Happy birthday to me! [Dragonsong!]

[Rhindeer]

Oof. Clumsy, clumsy, Valor had definitely stuck his boot directly into his mouth. She was a bloody slave, of course she had experienced horrors. But it was so easy for him to forget that; he had never seen the horrors of slavery; he had only been the recipient of this one fiery slave.

It sobered him a little, the realization sinking in that she had been a gift. A traumatized human life was gifted to him for a night of fun, an object to be used and tossed away as he saw fit. He had laughed it off, because of course that was ridiculous and of course he would never, but...Pari had thought it was a good idea. To his friends, it was nothing. She was bought and sold and traded with no regard to her feelings or suffering...

And he was still using her, was he not?

No. That wasn't the same. This was for a purpose, a purpose they both benefited from! Right?

His head suddenly hurt. His life had been full of fun and flippancy, but this, he was slowly realizing, was...actually not just all fun and games.

His own appetite lost, Valor was quiet for a moment before he cleared his throat and stretched. "Right. Well. If we're done here, why don't we see about getting you dressed, hmm? I'm sure you're dying to get into something warmer. Not that I'll object to you choosing a revealing outfit or anything--if you've got it, flaunt it, I always say!" A wink. "And you've got it."

[DragonSong]

"Something...warmer?" Ka'lei glanced down at her gossamer-thin garments, then looked up at him again, almost confused. "I mean...yeah. Yes. That would be...good."

Right. It...actually made a difference to him, that she might be cold. Which, honestly, she hadn't been giving much thought--things had been happening so quickly, changes coming so fast she could hardly keep up, that her Essyrni-adjusted system hadn't even had time to properly process that she was...well. Cold.

But she didn't want too much of that to show on her face, so she shoved it quickly to the side and gave him an arch look as she stood from her chair. "Yes, well. If it's all the same to you, I think I'll save flaunting it until we have to scandalize some Serenian nobles." A thought suddenly occurred to her and she paused, then looked to him with slightly wider than normal eyes. "Er...it occurs to me that I have...absolutely no idea how one is meant to dress here. I've only ever..."

She gestured down at herself vaguely. If she wasn't being put in something ridiculous by her masters, she was left to rags. There really wasn't much in between.

[Rhindeer]

Valor's eyes lit up at her admission, and he clapped his hands together with a bright smile. "Right! You wouldn't know how to dress here. Of course you wouldn't, how would you? Right, then, let's fix that now! Come, come!"

He practically bounced from his seat and held his arm out for her to take, the gloom leaving him now.

Because she had basically just given him free-rein to play dress up with her, and he absolutely loved dressing up.

[DragonSong]

Ooohhhhhh boy.

What had she just got herself into?

She eyed his arm for just a moment before taking it—nearly twice as quickly as she had the last time he'd offered it.

"I feel like I may have just accidentally unleashed a monster," she muttered as she allowed him to steer her from the room. But she was smiling a bit as she said it, that small, vaguely playful smile that chased some of the glassiness from her eyes.

[Rhindeer]

"A monster? Me? Never!" Valor said, a hand to his chest in feigned offense. "Why, I'm pure as the driven snow."

As he lead her back from the kitchens toward his room, he caught the attention of a bustling maid and motioned her over. Leaning in close, he whispered something into her ear while she cast curious looks back and forth between he and Ka'lei, her eyebrows slowly climbing with each word he spoke. When he was done, he flashed the woman a smile and pat her on the arm. "Thank you, Hattie, you're a doll," he said, and as she hurried along to fulfill his request, he pulled Ka'lei along with him again.

Before too long, they made it back to his room, and he opened the door and motioned Ka'lei in before he followed after her. He strode across the room and plopped down onto his bed, stretching out lazily and beckoning her to join. "Come, get comfortable! Rest up. Your clothes will be arriving shortly, but until then, relax and digest. You've got to save your strength for the fashion show!"

[DragonSong]

"Save my strength," Ka'lei repeated, voice caught between amused and incredulous as she watched him. "Just how intense are Serenian fashion shows?"

She took a look around the room as she spoke--she hadn't really had a chance to before, what with the dim light when she'd initially been brought to him and...well. She'd had other concerns at the time. And then in the morning things had moved so quickly, but now she actually had a chance to be curious.

She picked her way around the perimeter of the space, hmming and poking at the bizarre odds and ends she found--well, bizarre to her. For all she knew, they were entirely normal in Serendipity. She found a delicate hand mirror and couldn't stop herself from picking it up, turning it over to examine the elegant, spiraling design on the back. She caught the briefest glimpse of herself in the reflective surface but didn't pay it much mind--she knew what she looked like. She didn't need to see the collar to remind her of its weight around her neck.

