Afternoon Escape (Shea)

[Zero]

By this point Nadya probably should have just turned and ran; anything to get away from Kabe, who was, yes, very strange. At least to her, he certainly was. She'd grown up in a very small and narrow world of what her grandmother considered polite society. Her grandmother would disapprove of him, would have called him common riff-raff, without knowing a single thing about him, and then Nadya would have been shooed back to her room, or the library. Somewhere her grandmother could keep her quietly tucked away to be forgotten again.

Maybe that was why she didn't run. If she went home, her grandmother would likely order her to her room and leave her there for who even knew how long. Even if she knew learned of Kabe having been there, the things he had said, still Nadya knew she was going to be sent to her room for sneaking off and ignoring their guest. Or maybe she was just captivated by him. Everything in her life was so scripted, so carefully monitored, that she found him fascinating and terrifying all at once.

As he spoke again her arms crossed protectively over her chest, almost unconsciously as she stared at him in disbelief. She wondered if it was even possible to blush harder. No one ever spoke to her like he did. No one would dare. Did he really want her to slap him? "Are you one of those people that just like to be slapped?"

[miss_sanguine]

Much better. His words had brought more life back to her, that spark of intensity once again gleaming in her eyes. She looked less a frightened mouse and more a cautious but ready-to-strike cat. He lowered his arms, folding them as he quirked a brow.

"Not really. Have you ever met such a person?" He supposed a masochist might fit within that category--something he most definitely was not. The remembered pain from when he'd been stabbed last year still made him cringe. But before she could answer, he added, "You're awfully cute when you blush like that, you know."

Hopefully the compliment would get her to blush more, if that were possible. At this point he wouldn't have been surprised if her head caught fire instead; a mental image that made him snigger lightly.

At that moment, however, Kabe caught sight of a black speck approaching from over Nadya's shoulder. Upon staring at it for a second, he recognized it as a man on horseback, coming from where he'd seen the rich house earlier. "Friend of yours?" he asked, nodding in its direction.

[Zero]

She had never met anyone that liked to be slapped before, but she'd heard there were people who did, and there was always a first time for everything. She'd have told him as much, but before she could even completely formulate a reply he was calling her cute. A scowl came over her features again; before the last blush could even fade he had her skin flushing again. Why did he have to go and say something like that? It made her so uncomfortable, she spent so much of her time and energy into not being noticed.

"Will you please stop that I'm not..." Nadya didn't finish whatever she'd been going to say, instead turning and shading her eyes to look at the approaching rider. She made a face before turning back to look at Kabe uncertainly. "I think grandmother sent someone to collect me, you should take the gold and go, before he realizes you're here. They'll want to arrest you."

Funny, all things considered, she had every right to want to see him get in trouble, but she really didn't. Yes, he'd been inappropriate, but he seemed a nice enough man, perverseness aside. Thinking about that made her cheeks flush again, although more subtly this time. Her face was a mask of anxiety again. She was going to be in a lot of trouble for this. Sneaking away, consorting with a thief, giving money to him.

[miss_sanguine]

Her grandmother, he mused, sounded exactly like his parents from back in his younger years: restricting, allowing no room for freedom, holding societal standards above all else. He wanted to pull a face at the memory. No wonder the girl had run off to be on her own--he'd done the same thing on countless occasions.

"Not the first time someone's wanted to arrest me," he said, eyes moving to stare a little bitterly at the guard behind her. By the sound of it, Nadya hadn't been out for very long, and already people were coming to get her for it. "Tell me . . . do your horses like wolves?"

But without waiting for an answer he transformed. He let out a loud, joyous bark, and bounded toward the horse on giant wolf paws. The animal, clearly as new in its training as the youthful guard who rode it, noticed him immediately and made as if to draw back despite its rider's protests.

Smarter than it looks, Kabe thought as, with a great bucking motion, it threw said rider from its back and went galloping back the way it had come. He followed a ways, snapping at its heels for good measure, then turned to the man. Other than appearing winded and dazed and absolutely alarmed that a huge wolf happened to be loping toward him, he seemed to be all right.

"Stay back!" the man shouted, voice quivering. He scrambled to his feet, but wasn't quick enough. Kabe landed on top of him in a big, furry heap, tail wagging furiously. His plan had been to chase both horse and man away to give Nadya some time, but this proved just as much fun.

With a playful glance toward Nadya, Kabe yipped happily atop his new human chair.

[Zero]

Now what kind of silly question was that? She had never met a horse that did like wolves, it was just unnatural. Nadya had come up with more arguments of why he should leave, among them the simple fact that she just didn't want him to get arrested. Not that she could make any of those arguments. That he could transform into a hawk, she was already aware, but a soft gasp was given as he transformed into a wolf and took off after horse and rider.

