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Just a Harmless Holiday

Started by pomelo, April 21, 2017, 10:31:23 AM

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pomelo

[[Tags to @Lion!!!]]

The world was moving. This way, then that way. This way, then that way. And the world wasn’t only moving, it was… fuzzy. And heavy. And moving. This way, then that way. This way, then that way. But try as she might, Zahi Akello could not manage to open her eyes. Or, for that matter, muster much of a will to move. She was… fuzzy. Her eyelids and her arms felt were made of lead. She should just sleep. That was easiest. The appeal of it weighed down on her like a warm, heavy blanket. It would be so easy…

Where was she again? Even in her muddled consciousness, Zahi was aware that she didn’t know. She didn’t know where she was.

This way, then that way. This way, then that way.

Something in her brain tried to raise the alarm. But it was hard. Zahi felt so… relaxed. And heavy. And fuzzy. But where was she? What was the last thing she could remember?

Quinlan. She was with Quinlan in some dingy tavern room. Drinking whisky. Why had he been there? Zahi racked her muddled mind. Selevea. They had been in Selevea. It streamed in Zahi’s mind like reflections on water. Moving this way, then that way. This way, then that way. They’d been hunting traffickers. Human traffickers. No. They hadn’t been. She had been there with Tallinn. Quinlan had been… no. He hadn’t been involved. In the end, he hadn’t. And worse, he had helped Zahi and Tallinn bring the trafficking operation to light. And crumbling down. Just one last night, that’s what he told her. One last night together. One last drink. One last drink together before they disappeared from each other’s lives.

One last drink.

”He put something in my drink,” without realizing it, Zahi mumbled the words out loud. And with a groan, she turned where she lay, rolling onto her side. She sleepily ran a hand over her face. With another groan and an unreasonable amount of effort, she opened her eyes. The brown, then the hazel. And immediately she blinked, screwing her eyes shut again. Sunlight streamed into her vision. She took a moment to adjust, then opened her eyes again. It was a small, clean room full of bright sunlight and surprisingly fresh air. She was in a narrow, hard bed under loose and scratchy linen and, she realized, partially dressed in only her smallclothes. Where was she?

Then she raised her head enough to look out of the window. There was nothing. Wait, nothing. Just onething. An endless blue sky, and rolling blue waves.

With a start, Zahi tried to get up off the bed, but barely managed to raise herself before the heavy effects of whatever had put her to sleep plopped her right back onto the bed.

”I’m going to kill him.”

Lion

He was there. Drinking whiskey in that dingy room. He was there when he managed to coax Zahi away. And he was there when he asked Tallinn to take her on a vacation, to which Tallinn whole-heartedly agreed was an excellent idea, because Zahi didn't know how to have fun. And if there was one thing Quinlan was good at was having a good time. At least when it counted. If anyone deserved a holiday, it was Zahi.

Truthfully, there could have been better ways to go about it. He could have easily just asked if she wanted to get away for a night, or two, or ten. Although past experiences told him just how well that would have played out in the end. Zahi was a stubborn as an old owl in her barnyard nest, fully content to just glower at the world down below and fluff out any ruffled feathers.

But deep down even Quinlan knew she wanted those feathers pet, calmed down, and eased. Not everyone could be so stubborn, so hardscaled, so formidable all the time. Even Zahi - granted it was a bit of a stretch with her. So when the opportunity presented itself, he took it, knocked her out and carted her away to a far away land. It wouldn't be for long so the journey was rushed and making sure Zahi didn't wake up while the boat rocked to and fro on it way to Kunata.

But damn it would be worth it.

She was going to kill him. He knew this going in.  But if anything Quinlan Duirne was a glutton for punishment. And when that punishment's name was Zahi Akello, he was ready to be flayed. That being said, he was still careful to have her quietly stashed away in the room of that trade ship.

It was going to be perfect.

Until she woke up, anyway.  Quinlan had been sleeping beside her, dead tired when the sun came up in that small room. He raised his head and glanced over to her, seeing her try to get up only to fall back down again onto the hard cot. It was small, but it had plenty of room for hardcore spooning. Didn't need much room for that.

