The Unease in the Air (M)

[Draconian]

[It's how she was raised! Be responsible! And she can't make her family look -worse- after what happened last time.]

There were few extremely odd and or awkward things that Adalia has had to deal with. Being over a strangers shoulder like a sack of potatoes just to go where the necromancy crest was going was gonna be number two. Number one having been locked away and rarely thought about. She visibly winced when he kicked open the door like a heathen and then went down the street. With the rain pouring. "oh gods" was all she muttered.

She was just in a nightgown, it would be see through in seconds and sure enough the white fabric clung to her arm and Adalia gave a shiver at being so cold. The rain on her palms made her gasp in pain at first before she closed her eyes and worked the water, pressing it into her skin, rejuvenating the peeling burnt skin. Her eyes snapped open when the stranger asked his question and she opened her mouth to stare at him.

"Daisy..." Was all she said, a quiet sigh before she looked over at the man she'd burnt, "My abilities are none of your business Mr.Not-A-Necromancer." As it it wasn't obvious that her magic burnt her, how else would she have burnt her hands. "So, take us to where you plan on selling that so I can tell them to give it back in a soaking wet nightgown." Adalia demanded, using an elbow in his back to prop her head up with her arm her chin resting in her newly healed palm.

There was no effort to keep herself from getting rained on except for more wounds there was little else that could make this night worse.

[Lion]

Quinlan wasn't famed for making smart decisions. Or even remotely good decisions at that.  So of course he he dropped Adalia's beneath a small, scantling roof. To better guard from the rain. Daisy the cat followed them and shook out tufts of wet fur, meowing indignantly.  Quinlan shook his wet hair, looking her over in her soaked nightgown and frowned.

Why couldn't she have been more adequately dressed for kidnapping? He inwardly sighed and took off his jacket, momentarily forgetting he had some random jewels in his pockets...And his tobacco, and some knives, but they were all securely strapped inside the lining of the coat.

He set it over her shoulders, though he knew she didn't have shoes either.  "Shit, woman. Now you're intent on following me? I just needed you out of the way! Look, I need this payday.  You wouldn't believe it!"  He shook his head.  Daisy meowed, wantingattention.  "Damn you, cat. Go away!"

[Draconian]

The coat over her shoulders surprised her and she stared at man, slightly confused, a little weary but mostly just really weirded out. The coat smelled, it wasn't an awful smell but it was unfamiliar and it was a strange place for her to be wearing someone elses clothing. Adalia shoved  her hands in his pockets, hoping he'd been a bit daft and had forgotten the crest. No such luck. She did find smooth stones though, to which she curiously brought one out only to quickly glare at him while he yelled at the cat.

"Yes. Yes I do intend to follow you." A delicate eyebrow arched and she opened her palm, revealing his stolen treasures, "You stole these from my house. These are worth quite a bit as far as gems go." Her hands went back into the pockets and she made sure to hold her arms tight to her sides and grab as much of the coat as she could in case he tried to rip it off of her. " I'll trade you this coat and the gems in it for that crest and I'll heal your burns."

[Lion]

"No deal!"  The payout for that crest would have him set for the year.  But the jewels! They could pay for his way to the rendezvous point and maybe get a few beers between there.  Quinlan scowled at Adalia's.  "Yeah, I stole them.  So what? It wasn't like you even knew they were there anyway."

He shook his head, as this was getting nowhere fast.  "Look. Let's talk about this. That whole scuffle in the house was inevitable, that being said killing you and leaving you there doesn't seem like such a good option anymore. Especially if you did from a fucking cold!"

[Draconian]

They had a scowling contest. Adalia just frowned back at him, her hands and arms tight to her sides, still in possession of the jacket and not keep on taking off when it was full of herthings. "Well I know they're here now." she shot back, not at all amused at the turn of events the night had taken. She should be in bed right now maybe even sleeping, but instead she had an undead stuffed cat curling around her legs and some strangers coat keeping her warm.

"Fine. We'll talk about this." Adalia was a little insulted that he thought he could kill her, "Killing me would take a lot more effort than you're presuming and I'm not going to die from a cold." She tapped her barefoot at the cold damp ground and tilted her head, looking off into the distance, trying to figure out a way to get this idiot to take her to his employer.