Still examining the design on the mirror, she noted off-handedly, "You said you might be able to sing the locks open, before. If they weren't warded against it. So...you're a mage?" She glanced up at him, all that natural curiosity now suddenly trained on him. "What did you mean, "sing it open"?"

[Rhindeer]

Valor chose not to answer her first question, deciding it was better for her to just find out. Instead, he just smiled and watched her examine the room and poke at random items. He didn't mind it at all; as far as he was concerned, he was an open book with no secrets, while she was a slave with nothing to her name. She was free to have her fun--and besides, she was his "bride", so what was his was hers!

He was content to be lazy, happy to doze and idly observe her curiosity and wonder, when she asked about his singing.

Oh. Right. He had had mentioned that, hadn't he?

He propped himself up on his elbows, laying on his belly. "Ahh...that. Right." He gave a little shrug, resting his chin atop his laced fingers. "Well, you how I sang to you earlier? It's like that, only I can weave magic into it. So, yes, I'm a mage. Not a very good or powerful one or anything, but decent enough for what I need. It's mostly useless, but...I can use it to sort of influence things. And people."

He stiffened, realizing abruptly how that might sound, and looked up at her. "I wouldn't use it on you that way. Or anyone. Not without permission. It can be fun in the right contexts, you know? But anyway, what I'm trying to say is that if the locks weren't warded, I could perhaps convince them to not be locked. It's very subtle magic, but it works on small items like that." He shifted his cheek to one hand so he could use the other to give a dismissive wave. "Something something, might've been a siren in my bloodline."

[DragonSong]

Ka'lei watched him over the edge of the mirror, pretending--with only moderate success--to be studying the trinket while she really studied him. Her feathers shivered, and she noted with some interest the way he stiffened when what he'd said about his abilities seemed to actually register.

...For the first time since she could remember, she actually believed that someone with power wouldn't use it that way.

"That certainly sounds useful," she murmured, and replaced the mirror on the dresser where she'd found it with a perhaps surprising amount of care. Once it was safe from shattering, she abruptly whirled and plopped herself onto the floor in front of him, allowing her wings to sprawl open behind her as she crossed her legs and leaned forward over them intently. Hey. He'd told her to make herself comfortable. She was just taking him at his word.

"Show me."

Ooohhhhhkay, that felt nice. To make a demand and know that, even it was ignored, it wouldn't be met with punishment. It felt so good, in fact, that she found herself grinning up at him and shifting a little closer before she added, as an afterthought, "Please."

[Rhindeer]

Whaaaat?

Valor's eyebrows shot clear to his hairline as she took a seat below him and flat out demanded him to show her his power. Show her? On her? He gaped, for a moment speechless, and for some strange reason he felt heat bloom in his cheeks and spread down his neck. She had done something few people managed: caught him completely off guard.

And it wasn't even like he was embarrassed to use his power! He had used it many times before! He wasn't shy to use it as an aphrodisiac, or to make bedroom play a little extra fun and spicy, but this was different.

This felt like a test. Like a trust exercise.

Ka'lei was truly exposed and vulnerable here in a way no one he had performed his magic on was.

"A...are you sure?" he said at last. She was full on grinning at him. Grinning! "Show you? On you? Is that what you want?"

[DragonSong]

His disbelief made her check herself, really consider what she was asking. She turned his words over in her mind, her grin morphing into a more thoughtful expression.

Abruptly, she held up a finger in a "wait a second" gesture, got to her feet, and crossed to his door to open it. Then she came back and resumed her place cross-legged on the floor.

"Yes," she said, with a firm nod. "Show me. On me. Just...something small. You said it's an influence, right? Just..." She let her head bob from side to side as she thought. "Can you...make me feel happier?"

Whoa. Okay, she hadn't fully expected to say that, but she realized with some surprise that she meant it. It seemed like a safe enough place to start.

And if he wasn't what he seemed, if maybe she shouldn't trust him after all—well. Best to find out now.

[Rhindeer]

Valor watched as she opened his door before returning to her place on the floor, an eyebrow arching. Was that...for safety's sake? Oh gods. This was so incredibly awkward. He had performed these sorts of things numerous times over the years in multiple scenarios, so why did this feel so embarrassing and intimate?! Especially since they weren't even doing anything naughty! He didn't think he could even go there if she specifically asked him, not while there was metal around her neck and wrists!

Then, finally, came her specific request:

Make her feel happier?

...Oh...

That sobered him a little, broke him from his nervous thoughts with a pang of...pity. Sadness.

How broken was she inside despite the fierce and playful way she acted?

"I can do that." He rolled so he could sit up properly, legs crossed and back straight so his diaphragm was no longer compressed. Standing would be best, of course, but he was lazy.