"Easy there, chocolate," Quinlan murmured, pushing himself up from his side to catch her and put an arm around her waist. He leaned in to kiss her shoulder. "You had a nasty spill on the way here. I had to stitch your forehead on the left temple. Don't worry, you didn't bleed out too much."  Damn that was one hell of a sedative though.




Like to kill mages?  Join the Order!
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"Go into battle determined to die and you will survive.  Go into battle hoping to live and surely you shall not." -Bushido proverb
"Life is a series of dogs." -George Carlin
"We must view with profound respect the infinite capacity of the human mind to resist the introduction of useful knowledge." -Thomas R. Lounsbury
"If a cosmic tree falls in the universal forest and nobody is evolved enough to hear it, does it make a sound?" -Unknown

pomelo

Zahi moved to elbow the damned blood mage away when he kissed her elbow - Kia's tit's, had she really not even realized he was there behind her - but the motion just turned into a weak push of her arm against his. She was going to kill him.

And yet. It was probably just the light, airy feeling that was the side-effect of the sedatives wearing off, but there was something 'nice' about having his arm around her waist. And part of her wanted to lean back into him and go back to sleep. The stupidest, weakest part of her; and she was already annoyed with that part. It was the drugs. It had to be.

Slowly, as though she were trying to move underwater instead of above it, she turned herself so she could face Quinlan. She frowned at him, eyes narrowed a little. She was trying to look angrier, but she was still so groggy, she couldn't quite muster it.

"We both know that's shit, Quinlan," she told him, voice still thick and heavy. "You have 30 seconds to tell me what's really going on before I skin that nasty, scarred hide off of you. Slow like."

Lion

Quinlan had gotten good over the years of making himself as inconspicuous as possible. Gods knew he'd gotten himself into plenty of trouble even some of which was uncalled for. This, however was completely called for and he just let the sedatives wear her out. The beating would so be worth it.

"No you have 30 seconds to take in a deep breath and smell that wonderful deep sea air. Because you, my dear butterfly, needed a fucking vacation after that mess in Selevea," Quinlan murmured and leaned in to gently kiss her. "Besides, I've been on the brunt of your wrath before. And it's kinda hot."

He grinned and slowly crawled over her, accommodating for the motion of the boat and he shoved her gently back into the bed.  "You don't remember what I said do you? Before you passed out? I'll repeat it because...Well, why not? You'll probably ignore it anyway," he said, trapping her against the wall on the other side of the bed. "I said 'I'm doing this because I love you.' And then you got all groggy and passed out. We're on our way to Thanatos."




Like to kill mages?  Join the Order!
The Order of St. Agratha

Help Rebuild Connlaoth from the ashes of war!
The Red Legion

Jump in the water's fine!
Desert Valley Nights
Wrong Turn

"Go into battle determined to die and you will survive.  Go into battle hoping to live and surely you shall not." -Bushido proverb
"Life is a series of dogs." -George Carlin
"We must view with profound respect the infinite capacity of the human mind to resist the introduction of useful knowledge." -Thomas R. Lounsbury
"If a cosmic tree falls in the universal forest and nobody is evolved enough to hear it, does it make a sound?" -Unknown

pomelo

Zahi did not return Quinlan’s kiss. Instead, true to form, she glared at him. She could hardly believe what he was saying. Except that she’d met Quinlan. Of course he’d do something idiotic like this. Silently, she cursed herself for ever agreeing to that last drink. ’One last drink,’ he’d said. Fuck him.

”You what?! You can’t just- !” she sputtered, the sedative starting to wear off a bit more.

But then she stopped. Partially because what do you even say to such a crazy scheme, but also because beyond glaring, she wasn’t sure how to react. He said, ”"Besides, I've been on the brunt of your wrath before. And it's kinda hot." Which meant that not only did he expect her to make an angry attack, but that he’d at least on some level like her to. And she was not giving him that! Nor was she going to agree that she ‘needed a vacation’ or at all imply she was anything less than deeply unhappy to be here. Most important of all, Quinlan could not win this!

