Spirits of the Earth

Tag @Rhi-Rhi

Being tired and hungry was nothing new to her and one of them could be easily remedied with a few resourceful herbs. As such, it had been two days and Raizel had still not slept. The packet of herbs was pressed under her tongue and she was quiet while she was waiting in the door way, it had taken ages to find the little group and on more than one attempt she'd almost been caught.

Aki was off in the distance, keeping watch.

Or keeping a good a watch as a relatively intelligent raven could. He knew to watch for people and everytime  he saw someone he could give a loud caw. So far, there was nothing. With her hood up and her mask on, Raizel slunk into the building. It was far from abandoned looking on the outside, but there was nothing on the first floor except piles of dust and debris and she took careful quiet steps, moving to various places and listening.

The floor gave it away.

Underground then?

Raizel frowned at it, crouching down and rapping a gloved knuckle on the floor. She moved her hand a few inches and did it again. It sounded different, not as hollow. There it was. There was no door though, perhaps it was concealed?  Perhaps all the dust wasn't actually dust. Illusions woven into it? Raizel swept off the section of the ground where she thought the door was and sure enough, the illusion melted away and she took a calm steady breath. Keeping some in her hand for later maybe. 

They would know she was there if she made any noise. If any light seeped in where it wasn't supposed to.

Carefully she caught her cloak in her hands and lifted the trap door, using the cloak to keep any lights out she made her way down, gently shutting the door and climbing down the ladder. Wincing at every groan of wood and squeak that would probably go unheard to the people in underground... Hideout?

Raizel instantly crouched, listening carefully. The sounds of flesh on flesh. Water dripping? No, blood? The tang of blood was in the air and now she heard the voices after they'd delivered a sound beating. Or at least a good punch in the face. "Fuckin' can't keep your mouth shut, huh?" A gruff man said, loud enough to cover her slow shuffle towards the candle lit room, following the shadows.

Another punch was delivered to the poor man strapped into a chair, the flash of a dagger caught her eye and in a quick movement she was up and in the room, pausing a moment to count three of them before throwing the dust at the fire in the candle.

It burned brightly and in the few seconds that was all she needed before her own dagger was sunk into one man's neck. The main man's dagger was sunk into the seated mans leg. As quick as could be, in a swirl of black cloak and hood she felled the men in their surprised state. Not one of them was left standing and none of them were alive. With little care for the seated man's comfort she knelt beside his leg, checked it over before she yanked the dagger out and pressed her palm to the wound, reaching around to untie his hands from behind the chair with her free hand. "You're safe now," Was her quiet words while she held the wound.

The thing she had come for wasn't here and disappointment blossomed in her chest. "Are there anymore you may know about? I can get them while you escape to outside."

Shit floated downstream, as the saying went.

And it was only a matter of time before it came floating Cadmus's way.

He had accepted that inevitability a long time ago, when he first got into the business of selling his sword for services, regardless of morality, and this particular job had turned into a clusterfuck he probably shouldn't have gotten involved in. He was hired by one man to take care of business with another--but, as it turned out, that man was more than willing to pay twice the amount his first employer paid, and only for information about said employer. Information Cadmus had. Information Cadmus happily gave, and thus made out with both fools' money. Let them bicker amongst themselves! He'd always sold to the highest bidder.

He'd felt pretty good about that, too, until said employer's henchmen tracked him down. Apparently people didn't like double dealers or something.

Which was why he was now here. Tied to a chair. Getting the stuffing beat out of him, which was perhaps a very poor way to think of it, considering he was part bird.

"Fuckin' can't keep your mouth shut, huh?" his tormenter growled--right before he punched him in the jaw, snapping his head to the side. Pain exploded in his head and neck and Cadmus slouched forward and spat out blood--not from that blow, but from earlier, the blow that had his nose still leaking blood into his mouth. He hardly had time to draw in another breath when a second blow got him right in the gut, and he doubled over as much as his bonds would let him, wheezing and choking.

They were going to kill him. He knew that. Once they caught him, there was only one way for this to go down, because there was just no room for mistakes in this business. Fortunately, right then he was in far too much pain and delirium to even be afraid, his head buzzing from being hit there too many times, his one good eye swollen nearly shut, his breathing labored and everything spinning from blood loss.

Man. He always kind of hoped his last moments would be a little more epic than being tied to a chair and tortured in a dark room--

A gurgling scream that wasn't his own jerked him back to awareness, and he groggily lifted his head and cracked his eye open as much as he could. There was a flurry of activity, the swirl of a cape--and that was all he got to see before one of the men sank a knife into his thigh and everything whited out with agony. Cadmus screamed, muscles going taut, hardly aware of all the commotion and the sudden eerie silence that followed.

He was, however, aware of when the knife got abruptly yanked back out.

He cried out, his vision blurring and spinning and thought for a moment he might finally pass out. But then he felt a hand pressing to the wound, and the sudden freedom of his own hands, and he stared blearily down at the hooded figure kneeling before him and startled at the feminine voice.

She...wasn't one of them?

Obviously not, since a slow glance around revealed a lot of lifeless bodies on the ground.

...Well. Shit.

"Uh..." His words escaped him; his head hurt too much to think. He reached up slowly and felt at the spot where it ached the most, and found his hair was wet. "How many are...um..." He tried to count the bodies, but simple arithmetic was really hard right then. "No...no, I think we're good, uh...probably. Who...?"

He wanted to say "who are you?" but forgot how to finish the sentence.

Taking her hand away from his leg for a moment, she reached into a small pack at her side, pulling out a length of cloth before tying it tightly around his leg. It would do for now, she'd probably have to stitch him up later when they were out of the hell hole. Another quick glance around the room from where she was sitting and it confirmed, the only thing here of worth was the poor beat up man and nothing she was seeking. After she'd free'd his hands and he'd touched his head, she removed her glove and took stock of his injuries.

What a mess.

"I'm..." Raizel paused for a moment, the name she wanted to say automatically didn't come to her lips so she frowned after a moment, "Not important. Come on." She checked on his head wound, pushing his hair gently out of the way before she crouched beside him and threw his arm over her shoulder and stood up. There was no time to be tender.

Still, she could take the weight of his bad leg and she shuffled them to the ladder, pushing him in front of her and holding the ladder with him between her arms. "Climb as well as you can, I'll be right here to catch you if you slip. Once you're up there, you'll be fine. I'll patch you up and you'll be on your way." Her tone was no-non sense. It was an order and it sounded like she'd given many orders before.

Holy shit. She was actually rescuing him.

Did she...did she not know who he was? Cadmus turned his head to the side to spit out more blood, though his nose was at least bleeding at only a trickle now, and then he turned to stare at her through a squinted eye (for his scarred eye was nearly blind) as some coherency began to return to him. She...uh...didn't realize he was totally one of them.

Which was a fantastic thing, considering she'd slaughtered all of them!

That realization had his eyes widening as much as they could in their battered state, but then she was hoisting him out of the chair and the pain that shot through his leg and ribs made him suck in a sharp breath and let it out in a whistle through his teeth. He'd consider the implications of that later! Like if she asked questions. He'd have to think of a good cover up story, because shit. Those men hadn't been amateurs at their job, and she took them all out. He'd be nothing against her like this.

...Maybe even healed. Three against one, and that fast? Obviously, he'd failed in that department to have landed tied up in the chair.

He limped along with her, and when they came to the ladder, he let out a small groan because he knew this was going to bite. But he sucked it up and pulled away from her, leaning heavily against the rungs as he caught his breath and let the world stop spinning and worked himself up to the painful task ahead. Then, steeling himself, he began to climb.

He was sure as hell not going to argue! She was in charge!

Predictably, it hurt like a bitch, but at least they hadn't gotten to his arms yet, so he relied on them to bear the brunt of his weight. He took it slow and paused when he got dizzy to lean his head against the rung and breathe, and then kept going until, finally, he flopped forward onto his belly on solid, dusty land. He crawled forward to give his rescuer space to get out, and then sat up with his hands behind him to keep him up, waiting for his rescuer to  appear.

"You have good timing," he said, thickly. "I owe you."

Up the ladder he went like a good boy. Raizel kept quiet, listening for things that weren't coming from the man or the ladder and she climbed up closely behind him in case he slipped. Made for a bit of unintentional ass staring, but hey, it was a ladder. Finally he was up and she followed quickly after, kneeling beside him with a hand gently place on his back.

Looking at him made her shiver. Knowing that once upon a time something like this probably happened to her and she just couldn't remember it. "Come along," she said kneeling, taking one of his arms out from under him but supporting his weight in the process. Raizel still had her hood up, and she dragged the wounded man up. "We just need to get into the trees. Somewhere safe in case anyone else shows up."

Raizel gave a shrill whistle while she practically dragged the poor man along,  Aki flew from the trees to land on too of her head, "what's your name and where are you from?" Maybe if she kept him talking he couldn't pass out until they got to at least a demi-safe place.

More pain, stealing his breath away, and then Cadmus was hobbling along with her as she supported his weight. He tried not to lean on her too much, not wanting to topple her over. He wasn't that much taller than her, but he was heavier. Still, every now and then he staggered and bumped into her, grunting as it made pain shoot through his ribs.

Just the trees. The trees weren't far away. He could remain conscious long enough for that, though he was hoping not to pass out at all. That'd be embarrassing.

"Cadmus," he answered automatically, panting, and realized a second later that maybe he should have given a fake name. But he'd never given his employers his real name, so...maybe it would be okay? "I'm from...elsewhere." He waved his free hand in no particular direction. "Around Serendipity. What did you say your name was?"

"I wish I could say it was nice to meet you, Cadmus." Raizel said softly while they walked. Or hobbled. The trees were so close. "I don't know my name," She said after a moment, but gave in, she didn't know how frightened the poor man could possibly be. Being with someone who refused their name would probably not help the situation.

"Though, I call myself Raizel." They broke through the cover of the trees but they didn't stop. "Just a little bit farther, then we can patch you up, Cadmus. No fainting on me." A bit more shuffling and finally they stopped at a pack beside a tree, gently she urged Cadmus down in a seated position against the tree. The hood was pushed off and she took a look at his pants, the blood having soaked through the make shift bandage. "How attached are you to these pants?"

She didn't know her own name? That was...interesting, but Cadmus chose not to pry. For one, he didn't have the energy, and two, he didn't want to be rude and dig into matters that could be very personal. If she didn't remember her name, no doubt something traumatic had occurred. It wasn't his business, anyway.

"Raizel's nice," he said instead, and held his breath as she helped him sit so he didn't make any embarrassing, pained whimpers. He let his breath out in a whoosh when it was over and leaned his head back against the tree, his eyes shut.

At least, until she spoke, and asked him...how attached was he to the pants? Cadmus barked out a hoarse laugh that surprised even him--and made his ribs ache.

"Physically or emotionally?" he got out before he could help himself.

"A sense of humour," she said before she put her fingers in the hole of his pants and ripped, "that's good. Or you've got quite the head injury." The sound of fabric tearing was brief and she turned to the back pack, getting various items out. Like a curved needle and thick thread. A canister of water and a greyed cloth. Dousing the cloth in water she pressed it into his hand and went about lighting a match, running it over the needle. "How's your head? Seeing double? Can you tell me what colour..." she paused, "the sky is?"

Cadmus rolled his eyes skyward, squinting against the light. "Blue?" he asked, before looking back at her--and that needle. Ugh. Part of him had been hoping she was a healer.

"Blue, and slightly overcast. Ah..." He rubbed at his head again, grimacing. "I'll be fine. I just think I have a...what's it called...percussion? No. Shit. You know what I mean." Ugh. What were words?

"I bet you have some percussion," Raizel said smirking, removing the match from the needle. She gave the wound another look and was relieved to see it wasn't still gushing blood. "Okay, Cadmus, this might pinch." Then she took out a bottle of something poured it over his wound - from experience she knew it would hurt more than seven bitches but at least it prevented infection - and went about sewing the wound closed.

Aki stared at Cadmus, before giving a loud caw and flying up into the trees. Raizel worked quickly and before the burning of the something ebbed away, his leg was stitched up. "Do you have somwhere safe to go?"

Ohhh, that pinched all right! It pinched like a hundred scorpions! A hundred scorpions with their pincers and stinging tails!

Cadmus clenched his jaw and grit his teeth to keep from hollering, sucking in whistling breaths through his teeth in his effort even while he screamed a dozen different obscenities in his head. But none of those would have been very polite, especially when she was helping him, and so instead he squeezed his eyes shut, leaned his head against the tree, and balled his hands into fists as he clutched at the grass.

The actual sewing part felt like a pleasant tickle after that. He couldn't hardly feel it over the burning.

It was done blessedly fast, and he let out a shaky breath and cracked his eyes open even while his leg still throbbed. "Eh? Place to go?" he repeated, and ran a hand through his messy hair. "No, not...exactly."

Tough guy.

Raizel could appreciate that. When she did this to herself, knowing to expect she still gasped and made some noises, but nothing! Impressive. She was tempted to smack his leg just to get something out of him, but... That would be sadistic and the last thing the poor man needed today. No where to go?

