A Minute to Midnight [M] [Boysenberry!]

[Lion]

"And if you're not careful, she'll bite your dick off too," Rais said levelly. Hulu, although red in the face, blanched at that thought. As pleasurable as such an act was, it also left him with a very vulnerable appendage unnecessarily exposed. And Rais felt for a dagger along his belt. Jazad was busy eating, slurping at his ale and vaguely focusing what was going on.

Occasionally, Jazad's eyes flickered to Naadia underneath the table, and he cleared his throat.  Awkward.

"So when did you last see Anki, Hulu?"

"F-fuck...  Maybe day before last!  I-...shit, watch the teeth!" he hissed.  It was hard to focus on two things at once, but damn if he wasn't trying. "Anki was in here just earlier today!  A few hours ago... But he wasn't alone...  Fuck, I'm gonna..."

"You come and I'll slice your dick off myself," Rais growled and leaned in menacingly. "Anki was in here. Keep talking."  Hulu eyed the ivory mask, the cold expression making him unsettled.  Rais kept a hand on Hulu's face, holding his chin firmly to keep his eyes from glancing below, and refused to let him look away.

"He had men with him.  They came in really fast, kept close to Anki, who looked like...he'd been drugged or something. Not on the hookah drugged, but...maybe paralyzed. I dunno.  He was taken to the back. I tried to talk to him, but he was all out of it.  And one of the men shoved me off.  He-he-he- h-had a tattoo no his neck.  N-no.  A branding!  It was like crossed spears...inside a circle.  They went into the back...  And didn't come out."

Rais felt his stomach grow cold at the knowledge. So Anki did not leave of his own volition, and that made the stakes suddenly higher.

"Can I-I?"

Rais shoved his face away.  "And do not make a mess of my friend down below," he chided and moved up from the bench to let Hulu leave when Naadia was finished.

[Boysenberrybootstraps]

Naadia finished Hylus swiftly and returned to the bench, taking a long draft from Jazad's mug of ale, as her own was empty. "This doesn't sound good, Rais," she said to him.
Hylus quickly laced his trousers back up and left the building, not even bidding her goodbye. It was clear that they weren't going to be getting anything more from him.
Fortunately, Naadia had very dexterous hands, and had managed to steal his leather pouch. She tucked it into her own bag and leaned towards Rais.
"It looks like management didn't appreciate our method of interrogation... We'd better get out of here before the security shows up." She puts a few gold coins onto the table from Hylus's stash and stands, readying herself to leave, but stops herself.
She grasps Rais's hand and pulls him up, murmuring something into his ear...

[Lion]

Just as she pulled Rais up to leave, another man that had been lingering by the bar sauntered over to their table. Jazad stood at attention, wary of the moment. Sure, he didn't like Rais, but he wasn't going to let them get ploughed through by some muscled gladiator-type bastard that came barreling toward them.

Jazad moved forward and put himself between Rais and Naadia.  "Excuse me, my friend," he murmured. "We were just leaving."

"Damn straight you were leaving. We don't allow that kind of activity in our establishment," the bouncer growled, trying to stare them down. "Who do you think you are?"

"Rais, and me and my concubine were just leaving," he said quickly, bowing his head to the grumpy man, taking Naadia on his arm. Jazad swiveled his head around glared.  His concubine?  Really?  And he just let her blow another man?  Seemed legitimate.

Rais pulled Naadia along and Jazad followed, scowling.  "What was that?  She's a whore not your lover," he hissed once they were out on the street.  "Nobody would believe that."

[Boysenberrybootstraps]

Naadia took a deep breath, turned to Jazad, then slapped him, hard, across the face, leaving small marks from her nails.
"For your information, you cretin, he probably would have believed anything we had said. I'm very persuasive." She glared at him, then turned back to Rais. "It's about to rain. We need to get somewhere dry, I nicked something interesting from Hulu's bag." She lifted the flap of her own bag to show that Hylus's entire bag was inside.
"We should probably hurry, though. Before someone else tries to kill us."

[Lion]

The slap sent Jazad staggering backwards. He was stunned, staring to both of them with wide eyes.  That surprise quickly went to anger and although he made no move at this time, he wasn't about to let a whore strike him. She was not above reproach, even if Rais was next to her. If anything, it only made her a target.  She'd get her comeuppance, sooner or later.

"Hulu's pouch? Good, we'll take a look at it," Rais murmured and put an arm into hers as the rain began to pelt down on the Essyrni street.  The smells of dung and piss, lifted into the air and Jazad wandered along behind them.

