Feather of Fate [M] [DragonSong]

[Juno]

A squeal of surprise was barely stifled, but she put out her hands instinctively to push back against his chest and lean away as far as she could without squirming. "Uh..." Well she hadn't expected that from him. And he'd seemed so docile until that point. Well, relatively.

"Still me," she challenged, glancing down between them before lifting her chin to look him square in the eye. "That feather has quite the spell on you."

[DragonSong]

A low, playful chuckle rumbled in his chest, and his heart gave a persistent thump when she met his eyes so defiantly. Adorable.

Quite unable to help himself, he leaned forward to murmur in her ear, "Not just the feather, love."

Then he released her and stepped away, whistling casually. "We heading back to Kura's then?"

[Juno]

Penny stumbled back in stunned silence. A genuine blush spread across her cheeks that she really could not hide. Letting her head fall forward a bit and turning to face the right away again she was grateful for the endless green that could let her hide and recover.

"Yes, she probably thinks I'm out here getting you into all sorts of trouble," she sighed, shaking her head and smiling slightly. "Probably shouldn't have gone so far out, but what's done is done." She chewed at her lip in thought, frowning instead as she reflected on just how much time they'd probably wasted.

"You might have to stay over dinner, too."

[DragonSong]

"Hey, I won't argue with a free meal," Mal joked, grinning over his shoulder at her. He offered his arm with a little mock bow. "Shall we, milady?" With a self-deprecating smile, he added, "I'm not quite sure where we're going."

[Juno]

"Poor you," she lamented playfully, giggling and joining their arms with a knowing smile.

"Don't worry, you're in good hands with me. I'll lead you back safe and sound," she added, patting his arm lightly as she stepped out to head back down from where they'd come from. "It really is so confusing around here. Roads every which way, not a landmark in sight. It's a miracle sometimes that I can figure out where to go," she teased.

[DragonSong]

Mal wrinkled his nose at her. "Yeah, yeah, alright little miss," he grumbled, rolling his eyes. He wasn't complaining though. He liked having her arm through his, pulling her gently against his side.

"So if you've been Kura's apprentice for four years," he said conversationally, "that means you started when you were...?"

[Juno]

"Oh! Nineteen. I'm twenty-three now. I realize that probably makes me a bit old to still be so..." Unskilled? No, she shouldn't bash herself. "New," she decided instead. "Still a lot to learn, as you've been made aware."

It felt nice to be walking with him. Natural, even. She liked it.

Peering up at him curiously she tried to pin his own age. Granted, she had no idea how a phoenix might age any differently from a human. For all she knew this father of his was long-lived. He seemed relatively young to her, though. She couldn't see how he couldn't be if he was so playful and carefree with her. He wasn't graying at all that she could see, after all.

"What was your magic like at my age?" she asked, boldly assuming she could put his age above her own.

[DragonSong]

"When I was your age?" he repeated, laughing a bit. "You sound like your talking to a grandfather. Just how old do you think I am?"

Well, he supposed he couldn't really fault her for assume he was older than he was. Most people probably would, upon meeting a phoenix. "That grand total of three years ago," he teased lightly, "I still didn't quite have a handle on my powers."

His expression sobered a bit and he looked away. "It was...interesting. Not always good interesting."

[Juno]

Only that? She felt a little relief to know he wasn't some ancient creature. Though she wasn't entirely certain that would have even bothered her anyway.

"So it was very recent, then?" she wondered, genuinely curious. "When did it, um, manifest exactly? If you don't mind my asking."

[DragonSong]

"What? My magic?" He shrugged. "I've always had it. I just...didn't know where it came from until recently. I thought I was a pyromancer."

He glanced down at her. "What about you, then? When'd you realize you wanted to study magic?"

[Juno]

Even if it had caused him quite a bit of trouble she couldn't help but feel a little jealous of him. "I was just a girl, but I found it so interesting," she shrugged, looking out to the house she could finally see in the distance.