A heavy sigh and she pushed her hand through her hair, giving the white streak a grumpy glance before it fell back into place on her face. As usual. "Well, we have to go a bit farther into the forest, but I have to make a camp and you can rest there for tonight." Without permission she moved to hover over him, examining the head wound. Taking the wet cloth she pressed it to his scalp to wipe away some of the blood to look at the wound better. "Good news, Cadmus, you don't need stitches on your head."  Handing him the water canister - just in case he was thirsty - Raizel just watched him, confused, he didn't look terribly weak or useful, why was he down there?

That was great news, because the idea of getting that something poured over his head didn't exactly tickle him. With a nod to acknowledge the good news, he accepted the water and took a long swig, wetting his dry mouth and throat. Bleeding and sweating and dehydrated him more than he realized.

"Thank you," he said, for the offered water, not giving him more stitches, and the offer to sleep in her camp. After he'd taken a few more gulps from the canister, he handed it back to her and leaned his head back against the tree. "I appreciate it. All of this, I mean. I apologize that I can't exactly...fully articulate that at the moment, but I truly am grateful."

He cracked his good eye open. "What brought you down there, if you don't mind my asking?"

A smile and she simply nodded. "You're welcome, Cadmus," and she went about repacking the things she'd pulled from the bag so that when they'd rested - When Cadmus rested - she could simply grab the bag and they'd be on their way. Raizel took a peek at his stitches, hoping against all odds that it wouldn't get infected because, well, that would really suck. So far she'd had luck with no infections with any of her wounds but... A brief look at Cadmus and she turned away.

"You may ask," A moment of silence, like she wasn't going to answer and then she sat down carefully, elbows resting on her knees. " I was looking for something, rumours and what not lead me to it." Her head went to her hand and she flew the hair from her face, "Of course all I found was an empty building. You're lucky I'm not as stupid as I look and that I found you."

Raizel looked at his face, examining the scars briefly. "Unless you have some cool tricks up your sleeve, I imagine you'd be dead." Or beaten and then left for dead.

Cool tricks. Cadmus supposed he had one of those. He could shift to gryphon form, which worked in most cases! Except shifting was like using a muscle, and if you went for a while without exercising it, it grew weaker. The longer he spent in human form without changing, the harder it became to shift into a gryphon--and vice versa. He'd never lose the ability; it was an intrinsic part of who he was. But it did take longer sometimes.

And this had been one of those times.

If he hadn't stayed in human form for the last three days without pause, it would have been easy. But when those brutes set upon him, that slight hesitation had cost him, and they'd overtaken him. Now he was far too weak to even consider it--not that he would. Be a good way to scare the shit out of his new...companion.

A companion that would no doubt kill him if she knew the part he'd played in that clusterfuck.

Thankfully, as far as he knew, all those men were dead. No one to squeal on him! Hopefully.

"I'd be dead," Cadmus said after a pause, nodding grimly. "It's what they intended. I have no tricks that could have saved me there." He felt cautiously at his head, then turned it side to side, testing his dizziness. It wasn't as bad with rest, but he still felt delightfully shitty. "Fortunately, I have a strange amount of luck on my side."

"Hm," Raizel tilted her head, again pushing her hair over her ears since it'd all fallen forward again. A long look at her new temporary companion and she stood up, picking up the pack and throwing it over her shoulder. "Do you feel any better?" Then she paused and shook her head, "No, I mean..." Then without his permission and with little warning she did her best to hoist him up.

"We need to go." She looked around, cautious, "I have a small camp set up a bit farther in. You can rest there, but we're still too close." And then she began to walk and drag poor Cadmus along with her. If what he'd done before had anything to do with it he would grin and bear it - which is what she was counting on. Before long, there was a modest camp. A small fire pit, a laid out bedroll. That was it. Everything else she'd kept in the pack.

Raizel dropped Cadmus off on the bedroll and placed the backpack down and went about building a fire. "Are you hungry? Or do you just want to sleep?" She paused for a moment, looking at his head. Giving it a long look she moved behind a tree and spat, going back to her bag, getting something out and putting it in her mouth.

"I'm worried about your head, but... You can rest. I'll wake you up when I'm worried about you." An attempt at a smile that looked more like a pleased grimace and she sat in front of the modest fire and tried to bring it to a brighter fuller life.

She'd wake him up when she was worried about him. Cadmus couldn't help but chuckle at that--quietly, because his first snorted laugh made his head ache as it sounded far too loud in his ears.

"Then I could be asleep for a long time," he jested, as he stretched back onto the bedroll and tried to find a comfortable position. It was a difficult task to accomplish; the bed roll was plush, but he was still sleeping on the ground and could still feel every rock beneath him. He would be far more comfortable as a gryphon, curled up in some tree.

He rolled onto his side, putting the pressure on his uninjured leg, so he could watch her, and pillowed his head beneath a hand. He was hungry, but he decided not to mention that. He could bear it, and he didn't want to put her out more than he already had. After all, he was now occupying her bed roll!

"Where do you plan on sleeping?" he asked, eyes growing heavy. "I could always move. I don't require your bed. I've slept on the ground plenty."

The comment about sleeping for a long time had her cast a glance at him and smirk but she said nothing. Simply lift an eyebrow and watch him get comfortable. Or at least as comfortable as someone could get on the ground. "I'll be fine, I wasn't stabbed or beat in the head." Finally the fire was good and grown and Raizel moved to rest against a tree across from the bed roll to watch her guest.

Wired was a good word for her. She'd found her hands unable to stop shaking most of the time unless she was holding something. She'd have to force herself to choke down food. Pushing her hands through her short hair, she closed her eyes after a moment and sighed. He'd probably be hungry. How long had he been down there for? Not long, he still had  sense of humour. Though now he had a bad case of ... Percussion. "I'll wake you in a few hours for food, just... Rest easy, Cadmus. I'll take care of you. For now."

And then drop his ass off at the next city for someone else to adopt. You're welcome, citizen!

...Point.

After being reminded that yes, he had been stabbed and beaten, Cadmus protested no more. He always had had a bad habit of downplaying his own injuries and needs, and still felt the kneejerk need to offer her the bed like a gentleman, but he also knew how annoying it was to be argued with after saying you were fine. With a careful nod, he closed his eyes and nuzzled his cheek against his hand, still trying to get comfortable.

"For now. That sounds so ominous," he murmured, and yawned as he began to drift on the edge of sleep. "I'm sure I'll feel better when I wake."

Ominous.

Raizel smiled again. Which instantly turned into a frown when she realized she was smiling because that was decidedly something unfamiliar. The few smirks and smiles had suddenly made her cheeks hurt and she would be doing no more of that.

Like she promised, Raizel made food, though the preparation was interrupted to shift close by Cadmus occasionally to check his breath, laying a gentle cool hand against his forehead to check his temperature.

A modest stew was made and - by her standards - it smelled decent. Being out in the forest as much as she was, Raizel always had at least one pouch of dried herbs to made dinner not taste like an old boot. At the very least it would taste like a herb-y old boot. There was, however, one bowl and one spoon, so, she ladled some up and went and sat beside Cadmus's head.

How to wake him up nicely?

Frowning for a moment she gently rubbed at his shoulder and down his arm with her free hand, probably one of the few places on his body that wasn't bruised and battered.

"Cadmus. Wake up. You need to eat."

When Cadmus drifted off, he fell asleep hard. He didn't even remember it happening, and was for all intents and purposes dead to the world.

So when Raizel tried to wake him, at first he didn't respond save to snort loudly and nuzzle back into the bedroll. But then when it didn't stop, he abruptly gave a violent jolt that sent a shock of pain through his injured body and jerked awake with a start and a gasp. He caught Raizel's wrist and clutched it too-tightly, a startled look in his wide eyes--but then he registered her face and his expression softened, his grip loosened, and he let go of her quickly.

"Sorry," he said, and took a deep, calming breath. "I...guess I fell asleep."

Of course, having your wrist grabbed and squeezed would startle anyone. Raizel included. Nothing was lost on her though. The wide eyes. The tight grip. She didn't pull her hand away. Instead she waited, quietly, for him to wake up fully. Sure enough, Cadmus calmed and she placed her hand back on his shoulder.

"No need to apologize, Cadmus," Her voice had gone soft, trying to make it as soothing as possible.

"You did fall asleep, as you should have, and now I've made food so..." She shuffled closer to him, holding out the bowl of hot 'found things stew'. She'd tried it before putting some in his bowl, it was no masterpiece but... "It doesn't taste like boots. You can rest again after you've eaten."

Cadmus let out a sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose. Thank gods she wasn't reacting badly to that. Thank gods he hadn't done anything worse than grabbing her. His first instinct generally involved punching.

But more than that, it was also just plain embarrassing, having that kind of spooked reaction for no good reason!

With a groan, he sat up gingerly and glanced down at the stew, then took the offered bowl and gave it a sniff. His sense of smell was a bit better than a human's, and he couldn't help but wrinkle his nose. "I've probably eaten worse," he said, and then jerked his eyes back up to her face. "Ah. Not that I'm calling this gross."

And to try to cover up his flub, he brought the bowl to his lips and took a sip, and even managed to keep it down! "...Not quite like boots, no."

Raizel grinned at his reaction and then gave a hushed chuckle, her hand going over her mouth to muffle it for his benefit. Sharp noises probably didn't feel very good to his head at the moment and his attempts at trying not to insult her cooking were far more entertaining than she had anticipated.

"It's spiced boots," She whispered, like it was a secret.

"I'll make you decent stew someday," Raizel said without thinking, like they were going to spend more than a few days together at the most. She'd already decided to take him to the nearest town and be done with him. It wasn't that he wasn't nice. It was that she didn't need anyone else around.

"It'll keep you full until tomorrow, that's all that matters." Without thinking she rose her hand to brush his hair from his wound to try and look at it in the dark, the sun having long since gone down and the fire the only real source of light. "Finish up and go back to sleep. I'll wake you up when it's time to head out, hmm?"

Someday? Cadmus cocked his head at that, birdlike, but made no mention of it. She probably mentioned that without thinking, one of those phrases people used but didn't actually mean. So instead, he took another sip to fill in the silence--

And blinked when she brushed back his hair. An oddly mothering gesture.

Once again, he pretended not to notice.

"Well, I'm awake now," he said. "It might be a bit before I can sleep. Besides, you can't stay awake all night." He gulped down another bite of stew. It got more bearable the more he ate, perhaps because it killed his taste buds. "You'll need to rest, too."

Indeed he was awake now and Raizel gave her eyes a roll. "Look, you're hurt. Your body needs rest," The voice she used was level and there was a steel to it that sounded like 'I make rules, you follow rules - done.' Giving her hands a flex she didn't move from beside the wounded man and instead leaned back against the tree and looked up at the sky. "You don't need to concern yourself with me, we have stuff to do tomorrow - like get you somewhere safe."

Pursing her lips, Raizel pushed a hand through her hair and sighed. "I can stay awake for days, you need to rest." Sure this was probably the last day of those 'being awake for days' stints but as long as she made it to some sort of resting place to pass out for whoever long she needed it would be fine. It would also be best if this fellow wasn't around.

Cadmus lifted an eyebrow slowly. "Days?" he repeated, and frowned. "That's not exactly good for you."

Raizel caught his look and gave her own back, "and being stabbed in the leg and beat over the head is healthy?" It was a rhetorical question but still her blue eyes narrowed at him, "finish your stew and go back to sleep."

Damn.

He'd obviously hit a tender spot there.

Cadmus bit back his retort and swallowed it down with another bite of soup. "My apologies," he said when he'd finished. "I didn't mean to overstep my boundaries."

Raizel sighed and drew her knee up to act as an elbow rest so she could prop up her head with her hand. "You don't know what your boundaries are, you don't need to apologize," She finally said, watching him eat. "Hell, I don't know what my boundaries are." She admitted, offering him a small apologetic smile, "sorry for snapping. Seriously though, I can afford to stay awake. You can't."

Finally, Raizel sighed, "Please? The more rest you get on a full stomach the better you'll feel in a few hours, because we need to move in the morning." she looked up after a moment, "There's a town not too far from here, I can drop you off there tomorrow."

Cadmus feigned a sigh, and quirked a small smile. "I can't argue with a 'please'," he said, and held his breath so he could gulp down the remainder of the soup with minimal tasting. He let his breath out in a rush as soon as he'd swallowed and tried not to make any unpleasant faces as he set the bowl aside.

"But you should catch a little rest if you can. You'll be more help to me functional," he added, and lightly pat the bedroll. "And there's plenty of room. I have good ears. I'd hear anything that came through."

He said it completely deadpan, as though seriously offering to share sleeping space rather than making a dirty offer--because that was exactly how he meant it.

Raizel frowned at him gently and sighed.

The pack of herbs that kept her awake was still tucked between her cheek and her gums and she turned around briefly to pick it out and toss it over her shoulder into the darkness. Fine. She could play that game. More help to him functional, sure.  Maybe he'd be gone by the time she woke up and then she wouldn't have to deal with him.

"Alright," she said softly and began to pull of the metal bits of armor she wore, placing them beside her bag and she shot him a small smile, "I have good ears too." She started dead pan before she sat beside him on the bedroll, still clothed except for her boots and more uncomfortable armor bits.