"Look at me, now," he said, and met her eyes with his blue-gray ones, like an overcast sea. "Before I begin, I want you to decide on a safe word. A word you'll remember to say to me if you start to not like it. Alright? It's an influence, but it can be stronger in some people than others. Some people like letting go of control like that, but if you're particularly susceptible or just not used to it, I don't want to scare you. Tell me what you decide and we'll start."

[DragonSong]

Ka'lei watched his face, watched the blush fade to something like realization, then pity. She didn't like pity--it made her squirm uncomfortably--but she would take it, if it meant she could figure out more about him. She sat up a little straighter as he rolled into a more upright position, curiosity in the forefront again as he prepared himself.

She sort of expected him to just...start. Do whatever it was he did.

When he told her to come up with a safe word, well...

That did more to instill her confidence in this whole madcap notion--being his fake bride, finding Kai--than just about anything else.

She thought for a long moment, considering what he said. Then she nodded and decided, "Yoreiq."

Yoreiq. A place she'd never been, a word that was just a sound, and yet it meant something to her. It meant...it meant possibility. It meant home. It meant a safety that she had never truly known.

She took a breath and nodded again. "Yoreiq," she repeated. And then she gave Valor a smile--perhaps the first real smile she'd given him. "Okay. I'm ready."

[Rhindeer]

Yoreiq. The corner of Valor's mouth twitched into a half smile and he nodded, finding that rather fitting for the theme.

"Yoreiq it is," he said. "If at any point you don't like the feeling, just say Yoreiq. Alright then."

This was new for him; he had admittedly never used his power for something so innocent. When he was a child, it was humming a simple tune to get his way--extra sweets, extra time outdoors, whatever it was he wanted. Of course, his parents had grown wise to him and, recognizing the ability, had taken it seriously and lectured him about its dangers. There were creatures out there with similar powers who used it to overwrite the free will of others--and that was a dark and lonely path to take that only ended in trauma for all involved.

Spoiled Valor might be, and even bratty at times, but he had taken the lessons to heart.

He found it ironic now, though, that he had been lectured about respecting free will only to gifted a slave by his friends.

Wonders never ceased, did they?

He straightened his back and cleared his throat, and then began to sing.

The words didn't matter, and he didn't even need to say words at all. What mattered was blending intent with melody. Just like some magic practitioners might use spells and potions to transmit their power, his power was carried on the melody like smoke, wafting to his intended target.

He sang a simple chorus to a song he liked, a song that made him happy, and he sent it to Ka'lei, and as he did his voice shifted to something with an almost ethereal echo to it, something slightly off from the singing voice he had used earlier. With it, he sent out his intent--happiness, safety. A spell that would conjure up pleasant memories for her and chase away her negative thoughts, let her drop her guard. But everyone responded in a different way and it was his first time doing this particular spell; he was curious to see how it would effect her.

[DragonSong]

Ka'lei nodded, showing that she understood, and settled herself back into her fully seated position, wings loose and open at her back as she stared up at him expectantly.

When he had sung before, in the dining hall, she had thought it lovely. Exotic, melodic, just...lovely. He had a nice voice, and the Serenian ballad he had performed had been both interesting and sweet--exactly the sort of thing that held one's attention long enough for them to hear the actual story to it, but was not so involved as to become trying to listen to.

This...

This was different.

First she registered the echo, the faint otherness to his voice that hadn't been there when she heard him sing before. It was almost eerie, for a moment, but not in a way that made her want to flee. Eerie in a way that made her curious, made her want to lean forward and listen more, try to figure out exactly what she was hearing.

Then the subtle magic of his voice hit her, and she drew in a short, sharp breath. Happy. Safe, soft, warm happiness, the sort of happiness she'd had once, but had nearly forgotten. Curled up in her mother's lap, preening Kai's wing while their mother told them stories, safe in an embrace larger than her whole body, home, safe, family--

"Yoreiq," she choked out, throat tight with the threat of tears. "Yoreiq, Yoreiq."

She was suddenly on her feet, wings flared wide as though she meant to actually fly away. But she couldn't. Her feathers were clipped. Her feathers--her brother--

A sob caught in her throat, the memories of happiness that Valor's song had conjured clashing with the stark reality of her world, and she staggered back from the bed, covering her face with her hands and drawing her wings in tight around her body as though that might somehow shield her.

[Rhindeer]

It seemed to be going well at first.

Valor could see the moment the magic hit. He had gotten good at recognizing the look on peoples' faces when it happened, the subtle shift in their expressions. He heard Ka'lei's little breath and wondered what it felt like--he had never been on the receiving end, just listened to others tell him what it was like, but it was so different for everyone all the same. What did she think of when the magic moved through her? What was it like to let go after so much stress and sorrow and just be happy? She was looking for something when she made that request, and he hoped he had helped her find--

Oh no.