And even with those two options gone, Zahi knew that just rolling over and giving him the silent treatment would be childish.

So she just glared at him. Then she cringed and frowned as he crawled over her and pushed her to the back of the hard cot. She opened her mouth to protest that there was definitely not room for both of them in the ship’s cot and that he should go fuck off for awhile, but her mouth quickly shut at Quinlan’s next words. Maybe too quickly.

”I’m doing this because I love you.

That was just a thing people say. She knew that. But he ‘just said’ it while very, very close. And somewhere in her gut she knew that the way he couched the words, in the middle of a story complaining about her passing out, only lent the words weight. Which made Zahi feel very awkward. Especially here, pressed against the back of the cabin, Quinlan inches away. It was just a thing people say.

So, instead of having an angry outburst like Quinlan predicted, Zahi closed her eyes and slowly let out a breath. Not like someone who was relaxing, but like someone who was summoning all of their patience to deal with an exhaustingly unreasonable person. Which, basically, she was. ”Quinlan,” she started, in the voice one might use to explain something obvious to a particularly obnoxious child, ”you can’t just kidnap someone to take them on ‘vacation.’ I don’t need vacation. I need less insane Connlaothians in my life. And,” she added pointedly, ”I need to get back to my job. I know that’s not a thing you know about, but some of us actually have responsibilities.”


Lion

Wow, she really did know how to make mountains out of molehills. Quinlan rolled his eyes, even visibly so that she could see see them disappear behind his eyelids and reappear right on the other side. It wasn't even like this was a legitimate kidnapping. People knew she was gone, they might not know where she was going or how long it would be or when she would be back, yet they were well aware she was in semi-trusted hands.

"Oh come on!" he groaned with a sigh. "You make it seem like I'm holding you for some kind of ransom. Which I totally could...  Hmm..."  He briefly considered it before  leaning on his side and leering at her. He propped himself up on his elbow and licked his lips, looking at her and her small clothes. He wanted to reach out and touch her, he wanted her to touch him and feel him and know that what he meant was true.

It was hard to break such a mendacious streak. Even harder to convince someone that with them, you never really lied.  "Funny," he murmured aloud, mid-thought, but said nothing of that. It would be some story-book nonsense. And he already had her right where he wanted her.

"Tallinn knows you're gone. In fact he recommended that I get rid of you. He wrote a letter to your superior saying you were taking a leave of absence for a short time, just a short one, although you did not make it clear when you would be back." Quinlan quickly explained and he casually let his hand tug at the band around her torso covering her breasts. He let his hand reach at her waist, feeling across her umber skin.

"Because, Zahi, you are overworked. So I thought...let me take you to the farthest possible place on the map, away from any mainland bullshit. Come on, is it really so bad to shirk your responsibilities for a weekened away - emphasis on away. We'll probably be gone longer than a weekend," he murmured and slowly leaned in, nipping her lower lip with his, kissing her again, with all the determination of a slow burn.




Like to kill mages?  Join the Order!
The Order of St. Agratha

Help Rebuild Connlaoth from the ashes of war!
The Red Legion

Jump in the water's fine!
Desert Valley Nights
Wrong Turn

"Go into battle determined to die and you will survive.  Go into battle hoping to live and surely you shall not." -Bushido proverb
"Life is a series of dogs." -George Carlin
"We must view with profound respect the infinite capacity of the human mind to resist the introduction of useful knowledge." -Thomas R. Lounsbury
"If a cosmic tree falls in the universal forest and nobody is evolved enough to hear it, does it make a sound?" -Unknown

pomelo

It was just as well that Zahi couldn't hear his thoughts. Because if she heard him say that equating 'being drugged and smuggled onto a ship' with 'being kidnapped' was building mountains out of molehills, she would have properly clocked him one. Then again, his overdone eye roll was more than enough, and she rapped him sharply on the side of the head.

Seemed like the seditive was wearing off.

But at the mention of Tallinn's name, Zahi's expression went from vaguely-annoyed to down-right stony.