After they got themselves situated, Raizel rested her head down on the crook of her arm and closed her eyes.  It wasn't that she trusted him. Far from it. Maybe it wasn't worth it. Maybe he'd slit her throat in her sleep and she'd just never wake up. Never have to worry about who she was. What she'd done. What if she was a bad person? The raven sleeping in the trees would be fine. It wasn't long before the lack drugs in her system caught up with her and she was out like a light despite all her thoughts.

Raizel wouldn't wake come morning.

If Cadmus were to go through her things he'd find her bag of sleep inhibitors and appetite suppressants. Looking like little more than herbs he wouldn't know what they were unless he'd dealt with drugs before. It was easy to pretend they were something else when someone caught her using them. It was easier to use those than it was to stop to eat and get rested.

Sleeping like the dead was the price she paid for using them.

Come morning, Cadmus was gone.

Or rather, the human Raizel knew as Cadmus was gone.

In his place was a large black gryphon, twice as large as a male lion but curled up beside her like a kitten. Of course, he was no longer on the bedroll at all; he was too large for it now. He was sleeping on his belly, his body curled around hers but only barely touching, his eagle-like head on his massive front paws--which were actually less paws, and more like the wicked feet and talons of a bird of prey. His long, feathery ears rotated idly as he listened even in his sleep, and his back foot twitched now and then as though he were dreaming.

But for the time being, he was blissfully unaware of his accidental shifting, and tired enough to keep on sleeping.

They both probably could have gone on snoozing if, sometime later, Cadmus hadn't shifted positions and rolled onto his side--and draped one of his heavy front legs over Raizel's body.

There would be sound sleeping from Raizel and the strange movement from whatever that was had her eyes snap open. Instantly she was awake. And stared. And froze.

"Cadmus?" She called quietly hoping he was still around. This was a big sleeping beasty and Raizel didn't want to wake it up. Not when it's arm with those vicious claws were so close to her.

The gryphon that was Cadmus stirred at the sound of his name, his large, golden eyes cracking open and ears flicking forward. He let out a yawn, tongue curling like a cat's inside a powerful, wickedly hooked beak that was not cute and catlike. It was a beak used to crush skulls and spines and strip chunks of flesh from bone.

He glanced at her sleepily, not yet awake enough to notice his condition, and let out a rumbling sound that was meant to be a groggy, "Hmm?" but came out more of a low growl.

Raizel felt real fear for the first time in who knows how long.

Blue eyes widened in fear and she just stared. Moments ticked by what felt like years and she swallowed carefully before she welt still and took a careful breath. Maybe...

Nope.

It was going to eat her.

Had it eaten Cadmus? All that effort just for him to get eaten by a beast.

Raizel closed her eyes for a moment and tried to calm herself. Maybe if she let it sleep?  Nope. Low growl. A careful breath. Perhaps he was someones pet. "Niiiice, Kitty-eagle." Raize said softly, reaching her hand forward to pet along an ear. If she was going to probably die anyway, losing a hand first wouldn't be a big deal. "You like pets?" She asked softly trying to make her voice as soothing as she could, "Let's give you lots of pets so you can go back to sleep and let me go, hmm?"

...Kitty-Eagle?

Cadmus blinked.

Wha...?

And then she was petting his ear and he felt his eyes narrow in confusion since he couldn't really scrunch his brow. What the...what was she...pets? Why was she pettinOH!

It had taken him a moment, for his head still ached from the blow and sleepiness, but it hit him then and his eyes snapped open wide and his head jerked back in alarm. OH GODS. Had he just--?! A quick glance down and he saw that yes, yes he had shifted in the night, his gryphon form coming to him far more naturally and easily than his human one, and his giant lion's body was all wrapped around her much smaller human body with one of his heavy paws draped over her middle. Oh dear fuck. She thought he was going to eat her! And he couldn't blame her! And maybe she thought he'd eaten human him, too, considering he was laying in a pile of torn clothing.

Gods. This was...

This was so incredibly awkward.

"Oh, shit," he said, and lifted his paw off of her and held it up so she could wiggle free. "I...uh. Wow. This is...interesting to explain." His voice was the same, if deeper and more thickly accented--the trill of his R's and hiss of his S's more pronounced than it was in human form. "Ah. Raizel, it's...it's me. Cadmus. Please don't panic."

Oh shit.

Raizel jerked back and stared.

Did this creature just swear?

It just swore.

Did animals swear?

Raizel took a careful breath, not daring to move. Then it began to talk and she could only stare, wide eyed. No way. "Cadmus?" The relief that he hadn't been eaten was greater than she could have anticipated and though his hand... Paw? Was up so she could move Raizel didn't move away. Instead she stared at him, curiously.

Instead, she sat up and ran her hands from his head down his neck to rest at his wings. The expression on her face fell while she looked at them, taking a careful deep breath. "Your wings are beautiful."

That was not the reaction he'd been expecting! Honestly, he had been expecting more panicking!

Not that he was complaining!

He tilted his head curiously as she ran her hands down from his head to his wings, his feather and fur fluffing up a little as that sent a pleasant shiver down his spine. And when her hands stroked his wings, he stretched one of them out so she could better get at it, the feathers fanning out.

"Ah...thank you," Cadmus said, blinking in surprise. She'd just learned he could change into a gryphon and she was complementing his wings? "So, er...you're not afraid?"

There was a level look of interest towards Cadmus. "I was afraid when I thought you'd eaten yourself." Her fingers brushed along his wing, envious. A pang of something made her chest ache and her fingers drew over what feathers she could touch. Imagines of big black wings in her reflection clouded her mind and she frowned for a moment.

"You being the beast is the best case scenario. I'd show you mine, since you showed me yours, but I don't have one." A smirk and she moved her hand back to his neck. Then she frowned and gave him a look. "Why didn't you save yourself by turning into a monster?"

Cadmus let out a loud snort at her "show you mine if you show me yours" comment and he relaxed a little more now that he was assured she wasn't distressed by his presence and...new shape. At her question, though, he rolled his shoulders in a rather humanish shrug, which looked rather odd on such a beast.

"Shifting isn't instantaneous," he said, cocking his head so he could look at her. "And it's not effortless. By the time I realized I was in trouble, they'd clocked me over the head, and when I woke up again I was tied to a chair and fuzzy in the head. Between that and the beatings, well...I was just too weak to do it. Believe me, I would have if I could have."

"I believe you." Raizel said, giving him a strange little smile.

It was easier to be around him now that he was a giant eagle-beast instead of a man. Strange. Her hand was back into his feathers and she moved her hand to his wings again. Black. They seemed so familiar.

"I think my wings were black," She said idly, mostly to herself. Not even noticing she'd spoken. Closing her eyes for a moment she could imagine it, flying. The wind in her face. The weight of flying. The thrill of being in the sky. A slow exhale and she opened her eyes before she pulled her hand away and stood up, looking away after a moment.

"What did you say?" Cadmus asked, lifting his head when Raizel pulled away to stand. He rolled from his side to his belly and then to his feet and gave a long, catlike stretch, his toes spreading and kneading the ground, back arching, and butt raised high as his tail curled. He straightened again and gave his coat a shake, sending a few stray feathers fluttering through the air.

"Your wings? You had wings?"

One of the feathers was caught quickly and Raizel examined it, drawing a finger over it gently before she smiled at Cadmus. Yes, she much prefered him in this form. Oddly less intimidating. It was easy o know exactly what she was up against when it was a ... Whatever he was.

"If the scars on my back mean anything, I did." Tucking the feather away - trying hard to be sneaky about it. Raizel smiled at Cadmus, "so... What are you? Besides... Really big?"

Scars on her back...

Cadmus's expression softened--or at least, softened as much as it could in this shape. The thought of losing his wings was...gods. That would be traumatic, something he was not sure he could bounce back from. And she couldn't even remember? It was probably a kindness that she couldn't.

He might have said more, but it seemed she was eager to change the subject, and he was not about to bring it back around to something that no doubt must be painful for her. Instead, he gave his tail an idle flick and said, "A gryphon," he said, and laughed, a rumbling, growly sound. "A really big gryphon."

He watched her as he spoke, keen golden eyes catching the movement of her hands and a flash of black. Was she...sneaking feathers?

A really big gryphon indeed.

Raizel shifted back down, sitting cross legged while she watched him. Then she paused for a moment, opened her mouth and then closed it again. Reaching out to brush her fingers along his strange animal fur and feathers before she pulled her hand back remember again that, this was the man she'd helped previously.

"If you turn back into a man," She looked down at the shredded clothes on the ground, "You'll be naked, won't you."

Cadmus blew air sharply out his nose, an amused snort.

"I will be, yes," he said, and idly spread a wing out to begin grooming it with his beak. "Which...could be a problem. I destroyed my clothes."

Raizel plucked up a piece of fabric, obviously a piece of his shirt and gently shook her head, trying not to smile.

"I noticed." Pursing her lips she pushed a hand through her hair and leaned against the tree, "I... Don't think I have any clothing that would fit you, you're a lot wider at the shoulders than I am," Teasing was her tone but she plucked at her cloak, "If you want to change back, you can borrow my cloak. Should... uh... cover most of your... " She made a hand motion to his back legs, "Stuff."

"My stuff," Cadmus repeated, amusement in his voice.

"That won't make you uncomfortable, will it?" And as he spoke, he plucked a loose feather from his wing, larger and prettier than the loose ones he'd shaken free. He held it in his beak and stretched his neck so he could offer it to Raizel.

"Well..." Raizel looked at his back legs, frowning for a moments, "I don't know if gryphon parts are different than man parts." An amused shrug, "maybe you have gryphon parts as a man. I don't know. So yes. Your stuff."

Uncomfortable?

A tilt of her head and she unconsciously took the feather from his beak, giving it a look. Opening her mouth to give some silly remark about being uncomfortable... The larger and prettier feather just had her staring at it though, once she really noticed it. Feelings. Why were there so many feelings?

Just looking at it made her chest tighten uncomfortably. Breath picked up. Everything felt wrong and as tenderly as she held the feather her other hand tightened into a white knuckled fist. Knives in her back. The smell of blood. The strange pressure and then nothing.

Raizel sat there staring at the feather for a good two minutes, going more pale as she stared at it, her breath picking up into quick panicked little breaths before she tore her gaze away from it. Looking for all the world lost and alone and frightened for a few moments when she looked back at Cadmus before quickly schooling her features and remembering his question.

"I... No. I'll be fine if you want to change back. I'm sure I can kick your ass if you're just a man and not a Really Big Gryphon." A tilt of her head and she looked back down at the feather, drawing her fingers over it gently like it was precious.

Er...

For someone who claimed not to be uncomfortable, Raizel looked very uncomfortable all of a sudden. The silence, her paleness, the way her breaths suddenly came quick and short as she held that feather and stared at it for endless seconds. Cadmus fell silent, too, for a moment confused, and then concerned. Should he say something?  Ask if she was okay? Snap her out of it? She looked like a sleepwalker lost in a bad dream, and he knew you weren't supposed to wake sleepwalkers--or so they said. Did the same apply to panic attacks?

Whatever it was, it passed, and then she was continuing the conversation like that moment had never happened.

"Oh...I don't doubt that," Cadmus said to her comment about kicking his ass, but then he cocked his head and looked at her. If his beak were capable of it, he would have been frowning. "Are you well?"

"As well as I'm going to get," Raizel with the slightest of smiles, looking down at the feather again and sticking it behind her ear. Maybe she'd get a had. Slap the feather on that instead. Look all fancy and shit.

"I was ... Memories," She smiled slightly, though a pained look flashed in her eyes, eyebrows drawing close together, "I don't know what they were, but my chest tells me they weren't good ones." A look down at his ruined clothing and Raizel reached up to scratch Cadmus between the ears, an impulsive movement, considering he could probably snip off her hand with that wicked beak of his.

"If you want to turn into a man again, I can let you a cloak and you can walk around naked. No skin off my back though... It may be a little breezy until we find a town."

Bad memories. Repressed ones, from the sound of it, if she couldn't even make sense of what they were. Cadmus sighed through his nostrils and despite his still-sore head, he butted his head lightly against her hand as she scratched between his ears. It was rather undignified (for he was well aware she was petting him like a house cat!), and yet he couldn't find it in himself to care. It felt nice--he'd forgotten how nice it was to just be touched--and besides, it seemed to comfort her. He could endure a little indignity for that.

"Hmm...if you don't mind, that would work for me," he said, golden eyes closing lazily as he ate up those pets. "I suppose it would be more convenient, for when we do reach I town. This form is...intimidating to most people."

He cracked an eye open. "Though you handled it rather well." He ruffled his feathers a little and couldn't help the spark of amusement when he saw his feather tucked behind her ear. She really seemed to like it--though something about it also seemed to trouble her. The "bad memories" happened when he gave that to her...

"Of course, you'll have to stop petting me first. I don't imagine you'd enjoy this so much when I'm human."

She'd have to stop petting him.