Her own horse screamed in terror a few yards away and took off, also heading for the safety of the stables. Now this was just getting better and better. When the two horses showed up terrified and without their riders they were just going to send an entire battalion of guards after her. Not that she could blame them; it would look to be a terrible situation, perhaps life-threatening. Scowling she hurried over to where Kabe sat upon her guard, looking rather pleased with himself.

"Now look what you did Kabe. Is he hurt?" The guard seemed to be shaken, but relatively unharmed. Perhaps a bit bruised, falling off a horse was bound to hurt a little. He was lucky he hadn't broken something. The guard looked like a kid, someone not much older than her. It made her angry. Her grandmother couldn't leave her in peace for even an hour and she sends a wet at the ears guard to order her back?

The young man seemed completely taken aback, and frightened witless. "Get off me you filthy beast! Lady Nadya stay back! I'll protect you." He seemed to be scrambling trying to get at his sword, which was quite impossible with the animal sitting on top of him.

"Protect me? That ball of fluff isn't going to hurt me or you either, if you don't do anything stupid, like attack him." The situation seemed absurd to her, but she honestly wasn't afraid. If Kabe had wanted to hurt her, he could have easily done it by now. The guard stopped struggling, but seemed highly at a loss as to what to do. "Kabe, please let him up."

[miss_sanguine]

Struggle and wriggle as hard as he might, the man could do nothing under Kabe's weight. Kabe bared his fangs in a wolfish grin, then put his cold nose right to the man's face to take a sniff. Under the bitter smell of fear, the guy had a fairly regular scent, though much cleaner for his new status. Kabe doubted he'd ever done any work outside of riding his horse around.

They sent a greenie. A messenger, really. Verifying that those back at Nadya's home were so accustomed to her wandering off that they'd felt no need for real protection in fetching her.

For good measure he gave the man a light nip to his nose, then backed off of him. Quicker than Kabe would have thought possible, the kid leapt to his feet the moment he could and dashed in front of Nadya, arms held out at both sides as if to shield her.

"No need for that," Kabe told him once he was human again, something that made the man's mouth hang open quite humorously. "Like the lady said, I'm a harmless ball of fluff."

"B-but! You're! Or you were . . . How?"

His shocked stammering made Kabe beam. "Obvious, isn't it? Or is magic not practiced where you're from? I could turn into a bear, if you'd like." As he spoke, Kabe gently moved the surprised man aside and stared at Nadya. "But I don't think I will. How about a horse? I could carry you away some place where they'd have a harder time finding you."

Of course, there was the matter of the little guard. They could easily knock him out, ride away, then get back to their bonding time. Maybe kiss--or had she already said no to that? He couldn't remember. Not that it mattered; she could change her mind.

A fawn-colored horse then stood before her, and he bobbed his head up and down in invitation, tail flicking behind him. He ignored the guard's feeble squawk of surprise and whispered protests.

[Zero]

She really hadn't thought that Kabe would hurt the poor boy, but even still she sighed in relief as her guard was allowed up. It only took the blink of an eye, it seemed, before the young man had put himself between her and Kabe. His devotion was to be admired, but it really wasn't necessary. Did he really think she didn't know when she was or wasn't in danger?

Okay, maybe at first she had been uncertain of how dangerous Kabe was, but now she was pretty sure that he wouldn't actually hurt her. Steal from her, given the chance, certainly, but not hurt her.

Although she blushed slightly as he repeated her words. She had called him a ball of fluff, hadn't she? Oh well, at the time he seemed like a fuzzy puppy, so it had been appropriate as far as she was concerned. Hopefully he hadn't been insulted, though. Not that she should be concerned with what he thought.

Nadya's big, violet eyes gazed up at Kabe as he gently moved her guard aside. His words were tempting, so very tempting. How many times had she dreamed of just getting away, as far away as she could, even if only for a little while? She wasn't supposed to leave the manor or the gardens without permission or an escort. She wasn't supposed to be this far away from the manor at all

Then again, despite her timid and meek countenance, she seemed to have a habit of doing things she wasn't supposed to. Before she could even respond, he was a horse, standing before her and inviting her for a ride. She should go home, forget that she ever saw him. Like Kabe, she ignored her guard's feeble protests.

"Just a moment." She turned and walked back to where she had first met Kabe, not far at all, and scooped up the coin purse that he had left lying on the ground. She tied it back to her belt and walked back to the horse and her distressed guard. "Wouldn't want to leave that behind."

"But my lady you can't! Your grandmother is going to kill me when she finds out about all this."

