Bending Fate [M] [Goblin]

[Juno]

Akakios was quick to follow his slave once he'd said his goodbyes. He watched him with hungry eyes and grabbed him by his arm once the door was shut behind them. Toren didn't look at his master even as he stiffened at his touch. He already knew what he was after, already knew the vampire was not sated by Petal's blood alone. It was an unfortunate routine he was familiar with, but he allowed himself to be pulled away to Akakios's bed for the night to shield her and others of the house from the violent rampage of bloodlust his master was quite known for.

By morning he was left pale and sore, writhing silently in his own personal hell as Akakios's venom pumped through his blood. He was sure he looked like a ghost after getting no sleep, but he couldn't stand to be near the vampire any longer when he finally rose to busy himself elsewhere.

With shaky hands he dressed himself and went down to the barren gardens, curious about what might have been done with it. Seeing it the same, though, and knowing Petal didn't know the house as he did, Toren decided to put himself to work setting out tools for her to eventually till the land and begin her delicate work of cultivating the soil. Anything he could do to make her job easier was useful in his mind at least.

[GoblinFae]

Ladybird fell asleep not long after their departure despite her attempts to remain awake and read. Her sleep was pained and she woke early to an especially bruised and sore throat THST made even sipping water an arduous task. She did not remain abed long though. With the house seeming relatively quiet, she decided that it would be prudent of her to return to her work in the garden where she could be left alone to work unobserved.

"Toren!" She cried out hoarsely in surprise. "I didn't expect you here," she added as she moved to stand beside him. It was then she noticed how pale he looked. "Are you alright? Have you taken ill?" Her moved to feel his forehead but hesitated at the last moment as she realized what she was doing. "Sorry," she murmured sheepishly instead.

[Juno]

He nearly dropped what he'd been holding when he heard her, his hands fumbling clumsily to keep hold of it as he turned his head slowly to look at her. His eyes grew wide with worry for her to see him like that, and it pained him to know it was so very obvious to someone he'd known for so little time and it had been noticed that something was different about him.

Scrambling for some answer or excuse he stared at the ground and desperately tried to think of something believable to her that wouldn't accuse his master of anything he'd done. Thankfully his wounds were hidden beneath his clothes today, the most prominent and painful being a pair of bruised marks upon his shoulder. "Oh... I'm alright, don't worry about me. Just a little chilly this morning I guess," he lied. In reality he felt like he was burning up as his body fought with itself. He was tired and slow and hadn't gotten any rest at all.

Toren noticed the way she'd withdrawn her hand, but he tried not to take it personally. If nothing else he knew he couldn't hide the way his skin probably burned to the touch or the dark circles under his eyes marring his skin."Don't be sorry, I shouldn't even be out here. I was trying to make sure you had everything out here that you might need, but...well I guess I'm working quite slow today," he apologized. "Is there anything missing that you want me to bring for you?"

[GoblinFae]

She pursed her lips in obvious displeasure as if fighting to bite back words she would later regret. "Toren you're making my instincts to mother you increasinly more difficult to resist. It's obvious you don't feel well. There's no sense in false bravado around me. I am your friend after all aren't I?"

Ladybird moved closer to him, looping her arms around one of his and hugging it closely as she watched his face with great concern. "While I greatly appreciate your help here Toren and am very touched by it I do not wish it at the expense of your health. I'm worried about you, truly," she told him before biting her lip unconsciously.

[Juno]

He struggled not to laugh at her admission, his eyes going wide with surprise that she had any thoughts of mothering him at all. After all, he was certain he looked much older than she did and it didn't occur to him that she might have meant it in a different way than a literal sense. "You are, you are," he chuckled nervously, distracted by a sudden, sharp stabbing as her innocent hug wretched a pained cry from his lips that he quickly tried to stifle.

Toren leaned closer to her so that his tender wounds wouldn't be jostled any more and gave her hand a gentle pat of apology, trying desperately to assure her as best he could that it was not her directly that had caused him pain. "I'm sorry," he whispered, gulping and wiping his brow of the fine sheen of sweat that had been brought on by the pain. He took a moment to quietly collect himself, beating back the pain from showing so plainly on his face so he could feel comfortable speaking with her. He desperately didn't want to have to explain to her the circumstances that caused him such pain now, but he knew he would tell her at least a partial truth if she pressed him for it.

"Truthfully I am not well, Miss Hornwort, you're right. I'll be well again soon enough, but I really don't want you to worry about me so much. I'm well enough to move a few things around for you and I am very happy to do that, I promise. I like feeling useful. Being idle makes me restless here because there's always something that could be done," he tried to explain, unsure if she would understand his reasoning.