"I don't know," Raizel started giving Birdy-Cadmud a look, "I might. You're not awful on the eyes." A smirk and Raizel removed her hands and kneeled up to rummage through her bad and produce a second set of clothing. A look at the pants as then at him.

"How do you feel being completely naked under a cloak? Because I don't have any clothes that would fit you.

Cadmus snorted again and gave Raizel a sidelong look. "I'm always naked beneath my clothes," he said, amusement in his voice, "and I'm always naked beneath my feathers. So I'm not too sure how different it'll be being naked beneath a cloak."

An exaggerated eye roll and she just gave Cadmus an unamused smile. The kind where you don't want to smile but it's going to happen anyway. "Very cute, well," she stood up, cloak up and out so that he was mostly covered from her vision. "Here's your clothes. We can barter for some new ones in town I guess." A moments pause, "have you ever sneezed and became a gryphon?"

Seemed like safe idle chatter.

Cadmus watched her hold the cloak out, shielding him from view, and let out a rumbling sound that might have been a laugh. Human modesty would never cease to amuse him, the whole charade of pretending they didn't already know what the other person had and that it was something they had never seen before. Far be it for him to disrespect their strange rituals, though! So with a thought, he sat up and focused, and soon the gryphon was gone and he was, well...

A naked man, hair all disheveled.

He plucked the cloak from her, turned his back for her sake, and wrapped it around himself. Then he frowned as he looked down at himself. Alright. So this did feel a little ridiculous, he had to admit, and he was going to have to spend the day holding the cloak closed if he didn't want to flash everyone. Oh well. As long as there wasn't a sudden strong wind, it should be fine.

Turning back to Raizel with the cloak pulled closed, he quirked a tired smile. "When I was young, yes," he admitted. "Before I had full control of it. Not just sneezing, but random emotions, too. It was a little...troublesome."

Raizel gave him a surprised look, eyebrows up. The answer was unexpected and she was genuinely caught off guard that he'd had to learn how to... Shape shift. The loss of wings had her pluck the feather from behind her ear and she looked at it for a moment, as it trying to convince herself that it was real and he had been a strange fuzzy-feathery animal moments before.

"That does sound troublesome." Looking down at his barefeet she sighed and pushed her hand through her hair.

"Oh... Your head." She looked up at him, chewing on her lip for a moment, "How does your head feel?"

"Like I got bashed in the head yesterday," Cadmus said with a wry smile. He reached up and poked tentatively at the sore patch on his head, wincing. "But it's duller now."

He watched her for a moment, head slightly tilted in a birdlike manner. "I take it you really like feathers?" Really, the way she seemed so fixated on his feather was kind of...intriguing? Granted, not many people knew about his shifting as he didn't go around advertising it, but still! He'd never exactly met someone so seemingly enamored by such a thing.

"I have more where that one came from, if you want them."

Raizel stared at him for a few moments before she looked away, keeping her face straight though there was the faintest blush on her cheeks before she moved her hand down to drop the feather on the ground. "I... No. It's alright," She smiled and rubbed her throat, though she gazed down at the feather before she gathered her things and shoved them into the bag.

"It should only be a few hours before we get to town," A purse of her lips and she stared at Cadmus, "Are you more comfortable as a human? We won't be around anyone for a while longer if you're... More comfortable as a..." A tilt of her head to mimic his bird like head tilt, "Bird-Cat." She finished lamely, unable to recall what exactly he said he was.

Cadmus watched the feather flutter to the ground, and felt a small pang of guilt. Maybe...he should have kept that thought to himself? Ugh. He was only teasing, but he'd learned on more than one occasion that his teasing could fall rather...flat. Maybe he'd embarrassed her?

For some reason?

Humans! They were so complicated and hard to read!

He adjusted the cloak around him, glancing down to make sure nothing was exposed when he noticed her staring at him before looking back up at her. "Both forms feel the same," he said, and then frowned and furrowed his brow. "Well...sort of. One is furrier and has extra parts. But they both feel the same in that they're both...me? If that makes sense." He blinked, then decided to try to simplify! "I'm comfortable in both, I mean. Human and gryphon."

...Just to sort of subtly correct her there. Cough.

He rubbed at his head again, unable to keep from just poking at the sore spot even though he shouldn't. "If I was feeling stabler, I could get us there quicker by air..." he mused aloud, still tapping lightly at the bump.

"I don't want you to push yourself," Raizel started trying to offer him a friendly smile. "Either way, the sooner we start moving the sooner we can get you dressed and on your way."  Clearing her throat she reached up to examine his head with her fingers. "So," she started, beginning to walk towards the little town.

"You're a handsome man. Does that mean you're also a handsome gryphon?"

...Eh?

That made Cadmus blink several times in surprise, his shoulders jerking as though startled. Maybe it was a silly thing, to feel flustered over such a comment. He knew he wasn't hard on the eyes, and he'd rolled in the hay plenty! But the only people that really just came out and said that were people trying to get in his pants--or people whose pants he was already inside.

The company he kept wasn't exactly usual, either, he supposed, so...was she being intentionally flirty or...?

He tried not to think about the way her fingers tingled against his scalp, or that he loved having his hair played with--in both forms.

"I...suppose that would be the word for it, yes..." he said, trying to keep a straight face even though he kind of wanted to butt his head against her hand and purr. "A viable mate, with good qualities for offspring, yes. Er..."

Why was this more awkward in human form than gryphon? Probably because his range for facial expressions was more limited as a "cat-bird", and right now he was fighting to control that. With a soft clearing of his throat, he gently grabbed her wrist to stop her. "You saw me as a gryphon. What did you think?"

Raizel barked out a laugh. Viable traits for offspring. Well, she supposed he wasn't wrong. Still, the wording was hilarious and she just grinned at him for a moment before he pulled her hand away. She hadn't even noticed she'd kept playing with his hair. Her hand dropped to her side and she muttered a quick apology having the good graces to blush slightly and push her hand through her hair.

"I'm sure you'll father handsome bird-cats someday," she stated dead pan, kicking at a rock before smoothing the front of her shirt down. "Nice black feathers and... A wing span... To match your own." Or something. Clearing her throat she smiled and rolled her shoulders. "So. What do you do for a living?"

Cadmus snorted at her...compliment? He thought that's what that was, at least, and wondered which one of them was the awkward one here, because it was becoming difficult to tell! But he supposed that's what happened when you tried to explain the ways of your species to another.

It always sounded weird.

"Ahh, well, I'm not in a hurry in that regard," he said. "Especially with my job. I'm a--"

He froze, mouth still open with the words he'd nearly spoken, before his brain caught up with his mouth and sent danger signals blaring. Riiiiight! Maybe his head was more addled than he thought--or he'd gotten way too comfortable with her--because if she knew he was in cahoots with those guys she'd cut down?

"A..." Shit.

"I'm in between jobs."

Nailed it!

"Yeah. No making babies when you can't take care of yourself." She gave him a look, followed by a smirk before Raizel flexed her hands and continued along. Though she gave him a look over, examining his features and simply... Looking.

"So. If you're actually a gryphon, if you got a human pregnant would she give birth to a human baby or a strange chicken-beast with claws?" The tone was amusement but she cast him a look, as if trying to get under his skin.

Cadmus came to a stop at that question, as Raizel made him think about things he...had thought about before, but hadn't really been in a hurry to test out.

"I...don't actually know," he admitted, brow furrowed before he started to walk again, falling in beside her. "I don't...think so? I don't think it would be anything like that. When I'm human, I'm human. It's...not...it wouldn't be like..." He cleared his throat, his cheeks darkening despite himself, dammit.

"If you're implying what humans called bestiality...?"

A grin.

Raizel smiled at him, pleased with herself to get him so flustered.

"Maybe," a tilt of her head to look at him, a sly grin on her face. "I'm just trying to fill the silence. Feel free to change the subject from your..." She eyed him up and down, giving his feet a look, "strange... Ness." Not that she could really talk, but he didn't need to know that.

"So. How does a man that turns into a giant scary Lion-Eagle get himself into so much trouble?" A smile over her shoulder, "did you let your guard down?"

"Gryphon," Cadmus corrected yet again, passing a hand over his face as though he could wipe away his blush. At least they'd moved on from that subject! It was awkward. And it wasn't the first time he'd had to field this sort of question!

At least she wasn't one of the strange ones, the ones that actually seemed interested in...doing things...when he was a gryphon. Yeesh.

"And you could say that, yes," he said, realizing he still hadn't come up with a cover story, because he was a terrible liar, especially around someone who had saved his life. It felt wrong--odd, considering the jobs he picked up. He looked over at her. "Ah, but we've been talking an awfully lot about me. What about you?  What brought you all the way out here, so far from human towns?"

A smile. Raizel gave a little smile when he corrected her again, getting perhaps a little too much enjoyment out of annoying him with the wrong name of what he was. Still she went quiet and sobered up quickly enough when he asked his own question about her.

Too bad he wasn't so self absorbed to notice she kept all the attention on him.

"I was looking for something," she said quietly, tucking some of her hair behind her ear. "I didn't find it, but I found you and I've always been a sucker for damsels in distress."  There was a pause and she rubbed her arm, "besides, crowds make me nervous. I prefer bears and moose over crowds."

Damsels in distress? Cadmus lifted his eyebrows at her, an amused tilt to the corners of his mouth, because that was the first time he'd been called a damsel. First time he'd been rescued, actually. With an amused little snort, he scratched at the side of his neck, along part of the raised scar stretching across his throat.

"Ahh. Not much of an extrovert, then?" he asked. "I understand that. Cities are...suffocating." Too many bodies and smells and sounds and sights. It got overstimulating fast, and he still felt awkward, like he didn't fit in. He apparently had no issues blending in when he visited, but he'd never had issues faking confidence even when he felt insecure. Like any animal, you hid your weaknesses, your injuries, and bluffed like hell.

With a little shrug of his shoulders, he glanced around the area. "What were you looking for, if you don't mind my asking? I may have seen something in my travels."

What was she looking for?

A long look at Cadmus and she wanted to say something snarky and clever like 'not a new friend,' but she couldn't deny she enjoyed his company. It was almost annoying how not annoying she found him. "I don't know," she stated simply. A truth. "I just..." Raizel looked up at the sky, then back at Cadmus and shrugged, "I know I'm missing something. And I know I'll know it when I see it... Y'know?" A brief glance behind her, to the feather she'd dropped so he'd stop looking at her funny.

Clearing her throat she flashed Cadmus a cocky grin, "I'm good at clearing a crowd though. That old cliche of 'tall dark hooded figure that's obviously carrying a sword.' All I'm missing is a pair of wings in my back and I'd make some sort of fancy angel of death."

"Considering how you handled those men, I think you've got 'angel of death' already covered," Cadmus with a wry smile.

"You'll just have to work on being ominously vague and cryptic--ah!"

He staggered in mid-step and braced a hand against a tree so he could lift his foot and pick out the sticker that had jabbed its way into the fleshy part between his toes. Wrinkling his nose, he flicked it away and massaged the space, then set his foot back down gingerly. Damn soft human body. Wy couldn't humans have tough pads on their feet, too?

"Is it much farther?" he asked, and would have shifted if he had the energy to do so. He didn't want to complain, but...

Well, his feet bloody well hurt.

It felt nice that he wasn't afraid of her, she supposed.

Then he had to and step on a prickle and Raizel got worried and hovered over him, frowning at him the whole time. "I offered you boots," she did, hadn't she? Probably. Maybe. A brief glance forward and she tried to look hopeful but then at his feet.

"Uh... I think so? You'll know we're almost there when you start to hear horses."

"Did you?" Cadmus asked with a raised eyebrow before looking down at her feet.

"I don't think I'd fit in anything of yours..."

"Maybe I just thought I did," Raizel cleared her throat and looked down at his feet, frowning at them, "And then didn't 'cause your feet are bigger than mine." Licking her teeth she looked back at him and sort of shrugged, "Just... Watch where you're going. We'll be in town in no time and you'll have pants and food and a bed." A nod, "Maybe see a doctor for that head, unless your turning into a bird-cat comes with some special healing powers."

That got a snort out of Cadmus.

"Ah, if only it were that convenient," he said, and let out a low huff. He poked again at the sore spot on his scalp and grimaced. "I should be fine, though. No sense wasting coin when the doctor will only tell me what I already know: rest and take it easy."

But he shifted his eyes away as he said it, because he knew he probably should at least have someone look it over in case it were more serious--but he hated doctors. Hated being poked and prodded and fussed over and examined. But he wasn't about to admit that out loud.

He cursed as he stepped on a sharp stone, and quickly focused on the ground again to watch his step. "I intend to repay you, by the way," he said.

Raizel frowned slightly, fluffing her hair and giving him a look when he stepped on something again.

"Repay me?" A sly look over her shoulder, "how do you plan on doing that?" A brief look at his legs and then at his face, "with your body?"

"PFFFF!"

That was the sound Cadmus made as he just about choked on air, his face going dark with a blush before he hid it via facepalm. Still his shoulders shook silently with repressed, disbelieving laughter that he fought hard to control as he shook his head. Wow. She was really good at that. Really good at carrying on a totally normal conversation and then just throwing stuff like that right into the mix as soon as he'd let his guard down. That had to be a gift.