"You talked to Tallinn about this?" she hissed angrily. And more than anger, the idea left Zahi feeling deeply embarrassed. It was one thing for Quinlan on his own to have some crazy idea and decide to execute it. It was something all together(!) for him to conspire with her partner and to have both men decide for her that she 'needed some time off.' Not that she was shocked to think Tallinn would be happy to see the back of her.

Which gave her another thought...

She pushed away his kiss. "Oh, you idiot," she complained with a new sense of urgency. Even after everything that had happened in Selevea, Zahi wasn't really convinced Tallinn trusted her. And this would be the perfect opportunity. "What if he doesn't deliver the letter, you useless... This is the perfect opportunity to just say, 'Akello abandoned her post, went back to her criminal background, betrayed our trust-', whatever he wants!"

As she explained, she struggled to climb over Quinlan. Where she was going to go, she wasn't sure. Maybe they weren't that far out to sea yet. Maybe they'd turn around. Maybe she could get on... who knows... like a fishing vessel or something. But even though she was recovering from the effects of the drug, she was still a bit clumsy, and failed in her effort, landing hard on top of Quinlan.

Nose-to-nose, she glared daggers at him. "I'm going to kill you, Red."

Lion

Ansgar's balls, there was something in her stony gaze that made her eyes light up. Of course it was a look he was familiar with and Quinlan chewed on his lower lip when she gave it to him. Anger made the eyes flare, even when you tried to control it, and with his gaze locked on hers, Quinlan was not at all perturbed by the fact that she was within inches of skinning him - and rather focused on something much more interesting.

"He will deliver the letter! He did help you in the investigation after all. Why wait until now to get at you instead of just watching you fail? In fact the latter would only solidify any thought as him trying to make you out to be incompetent. Tallinn delivered it," Quinlan groaned and let his body flop back against the bed uselessly.

Yeah he had no way of knowing for sure if the letter was delivered, but what point was there in thinking about it now. As ever Zahi was the optimist. 

"Besides you'll be back sooner than you know, and you'll be able to hang him by his hamstrings if you want. I'll even help you," Quinlan sighed and watched her climb over him. Why couldn't she just stay still?  Just enjoy the moment! Of course, the feel of her passing over him gave him a great view of her chest and legs. He wasn't picky about positions and he certainly had no qualms about her being on top.

With a gasp, she landed hard on him and Quinlan reached around her form to stabilize her. "No you're not," he murmured. "Not yet."  He grinned and pushed her hair back with one hand, kissing her brow. "Look, we've been at sea for a while now. We're on a trade vessel bound for Thanatos called the Iron Swan. Unless you can swim for days, you're not getting very far. Now, come on, just relax and let me make it up to you."  His throat purred out those last words and he kissed her again this time on the neck, clearly having no intention of letting her go any time soon.




Like to kill mages?  Join the Order!
The Order of St. Agratha

Help Rebuild Connlaoth from the ashes of war!
The Red Legion

Jump in the water's fine!
Desert Valley Nights
Wrong Turn

"Go into battle determined to die and you will survive.  Go into battle hoping to live and surely you shall not." -Bushido proverb
"Life is a series of dogs." -George Carlin
"We must view with profound respect the infinite capacity of the human mind to resist the introduction of useful knowledge." -Thomas R. Lounsbury
"If a cosmic tree falls in the universal forest and nobody is evolved enough to hear it, does it make a sound?" -Unknown

pomelo

"You're the one I'm going to hang by the hamstrings," Zahi growled, pushing herself away from Quinlan's attentions, "Did you think maybe Tallinn still would rather end a child trafficking ring than sabotage me? But you gave him a nice opportunity to do both."

With that, Zahi pushed hard off of Quinlan's chest – possibly pushing her weight a little higher on his chest than she needed to, but not quite at his throat. Once she was on her feet, Zahi did a rather inelegant sideways stagger as the ship's floor moved beneath her. She nearly staggered straight to the other side of the little cabin and fell straight back down, but she managed to right herself and took a few shaky steps to the cabin's little porthole, leaning against the brass frame once she was there.