"Maybe fourteen or so. I wish my father had let me go study then. I might have been a bit more capable by now."

[DragonSong]

"Hey." He gave her arm a quick squeeze, smiling crookedly. "Quit beating yourself up about that. There's plenty of people who couldn't even get done the summoning bit, much less a binding spell this complicated," he laughed.

"Even if it wasn't intentional, it's some impressive magic," he said softly, eyes crinkling a bit at the corners as he smiled.

[Juno]

The compliment earned him a warm, genuine smile but Penny knew she couldn't just let him just dismiss it as amazing. "Not nearly as much if I don't know how I did it," she pointed out.

"Being able to replicate it or fix it would be better. For now I'm still the clueless mage who stumbled into a mess of a ritual." She laughed gently, happy at least that he seemed to want to encourage her no matter how awful she was at it.

"You make me want to learn, though," she admitted. "How could I let you down now?"

[DragonSong]

Mal shrugged. "Well, you've got the first step down," he said lightly.

Then he chuckled. "Yeah, I mean how could you disappoint this face?" He gave her his best "kicked puppy" look.

[Juno]

"Oh, I just can't! You look absolutely miserable," she teased, laughing even as she tried not to look at his pitiful display. Leaning in close for a moment she gave his arm a light squeeze before slipping away from him entirely.

"We can't be giving Kura any ideas now. She'll think I summoned you on purpose and I'd never hear the end of it." Mischievous eyes lingered on him a few moments more before she darted away to rush out towards the door ahead of him.

[DragonSong]

He arched an eyebrow. Huh. So it seemed like Pretty Penny knew how this game was played after all, at least a little. Chuckling, he moved to catch up with her, snaking an arm around her waist and pulling her back against him, completely ignoring any sense of propriety.

"We wouldn't want her to think that now, would we?" he murmured, bending his head to put his mouth close to her ear. Then he stepped back, letting her go easily.

He normally wasn't quite so bold, but damn if this girl didn't bring it out in him. And she was hardly a wilting flower- he had the distinct feeling that if she wanted him to back off she'd have no problem telling him so.

[Juno]

There was a bit of a thrill in him catching her that she didn't want to admit to. If he was going to be there, though, surely there was no harm in a bit of fun.

She turned slightly to give him a wordless smile once he released her, lingering at the door for a moment before reaching to open it and step back inside. "We're back," she called out, her head lifting to sniff appreciatively at the smells of a roast wafting from the kitchen.

"Didn't get rid of him, huh?"

It wasn't exactly a question, though, and Penny glanced to him apologetically. "No. Mal's going to stay for dinner while I get this sorted out."

"A guest for dinner? Fancy that. Let's hope it only takes you that long," the older mage laughed good-naturedly, highly amused at the excitement her student's folly had brought down upon them.

"I'm sorry about her," Penny chuckled and sighed, making her way back down to the study where she fully intended on burying herself in books until a solution was found.

[DragonSong]

The scent of food was positively mouth watering. Mal gave Kura a nod and a quick, polite smile when they entered, undeterred by her apparent amusement at his misfortune.

"It's alright," he chuckled quietly to Penny. "She reminds me of Da a bit, actually. I'm used to it." He trailed after her to the study, where he leaned against the door frame and just watched her for a moment.

"Want some more help?" he offered eventually.

[Juno]

Refreshed by their outing, Penny worked quickly to retrieve more books and papers to look through. Looking up at the sound of his voice, though, she smiled with a slightly guilty look again and shook her head.

"I couldn't ask it of you. If you truly want to you are definitely welcome to help, but I'm sure I'll manage." Well, eventually. She couldn't exactly be confident in when at that point.

She gestured across to the free chair. "If you'd rather you can just take a seat. Don't have to stand there."

[DragonSong]

Mal moved slowly to the chair and propped his elbows on the table, letting his chin rest on his hands. He was content to just watch her work for now- seemed like something she should be doing on her own for the moment. Maybe it would up her confidence a bit.