...Hm.

Slowly, he slid his hand off his face and returned her look with a sidelong one, eyes hooded. "If that's what you'd like," he said. Deadpan.

Raizel couldn't keep the smile off her face, though she quickly schooled it down to be just as deadpan. His reaction was what she was counting on and she supposed his playing along was what she was looking for. Though she gave him an exaggerated look over, "consider if you're wearing my things, I doubt you have much else of worth on you."

"Done. We'll save it for a rainy day though." A smirk and she looked to a clearing with a dirt path. Hm. Maybe she'd camped closer to town than she thought. Then she stuck her tongue out at Cadmus, having won the 'I'll repay you,' soon to be mini arguement.

"Maybe I should go on ahead and get you some clothes," she paused, "I'm not sure how they'll react to a tall naked man wearing a cloak. Might hide the women and children."

"So I'm only good for my body. I see," Cadmus said, keeping up the deadpan look. Which was easy for him and came pretty naturally!

But then his look turned sly at her next comment, about hiding the women and the children, and he gave a small shrug that had the cloak slipping down off one broad shoulder. "I can understand the children, but the women?" He lifted an eyebrow. "Worried about competition?"

"Always." Raizel quipped, giving Cadmus an unamused look, "I can have people who are better with swords than me roaming around." She made a below the belt groping motion with her hand, "and you have nothing at the moment, so... Technically..." A smirk, "maybe I'll get violent and steal our kidneys. Feed them to a beast. Who said I wanted your body for sex?"

Still, she reached over and pulled the cloak back over his shoulder. They were nice shoulders.

Cadmus wrinkled his nose. "I don't care for those odds," he said, and pulled the cloak tighter around him when she adjusted it.

"If you plan on stealing any kidneys, though, at least leave me one."

Raizel clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth in contemplation. "Okay, deal. I'll leave one kidney." The sigh after she spoke told him that it would be a huge inconvince and how dare he want to keep his bits inside.

There was a moment of silence, "would they have killed you?"

Cadmus gave an amused snort at that, about to retort--but he cut off with a grimace and looked away.

Erk. This subject again.

"Yes," he said without pause, shifting the cloak along his shoulders, before he looked back to her. "Where did you learn to do all that, anyway? What you did to them?" he asked, switching to a safer subject--but also genuinely curious, too. "I've never seen anyone fight like that. Granted, I was also half-conscious, so maybe that influenced my perception, but..."

He gave her a teasing smile. "It was really impressive."

Raizel looked both pleased and concerned at the same time. Pleased because he thought she was impressive and concerned because she didn't know. Raizel's gaze was to the ground and she took in a quiet little breath before she licked her lips.

"I don't know. I'm guessing muscle memory." A quick wiggle of her euebrows, "but thanks."

"Is that what you're looking for?" Cadmus asked after a pause, stopping briefly so he could once again pick a thorn from his foot. He looked back up at her, his head cocked to the side. "Your memories?"

"I think so," she said softly, frowning at him picking another thorn from his foot. Why didn't he just turn into a birdcat? Wasn't that way easier? Whatever, wasn't her problem.  Raizel pursed her lips, fleetingly wondering, looking back at him, his hair. "Maybe there's some feathers involved," she smirked like it was a funny idea.

"We should be getting close now, did you want to flash people or send me in first?"

"Why don't we send you in first, and you can flash them?" Cadmus suggested dryly. "Kill two birds with one stone?"

Raizel barked out a surprised laugh, her hand clamping over her mouth. There was a strange look in her eyes before she shook her head, sobering quickly. "I don't think anyone wants to see that. Give them more nightmares than anything else." She paused and bit her lip, looking thoughtful, "I think they'd like it better if you did it. You're pretty."

"Pretty?" Cadmus repeated, and it was his turn to bark a short, incredulous laugh. He rubbed his fingers along the wicked scar stretching along his throat. "I think that suits you more than me."

Raizel smirked, giving him a look and watching his hands. Eyeing the scars on his neck she tilted her head. "From the neck up, maybe," a laugh and she closed her eyes briefly, "if scars keep you from being pretty," another nod, "you win."

"I didn't realize this was a contest, but if you like, we can strip down and compare," Cadmus said with a raised eyebrow.

Raizel grinned at him, "oh, it's no contest. I'd win, so don't even try." She continued to walk, looking over her shoulder, "but maybe later if you're still interested."

Cadmus opened his mouth to retort (okay, so maybe he was the one who had turn this into a competition...), but stopped short when a thought struck him. That comment she'd made before about wings. About scars on her back. Her fixation on his feathers, and that odd moment of panic she'd had earlier. Her lack of memories.

Oh.

He shut his mouth instead, putting the pieces together, pieces that had taken a while to collect and fit because he'd been so out of it during half their conversation and still felt a little woozy.

No, if all that evidence pointed to what he now thought it did, he really didn't want to make a game of this.

He snorted at her words, but his expression had sobered. "I think I'll concede this one."

Raizel gave a little pout, seemingly disappointed he didn't want to show off his scars - She'd get eye candy that way- but instead she puffed out her chest, put her hands on her hips and smiled at him. "I win," she stated, casting him a look over her shoulder.

"I do enjoy winning," Even if it tasted like stale crackers. A win was a win and stale crackers were better than none. A brief look around, up at the sky, trying not to think about why he'd stopped the little game. Raizel knew why. Just because she knew didn't mean she wanted to think about it. To actively think that, once upon a time, those pretty black feathers could have been hers.

Raizel sobered up as surely as Cadmus had and she went quiet for a few moments, head ducking down.

"Okay, we keep getting side-tracked by super awful flirting-that-isn't-flirting. I will go into town," She pointed to the town that, while off in the distance, was much closer than the first time she pointed to it, "Get you clothing and then we can go back - with you clothed - and get you some food and stuff. 'Cause I could use some real food. My cooking is shit. Sound good?" She motioned to the town, giving her fingers a wiggle.

"Sounds good," Cadmus said with a nod, following her pointing to the town beyond. "I really wish I had something I could give you in return. At least pay for our meals and the clothes, but, ah..."

He grimaced. "My coin is back there. Where those men were." Not that there had been much, anyway. He gave an uncomfortable shrug, not liking to be indebted to someone--or feel like he was taking advantage of their hospitality.

"...I suppose I could always kill and cook you a deer." Yep. That was about all he had to offer. Which, for gryphons, food offerings were as good as gold, and always understood as a token of affection or gratitude or hospitality. Food was love! But humans were different.

The offer to kill and cook a deer caught her off guard and she paused for a moment, giving him a look before she fanned herself. "Well, if I didn't know better I'd think you were proposing marriage, a whole deer?" Another wave at herself and she just smiled at him, "You sure know how to spoil a girl." Raizel grinned widely, winked and made her way to town. It was an easy trip, she was friendly enough looking with her hood down - a simple traveler and within the hour she was back with a bundle in her arms.

"Cadmus?" She said, hoping he was around where she'd left him, "Got you stuff to cover your ass with. Is it cold yet?"

...Was...was that some strange human custom he didn't know about? Did some human cultures kill and present food to a prospective mate, and did the other person's acceptance of it signal that they were now bonded? Would he be proposing to her if he did that?

Or was she just messing with him?

Cadmus watched her leave, perplexed, then shook his head and settled down to wait it out. She was probably messing with him.

A good hour passed, during which he rested his eyes and aching body, but when he heard Raizel's voice he rose to his feet again, groaning at the stiffness in his muscles.

"It's a little...breezy," he said, eying the bundle she carried and hoping it would all fit. Because yes, it was chilly enough to shrivel his junk. He hadn't felt the cold so much when they'd been moving and his blood had been pumping.

He shed the cloak without thinking, letting it pool around his feet, and reached for the bundle she held. "You didn't have any trouble?"

Raizel gave him an appreciative look, smirking ever so slightly before she handed him the clothing. "I'd ask if that was for me but i fear i might be disappointed." She teased at his state of undress before she rolled his pants out, black and held the shirt. "Maybe offer it again when its more warm out?"

...Oh, ha ha.

Cadmus gave her a flat look before he glanced down, saw what she was talking about, and looked back up with a wry twist to his lips.

"Do you want me to offer it then?" he asked as he started to wriggle into the pants.

Raizel shrugged.

Did she?

"Sure, why not? You only live once right?" She paused, did that count for her? A purse of her lips and a shift of her weight and she watched Cadmus dress himself. It was a fun event to watch. Like candy wrapping its self.

Raizel wasnt sure if it was a strange unknown cannibalistic tendency or attraction that made her want to lick that scar on his neck. No doubt she was zmstaring at it. "I've booked us a room at the tavern. And by booked i mean i licked the door and threatened death upon anyone that goes in while im gone." A small smile and sbe puffed out her cheeks, " apparently they have good pot roast."

He honestly couldn't tell if she was serious or joking. Everything out of her mouth seemed to be a silly quip, but the question was, were they just silly quips or was she the type to use humor to disguise her true opinions?

Well. He was fairly certain she didn't literally lick the door.

He was fairly certain that she had probably threatened death to people.

He wasn't sure whether or not she actually wanted him?

It wasn't like he would be opposed; she was lovely on the eyes, and good, amusing company, and if this day was anything to go by, she'd probably be entertaining in bed, too. But he also knew, with a slight pang of guilt, that he'd deceived her. He was no innocent bystander; he'd worked as a double agent for the very people that she'd saved him from, and he'd done plenty more shady jobs before them. It was a sort of work that came naturally to him. Scarily so.

Pulling his shirt on over his head, he rolled his shoulders, finding it a little tight there but otherwise comfortable. "I wasn't aware humans also scent-marked," he said with a smirk. "You're very territorial. Black wings, you said? Are you perhaps part magpie?"

Raizel looked over her shoulder at where she was pretty sure she once had wings.

"Maybe. I do like me some shinies," Arms folded over her chest she rolled her shoulders in response to him - though her top fit much better. "All dressed?" She looked him up and down, "Okay, now, tonight, when you're sleeping. Don't rip the clothes." A slight frown, "Or just sleep naked.  I'm already poor, I can't be affording to buy you clothes every time you go bird-kitty."

And with that, she turned around and began to meander her way back to the town with her newly clothed friend - hopefully behind her. Didn't want to leave him behind or anything.

Cadmus gave a small shrug. "I usually just sleep naked," he said. Not because he usually had issues with control--that was just because he was weak and wounded--but because it was just more comfortable for him in general. Let everything hang out and give it all a chance to breathe!

But then he paused, a sudden thought striking, and gave her a sidelong look, brow slightly scrunched. "Unless I have company that prefers I don't, that is. You said we have a room. Singular. How many beds?"

Raizel gave him a look, "one bed, but plenty of floorspace. And a chair." A simple shrug, "I figured you're injured and im used to sleeping on the ground, so... it would be easy enough to decide who gets the bed." Raizels voice dipped and she leaned towards Cadmus, giving her eyebrows an exaggerated wiggle. "Unless you want company."

Cadmus snorted at that and rolled his eyes, giving her shoulder a playful shove. "I've probably slept on the ground more than you. Being, you know, a gryphon. I'm probably better suited to it, too. It's not uncomfortable, you know. Our bodies were made for it. Humans weren't."

He poked her side. "You're too squishy. In all seriousness, though, you can have it."

And then he lifted an eyebrow. "Unless you want company?"

"Of course i want company," she replied honestly, giving him a brief look, " if i didnt i wouldnt be taking care of your wounded head now, would I?" Raizel smiled and curled her arm around his for a moment and lead him along. 

"Fine. If you want to sleep on the bed with me you can do that. If you want to sleep on the floor you can also do that. Sound good?" A sweet smile and a fluttering of her eyes to him.

"I'd much prefer the bed," Cadmus admitted, glancing down to where their arms were linked. Built to sleep on the ground or not, living as a human had spoiled him, and he really, really didn't want to sleep on the floor. He had only offered because it was the gentlemanly thing to do--and had been hoping quite powerfully that she would say the exact words she said.

"I'll even keep my clothes on, if you'd be more comfortable," he added, patting her arm. "And I promise--cross my heart and everything--not to tear them up by shifting. Unless, of course, you're a naked sleeper, too, in which case I won't object to that either."

Raizel liked winning and she grinned at him when he confessed to wanting to sleep on the bed. Victory was sweet and added extra warmth to the sheets, clearly. A brief pause and she looked thoughtful, "hasnt been warm enough to sleep naked lately, though i imagine if the opprtunity came about i could take it. Gods know id try anything once."

Having chatted and leading him along, the idle banter led them right to the tavern. Two stories and modest, Raizel rolled her shoulders and pushed the door open. The smell of bread, mead, stew and old wood . "Welcome to your home for the night," a smile over her shoulder and a friendly wave from the tavern keeper.

"Already bought us a meal so... have at it."

"You were busy," Cadmus said with raised eyebrows as they entered the tavern. "No wonder it took you an hour. I'd almost started to believe you cut and run, but instead you were being...sweet."