"He said that one of the men that had Anki had branding on his neck.  Crossed arrows inside a circle," Rais continued, putting the hood of his cloak up and setting it just over his mask.  He helped hers up as well and kept close, watching the streets and anyone else that would be following them.  Still his cheek throbbed with that slap.

"Does that symbol ring familiar to you?" he asked.  "Something tells me Hulu knows more than he's letting on.  But he seemed scared."

"Ha, might have been that you threatened to cut his dick off," Jazad scoffed, taking the lead now and taking them to an opposing tavern across the way, where there was an awning to protect them from the rain. "I'll get us a room to discuss this more in private. I'm sure you two would like that, yes?"  He glowered at the pair and went inside.

Rais breathed outwardly. "My apologies for such terrible company."

[Boysenberrybootstraps]

Naadia smiles and pats Rais on the shoulder. "It's fine. I'm sure he'll be just as annoying tomorrow as he is today, but for now at least I have you to talk to." She looks out at people scrambling to get out of the rain, then back up at his mask. "I never got the chance to tell you hello, by the way... so hello." She looks back down sheepishly. After a few minutes she turns her head, hearing Jazad approaching. She opens the door just as he's about to, surprising him.
"Good, you're finally back. What took you so long?"

[Lion]

A greeting, now of all times? Frankly, Rais was a little amused by it, although his mask did not show it. His eyes did however, glinting with a small spark. "Hello," he greeted in return, smiling somewhat as she stepped into the inn.

Jazad stepped aside, sighing as if it were a great chore for him.  "There's a room upstairs for the two of you.  And because I need my peace and quiet, I took the one just beside you. I don't know why we didn't just go back to Anki's estate, but I'm sure people would think us even more suspicious if we did so," he murmured.

Rais pat the man on the shoulder, although recoiled in disdain.  "Thank you, Jazad. You're a good man."

"I'm a stupid man."

"Well, you're smart enough to realize that much," Rais chuckled and helped Naadia up to the room. "Very well, let's see what Hulu had in his leather pouch."

[Boysenberrybootstraps]

Naadia made sure to lock the door of the room behind her, then tried to close the window; she had to pull it a few times, eventually slamming it shut with a huff. She returned to the center of the room, removing her hood, followed by the belt on her robe. She opened the front and tossed it onto the bedpost. Her tail swung a bit as she stretched it.
"Ah, that's better..." she sighed. Although her clothes were very damp, her skin was already dry. She bought her bag to the bed and pat beside her, indicating that Rais should follow her.
"Come, let's have a look... and you should lay your clothes by the fire to dry." She pointed to a small fireplace across the room.

[Lion]

The click of the lock was a much needed relief and he moved to shrug his cloak off his shoulders, the rain outside made the room chilly and he made short work of the kindling beside the fireplace. The fire soon ignited although it was not with the magical touch Naadia had previously displayed in her own bedroom.

He got out of most of his wet garments but kept on an only slightly damp tunic and his trousers, shifting over to sit beside her.  "You're pilfer often?" he muttered, curious and his tone somewhat amused. "Obviously you have skilled hands, but Hulu didn't even feel that when you took it off him, did he?"

As the contents were spilled out, Rais carefully pushed the coins around as well as a scrap of paper that had been carefully rolled up with it.

[Boysenberrybootstraps]

Naadia smiled at his compliment. "Hulu tends to have aa hard time multitasking, holding a conversation while having his cock sucked is a stretch for him."
She leans over to look through the pile of gold, her breasts getting in the way of her seeing them. "Damn," she mutters.
She leans back, then picks up the note, opening it gingerly.

Hylus.
Continue as you have been and the gold will keep coming.
If anyone comes to you asking about a certain Anki, give them what they want and report back to us.
I want to know who to expect.
The ink at the bottom of the note is smudged, leaving the signed name illegible, but the crossed-spears next to it are intact.

"Rais... I think we've been played. Hulu knew that people would come in asking for him... I'm just glad we picked a different place to stay for the night..."

[Lion]

Reading that note sent a chill down Rais's back. The room sealed in the heat from the fireplace, but he felt as if there was a draft in and his breath hitched. "Damn," he sighed and looked at the gold pieces instead.

"I knew it was too easy," he griped. "A man like Hulu doesn't just give up information like that, even in the midst of being fellated. At this rate, we're never going to find Anki."

He looked turned the coin over in his hands.  "This isn't gold branded with the symbol of Hakeshna," he muttered. "Looks weird...like it's been pressed with the symbol of Hakaad.  A group of slave traders deep in the Moraki desert.  Strange to find their gold in Essyrn."