"I'll pay you to take me to where ever it is you're going, you seem like a smart business man," she coaxed, moving closer, "You could get double the pay. One when you pawn the crest off and then again after." It killed her that this was her problem now and it also made her cringe a little when she finally picked up the cat and cradled it in her arms only for it to snuggle closer and purr loudly. On a normal cat it was adorable, on a stuffed cat that was alive it was just ... Weird.

[Lion]

She had to be joking.

Quinlan stared at her hard, almost angrily, and he probably would have flicked fingers on her forehead for being so obstinate, because it wasn't like intruders climbed into people's houses only to GIVE THEIR STUFF BACK!

"Food!  This way!  And shoes!  You'll need those."

He snatched her by the arm, half-dragging her along really as he pulled her through the city, running through the rain and practically yanking her off her feet.  The cat, of course, was happy to be taken along, though not so happy to get wet.

And then happy once again to be pulled into a dry tavern.

[Draconian]

Adalia did not enjoy being dragged around. As a lady, a noble even, she found it happened rarely. Maybe once in her life for a short while. Still, she wanted to go, she asked for this, to be taken along. Of course, a better situation would have been if this fellow had asked for it and she could simply say 'no'.

A puddle of water made her whole body shiver and she was glad to find herself somewhere dry. A waitress eyed the cat after giving her a rather slow once over, "Honey, we don't allow pets." Was her stern words and Adalia quickly straightened her shoulders, "It's a stuffed ani-"Meow"It's an enchanted stuffed animal. I need it." For once looking like a drowned rat in her nightclothes worked for her because the waitress sort of shrugged and moved on.

Adalia did the pulled this time, dragging her new found companion to a table in the lesser lit area, taking a seat that was closer to the door and waiting. "Good thing we have my jewels in this coat, getting food and clothing will be easy," was her false jolly reply. Her hair was a mess and clung to everything, long strands were stuck to his jacket and along her neck.

Her hand was pushed into the pocket and she took out a jewel to examine it in the light, "You picked from the good stock," she commented idly.

[Lion]

Quinlan have her a blank expression.  Well that WAS the idea behind taking the jewels.  Petty theft was useful in more ways than one. And Quinlan was sure he could lift her of her dress and she wouldn't even notice.  Hmm, in this case he might have be a little drunk.  But right now that was out of the question. 

"If I had half a mind to sell you, I'd get more than what that necklace is worth," he replied smugly.  "Look this is going nowhere.  I'm not going to give back the crest.  And all this effort of yours to negotiate some kind of deal is pointless!"  He sighed and looked at her boobs.  "I know it's cold in here."

[Draconian]

The cat cuddled its self against Adalia's side under the coat while she played with the necklace, examining it and trying to remember where it was from. One of her mothers from when she was much younger. Adalia reached to touch her own necklace, a solitary jewel resting on the choker. They weren't a matching set, her mothers being worth far more.

"If you tried to sell me I'd do everything in my power to burn off your penis." She fluttered her eyes at him nicely, "and I'm very powerful." Sorta. Some specific situations she was powerful but for the most part her lack of desire to harm others or destroy things left her rather lackluster. "I'm not asking for the crest, I've got two options. I steal it back and go on my way or I pay you to take me with you to where you're going and then I'll deal with them." Adalia smiled again, leaning forward and resting her head on her hands.

"You seem like an intelligent man, Mr.Not-a-Necromancer. I'd take the double pay for one job deal if I could." And then he commented on her boobs and it took a great amount of effort to not shove her hands over her breasts and instead stayed where she was. "And it's not cold in here, I'm in a soaked through nightgown, I'm sure your nipples are hard too." She leaned in and looked at him, her eyebrows up, "Is this your first time seeing breasts? It's okay, Dear. There's a first for everything."

[Lion]

Quinlan was not about to become indignant. Not in the presence of Chicken Fingers. Really, what was UP with her hands!?  He stared at them for a long while and then his eyes flickered back to her. He saw no point in trying to state her down, and it was kind of hard too when there was a cat purring in her arms, missing tufts of hair and very very dead.