Zahi looked searchingly out the window, as though checking whether or not it was too far for her to swim. Her anger in that moment wasn't just the standard grumpiness Quinlan always elicited from her. In truth, it was mixed with a kind of fear. That Quinlan's actions were shifting the sand beneath her feet. That, when she returned to Serendipity, she'd be back to square one. Jobless, alone, adrift. She'd worked hard to get where she was now, and she liked it. Though she wouldn't want to admit that she was happy to be doing something societally useful, the truth was that in a way she was. But she'd yet to earn the trust of half her colleagues, regardless of the often invaluable information she'd provided them. That she'd risked her life for theirs, the same way she would have for a fellow Soot Wolf, in the right circumstances. Most of them still looked at her and saw only a criminal. And Zahi was sure that her disappearing for Kia knew how long with a Connlaothian mercenary who'd just left the employment of a notorious crime boss would do little to improve that impression.

Fucking Quinlan. Brought her nothing but trouble.

She left him where he was, watching out the porthole with her back to him, in a grumpy, silent sulk. With the cabin below deck, the porthole only just looked out over the water, and an occasional wave submerged it, filling the round little window in an aquarium blue. Her eyes watched the play of the water. It was, though she would rather start the swim back to Serendipity than admit it, soothing in a way. At least it was until, in a sudden flash of black and gold, a yellow-sided dolphin leapt past the window and into the air.

Zahi visibly started at the sight, tensing and jerking slightly away from the window. In truth, she'd never been aboard a proper sea-faring ship before. And while she'd been a handful of times to the coast, she had never seen such a beast so close. And, when the first dolphin was followed by six companions, Zahi leaned closer again to the porthole, watching them with a curiosity she hoped Quinlan wouldn't see.

Lion

Quinlan did see it, and despite the steam boiling beneath her skin, he knew there had to be some upside to this. Untrue to his old self, he wasn't going to open his mouth and spoil her wonder just yet. She did have a point in that maybe he did talk a little too much. But perhaps that was what made their banter so enjoyable. He blabbered on, and when she had enough she showed him just how she wanted him to shut up.

He grinned a little, not quite thinking of all the things that were stewing in her head. As ever she would linger on the negative, and forget to enjoy the moment she was in. Until she backed away from the window and enjoyed the dolphins.

Quinlan, still quiet, rose from the bed, a little more used to the rocking of the vessel than she was - and undrugged to boot - and pulled his tunic back over his waist, slipping his trousers back on. It was chilly outside.  He reached for his jacket too, but instead of throwing it over his shoulders he placed it gently over hers and gave her back her pants.

"There's a better view up on deck," he said and opened the door for them to venture out into the hallway.




Like to kill mages?  Join the Order!
The Order of St. Agratha

Help Rebuild Connlaoth from the ashes of war!
The Red Legion

Jump in the water's fine!
Desert Valley Nights
Wrong Turn

"Go into battle determined to die and you will survive.  Go into battle hoping to live and surely you shall not." -Bushido proverb
"Life is a series of dogs." -George Carlin
"We must view with profound respect the infinite capacity of the human mind to resist the introduction of useful knowledge." -Thomas R. Lounsbury
"If a cosmic tree falls in the universal forest and nobody is evolved enough to hear it, does it make a sound?" -Unknown

pomelo

Zahi might have been 'enjoying' the view for the moment - not that she enjoyed anything, except maybe watching worms like Quinlan squirm - but that certainly didn't mean she was ready to forgive Quinlan, play nice, put on his jacket and go for some romantic stroll around the deck.

Fuck that. Fuck him.

So when he came over and tried to place the jacket over her shoulder, she shoved him fiercely away. But she took the jacket and, glaring, put it on herself. Looking very serious and professional, indeed, in just her small clothes and a mens jacket.

She glared daggers at him for a moment, nearly snarling then slowly moved back to the bed, plopping back down and sitting legs akimbo. But she was still glaring, and still frowning. "What the fuck are you after, Quinlan?" she asked. Her tone, as always, was disdainful and distrusting. Because, the initial annoyance at the situation aside. This situation was... weird. And if Quinlan's intentions were no more than he said, it was kind of, well, weirder. He just wanted to whisk her away? Take her on a holiday? Go for romantic strolls around the deck, looking at the dolphins that she knew he'd seen her look at and was inwardly seething about.