He took a deep breath, and his stomach gurgled at the savory smells that filled the air--especially the meat. Oh, he could gorge himself on bread and sweets and even vegetables if left to his own devices, but nothing beat meat. And he had come to enjoy even cooked meats slathered in spices and sauce.

...Though he still preferred it bloody.

"Gods," he said as a serving maid came bustling out, carrying their food to a table for them--pot roast, just as she'd said. He slumped into a chair, grateful to be off his feet finally, and just stared at the meal before him.

It was beautiful.

"Are you trying to seduce me?" he asked as he dug in, and moaned around that first glorious bite. "Because it's working."

( 8D I have completely forgotten about her Raven pet. We'll say he's off somewhere doing bird things)

A quick bark of a laugh and she tucked her hair behind her ear, "I get as much out of this as you do," She stated. Which was true. Sure, this way it cost a little more to her dwindling funds but... She got some interesting kitty-bird company and ... Company. Raizel looked to Cadmus while he was drooling over the meal and she smiled a little. It never really struck her how lonely she was for Sort Of Human contact until it was in her face.

His question of seduction caught her off guard and she watched him while she poked at her own meal. Her cooking really was awful, god. Perhaps she'd try to get better for her own sake. Maybe get some decent spices. Or hunt meat more often.

"It is?" she leaned forward and tilted her head, "Well, good thing we're sharing a bed." Raizel winked at him after a moment, "That'll quiet the tune, I hog blankets."

[Stealing shinies! 8D]

"So do I," Cadmus answered with a wry smile before looking down at his meal, which was nearly done. Gods, he could have eaten three bowls of the stuff--but he wasn't about to take advantage of Raizel's generosity. So he slowed down a little, to give himself a chance to feel full.

"Guess we'll see who wins there. Me? I've perfected the technique of rolling the covers under myself. Good luck stealing them."

Raizel dug into her own meal hungrily, pushing away the bits of vegetables that weren't good (to her). It bothered her on a few levels that she couldn't look at a thing and go 'I don't like that' and just... Push it away. A few times, she'd probably made a face, pushed the food around in her bowl and resumed eating. What an odd situation to be in.

"I'm not lying," She stated, "All I can afford is one bed, luckly, it's made for adults and not some tiny person," Because she wasn't tiny. She was one of the taller people she'd come across on her travels. So far. Raizel watched her guest curiously again, committing the little features to memory. The fact he could turn into a kitty-bird was interesting and the scar on his throat.

She pressed her fingers to her own throat, entertained, on some level, that was one of the few places she wasn't scarred. "Well, when you're ready, don't worry, when we wake up I won't make us breakfast. One more splurge for breakfast, then we get to hunt or... You can... eat mice or something."

She nudged his leg with his under the table and smiled, " You do eat mice, right?"

[Almost posted this using her real name throughout. xD Whooops!]

Cadmus's expression was deadpan.

"Sometimes," he said. "I usually go for larger game. Mice are a snack, not a meal. But they've got a good crunch."

He had been told in the past that such talk was...distasteful, and so he usually avoided it for the sake of others. Apparently humans thought only certain animals were edible and others were gross, even though they were all made of fur and bone and blood and offal. Raizel, however, for whatever reason just invited it. Not because he was trying to disgust her, really, but because she gave it right back in spades.

He hid a smirk behind a final bite of stew.

"The fur's a little annoying, though," he said, and cleared his throat. "Hairballs."

[ I'm sure no one would have ANY idea of who you're talking about even if you did use her real name the whole time : D Also, this is why i can't let you in on secrets |8 ]

Mice were a snack.

Raizel nodded along like it was super useful information. Which it kind of was, she supposed, if this guy was going to be traveling with her for a while. She didn't need the help in any way, shape or form, but... The company was nice. Raizel had forgotten what it was like to travel with good company.

Annoying company could eat rocks.

Raizel finished her stew at about the same time Cadmus did and she licked her lips and gave a stretch, giving him a bright blue eyed look before he spoke again and her eyebrows went up and she barked out a surprised laugh. Hairballs. Grinning, Raizel looked well, beautiful, her eyes sparkled and she pushed her hair behind her pointy ear before she shook her head, mouthing the word hairballs.

With dinner finished, she stood up, eager to claim her side of the bed. Or her bed. It had been a half hour and she couldn't even remember anymore. "I'm going upstairs," She nodded, pointing up - because a gryphonman wouldn't know which way upstairs was or something - "It's the fourth door on the right," A smile, a light handed pat on the shoulder and she grabbed her pack and made her way up.

Cadmus would follow eventually.

Raizel, however, got comfortable right away, moving off to a corner of the room that wouldn't be immediately seen from the door. As she requested, there was a bath, the water luke-warm because it'd been up here since she purchased the use of the room, but it was clean and she had soap for the unfortunately rare baths she took.

So, Raizel peeled her clothing off, back facing the door. Stretched her arms up, stretched her legs, and should Cadmus have followed her quickly - she paid him not mind. The scars on her back were grotesque, red and angry still. Like limbs had been dug from her shoulder blades. A brand on her lower back and just scars. At odds with her lovely face, Raizel's back painted a beautifully painful picture.

And she really wanted in that tub while it was still warm.

Cadmus followed a few moments after Raizel. Despite all his chatter, he was exhausted still--which was to be expected for a head wound. His head still ached, his muscles protested when he rose, and with a sigh he glanced up at the stairs. Ugh. Stairs. His legs really didn't want to climb those.

He was slower than Raizel, moving stiffly, but he climbed his way up and followed her directions, fourth door on the right. Raizel was a little prickly, but she really wasn't so bad. She certainly wasn't annoying, as he found many people to be, and better yet she was interesting.

Intelligent, too. He would have to be careful around her; it would be...awkward if she found out the truth of his "rescue".

Beautiful, as well, and strangely familiar. But he had no idea why, or who she really reminded him of. Odd.

Pushing open the door, he limped into the room, nudging the door shut behind him with his foot. The first thing he saw was the bed, which looked inviting, if a bit small; more like the sort of bed a married couple would be comfortable sharing and not two strangers. Which, really, would only be problematic if he had any issues with personal space in the first place, and Raizel certainly didn't seem to care. With a yawn, he made his way toward it--and then paused and blinked when he caught sight of Raizel in the far corner of the room, back to him and an unused tub waiting.

He stopped mid-step, staring, his eyes widening at the sight of her scars, hideous and painful.

"...Oh."

The soft noise caught her attention and she gave a brief glance over her shoulder. For obvious reasons she didn't see the scars often and sometimes she forgot just how terrible they must be. A glance down at the tub and she finally turned around.

"What, never seen some scars before?" She teased, trying to make light of the situation. Raizel smiled, putting hands on her naked hips before she moved to the tub, sinking in with a pleased little moan. Warm water was a rarity for her and she let her head tip back. The bath was quick and clinical after her moment of enjoyment and, still naked, bent to find a newer set of clothing.

It was clear that Raizel had little shame. Unaware and uncaring if Cadmus was watching her or trying not to. "Do you want to be cuddled or be the cuddler, cause we're not gonna fit on that on our backs." She paused and smirked, "well.. Maybe if one of us was on our backs." A clinical look at the bed and rolling her shoulders while she tried to imagine them both - rather tall adults- fitting on the bed.

Raizel stretched again, her shirt hanging loose and just covering her breasts. "Did you want to use the bath? Its not too dirty."

"I've seen my share," Cadmus said slowly, still more focused on her scars than her nudity. At first, the awfulness of them had taken him aback, but as the surprise wore off, another detail registered: they were matching, parallel scars, save for the strand brand far lower. Scars around her shoulder blades.

He rolled his own shoulders, discomfort twisting in his belly as a story began to grow in his mind.

Wings. That was where wings would be, just as she had mentioned before. "I think my wings were black." The casual mention of her scars, and hint that she didn't remember how she got them. He remembered that, but seeing was different from just talking about it. No, her intuition was right; there was no other injury he could think of that would create that kind of pattern, and...gods. It made sense. The way she kept his feather. The sad fascination she had with his own wings.

She'd had wings once. And gods, but he was glad she couldn't remember losing them.

He chewed the inside of his cheek as she sank into the water and bathed, letting his breath out slowly when he realized he was holding it. His own shoulders itched as he thought of those fresh scars and the story they told. A horrible accident could result in an emergency amputation, but the brand on her back pointed to something far more sinister. They'd been taken from her. Cut out of her back.

Maybe it was the head injury still making him woozy, but he felt like he could vomit.

He snapped out of it when she spoke again--had she finished that quickly?--and he blinked and looked at her...and found her bent over.

...Well.

He cleared his throat.

"I've been told I make a good big spoon," he said. "But maybe I should be the smaller one tonight, so I don't poke you in the morning."

He glanced over at the water and, finding it clean enough, stripped out of the borrowed cloak and sank into the water. It was definitely cleaner than he was, covered in days' worth of blood and sweat and dirt, and it felt amazing to scrape the grime off, careful of his bruises and mended injuries. The water turned murky as he washed, and when he was finished, he rose stiffly from the bath and shook his hair out rather like a dog before slicking it back with his fingers.

He dried himself off with her cloak, since it seemed the only available option.

"You don't remember anything about your wings?" he asked when he was relatively dry and settled on the bed.

Well, points for honesty.

Raizel snorted and glanced at Cadmus, lips pulled into a thin line to hide the humour and entertainment. Poke her. That would be new. While her companion bathed, she finger combed her hair and stretched away the tense muscles of the day. Checked herself over for scratches, bruises and ticks. Back bent and arms stretched up, Raizel tossed her black hair over her shoulder and finally glanced to the man when he was done and helped himself to her cloak. It was fair, she supposed. It would dry off.

Having sat back, hands on her lap, relaxed and eyes drifting closed, his question caught her off guard and she gave her companion a wide blue blink.

"My wings?" Raizel shuffled to the side of the bed, leaning in with her legs slightly curved and her arm out for resting on. She pursed her lips and looked up, frowning slightly while she tried to rack her brain. There was nothing. "No," her voice was calm. She'd gone over it a few times. Trying to remember past just... Waking up that one day and there being... Nothing. A tingling sense of knowing she was supposed to be something. She was good at fighting. Quick witted. Muscled and scarred. The wounds of her wings had been tender and fresh, carved from her back and left... Who knew where.

"I just... Woke up one day on a riverbank, think I was in Serendipity?" Raizel shrugged and relaxed back, eyes closing for a moment. "Bruises and cuts." She sighed and closed her eyes, "I know they were black. I can't remember them but I know they were black. Like I know I was probably a soldier or a bandit or... Fought a lot with a sword." there was a shrug and she relaxed, "Anyway. Get some sleep. I got us covered and I swear to all the Gods if you rob me blind in the middle of the night, I will find you and leave you naked and tied up in the middle of town." Raizel smiled and closed her eyes, patting the space in front of her for optimal spooning possibilities.

Cadmus let out a snort. "Oh, I wouldn't dare," he said as he crawled into bed and put his back to her, scooting forward until he was laying on the edge. He may have had no issues with nudity, or cuddling strangers, and she didn't seem too fussed, but he still wanted to respect her space as much as he could. He stretched out, one arm tucked under his head, and let out a yawn.

"Sounds like you could have been a bandit to me, with that kind of talk. Or at least a vigilante. I think soldiers are more the 'tie you up and throw you in prison' sort, but your justice sounds more...frontier."

He glanced at her from over his shoulder, flashing her a little smirk. "I think vigilante sounds about right. But just watch, one day you'll get your memories back and it'll turn out you're some lost Adelan princess, or some Yoreiqi chief's daughter."

There was a bark laugh.

It was loud, unladylike and the only thing behind it was true amusement and she slapped a hand over her mouth like she was trying to put it back in her mouth. Of course, she just snickered a bit behind her hand and shook her head. "Adelan Princess or a Yoreiqi," Raizel mused, rolling her eyes at Cadmus leaving so much space between them.

Her hand snaked away from her face and curled around his torso, "Come closer, you're going to fall off in the middle of the night." Her voice was firm like she was used to ordering instead of asking and she gave an accompanying yawn and mused on the idea, "I think I'd be not quite so pale if I were a true bred yoreiqi or Adelan. Still, very entertaining." She snuggled up behind her companion, breath warm and even. "I imagine forgetting them was for the best and should I ever remember, I hope I'm ready for it."

"Go to sleep now, have good dreams," And Raizel hoped she had none. She rolled away briefly and moved to blow out the candles after remembering the few that had been lit for light, drawing a curtain over the window to keep the room dark come dawn, because she knew they were both tired and at the very least they deserved to sleep in. There wasn't coin to spare but there was enough for this. Crawling back onto the bed, she resumed her spot behind Cadmus and got comfortable.

Raizel was asleep quickly, her hand resting on his side. Breath coming out in a soft sigh.

Oh. Well. She was friendly.

Cadmus stiffened briefly in surprise when Raizel cuddled in so close to him--not once, but twice, resuming the exact same position after she snuffed the candles. For a moment, he stopped breathing. Not because he was uncomfortable, not by any means. No, rather it was because she was very warm and he could feel the rhythmic tickle of her breath against his neck, the curves of her breasts against his naked back, and the heat of her arm against his side. She might be scarred and hardened, but she was soft where it counted, pretty for all her crudeness, and she had saved his life. It was a potent combination--a combination he hadn't given much thought to until she was literally snuggled against him in bed and impossible to ignore.

