[
@Kada]
Lapis sat under the shade of a shop awning, sipping at a cool, yogurt-based drink and desperately trying to pretend that she had nothing to do with the half naked man lounging in the seat next to her, practically shimmering from the sheer amount of jewelry that dangled from his person.
A task that became significantly more difficult to accomplish when he leaned in close and slung his arm around the back of her own seat, positively purring, "Lapis, darling, won't you at least
look at me? You aren't still mad, are you?"
Face burning, and for once not because of the Essyrni heat, Lapis Lazuli deliberately turned her head away from him and took another long drink. She could feel the eyes of the marketplace lingering on them; most shoppers only spared them a cursory, vaguely curious glance before moving on--they probably assumed he was a lesser merchant prince, treating his concubine to a day out.
A fact which Zahir had
shamelessly taken advantage of earlier that day, and which she still had not forgiven him for.
"Oh,
come now." The djinn leaned closer, twirling a finger absently through one of her braids. She scowled and batted his hand away, and he retreated with a laugh, both hands raised peaceably. "You must admit, it got us out of there faster."
"I
must not do anything, particularly for
you," Lapis snapped, then winced. Damnit. She'd been determined not to talk to him at all. She'd made it nearly three hours before breaking.
"There it is!" Zahir swooned dramatically, laying a hand over his heart and letting his lashes flutter against his cheeks. "Ah, the sweet dulcet tones of my mistress's voice. How I've missed it!"
"Zahir, be
quiet, for the love of the goddess!" Lapis hissed as she looked around, mortification growing with every second.