Her frown deepened. "Why are you doing this?" She paused, then added before he could repeat his earlier claim, "Really."

Lion

"Do you really think I would like to you? Just to take you away from your life and job in Serendipity for my own personal gain? Admittedly I don't be have the best track record, but if you really wanna know... It's because I give a shit about you. Yeah yeah, you think it's bullshit because you always do."

Quinlan shrugged and let his hand rub at his chest where she'd shoved against him. Because damn did she have a mean fucking shove.  And his heart speed up at that thought. He frowned however that she would really think all this was meant to deceive her somehow. To ruin her life.

"Because you're the great and ruthless Zahi and you don't need anyone or anything to take care of you. I didn't drag you here to 'take care of you're like some kind of ubermacho man. But ... I meant it when I said I love you. And fuck, I don't love anybody. Not like you, I guess," he shrugged and tucked his shirt into the waist of his pants.

"Why do you fight so hard against enjoying yourself, Zahi​?" he grumbled. "I would never do this to hurt you."




Like to kill mages?  Join the Order!
The Order of St. Agratha

Help Rebuild Connlaoth from the ashes of war!
The Red Legion

Jump in the water's fine!
Desert Valley Nights
Wrong Turn

"Go into battle determined to die and you will survive.  Go into battle hoping to live and surely you shall not." -Bushido proverb
"Life is a series of dogs." -George Carlin
"We must view with profound respect the infinite capacity of the human mind to resist the introduction of useful knowledge." -Thomas R. Lounsbury
"If a cosmic tree falls in the universal forest and nobody is evolved enough to hear it, does it make a sound?" -Unknown

pomelo

And now it was Zahi's turn to have her heart rate pick up a tick. Because... on some level, she believed him. On her more rational level, the more everyday Zahi, she believed him. And what did that mean? Because another level, a deeper level, protested against the very idea. She didn't trust him or anyone else who had ever claimed to care about her. Much less 'love' her. Because, in the end, it was never true. Or it was never true for very long.

If she chose to believe him, it made her feel... vulnerable. And Zahi didn't let herself be vulnerable.

If she chose to believe him, it begged the question of what did she feel about him. No. Nevermind. It was always better not to ask that question.

Unwittingly, some of this ebbed into her glare. She hadn't stopped glaring at Quinlan. Still, she didn't know what to say. And Zahi hated not knowing what to say. Especially if it was some dumb git like Quinlan that tied her tongue.

In the end, all she said, her eyes leaving Quinlan to look back out the window, "Drugging and kidnapping someone is a weird way to show you care about them." It was a half grumble, half mumble. Half to Quinlan, half to herself.

Lion

Quinlan was going to enjoy this trip with Zahi. Even if it killed her. Even if it killed him, and if she thought he was going to let her get away so easily she was dead wrong.  Quinlan didn't want to have to force her and her lack of enthusiasm - while completely unsurprising - was thoroughly frustrating.

"Yeah, well, you wouldn't have gone if I'd asked you," he shrugged.  And walked back to the door. "Look, do you wanna go up on deck? The dolphins are still splashing. They're nice. Or we can get some food. You have to be hungry after being out that long."

Quinlan sighed and waited by the cabin door, parting it. "If you just sit there, you'll miss it.




Like to kill mages?  Join the Order!
The Order of St. Agratha

Help Rebuild Connlaoth from the ashes of war!
The Red Legion

Jump in the water's fine!
Desert Valley Nights
Wrong Turn

"Go into battle determined to die and you will survive.  Go into battle hoping to live and surely you shall not." -Bushido proverb
"Life is a series of dogs." -George Carlin
"We must view with profound respect the infinite capacity of the human mind to resist the introduction of useful knowledge." -Thomas R. Lounsbury
"If a cosmic tree falls in the universal forest and nobody is evolved enough to hear it, does it make a sound?" -Unknown

pomelo

Silently, Zahi was grateful that Quinlan moved the conversation on as though he hadn’t said any of those uncomfortable things he’d said a minute ago. She could pretend for awhile longer - forever, if she could manage it - that he’d never said any of it. That she’d never heard it. And that suited her down to the ground.