[GoblinFae]

Being so close to him, Ladybird did not miss the sound of his pain despite his efforts to smother it. Instantly, her gaze snapped to his face in worry and concern. "Oh Toren," she softly cried out as she gently took his hand in hers and led him to sit on a bit of broken wall. "How can you expect me not to worry?" she muttered back while pressing the inside of her wrist to his forehead. Her eyes widened to feel the fire burning under his skin.

"You have a fever! There's a difference between being idle and getting well; you should be in bed!" Ladybird cupped his cheeks in her hands, feeling more worried as she realized how clammy and heated the skin there was. "Friendship goes both directions, it isn't just you taking care of me but also me taking care of you, my poor friend."

The woman shook her head, looking as if she would cry as she caught her lip between her teeth. "Please come to the kitchen with me. I'm sure there's something in there that can help with the pain and sickness you must be feeling. I can't bear to see you suffer like this, Toren. Please?"

[Juno]

Toren let himself be guided but he felt pitifully weak to have Petal pointing out how feverish he was. He knew it was probably useless to deny it. "I'm fine, really! It isn't as bad as it seems, just a bit warm that's all," he tried to dismiss, wincing as he let her touch his warm face.

He hated that she looked so miserably sad on his behalf and he tried to look less hurting for her benefit but he knew she'd already seen through it at her prompting to go find a remedy. "It would be a waste of your time, Petal, honest. I've tried a lot of things and nothing ever works. Best to just...let it take its course, but if you really want to see for yourself then...I guess I can," he finally talked his way into agreeing, knowing he didn't officially have anything he was assigned to be working on at the time.

"Come on, just don't take too long or I'm sure Akakios wouldn't be pleased to see you tending to me," he warned, standing slowly to try to lead her back inside.

[GoblinFae]

"And why would he care? Surely he would not wish you ill and unable to do your job. He does pay you to work after all and a sick worker is best kept at home. Come Toren," she urged soothingly, "I'm sure some mint and white willow bark will do nicely to cool that fever of yours and dull some of the ache I'm sure your poor bones must be feeling."

Ladybird stayed close to him as she guided him by the arm to the kitchen, a wary eye nearly always watching him to ensure he would not suddenly faint on her. She was immensely worried about her new friend and completely baffled by his reluctance to be cared for. It was soon brushed away though as a male disposition to take care of himself without a woman's gentler touch.

"Now you sit and don't get into trouble while I figure out what can be done for you, Toren. You weren't feeling this poorly yesterday were you? Oh Toren please tell me you weren't sick when you were looking after me! I would feel so awful knowing you were ill and still looking after me when you should have been resting." She bit her lip, one hand pressing over her mouth at the horrors her own mind was conjuring. "My poor friend," the young woman whispered softly to herself.

[Juno]

Toren could only wince for her naive understanding of his station, but he followed her obediently despite all her odd looks that had him feeling incredibly guilty for trying to hide from her. He desperately held a hand up to try to stop her frantic worrying after getting himself situated on a chair for her to treat him. "No, I was fine yesterday! I promise," he sighed, feeling sad and as if she might not take his word and simply believe him.

"Please don't worry over me so much, it isn't worth the time. I'll take whatever it is you'd like me to try...bark things. But my master has greater claim to me than any salary ever could." Truly the slave was unsure of how to explain such a thing to her. Would she even want to know? Would she be disgusted by him for knowing such an existence? Would he ruin her agreement with his master over it?

He wavered between telling her and not telling her for a while, watching her with a look of pure guilt despite having done nothing but conceal the truth from her. "He has never cared about any illness unless I truly cannot work with it. He accepts if I truly cannot but I know he must resent me for it. I am not kept on with a salary, though, as wonderful as that would be. He...owns me. I'm his property. Everyone is here. Except for you, of course," he chuckled nervously. "It has always been this way. He has owned me since the day of my birth.

"But please...don't let that trouble you at all. I only wished for you to know my circumstances. If I do not do as he wishes I am punished, simple as that."

[GoblinFae]

She listened quietly and without judgement as he spoke and she bustled about the kitchen to find the ingredients she needed and to heat some water for tea. It upset her to know that Toren was a slave but not for the reasons that he feared. Ladybird was not fond of slavery despite living in a country where it was prevalent. To know that her friend was bound since birth to a life of servitude saddened her.

"Toren," she started clearly once he had finished, her eyes not leaving his face, "I want to thank you for your trust in me to share something so personal. I am sure it was very difficult for you. However, I wish you to know that this will not affect our friendship. You are a person and still my friend so don't think for a second I'm letting you out of that," she told him playfully with a smile and a wink.

Once more serious though she continued, "for your sake I will try not to get you in trouble with Lord Reolaras but I still very much care for you and your well-being Toren. If you are truly concerned about this," she waved her hand towards what she was doing, "then you can truthfully tell Akakios you are helping me with my research. You did promise to help me find something that would lessen the pain. I'm sure a flu's pain is something in comparison to that of a bite. It's definitely a start. If he truly has a problem with it then he can take it up with me. I do not fear him and I have committed no wrong."

