. It was like nothing and everything existed all at once and it left him paralyzed with confusion, indecision, and more than a lot of simple surprise.

They had grown closer over these past months to the point he would easily admit she was his best friend. She didn't mince her words, she helped him come out of his artist shell when he forgot he was actually a human who needed human things. Because he did need human things. He found he enjoyed life so much more when he had them...when he had her.

But he didn't know how to love. He didn't know anything. He had only just realized what it meant to have a friend!

"I..." he licked his lips, "Ok."

And he just stared at her, completely lost for words or even basic functions, for what must have felt like forever to her.

"But , why?"

[DragonSong]

Adrianna's breath left her in a sharp, startled huff. She wasn't sure what she'd expected as a reaction, but it wasn't that.

"I--" She laughed a little breathlessly and shook her head, dragging one hand back through her hair. "I don't even--what do you mean, why? You're my friend, you loon," she laughed awkwardly, cheeks coloring a bit. "I've never had a friend like you. I've never known anyone like you. And I don't..."

She frowned, folding her arms tight across her chest and glancing down and away. "I don't even know...I don't think I'm in love with you, Idris, but I guess I could be. Someday. It's not like that, though, it just--"

She huffed again and shook her head briskly. "Fuck. I don't know, I just do."

[Goldie]

He shook his head with confusion. He didn't understand what she was saying. She was saying a lot of things, a lot of words, but...was he being dense again? He must be being dense. That was the only explanation.

"I'm sorry I don't...this is new and I don't understand and I don't want things to get ruined and I don't want you to feel uncomfortable and...and...what do I do? What do we do now? Are we supposed to kiss or...or hug?"

He shook his head, completely embarrassed and flustered, "I'm making things weird. I'm being weird. I'm making this uncomfortable."

[DragonSong]

"Oh Kia."

Adri groaned and dropped her head into her hands, but she was quick to shake herself and rush to assure him, "You're not—I mean not really—gods, this whole thing is so awkward."

She sighed and looked up at him with a small, almost shy smile. "And that's my fault. I'm sorry, I didn't... I wasn't very clear." She coughed lightly and scuffed one toe against the floor before taking a breath and continuing carefully, "I don't...know if ah, kisses is exactly what I was...meaning. And more importantly, I would only be interested in that if you wanted to, not just...felt like you should."

Eyes on the floor between them, she shifted her weight from foot to foot and murmured, "I've...never had anybody like you in my life before. Someone I could count on, who I cared about...someone like family."

The gang was the closest she's ever been to that, but it was just different. They'd all cared for one another, but there was a certain barrier you had to keep around your heart when you lived that kind of life, or the life itself would just...break you.

She didn't have to do that with Idris. It was new and exhilarating and terrifying.

"That's what I meant," she said quietly. "You're not just the best friend I've ever had, you're...you're the closest thing I've got to family, and I love you." She shrugged. "I just...wanted you to know that."