When Quinlan mentioned the food, though, Zahi blanged; her rich brown complexion turning a little, well, green. The effects of the drug may have worn off her senses, but they still left her feeling sick at the thought of eating. Blehg. ”Oh no,” she replied hastily, looking thoroughly sick, ”I don’t think your sneaky drugs have worn off my stomach yet.”

It took her a minute to recover her composure. The last thing she wanted was another bucket incident. And when she finally pulled herself back together, her expression was… well if not ‘soft’, then certainly ‘softer.’ She knew as well as anyone, even if she’d never admit it, that as long as they stayed in the ship, being in a complete sulk was only childish. She’d have to dial it back to just being grumpy…

But she didn’t seem exactly grumpy when, looking back up at Quinlan, she inched back into the hard cot a bit and asked, ”Can’t we stay down here a little longer?”

Lion

She was free to sulk. That suited Quinlan just fine. But he was damned if he was going to let her stay that way once they got to Thanatos. He'd paid quite a bit of money for a cabin on this trade vessel. It was kinda nice to know they'd at least have some time to spend with each other out on the wide ocean.

Although he hadn't planned on Zahi getting seasick. Quinlan moved away from the door and shuffled over to the cot, plopping down beside her. The wooden frame and the cushioned mattress didn't offer much comfort. But if she wanted to lay on him to supplement that, he certainly wouldn't mind.

"Yeah," he murmured, smiling at her and giving a gentle nod. "We can just relax. It takes a while to get used to the boat." He reached up and pushed a stray hair from her face.  "I didn't think the drugs were gonna work, I'll admit. So I may have hit you on the head a little hard to make doubly sure. Sorry about that."

he chuckled and shifted himself on the bed so that he could face her. "Wanna lie down? No funny business," he said putting a hand on his heart. "Unless you want to. But no pressure."




Like to kill mages?  Join the Order!
The Order of St. Agratha

Help Rebuild Connlaoth from the ashes of war!
The Red Legion

Jump in the water's fine!
Desert Valley Nights
Wrong Turn

"Go into battle determined to die and you will survive.  Go into battle hoping to live and surely you shall not." -Bushido proverb
"Life is a series of dogs." -George Carlin
"We must view with profound respect the infinite capacity of the human mind to resist the introduction of useful knowledge." -Thomas R. Lounsbury
"If a cosmic tree falls in the universal forest and nobody is evolved enough to hear it, does it make a sound?" -Unknown

pomelo

If Zahi knew he thought she was seasick, she'd clock him one. Seasickness would, of course, be a weakness on her part. And Zahi obviously didn't have weaknesses on her own part. She was sick now because he drugged her. And, who knew, possibly gave her a concussion. Especially considering how he was treating her. With all this... gentle consideration. It was disgusting.

She swatted away his hand after he brushed back her hair. "I'm not some scared child you have to coo and coddle," she grumbled. She glared at him, frowning, but there was something different about it. A glint in her eye. "Don't forget," she warned, pushing him suddenly over, flat on his back on the little cot; she kept the pressure on him, pinning him down, "I can still skin you, Princess. Even drugged and bashed over the head."

Lion

"OH- fuck!" he yelped when she pushed him down against the hard cot and Quinlan had his head pressed deep against the pillow. The bed was terrible and he could feel the slats underneath as she pressed down against him, he gave her a half-scowl. Because of course she would make her stupid threats.

"No you won't. And you wouldn't! It'd be a hard body to dump. Gods, your fucking strong," he hissed and tried to sit up. So he did what had to do and wrapped arms around her, holding her tight and firmly rolling them over to pin her against the wall. "But it's nice to see being drugged hasn't made you any less grumpy."

Quinlan gave her a cheeky grin.