[Juno]

He didn't think it was as big of a thing as she seemed to think it was. It was no secret, really, and he suspected she truly hadn't realized it before. Still, he smiled kindly at her for her continued playfulness. She was a good person, he had no doubts about that.

"Thank you. It's as much for you as it is for me. I don't know how he'd feel about you spending your time here on me instead of your work. I'll try not to let him know, unless he seems suspicious." He watched her preparing the tea in silence for a few moments, praying it would not taste awful once she had him try it. "It....isn't a flu," he admitted with a wince. He felt, again, like he was lying to her by omission. "But I hope your tea helps. I just don't wish to strain your business with him."

[GoblinFae]

Ladybird glanced up at him pointedly as her head remained lower over her task. "This is my work. If he wishes our other contract to continue for a lengthy amount of time while he finds someone better suited then I truly feel I will need this as much as the next person. I wish you no harm and would not try anything I myself would not try so I see no harm." She returned to her work, shredding leaves and counting them quietly in her head. "You need not hide though Toren. I feel I have nothing to hide and it is better things are in the open then for assumptions be allowed to be made. I have already been on the wrong end of them once before with him and I would much rather not have to prove myself innocent over guilty again for him."

Her movements stilled slightly before resuming in a whirl as hot water was poured and leaves and bark were dropped in to steep. She tried not to react further to his admission though she now suspected exactly what the fever and pains were from. It did not please her to know though that if her assumptions were true, Akakios had needed still further feeding after his rather brutal attack upon her own person. He had claimed once or twice a week was enough and yet it seemed to her he had decided twice in one day was more his liking. It made her pause and ponder if she was not enough, not that was her concern but if it meant that Toren had to suffer because of it then she was most concerned and upset. She did not want to be found lacking in upholding her contract after all.

She quickly let the thoughts go though and took a seat beside Toren, offering him a cup as she took one herself. "Can't hurt if we both have some I suppose. I hope it helps and I'm sorry if it's a bit bitter." At this she glared down slightly at her own cup. "I do so hate mint," Ladybird muttered with slight disgust. "Thank you for your help this morning though," she told him more brightly. "I should be able to get to work with some of the digging and delegating it out now that the leaf litter has been just about cleared. I admit a bit of excitement though. I always do love seeing the bare bones and knowing its only the beginning to what may come. I just hope he'll approve of it once it's finished. I have such high hopes for it all."

[Juno]

Toren listened to her with his gaze averted and his head hung in slight shame for his only partial honesty about the situation. He felt she had a right to know eventually, but he was still frightened Akakios might squeeze it out of her that he'd talked.

Once he'd been handed the cup, though, he stared at it as it swirled slowly. He let the slight warmth of it creep into his skin, shivering as he realized how cold he was feeling despite the fever. Toren gulped down about half of it as she continued to speak, humming for her excitement. "I only hope it doesn't eat too much of your time. Akakios neglected it for this long, so I certainly hope he can wait for perfection to happen," he sighed, staring at his muddled reflection. Even there he looked pale and sickly and he hated himself for it.

"Don't let him rush you. Or discourage you. He's a very picky man but sometimes I don't think he even knows what he wants, just that he doesn't particularly like something... Just don't let him suck all the fun out of it for you," he said, idly swirling the liquid left in his cup with a gentle move of his hand. "This is...okay. Thank you. If I feel any difference at all...how long do you think it might be?"

[GoblinFae]

"You worry too much, my friend," she responded with a warm smile. "I know it's a job and I really do take it seriously but I can't help but look at it as a side-challenge or hobby. As for the other thing well," Ladybird paused to sip her tea with a self-assured expression, "I have sisters. After them, I'm confident enough that he won't be able to manipulate or deter my enthusiasm too much. After growing up with the two of them there is little that upsets me. Not that my sisters are bad people just, siblings are trying I suppose."

She drank her tea quietly for a moment while thinking about his question and what she knew about the herbs she had used in it. "An hour at most I suppose. For the pain at least. The mint should have a more immediate, soothing effect provided you like it. It's supposed to help take the bitterness out of it too."

[Juno]

"I...wouldn't really know," he shrugged with an apologetic smile. "But I'm glad you're more...sturdy than most. You're going to need it." Such a short amount of time was surprising to hear and he sincerely hoped that it would work for them both. "It's....interesting," he conceded, tasting a bit more of her concoction. "It definitely leaves a....tingling sort of feeling in my mouth. Is that normal? Or bad? I don't think I've ever had much mint before," he confessed. "I would have remembered this...sensation." Toren played with his tongue a bit, his face screwing up slightly as he tried to determine if there was any actual pain in the feeling.

