After the Storm [Lion rawr!]

[Lion]

"It sadly doesn't work on anybody," Agrian replied, laughing still.  "I suppose sex isn't particularly high on my list of things to do.  Skull-crushing, I've discovered, is kind've a turn off.  Strange I know."

[Rhindeer]

"That's news to me!" Yasmin said. "With the number of people flocking to see us tear folks apart, you'd think it was a turn-on."

[Lion]

"Oh probably for the same kind've people that buy gladiator sweat and stage mock battles in their bedrooms," Agrian smirked.  "How are things for you in that department?  Just as a matter of conversation."

[Rhindeer]

Yasmin gave a choked laugh and pressed her hands to her face, shaking her head.

"Hah. Hahaha HAH! You're a funny, guy, Agrian!" she said with a snort. "Oh, things are fantastic! Really busy! Like, all the time, my cot is a battlefield of hot, hot lovin'! Pfffft." She waved a hand.

"Naw. The only thing that happens in my bed is a lot of snoring and drooling on my pillow. People don't really see me as a woman."

[Lion]

Agrian laughed for a few minutes then sobered a bit.  "That's a shame," he murmured.  "I suppose what really matters is how you see yourself, right?  And it's not like we have much else to think about in the arena, fighting for our lives every day.  I guess I just think sometimes a person needs something to make them feel human again."

[Rhindeer]

Some of the embarrassment melted away at Agrian's words, and she lowered her hands so she could look at him. With a crooked smile, she sighed.

"Well, I know who I am," she said. "It's just hard sometimes when no one else does. You're right. It's nice to feel human sometimes. All this stuff is just...people really take it for granted. I know I did, before--" She cut off and shook her head. "Well, anyway, not gonna lie. Sometimes I wonder what it'd be like, having a lover and all those petty lover fights, having a family, maybe. Where the hardest decision you ever have to make is what to eat for breakfast."

She stretched out onto the cot, arms pillowed beneath her head. "I'd settle for someone calling me pretty and meaning it, at this point. But enough about me, what about you? I know you said it's not high on your to-do list, but hey, you get any lately? Eh? Eh?" She winked.

[Lion]

Agrian gave it some thought.  "Well, okay, don't judge me too hard.  I was kinda drunk.  Well, really drunk.  But you know the lancer, Jana, the real strong one?  I nailed her,  or maybe she nailed me.  I can't really be sure between the two of us.  It was like fucking a brick wall."

[Rhindeer]

Yasmin stared at Agrian, eyebrows raising slowly.

"...I'm totally judging you right now."

[Lion]

Agrian put his hands up.  "Hey!  Hey!  It was consensual.  She said I was strong like a bull, then slapped me on the ass."

[Rhindeer]

Yasmin snickered. "So she...rode the bull, eh? Really took you by the...horns."

[Lion]

Agrian laughed.  "Okay, okay, not the best turn of phrase.  But you understand my point.  Hakeshna.  Everytime I walk by her she gives me this weird look and then winks at me.  Gives me the willies just thinking about it."

[Rhindeer]

Yasmin covered her mouth to muffle her giggles as she just imagined it. And it was rather hard to imagine, because it was so ridiculous.

Sitting up, having finally given up on sleep at this point, Yasmin grinned widely at Agrian. "You mean like this?"

She hooded her eyes and waggled her eyebrows at him, slowly nodding her approval and dragging her tongue across her bottom lip. "Mm, mm, mm! You sexy, sexy beast. Rawr!"

[Lion]

He knew she was egging him on, but Agrian just smiled and quirked his brow at her, chuckling at her antics.  "Almost.  It was more like this," he said and made kissy faces at her.

He laughed too and sobered a little.  "You have a nice laugh," he said.  "It's good to hear.  Sounds better than Jana's laugh.  She sounds like she's choking on a spear.  Wait."

[Rhindeer]

Yasmin stared at Agrian for a good three seconds, her cheeks puffed out with repressed laughter, because it came out in a whoosh.

"Pffffffffhahaa! Ew! You WOULD know that, wouldn't you? Oh dear goddess, seriously, on a scale of one to fighting sandworms with a spoon, how much do you regret your life choices here? Honestly."

But then her grin turned genuine. "Really, though, thanks! I mean, I'm pretty glad I sound better than...that. Though I guess that's a low bar, eh? Anyway, you should smile more yourself. Looks good on you, and I don't think you do it enough. I know we don't really have much to laugh about, but...you know what I mean."