Like to kill mages?  Join the Order!
The Order of St. Agratha

Help Rebuild Connlaoth from the ashes of war!
The Red Legion

Jump in the water's fine!
Desert Valley Nights
Wrong Turn

"Go into battle determined to die and you will survive.  Go into battle hoping to live and surely you shall not." -Bushido proverb
"Life is a series of dogs." -George Carlin
"We must view with profound respect the infinite capacity of the human mind to resist the introduction of useful knowledge." -Thomas R. Lounsbury
"If a cosmic tree falls in the universal forest and nobody is evolved enough to hear it, does it make a sound?" -Unknown

pomelo

”One of these days,” Zahi hissed from beneath him after he turned them over, pinning her close against him, ”I will.”

She glared at him. But it wasn’t really a glare. Because what was going through her head, still, were his words earlier. I’m doing this because I love you. She still, in her distrustfulness, couldn’t exactly take those words at face value. She wasn’t sure she wanted to take them at face value. Because… then what? And suddenly she was thinking about Bujari. About how she’d let him love her, or how she thought she had. How, in the end, he hadn’t come for her. And old doubts crept into her brain: Maybe he had. Maybe he couldn’t find her. Maybe his hands had been tied. Maybe maybe maybe. Zahi knew what it really was. Just a door she wanted to leave open. That the obvious wasn’t true. That the man she’d loved, who’d “loved” her and fucked around on her at every turn, hadn’t chosen his position over her life. But in all likelihood it was true. Bujari was gone. And after this little adventure, Quinlan would be, too.

Not that she cared.

It wasn’t that she wanted him to stick around. He was a headache. But why pretend? Why imagine they were on some ‘vacation’ as, what… lovers? They both knew how this would end. And it wouldn’t be with them together. Zahi would go back to her job, assuming it was still there, and Quinlan would go back to chasing whatever chance came his way. And he’d probably go first.

Of course he would.

With that thought, Zahi pushed away from him, but not hard enough to really push him away, just enough to express her displeasure at their current arrangement. ”You can drop that grin, too. You’re a real piece of work, you know that? You're just lucky that I don't still have a bad temper. Once upon a time, I'd have already smashed that ugly face in.”

Lion

It was best that Quinlan didn't keep any mind to his 'competition' or whatever Bujari was to Zahi. He knew about him, knew he was some kind of old flame. But whatever he was to Zahi, it couldn't have been much any longer because here he was and here Bujari was clearly not. Quinlan wasn't a man that gave much stock in tomorrow. If you knew there would be one, definitely, but in his situation, he didn't have to keep that in mind.

In the end, what was the point? You only had this one life anyway. And he wanted to soak in as much of it as he could.

So no, her threats meant little to him, even if he actually did follow through with it at some point in the future. For now, they were squashed in his little cot and Quinlan reversed what he'd done, rolling them back over, shifting himself so that he was properly underneath her and letting her body lay against him. Of course that was how they already were, but he liked her on top of him, the feel of her body pressing against him.

And because he'd rather he take the hard bed than force her to suffer through it.

His hands, however, didn't leave her back, and remained lazily at her waist, shifting so that they were underneath the jacket she was wearing and playing at the skin of her spin, nails playfully digging in.

"Well, fucksicles. Your temper, really, is among your best selling points," he chuckled, and kept his hands warm underneath the jacket, pressing fingers firmly into the muscles of her back, squeezing and loosening with equal pressure.

"No, I don't really know how much of a 'piece of work' I am. Because in all honesty, if I'd asked you to go away with me, would you have said yes? Don't lie, Zahi. Would you?" he countered pointedly. 




Like to kill mages?  Join the Order!
The Order of St. Agratha

Help Rebuild Connlaoth from the ashes of war!
The Red Legion

Jump in the water's fine!
Desert Valley Nights
Wrong Turn

"Go into battle determined to die and you will survive.  Go into battle hoping to live and surely you shall not." -Bushido proverb
"Life is a series of dogs." -George Carlin
"We must view with profound respect the infinite capacity of the human mind to resist the introduction of useful knowledge." -Thomas R. Lounsbury
"If a cosmic tree falls in the universal forest and nobody is evolved enough to hear it, does it make a sound?" -Unknown

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