Upon waking from a short rest Akakios was immediately aware of the fact that his slave was no longer warming his bed. It wasn't at all unusual for Toren to want to get back to his regular routine rather quickly but that didn't leave the vampire any less hopeful and restless for an easy second round. Yet, the currently unobtainable Petal was even more so on his mind in that regard.

He rose to wander about his chambers a bit, resetting his belongings to where they should have been and dressing himself for a day holed up at his desk. His mind was still in a slight haze of blood lust. His recent feasting had left him greedier than before and feeling more ravenous than he'd been in a long while with a new source to feed from. Akakios couldn't get the taste of her out of his mind and he was ready to break their agreement right then and there if it meant he could just feed from her again.

Gorging himself in such a way would have been dangerous, though, and despite his desires he knew they were illogical in actuality. That didn't stop him from envisioning the young shopkeeper tied to his bed and at his mercy in all the ways that he desired her.

If he wanted that so badly he knew he could have gotten it, but he also had no desire to break her independent spirit for now. It would do him no good to ruin the potential improvements she could bring to his home nor her contractual obligation to feed him if he remained patient for her. The thought of shackling himself to the schedule they'd established long-term was maddening, but he was sure he could coax her out of it once they were more established and she more trusting in him.

He certainly had no intentions of finding another source when his current one was so delicious and, frankly, intoxicating. No, he wanted her for now and once he grew bored of whatever differences she held in her blood he would then find another, but not a moment sooner.

[GoblinFae]

Ladybird giggled, understanding exactly what he feeling he was experiencing. "That's normal for the mint. Isn't it strange though how you can be drinking hot tea and yet have a cooling sensation in your throat? I usually prefer peppermint for this reason but its health benefits aren't quite as good from my understanding. Granted I'm no apothecary so what do I know anyway."

She sighed and shook her head slightly. "Toren do you know if anyone specific was assigned to assist with the garden work or if I need to ask Akakios for more assistance? I should probably get some more work done. There's a lot of ground that needs digging and tilling to try and get some life back into it. I'd like to plant some of the fall squashes before the seasons change and get too cold otherwise I'm not likely to be able to enrich the soil much for quite some time. I already know he doesn't approve of delays thanks to Agehneim."

[Juno]

Relieved the tingling didn't mean anything bad was happening to him, Toren nodded in agreement with her. He pondered her words about the garden work for a moment, trying to remember if his master had mentioned anything to him about it. "I don't think he mentioned anything to me, but I'd be happy to help you out if he'll allow me to," Toren offered before finishing off his tea so that he would get the full effect of what she'd wanted him to try. "I don't know much about planting...or gardening... but I take instruction well. I could ask him for you...if you'd prefer, though."

[GoblinFae]

She smiled while biting part of her bottom lip indecisively. "Well I wouldn't want you getting into trouble, Toren. Akakios certainly seems to rely on your assistance heavily. What would you be doing normally if I wasn't here? And don't worry yourself about asking him. I can go up and do it myself. My neck may hurt but my legs aren't broken," she laughed, trying to keep the mood light.

"As for the work though, it isn't very complicated just rather labor intensive. I'm more worried though that it may make you more ill or hurt more my friend. Even with the tea it is best to not exacerbate the issue wouldn't you agree?"

[Juno]

"I'm well enough to be up, so I'm well enough to work if you need me," he tried to assure her, not wanting her to feel bad about asking him for help just because he'd been forced to expose weakness to her.

"My normal work is mostly...running errands for him when he is busy, which he almost always is. I keep up the house, assign tasks...I suppose I just serve as an extension for him of sorts to manage everyone and make sure everything gets done that needs to be. Usually that isn't much, but he's very particular as I'm sure you know. When he decides he wants something or that something needs to be done it has to happen quickly. I guess that's where I come in," he explained, shrugging because he didn't feel like it was all that important.

"If you'll let me and I'm not busy I would like to help you. Your job is mostly design and planting, right? You shouldn't have to do all the tilling and clearing," Toren sighed, shaking his head at the idea of her doing all of that herself for such a large garden. "Or I can go find him for you. Don't tire yourself out for his sake."

[GoblinFae]

"I would more than welcome the assistance as long as you're positive that there is nothing else you must attend to. Really though the labor isn't all that bad, Toren. Help though is forever appreciated and Akakios did promise that as well though I'm sure not personally." Ladybird giggled at the thought. "I can hardly imagine him digging out there in the hot sun, can you?"

She sighed and relaxed some once her giggling settled and shook her head. "If you want I can show you what needs getting started on and then I can go find him and ask for others to assist. Would keep you happy then that I'm not playing in the dirt," she teased, sticking the tip of her tongue out quickly.