He could never turn down  the prospect of more money, but somehow her tagging along didn't sit well with him.  "Don't think I'm gonNa be your babysitter, Chicken Fingers.  Don't cause any trouble and there won't be any.  Just for both of our sakes. Besides, I guess you'll be their problem anyway," he said at last, unsuccessfully hiding his begrudgement.  "You got a name, Bird Lady?"

[Draconian]

Of course she noticed the staring. They were the one major part of her body she was extremely self conscious about and had some hyper awareness of when people were looking. This fellow was certainly getting an eyeful and she went to busying her hands with petting the undead cat.

"I'm insulted you think I need a babysitter." she shot back, eyeing him up and down, "you should be aware that all this is your fault." Adalia looked down at the cat, looked at where she'd burnt his arm and offered him a pretty smile while fluttering her eyes at him while keeping some intense eye contact. 

"My name is Adalia if you must know," she took a breath and moved her hands so they were under the table, at least that way he couldn't look at them. "And you? What is your name? You look like a Bartleby."

[Lion]

He sniffed, flagging a wench over and asking for a glass of the hardest liquor they had.  Which was watered down brandy, but Quinlan wouldn't complain.  Not now at any rate.  Adalia and he continued their battle of glares.

"Oh, it's my fault!?  Nobody was even supposed to be home!  In fact, it's your fault if you think about it; if you had a social life, you would be holding a dead cat.  It's proven!"  He gagged on the watered down brandy - which seemed like it was mixed with  a bit of gin - and he spat off to the side.  He shook his head and looked at his arm, which at the reminder, only now started to throb.

"My name..." he paused, wondering why it even mattered.  But the glares he'd been giving her softened and he played with the rim of his glass, looking into the mess inside.  "Name's Quinlan.  Last time I checked anyway."

[Draconian]

Adalia leaned back and frowned deeply, her eyebrows knitting together and her mouth turning into a small down turned crescent. It was not a pleased look and she took a quick breath, her social life an obvious sore spot. Almost as sore as her hands. Adalia's head went down, looking defeated while she looked down at the undead cat curled up asleep (or whatever undead stuffed cats did) in her lap. Finally, she crossed her arms over her chest and leaned back in the chair, not at all impressed with her new company, not that there were any expectations.

"No. You broke into my house. This is your fault. You're not stealing that to destroy it so that no one can raise the dead, you're selling it for money." Adalia explained, speaking a little more slowly than usual just in case he couldn't follow.  "Good try though, I may look like a spoiled girl but I'm far more traveled than you'd think."

Still, she looked at his arm and finally leaned forward, her hands out, palms up. "I apologize for burning you, Quinlan, if you'd let me I can heal it for you." She wiggled her fingers, showing her healed hands. Or as healed as they were going to get, though they worked fine. They just didn't look very pretty.

[Lion]

In truth, he'd received much worse. He eyed the burn mark on his jacket, where it seeped into skin, and left something resembling a hand print.  "Even after robbing you and threatening to stab you, you're offering to heal me?  How could you heal me?" he asked, tone more curious than biting.

Meanwhile the cat nuzzled in Adalia's arms, but was soon meowing, demanding to be fed.

[Draconian]

Adalia tilted her head, slightly confused and her hands curled in slightly her shoulders slumped. What was this. Who questioned about being healed. Maybe he thought she had ulterior motives? If only, Adalia though, if only she was morally grey enough to have devious thoughts about two timing people. "You didn't stab me." She stated, her hands still out, still offering, "You could have, you could have sunk that knife into my side or ... Gotten my thigh... Anything. You didn't. " She made a motion with her hands, a beckoning motion with her fingers towards the burned arm.

"If you would let me, I would like to heal what I did to you."  Adalia bit her lip then and looked to the side, "Unless you meant how could I heal you literally. Then that answer is some water and my magic." The cat continued it's meowing, Adalia looked down and frowned at it and of course it continued. Daisy would have to go without for the time being.

[Lion]

Yes, Quinlan highly questioned her offer to heal him.  Maybe it was just in his experience only the absolutely naïve just let random people heal them without expecting anything in return.  Altruism was dead and if this woman thought she could get one up on him, she had another thing coming.  Or maybe Quinlan was just being paranoid and foolish.  Which was not that uncommon.