"You exaggerate, now make yourself useful and help me up." Nadya's tone was one that didn't welcome protests, so in exasperation, the guard did as he was told, obviously not happy about it. She settled onto Kabe's back, it felt weird to think about, and adjusted her skirts so they were neatly in place. Her fingers curled into his mane lightly, not wanting to fall but also not wanting to pull on the hair.

[miss_sanguine]

His eyes followed the coin purse as it moved from the ground back to Nadya's possession. He'd intended to grab it with his mouth while leaving, though her carrying it for him did save him the trouble. Would she give it back to him, though, or would she keep it after what he put her through? It didn't appear too securely strapped, so if need be he could simply grab it and run in the end.

To his mild surprise, she had taken up his offer. In moments, and with the help of the small guard, she sat atop him, ready to go. Stomping his front hoof, he nickered loudly. The feel of her bottom on his back felt very nice indeed, and he wondered if this would be the closest interaction with it he'd get. He'd have to savor it.

Her position was professional; she'd ridden horses before, clearly, and for quite a bit of her life by the feel of it. Unlike the lad, who hovered attentively nearby, protests still on his lips as Kabe started to move forward.

Starting at a slow trot, he moved his way into a canter and then a full-out gallop once he was sure she had grip enough to not fall off. All his thoughts could focus on during the ride was her ass bouncing up and down on his back--she had such a wonderful ass! But it was something he couldn't tell her without a sure smack to the face. Might be worth it, though, he thought.

He took her some ways away, and stopped only when he knew they were a good distance from the manor and the little man who had watched them leave. When Kabe pulled to a stop, he took note of the many lavender whorls and their scent hanging on the air. It seemed a beautiful spot for her daring outing.

Could he maybe take her further? Down away from the land entirely, into the city and away from the compressing life she led? Would she like that? He could take her for a night on the town, show her how to gamble--with the money she had willingly given to him, of course. Ha!

He nodded his head forward at the distance, trying to convey his question on how far she really wanted to go, how willing she was to truly get away. He could show her so many things; what it was like to be free from societal restrictions! Would she like that?

[Zero]

Nadya had no intention of keeping the coin purse. She had already given it to Kabe, after all, but the only way he could have carried it as he was would be in his mouth and that wouldn't be pleasant. When he became a man again she would give it back to him.

Settling on his back was easy; after all, she was an experienced rider, even if she rarely rode bareback. As his speed increased, she held tighter to his mane. Her violet eyes were sparkling by the time he reached a gallop. The rush of air that swept past her was exhilarating, and knowing that she wasn't supposed to be doing this, that her grandmother would be furious, just made it all that much more exciting.

It was even possible for her to put the fact that she was technically riding on a man's back into the back of her mind and not fret over that knowledge. For now Kabe was a horse, and while she knew he was a man, as long as he was a horse, she could accept this. Being so close to him as a man would be impossible for her. Thankfully, she was blissfully unaware of just what was on his mind as they rode together.

When they finally stopped, Nadya looked around with wonder, it was a lovely spot. At first she thought that he intended to stop here, but the way he tossed his head towards the city below, she knew that he wanted to go farther. Already he had taken her so far; farther than she had ever been outside of a carriage.

"The city? I've...never been there. Would it be safe? What if I were robbed?" More importantly, how would she get back home? Her grandmother would not be happy at all to know she had gone down to mingle with commoners in the city. She bit her lip and tightened her grip on his mane nervously.

[miss_sanguine]

Never been? Never been? Well, that settled it, then. He couldn't bear the thought of someone as fine as Nadya going as long as she had without having seen the city. Her grandmother must be worst than his parents--at least he had been allowed to leave the house. Or . . . maybe he'd escaped the house to get away from them. Either way.

Taking her tighter grip on his mane as indication to keep going, Kabe tossed his head and once again started off at a decent trot. He snorted at her other words, flicking his tail up at her in admonishment. Did she think he would leave her in the city alone, to fend for herself? The only person she had to worry about being robbed by was himself, and he'd already received the money he'd wanted.

---

Once just outside the city, he stopped to allow Nadya to slide off of his back before he transformed. He took his time in stretching, arms high over his head and back arched. The echos of Nadya's constant thumping remained even after she'd alighted, which made him beam without saying why.

"Hope the ride wasn't too uncomfortable," he said. "You are an excellent rider. Now!" He grabbed her hand and started to tug her into the city. Ahead he could see crowds of people in the busy streets, and a few scattered vendors off to the side. "How about I show you the sights, mm? Anything you've ever wanted to try, or shall I shove you into the deep end, so to speak?"