For all that he could shapeshift, for all that he was gryphon, for all that nudity was fine and natural to him, well, so was sex, and he was also just a man. A man who enjoyed being naked in bed with attractive people, and people tended to be even more attractive when they had also saved your life and looked good doing it. Goddammit.

When he realized he had been still too long, including his lungs, he let his breath out slowly through his nose. His skin loved the contact, craved it, but this was so not the time nor the place nor the person to be having such thoughts and feelings about. He'd lied to her. He wasn't as good of a person as she might think.

The guilt was enough to cool his blood, thank gods, but it was also enough to keep him awake longer than he wanted. Which meant more time being all too aware of every micro-movement Raizel made. Which made sleeping harder. His mind wandered, pausing here and there on her story--waking up with her wounds and no memory. Gods. He hadn't reacted when she had said it; he didn't want to dig at something painful. Why did she seem familiar, though?

Eventually, after a while of wandering thoughts and trying very hard not to move, he drifted off.

By the time morning came, however, he had failed. Sometime during the night, he had rolled over and snuggled in close to Raizel, one arm thrown over her, chin atop her head, and legs tangled with hers.

Had there ever been a time she'd woken up to be so warm? It had felt like ages and ages she'd been waking up cold. Cold on the ground. Cold in a bed. Blankets kicked to the ground and trembling and sweating before drifting off back to sleep again to wake up cold once more.

 Raizel drifted awake unwillingly, mind coming to realization that there was a body beside her and it was warm and comfortable. Blue eyes opened slowly and she was greeted with the chest of the man she'd helped the day before, she'd recognize the scar on the throat anywhere. Raizel didn't want to wake up. Didn't want to move. Didn't want to do anything but lay in this half-strangers arms just a little bit longer and pretend that this was where she was supposed to be.

Warm. Safe feeling.

Raizel snuggled in, giving a soft sigh and closing her eyes again. He could suffer for now, since he was the one that turned around and tangled his legs with hers. It took effort to not make a quip or a joke, because she didn't want to wake him, and she didn't want to hurt him further, which was the excuse she was going for on why she was more than content with their legs as they were. He had wounded a leg and she couldn't quite remember which one, the last thing she wanted to do was move her own and bump it.

It was an unfortunate unconscious movement while she was falling asleep again after waking up, like using a worry stone or petting a raven. Her hand drifted from between them to rest on Cadmus's chest, drawing her thumb back and forth against the flesh in a motion meant to sooth and calm - more for her. Raizel was awake enough to know she was awake, but not awake enough to realize that being pet might wake her wounded companion.

He wasn't ready to wake up.

Everything always hurt worse in the mornings. Old injuries, new injuries. Right then, it was the new ones that prodded him toward waking: a deep-sharp throb in his thigh, an aching soreness in his head and face, the strain of overworked and bruised muscle in his back and abdomen. Everything hurt, more than he let on, and through the shock and exhaustion of the day he had managed to power through it and manage it. Had ignored the pain, and ignored the fear that came with almost brutally dying. He wasn't quite ready to sort through all that.

That always unraveled in the mornings.

The ache grew, dragging him toward the surface, but Cadmus stubbornly refused to surface. Not yet, he thought as he squeezed his companion tighter. Just a little longer. It had been ages since he had slept in a real bed, ages since he had even felt safe enough to sleep this deeply, and far longer since he had felt the warm press of another body against his. He desperately wanted to hold onto it—the sensation and the person—for as long as he could.

He let out a wistful murmur and curled in closer, nuzzling his face into her hair as neck and breathing in her scent. Just ignore the pain for now. Stay like this just a little longer. Fingers were caressing his chest, shivery pinpricks of pleasure cutting through the annoying aches everywhere else, and he focused on that instead as he dozed, only half awake now.

This was the best, this sort of contact, this sort of intimacy, and he craved more. Wanted to caress and be caressed. Humans didn't do that enough, always in a hurry, always wanting to get straight to putting things in each other—which was fine, but also somehow empty. With a contented sigh, he pressed a couple lazy kisses to her neck, fingers idly tracing her back over her shirt. Her scent tickled his memory, familiar yet new. Where did he recognize that from...?

Who was this, again?

Did it matter?

Probably not...

Wait.

WAIT. 

Who was this?

His eyes cracked open, and dark hair streaked with white filled his vision, a pale neck. Dark hair. Light skin. White patches. He stared blearily, for a moment disoriented and confused, and then—oh shit. 

Shit.

Raizel. And he was practically entwined with her like lovers, his face against her neck. Stroking her. Had he kissed her?

Pure guilt-ridden mortification overtook him, his face heating several degrees hotter, and he yanked backwards from her so abruptly he nearly tumbled out of the bed. 

"I am so sorry!"

It was the place between awake and asleep, that Raizels brain processed the light kisses to her neck. A not-dream took form in the shape of a man with long hair, giving her light chaste kisses in the same way. Secret. Hidden. Her eyes opened half-way from the stroking of her back and she just stayed still. It was an entirely old-new sensation and she remained quiet and just let it happen, tried to associate being comfortable and warm with something.

Nothing came though, no lost familiar memory. No jolt of realization on who may have made her feel like this before. Raizel didnt know if that was because she just couldn't remember or if she'd just... never felt like this before. Judging by what her scars told her, it was the latter. Her hand still moving on his chest subconsciously she turned pliable and let herself be cuddled.

Until her companion became aware and she looked at him with wide eyes. Oh, she supposed it was a little messed up to be using another living being as a test subject for what would jog her memories.

"No don't!" She gasped, her arm going around his torso and keeping him from jumping away, "it's fine." She stated quickly, "it's okay." She didnt untangle anything, because despite her companions embarrassment she was still warm and comfortable. A rarity that she'd bravely weather someone else's mortification for.

"Sleepy brains do things sometimes, if anything I'm flattered you could fall asleep so deep you took to dream foreplay. Evidently you should be too, I didnt wake up until a few minutes ago." Her voice was soft and she leaned back slightly to adjust her head on the pillow before pulling her arm away and tucking both hands under her cheek.

 "I didn't hate it," she said, referring to the cuddles. Her eyes closing before she yawned out "how's your head feeling? You look like you got beat up,"  her voice was light and lyrical, trying to make light of a traumatic incident.

To Cadmus's surprise, Raizel stopped him from retreating any further--arm around his middle, legs trapping his, and mortification quickly morphed into confusion. It was fine? Okay? Really? And here he had been expecting to get slapped, and he would fully deserve it! He had been around humans far too long to claim ignorance of their very different boundaries, and this was his fault, anyway, for not having warned her that he could get...cuddly in his sleep. It was why he normally only slept with humans he intended to bed, because this level of contact usually wasn't socially acceptable to them otherwise. Hell, neck kissing wasn't socially acceptable among his own kind as a form of casual contact, who was he fooling? But he had been tired and sore and eager for bed, and guilty for withholding the truth, and that had been the last thing on his mind.

He scrubbed a hand over his face, and couldn't help letting out a small, strangled sound that was half relieved laugh and half embarrassed groan when she said she was flattered for...for dream foreplay...oh gods. And she went even further, claiming not to hate it.

Really?

What was that supposed to mean?

"Well...either way...I'm sorry," he finally said, sliding his hand away from his face. "I, ah, I forgot to warn you. About the clingy-ness. I hope I wasn't too weird?"

Thank gods he hadn't scared her away. She seemed to have taken it in stride. Sure they had joked and teased and traded innuendo, but that wasn't quite the same thing.

Letting himself relax again, he scooted back over so he was no longer half off the bed. He shifted a sidelong look at her, quirking an awkward smile. "My head? Oh, you know. It feels about to pop, and I want to cut my own leg off--but you should see the other guys." He stretched gingerly, muscles protesting. "I'm lucky the angel of death was on my side."

Raizel decided the embarrassed chuckle was cute and she found herself smiling back. Observing. There was nothing hurried. No reason to get up and get moving -for her at least. It was a blessing and a curse, having no where to go.

"Well, you were the one getting your ass beat," she stated dryly, turning the phrase 'angel of death' over and over in her head. While she didn't neccesarily have a unique talent, she was just really really good. Reflexively.

"Did we need to go back to get your things?" She said, moving her hand to push his hair off his forehead to examine the cuts and bruises, "provided it wasnt stolen." Examination finished, the nasty bruised setting in, she drew her hand through his hair with a comfort like she'd done it thousands of times before Raizel returned her hand back under her cheek.

"We can go see a real healer, too, if your leg is really hurting. They're nice legs, I'd hate to see you lose one," As if reminding him he had legs, she tapped her foot against his calf and gave a half-smile.

Provided it wasn't stolen.

Cadmus's shoulders jerked reflexively, face tightening in a wince, but he was quick to excuse it. "Sorry," he said. "Little tender. Wasn't expecting it." Thank gods she was examining his wounds because it made for a good cover in this moment.

"Ah, you know what? I think I'm alright. I didn't have much on me anyway, much to their disappointment and...I think I'd honestly rather not go back there. Bad memories. Bodies everywhere. Kind of creepy. Probably incredibly smelly by now."

It was a lie, of course. His sword was back there as well as money. A fat sum of money, the money he had cheated those men out of. She could not know about that. If it came to it, he would go back and retrieve it on his own later, but he would let the whole place burn before he let her know that he'd--wait.

What? Would he really? Give up the shit he'd nearly died over just because he didn't want to hurt the feelings of a stranger he'd just met?

A stranger who had saved his life and shown him far more kindness than he deserved.

His belly twisted in a way he hated. Just as he hated how much he liked how her fingers felt in his hair.

Why am I so goddamn shitty.

Her tap dragged him out of his thoughts, and he snorted at her compliment. "I suppose they're alright for man-legs," he said, and lightly tapped her back with a little wink her way. "I'd much rather look at yours." And there he went again. From guilty to flirting like whiplash, as though flirting would assuage the guilt.

"Real talk though, I couldn't ask you to spend more coin on me than you already have."

What an interesting reaction, confusion was plain on her face that he didn't want his things. Raizel blinked at him while he spoke, smiled when he flirted and gave a sad smile when he denied more help. "You had nice bird-cat legs, too," she confirmed, looking over her shoulder towards the room.

Still, despite the fact she was truly and well awake, she didn't want to get up. The bed was warm, her companion was a little awkward in the cute way and she'd be lying if she said she wasn't lonely and desperate for real conversation that wasn't her talking to a bird. Raizel closed her eyes briefly, unwilling but needing to return to cold reality.

Surly she had places to be. Somewhere. Slowly, Raizel turned around on the bed carefully untangling their legs and making sure not to bump his thigh before she moved her back to Cadmus's chest and moved his arm around her. "Consider this your payment," she said, her voice a little solemn, "for saving your life. Then we'll go get your leg looked at," It took effort not to sound vulnerable and small, but at least she knew she was on equal footing if they were already both sideways in a bed and neither of them had weapons. Sort of. Could Cadmus change just random parts? He'd look silly with a beak.

"Just..." Raizel said softly, "five minutes. You be the big spoon for five minutes and we'll call it even." There was a sensation in her chest she couldn't quite describe, like being suffocated and needing air but you had all the air you could ever need you just couldn't... Breathe it in. "You're a really warm extra blanket, it'd be a shame to waste it," she teased, her voice breathy and the sound of a smile accenting her words.

Cadmus opened his mouth, once more about to correct her about the bird-cat thing, but then she went and threw him off. Yet again. She really had a knack for that.

She put her back to him and wrapped his arm around her, claiming her place as Small Spoon before he had time to think. His eyebrows climbed, but he didn't protest. For one, he wasn't ready to get up yet; the bed was warm, the outside air cold, and he wasn't ready to move. And for two...well...he didn't hate this, either.

As mildly baffling as it was.

"Oh. I see how it is. So I am paying you with my body, is that it?" He'd joked about it earlier so it seemed appropriate that she'd come to collect. But it also felt suspiciously like he was getting the better deal, with her back and rear pressed against his chest and hips in a way that had him thanking those awful dead thugs for beating and stabbing him, because it meant he could focus on the throb of his wounds to keep things from getting...problematic. He held very still, and willed her not to move too much, because bodies were weak and had their own ideas, sometimes. He was all about casual affection--starved for it--but he was also still naked and holding an attractive woman flush against him, and he couldn't think of a time when he had been spooner or spoonee that hadn't ended in more. Humans just seemed to work like that, and he was fine with taking the scraps he could get.

Yet he didn't get the feeling that Raizel worked that way. When she said she wanted to spoon, that seemed to be exactly what she meant and no more.

It was both refreshing and confusing.

"A blanket. That's all I am to you. A mere object for your use." He let out a dramatic sigh and nuzzled his face into her hair, eyes drifting closed, his good leg sliding between hers to get closer and steal more of her heat. "Probably just waiting for me to shift again to turn me into a rug."