[Boysenberrybootstraps]

"The Moraki desert..." Naadia seemed to lose herself in thought for a moment. She had never ventured into the desert outside the city walls, although it was the home of the Djinns. As a twig snapped in the fireplace, she was roused from her daydream. She looked over at Rais; although his face was hidden by the mask, she could tell he was troubled.
"Rais... We'll find him. Between the two of us, we've got the means. Well, three of us if you count... whoever that annoying man is that you were traveling with."
She reaches up to stroke his jaw, looking up at him with her golden eyes. She leans up and pulls him into a soft kiss, gentle and curious.

[Lion]

Rais' breath hitched at her comforting touch. To think that this venture might take them beyond the city walls was in truth a little unnerving. Essyrn was one a grand empire, a nation that stretched sheer across the continent. What was left of it was beautiful and sacred and it was the place that Rais now called home. Except if Anki wasn't found, that home would be long gone.

He closed his eyes at the feeling of her kiss. Her lips were soft and the kiss was chaste compared what else they had done. It was almost sweet, and he found himself leaning into it, moaning softly  Strange.

"Why did you kiss me?" he asked, eyes searching her features and reaching up to gently grasp her wrist, running his thumb along the skin of her hands, an inconsequential touch, but intimate all the same.

[Boysenberrybootstraps]

"It felt... right." She said softly, looking away. She looked back up at him. "We shouldn't go searching for anyone in this rain. The room's been paid for for the night and you probably need to rest... or relax, at least."
Naadia put all of the things back into the satchel and put the satchel back into her bag. She stood next to the bed, where Rais was kneeling, and put her hands on his shoulders.
"Let me take care of you..."
She pushed him onto his back, more softly than before, and sat beside him, her pendulous breasts very close to his face.

[Lion]

Rais knew better than to argue with her. The stress of Anki's abrupt disappearance and what little they found so far in terms of leads was rather daunting. Even if he didn't outwardly show it, he was very aware of his own body's tension.  They weren't going anywhere any time soon.

Rais laid back against the bed as she coaxed him into doing and he relented his space to her.  "How can you relax at a time like this?" he replied, but the smirk on his lips were playful and he leaned up to gently bring his face against her chest, pressing lips to her warm flesh.  She smelled wonderful and her aura already brought a sense of comfort. 

A chill ran down his spine and his arms felt around her, calloused hands pressing into her skin. "Are you sure? I wouldn't ask you to work unpaid," he said. "It wouldn't be right." Any uncertainty that he might not want to could easily be quelled by the sight of the growth that bulged from his pants.

[Boysenberrybootstraps]

She moaned softly as he kissed her breast, smiling a little. She pulled his member out of his breeches and straddled him, wordlessly aligning his member with her already slick folds. As she lowered her hips onto his, she sighed, the feeling of him penetrating her bringing her no small amount of satisfaction. She guided his hands to her breasts and began to roll her hips on his, slowly but surely moving on his shaft.
"It's not work if I want to do it... I'm not going to charge you every time, love..."
As she rode him gently, a sharp breeze hissed through the window, causing her nipples to stiffen. "I thought I closed that window..."

[Lion]

Rais gasped the moment​ their bodies connected. Feeling himself slide within her untill they were flush to the hilt. A tilt of his head brought their motion into vision and he could see his member sliding in and out from her slick heat.

"Hakeshna...," he breathed outward, a soft sigh. His hands gripped her breasts, squeezing and massaging them as they hardened from the drafty window.  He rolled his hips deeply and slowly beneath hers.  The draft touched his face as he turned his head and hie grunted.  But not from pleasure.

"Hey! Somebody was just looking at us!" he panted, and he heard footsteps quickly departing.

[Boysenberrybootstraps]

"What?!" Naadia yelped sharply. She sprung off of the bed and shot a fireball the window, knocking the glass clean out of its  frame. Without hesitation, she leapt out onto the wet ground, tripping over a barrel. "Damn it..." she shouted to Rais, "come on!"

[Lion]

Of course she would jump off him in the middle of it. He couldn't have moved with her on top anyway.  As her fireball obliterated the glass he fumbled to stuff his member back into his pants and scrambled off the bed.

The rain was much more persistent now and as he stared down at the alley below he dropped the ten feet and landed with a roll. "Wait!" he called out for her in pursuit, following after she got to her feet. 

And there ahead of them was the figure that was putting more and more distance between them.  Lithe and not very tall, clad in black robes and soon vaulting himself over a side wall.

[Boysenberrybootstraps]

Naadia quickly regained her feet and began to run after the voyeur. Her bare feet seemed to not slow her down, instead giving her a bit of extra grip in the mud through which she was running.  Her long legs helped her to catch up to the figure, but it was quite fast despite its short legs.
Her eyes burned with determination, glowing gold with anger.
She could not forgive someone who got in the way of her getting some.