She tilted her head, then scratched awkwardly at her cheek. "Huh. Kinda funny to think, eh? I haven't laughed this much in a while--I mean, real laughter--and, uh, we might be doomed tomorrow. I don't wanna be all mushy, but I guess what I'm saying is, if I had to get stuck in a cell and executed with anyone, I'm glad it was you."

[Lion]

It was a decent time to be, er, mushy, as Yasmin put it.  They didn't really have anything else to do, and it was better than feeling the slow creeping hand of despair wrapping around his neck, suffocating him.  Despite Agrian's earlier display of confidence, he couldn't at all be sure they wouldn't be killed in the morning.  They were slaves, slaves that had defied the will of the Shah, challenged the very will of Hakeshna in doing so, and the only just punishment would be death.

But something inside Agrian was hardened, the knowledge that he really had nothing left to lose.  There was a wild desperation that yearned.  But for what exactly, he couldn't say.  It was a small candle that flickered against the coming of the storm.

A storm...

Agrian turned to look at Yasmin and he smiled.  "I agree.  I guess there are worse slobs for you to get stuck with, eh?" he said, chuckling lightly.  "Thanks though.  I appreciate it.  Friends got to stick together.  If we don't, we have nothing else.  Now, enough of that bleak shit.  We should catch some shuteye while we can.  I can't remember any cot this comfortable.  It isn't everyday we have actual cushioning."

[Rhindeer]

"It's almost like we're being pampered," Yasmin said with a tired grin, and shifted a little to make the cot bounce before she sucked in a pained breath because it hurt her side.

"It even kinda bounces. And I can barely feel the rocks beneath it! Ah, but I'll stop yapping at you before you throttle me with a pillow. Good night, dear sweet slob. See you bright and early."

Settling down, Yasmin yawned and folded her hands on her belly, but though she was tired she just kept staring up at the ceiling. Sleep wouldn't come easily for her. It never did, and it rarely came uninterrupted. But Agrian was right. Whatever was coming tomorrow, for better or for worse...

It was going to be one hell of a big day. Wouldn't do to keep him up just because she couldn't sleep.

But the silence only lasted a few moments, because something he had said, no matter how much of a throwaway line it may have been, stuck with her.

"We're really friends, huh?"

[Lion]

It was hard to sleep.  It wasn't the cushioning of the cot - or lack thereof - but the thoughts that resided on Agrian's mind.  He wondered if the Shah would release them after all of this, growing angered at her lack of decisive choice.  She was a coward, he thought.  Too busy worrying what her people thought of her to stand her ground.  Oh, but he couldn't let himself be wholly convinced of that.  The Shah was still the Shah, and she had the power to destroy him here and now if she wanted to. 

But could she come to that conclusion herself?

The question there that hung in the balance was what kept him restless.  And when Yasmin posed her question, it caught him off guard.  He turned over on his side to look at her.  He wasn't sure what she meant at first.

But a smile slowly spread across his lips.  "Do you even have to ask?" he murmured, half-drowsy.

[Rhindeer]

"Yes!" Yasmin answered, rolling onto her good side as well so she could better look at him. "Apart from the part where I kind of tried to kill you today, er. It's just." She gave a one-armed shrug and a crooked smile.

"It's just kind of nice to hear it?"

[Lion]

Agrian almost wanted to laugh.  A part of that feeling spilled out.  "You've never had anyone call you a friend have you?" he asked.  He knew what it was like to have people he thought were friends.  Companions and allies alike that had your back when it was convenient for them.  And the moment it was turned on them, when it was no longer relevant to their interests, the dagger was never far behind.

[Rhindeer]

"I've been called a lot of things, but 'friend' was never one of them, no," Yasmin admitted, rubbing the side of her neck. "I've never called anyone a friend, either. Ah, wait. Actually, that's a lie on both fronts. Sometimes, I forget I had a life before all this! Does that ever happen to you? Anyway!"

She let her hand drop, picking at the side of the cot. "What I'm trying to say, I guess--and I guess I feel like it's important or something, life being short and all! What I'm saying is that, er...how do normal people do this again? Right. I think of you as a friend, too. I guess I always kind of did. But then there's the stupid paranoia and the whole, 'oh no! Don't get too close!' And the whole part where the arena happens so, you know, people die and it blows..."

She was babbling sleepily and she knew it, but she hoped he got her point!