He said nothing, instead outstretching his arm and pulling the sleeve up on his shirt.  The jacket could be fixed another day.  It was his only one, really, but she had it on.  "Show me what you got," he said, looking to the burn mark., where the skin started to curdle.

[Draconian]

The look on her face was one of surprise and she brushed her fingers along his arm for a moment, studying the burn. It wasn't worse than what her own burns had become and she moved her hands down, grabbing her nightgown where it was still soaked and covered her hands in what water she could. "You make it sound like a challenge," she smirked slightly before she took his hand, pressing her palm to his and then her other hand to the burn on his arm which she imagined hurt.

Of course she managed to cover the whole area, it was in the shape of her hand already.

The sensation of healing someone else was always different, it was second nature to heal herself, there was no awkward touching involved. She didn't have to hold her own hand. Quinlans arm would feel cool, between both her hands, something akin to the shock of dunking it into a vat of cold water after being so warm for the day. Adalia's eyes fluttered closed and she let out a small sigh before she lifted her hands away, her fingers brushing at the flesh of his arm for a moment before she took her hands away completely. She didn't open her eyes, in fact she kept them closed and turned her head towards the table. Just in case.

"Did I do it? I haven't actually ever healed someone else since I've starting practicing that part of my abilities."

[Lion]

[I can't remember if Adalia was always able to heal her arms?  Or did you just give her that ability?]

Quinlan did not close his eyes - weird things tended to happen when he did - and he even gasped a little when he felt his arm suddenly cool and he felt his nerves start tingling and the throbbing from the burning intensified.  But his reaction stemmed mostly from surprise than from real pain, and soon the throbbing turned into a dull soothing ache, and when he looked at her work, he dropped his jaw a bit.

"It's gone," he muttered, actually astonished that she managed to beat his own skepticism.  But his skin remained marred from the scars and cuts he'd inflicted on himself, and his palm would be streaked across with dagger marks, criss-crossed all over.  "That's quite astonishing.  Almost better than anything I could do."

[Draconian]

[She couldn't before! Which is why her hands/arms are fuuuuuuucked up looking. She learned and practiced in case she was without her gauntlets again and/or needed to heal someone. Lo and behold an opportunity!]

Green eyes popped open and she eyed her handiwork before taking in the sight of the rest of his arm. The little scars, the obvious self inflicted slices across his palm, she looked at them confused for a moment before she pursed her lips and reached to trace a few of the scars before drawing her hand back like she was trying to grab fire.

"Thank you." She started before chewing on her lip and examining her hands, running her thumbs over her palms in an effort to make the tingling feeling go away. "A little practice goes a long way," Which was an understatement, she'd studied and practiced her literal flesh off leaning how to heal properly. Of course, there was a good chance she wouldn't be able to walk for a while and that awful tingling feeling was running up and down her arms.

  Adalia took a breath and looked Quinlan over, eyeing his hand again. The cat meowed and Adalia frowned down at it, "You're stuffed. You don't have a stomach. How are you hungry." Adalia stared at her hands for a moment before she ran one down the cats body, "Daisy is still stuffed right? I mean... She's undead, right?" Adalia cleared her throat, "You should uh... Show me that crest." It was worth a try.

[Lion]

Quinlan squeezed his palms together, as if in an effort to hide the scars.  Not that he would ever feel ashamed of them.  They were a badge of a sort, a foolish badge that proved to be never ending, but that was how it was.  At the reminder of the cat, and it's apparent odd revival, Quinlan sat up straighter.

He blinked at the cat, still struggling in Adalia's arms demanding food still, bells jingling.  "I threw that cat at you.  It was dead.  Cats don't take to being thrown without some kind of reaction," he said; it was clear he was still averse to the prospect of having revive a cat that had been dead for more than ten years! - or so he assumed.

At being prodded for the crest he bristled.  "No way.  I told you, it's mine!"  And Daisy hissed at both of them for being so obstinate instead of focusing on her since she was clearly more important than whatever they were bickering about.