Raizel smiled, pressing her face to the pillow and getting more comfortable, which unfortunately meant adjusting a little bit. Still careful of his leg and bruises, she moved slowly and gently. It was a rare treat to feel contented and she wanted to soak it up while they were both warm and sleep addled.

The leg took her by surprise and Raizel sucked in a breath, waiting for him to move the leg farther but he got comfortable before she sighed and relaxed, simply closing her own over his. If he was after her heat, she was doing the same. If anything she was making out like a bandit, her bed partner was far warmer than her and she soaked it up like a heat and touch deprived sponge.

"Well, currently you're a very good blanket," she confirmed, voice soft, her hand trailing down his arm to thread their fingers together, her hand overtop his on her stomach, which felt oddly more intimate than their legs intertwined. "I think you'd make a less impressive rug, though," Raizel said, "there's no way I'd be able to do it anyway, I saw that beak and those claws. You'd make quick work of me, I may not be human but I promise you I'm squishy like one. Besides, who just lays on a rug?" Mentally she was counting. Five minutes.

Raizel was a menace.

Between her adjusting herself and her caressing his arm, Cadmus was struggling a bit but trying very hard to play it chill. He looked toward the ceiling and thought about how bloody bad his leg hurt, and that helped a little, but she was also slow about it and that made it worse. It would have been easier if she did jostle his leg, but she was so careful and considerate and gentle that he had to rely on his willpower alone.

Once she settled, he relaxed again and closed his eyes, only to hitch a breath when she trailed a hand down his arm. Goosebumps followed the path of her fingers, the chill making the hairs there stand on end and his fingers twitch, and it was a real effort not to squirm and make an embarrassing sound--but she could still probably feel his shiver. Everything was more sensitive in this form without fur and feathers getting in the way of his skin, and what could he say? She had found his weakness, damn it.

Her hand covered his, lacing their fingers together and trapping him there thoroughly. Legs together, hands together, it looked like he wasn't going anywhere for a while.

Or at least five minutes.

But who was counting?

"You're not that squishy," he said, and flexed his fingers over her belly as though to check. "You just have fewer edges and softer skin." He hugged her a little tighter, as though she were his personal body pillow. "Fine, maybe not a rug, since you don't want to lay on me. A blanket so I can lay on you instead. Either way, you only want me for my body. How objectifying. I'm wounded."

Maybe he should be counting. He was dangerously close to liking this too much--and he shouldn't be. Was this...wrong? He joked about her taking advantage, but was he actually doing that? Shit. No. It was fine. This was harmless, right? And it had been her idea in the first place. It was okay. This was just a chance encounter, some harmless...whatever this was, affection? Comfort? It didn't matter. What mattered is that they would be strangers again soon, while she still believed him decent.

His fingers curled against her hold on his hand, lacing them together tighter. That somehow didn't make him feel any better.

Was that her that shivered or him? Definitely him.

Raizel was tempted to make him shiver again, the streak of somewhat intimate playfulness a bit odd for her. It felt bittersweet, this moment of calm and it almost pained her that it was happening at all. Sometimes, when she had an experience in this new reality of hers, she would have little flickers of familiarity. But there was nothing here.

No real flickers. Maybe she had been a bandit. Maybe she'd been some ruthless killer that didn't deserve a moments peace. While Raizels mind wandered, trying to fit a jigzaw puzzle that was a blank picture, her mouth carried on the conversation and the flexed fingers on her belly sent a spark through her that made her suck in a breath. It was one thing to initiate touch, as she'd been doing, but the simple squeeze of her stomach was enough to jolt her senses because that was his hand touching her, not her hand touching him.

"Your body is what's warm, I'll take what I can get." Raizel said teasing, turning her head to the side to look over her shoulder at her companion - or look over as well as she could, if his face was buried in her hair. "I like the words that come out of your mouth though, I don't think I've smiled so much non-sarcastically in a long time," an almost pained look crossed her features and she stared up at the ceiling while they spooned.

Only a few minutes left, and then she would get up. Get dressed. Make sure she didn't destroy Cadmus's leg and then... Go. "And, just so you can stop being sad about only being wanted for your body - which is a pretty nice body - I find myself oddly comfortable around you and not being terrified of closing my eyes is..." Raizel paused, like she was thinking when in reality the words just refused to leave her mouth, "a nice change." she finished lamely, "So, thank you, Cadmus. For dealing with this." another pause, "I hope it hasn't been hard for you," her voice was clearly smiling at her pun-joke.

"Ha-ha," Cadmus said to her pun with a roll of his eyes that she couldn't see. He added, voice a playful grumble, "The only thing hard here is this bed." 

Gods be damned, she knew. Or did she? Was he being more obvious than he thought about trying to keep this chaste and boundary-respecting or was she just being her usually innuendo-laden self? There was a brief moment of paranoia, a slight shift of his hips to adjust himself, and a small wince as moving made searing heat shoot through his thigh. Ugh, why did she have to be all sweet and sentimental and vulnerable now? The cuddling paired with her admitting her fear...

It was the worst. 

She was so strong, but she seemed smaller now. The memory of her scars, the sense of loneliness he felt under the surface—or maybe he was projecting. The brave and playful face she put on when talking about painful things. It made him want to protect her, and that same protectiveness made him want her, and then it made him feel like shit. She shouldn't be thanking him because she shouldn't have saved him. She had risked her life for garbage.

Selfish garbage, because he sure made no effort to pull away.

Instead he slid his other arm, the arm he had been resting on, under Raizel's body so he could encircle her entirely and caress along her arm and over her hand, up and down as far as he could reach. "But really, you don't have to thank me. I don't hate this," he said, stealing her phrase and nuzzling against her neck, voice going a little muffled, a little awkward.

"And, ah...I'm glad. Glad I could do something for you after what you did for me, and..." Words. Words were difficult. He paused, trying to figure how to word what he was trying to express. "I'd do more if I could. You're a good person, Raizel. What happened to you, whatever's made you so afraid—you don't deserve it."

He sighed, puffing against her hair. "I wish I'd met you earlier."

The feeling of being content was addictive and the concept of five minutes would have fluttered away like a butterfly on a spring breeze if she didn't hold it in such a tight fist. It was okay to pretend, at least for a little bit. The world wouldn't end. Eternity wouldn't extend forever. Raizel chuckled softly and carefully moved so Cadmus could fit his other arm under her before she got comfortable again.

It was bittersweet, when he told her that she was a good person. That she hadn't deserved the bad things that happened. They were sweet words. The dessert after dinner. "I don't require payback, Cadmus" Raizel assured, warm and comfortable and content.

"Met me earlier?" She parroted, moving her free hand to rest against her shoulder, out of the way but close enough to poke Cadmus in the face if she chose to.

"How much earlier?" Her voice turned into a whisper and she closed her eyes, pondering on who much earlier could be. "Good earlier? I think if I met you earlier I'd have just had a neat griffon-bird/cat-man companion," She moved her ankle along his calf and leaned back into his chest a little bit, "are you looking to be my companion?" voice lowered, her eyes were closed and she let out a comfortable sigh, "I pay in body warmth, but not the sexy kind."

How much earlier? At least before he had gotten himself tangled up with those two gangs. He couldn't ask to erase everything  else he'd done, but at least the earlier shit didn't involve Raizel so he could feel a bit less guilty about it. He wouldn't have wanted to go back too much earlier than that, though, because then things got...complicated. Back then he wasn't just a disaster—he was a monster. He kept trying to run away from the person he was, but fuck it was difficult.

Of course, he wasn't going to say any of that. Keep it surface-level and playful. That was the safest approach.

"Gryphon," he corrected, not for the first time and likely not the last, and poked her belly again. He was about to answer her question or make a quip about the man-cat-bird-thing companion bit, but she was quicker, and her question caught him off guard.

Eh? Her what now? His leg twitched a little as she moved her foot against him, suddenly hyper-aware of all contact, of how close he was pressed to her and how the curves of her body felt against him. Her companion?

"I, uh..." He cleared his throat, fingers tapping lightly along her arm. The equivalent word in his language had a simple meaning. Among people here, he had heard them use that word for everything from casual friends to close friends to one-night stands to long-term lovers--the language here had a lot of that going on, with many words having multiple different meanings, much of it based on context, some twisted into innuendo and wordplay. He had been around humans long enough, and was fluent enough, that he grasped a lot of it, but sometimes a situation came around that tested his understanding.

Like an intimate moment like this.

"You know," he started, playing with her fingers. "In my language, the closest equivalent to that word is something like 'mate'. Companion, pair, bond. We have a word for friend, of course, but our word for companion means something a bit deeper and more long-term. I've heard people here use it to mean 'companion for a moment in time'. Like at brothels."

Had it been five minutes?

Very likely.

Raizel remained with her eyes closed, smiling when he began to play with her fingers. She could imagine that he'd be playing with his own fingers if his arms weren't wrapped around her middle. Holding her close. Feeling safe and wanted. His voice drifted to her, her own question lost for a moment before Cadmus started to speak. His voice made warmth bloom in her chest and she shifted her shoulders to nestle better while he spoke.

Companion.

The way he explained it sounded lovely. Pair. Bond. Language was funny like that. Context changed it, intention changed it, so much went into language when a look could change the meaning of it. "I like your word better," she said, voice fading, moving the hand she had at her shoulder to rest on his forearm. "We'll use your word," She sighed out, "and not brothels... but do you sound like a bird when you talk?" Raizel went limp then, her breathing deepening, hand resting on his arm, having fallen asleep again.

Did he sound like a bird? What?

"You know I don't. I sound perfectly normal. Maybe my accent is more pronounced, certainly, but many birds are capable of mimicking complex sounds to perfection--speech included--not to mention that I am not a..."

He trailed off, holding his breath so he could listen, because he suddenly got the feeling that he was talking to himself. For one, she wasn't reacting at all. He expected at least a poke or a teasing interjection, but instead he heard only the sounds of deep, even breathing. "...bird," he finished lamely, and couldn't help but quirk a defeated smile.

Yep. He was talking to himself, because Raizel had passed right out. Shaking his head, which nuzzled his face against her neck, he let out a quiet sigh and just listened to the sounds of her breathing, measured the easy rise and fall of her belly where his hand rested.

Had she even lasted five minutes?

It was almost like she had planned this.

That was fine by him. He was in no hurry to get out into the world yet, so instead he cuddled in tighter and closed his eyes, gently moving his hand off her belly so he could give it a quick stretch—he was starting to get pins and needles—before resting it on her hip.

I like your word better, she had said. It must have been the tiredness speaking, because she couldn't possibly mean she wanted to be...that? Right? They barely knew each other. If she said she wanted a tumble, that would be one thing--questionable, since he sincerely doubted his performance at the moment, but he wouldn't blink an eye at it, either. But this? Pair? Bond? Mate? No, she was just talking sleepy talk.

And he was getting in far too deep.

Shit. What are you doing, you asshole?

His chest hurt as he held her, but he held her a while longer to be sure her sleep was deep. Five minutes. Ten minutes. Anxiety built in his chest and belly, twisting like so many worms, and he waited a little longer before he rolled away from her and rose from the bed. He couldn't do this. He couldn't keep pretending to be a good person. It was better to cut the strings while they were still thin and loosely wound, because the tighter and thicker they got, the harder it would be. If he hurt her feelings here now, at least it would be while things were new and fresh and easy to move on from. They had had some fun, shared a nice moment they both needed. It was a nice memory to leave off on, right?

He dressed quietly, holding his breath through the pain. Raizel had done a good job sewing up his thigh, but it still needed further treatment; it was deep, just shy of his femoral, and that knife hadn't been a clean one. Infection still couldn't be ruled out. He'd deal with it. First, he'd just have to get money to pay for it.

Hopefully it was still there.

With his breeches laced, boots pulled on, and his shirt over his head, he stood in the room for a moment longer and cast a look at Raizel.

This was the worst.

Just get it over with fast.

Leaning over the bed, he pushed her hair back and pressed a light kiss to her forehead. "Bye, Raizel."

And then he was gone out the door, running away from his problems like he always fucking did--or rather, limping. He remembered the way back to the hideout, knew it wasn't that far but would be a bitch to get back to anyway. But he would manage. Grab the money. Get his sword. Get out. Try not to think too hard about the guilt eating away at him.

It was better this way.

The dreams were sweet.

Though the field had been warm and the sunflowers bright. The roses climbing the arch way and surrounding the sun. Then the sunlight left and the warmth seeped away and she was left cold and alone.

Raizel woke slowly, eyes scanning the room, not having to look over her shoulder to know that she was alone. Sitting up Raizel pressed her palm to her eyes and and let out a sigh, fingers through hair. The bed was cold, which meant he was long gone.

Made sense.

With a leisurely pace she climbed out the bed and got redressed, did buckles up. Tucked shirt into pants and pants into boots. Raizel stretched and looked at the bed, giving a small smile and looking down and away. That was a slight pang that itched and clawed at her chest, abandoned. Left behind. Not good enough. Her gloved hand scrubbed at her face because her eyes burned for a moment and Raizel slung her backpack over her shoulder with another sigh.

Making sure she had all her things, Raizel rolled her shoulders, took one last look around... And left.

Onto a new place. Maybe new information. Someday.