Yoreiq. Her voice was choked, sending a jolt of startled alarm through him. Immediately Valor shut his mouth and cut off his connection with his magic, but the effect would still linger for a few seconds after, like smoke that had been inhaled and needed to be breathed out again. Oh dear. Ka'lei was on her feet, wings spread, tears in her eyes and a sob in her throat. This was not the way this was supposed to happen! Had he gotten something wrong? Threaded in the wrong intent? Not cleared his mind enough?

Oh gods, what had he done to her?

He scrambled off the bed as she staggered back, wings shielding her, and though he reached out to her he didn't touch her. Wherever she had retreated to, wherever her mind had gone, he didn't want to scare her.

"Hey, Ka'lei, hey..." he said gently, speaking loud enough to hopefully cut through her thoughts, but not loud enough to startle. Had he broken her? Or maybe she just didn't like the feeling, the letting go and losing control? "Hey, it's okay, it's okay. I stopped. It's over. It may be a few seconds before it fades completely, I'm sorry, but I stopped. It'll be okay. Talk to me, what's going on?"

[DragonSong]

He stopped. The music stopped. The remnants of that pure, uncomplicated happiness faded, and Ka'lei felt her heart break as it went. She wanted it back--gods she wanted it back, but at the same time it terrified her.

But he stopped. He stopped when she asked.

That alone would have been enough to shock her senseless under the best of circumstances. In her suddenly fragile state, it actually buckled her knees. She sank to the floor, arms wrapped tight around herself as her wings fell open, useless and limp, and she curved forward with a low, keening sound in the back of her throat.

"I can't--I didn't--"

She was trying to answer him--really trying, not just because she felt that she had to, because all he'd done was what she'd asked, but because a part of her that she didn't fully understand wanted to. "I didn't...remember," she managed to gasp out around the tightness in her throat. "I didn't...know...I could...feel that..."

And then she was crying.

She hated crying, hated it, hated showing that vulnerability, that humanity. But she couldn't stop it. And even as she sat there hating it, she knew--she knew--that she had asked this of him. She had asked him to help her feel something, and he had done it.

"Thank you," she whispered through the sobs. "Thank you. I h-hate this. Thank you..."

[Rhindeer]

Oh, no, no, no.

She was crying now, and the concern Valor felt spiked to panic. Crying! And not just a little cry, but the kind of pure, unbridled grief that seemed to wrack her whole body. He wasn't good with crying people; he never knew what to do. Worse, she was crying because of him, which made him panic a little more because he wanted to fix it. But he knew there was no right or wrong thing to do because it was different for everyone! There was no easy fix, and he was used to easy fixes. And even worse, she was giving him very conflicting signals here!

She hated it. But she was thanking him?

"O-oh dear..."

He climbed down onto the floor next to her, settling on his knees, and though he sat close he still kept space between them. "I, ah...you're...welcome? I think? Gods, I didn't mean this to happen. I swear to Kia I was trying to make you happy, not tear you to pieces. I don't know what went wrong, I...that's never happened, it's not normally like that..." He fidgeted, feeling utterly helpless, trying to retrace his steps and figure out where he had messed up.

"Tell me what you need, Ka'lei," he said gently, and then, "I'm going to touch you. Is that okay? Nothing weird. Just to get you off the floor, at least."

[DragonSong]

Ka'lei shook her head, trying to tell him that it wasn't his fault, but she couldn't get the words out. She more felt him settle onto the floor beside her than she saw it--and despite a brief, instinctive flash of wariness, she couldn't make herself move away. She didn't want to move away.

She wanted Kai. She wanted to be held, but her brother was the only person who had ever been safe to do that.

Slowly, she managed to at least get her breathing back under control, though she couldn't stop the tears streaming down her face. "Wasn't--" She coughed, throat literally raw from the sudden flood of emotion, then tried again, "Wasn't...your fault. I asked. I j-just...I didn't--"

She held herself a little tighter, struggling to swallow back a whimper. When he told her that he was going to touch her, help her stand-- No. No, he didn't tell her. He asked.

He asked.

A fresh wave of tears went pouring over her cheeks and she nodded. "Y-Yeah. Yes. That's--that's okay..."

[Rhindeer]

"Right, here we go."

As soon as she gave the okay, Valor slid an arm under her legs and another beneath her wings to support her back, and scooped her up off the floor.

It wasn't totally effortless; he wasn't exactly a buff man, and they were the same height. But she was lighter than him, and he had carried many a woman (and smaller man) in his time, and he loved surprising people with the fact that he could do it. Besides, in their case, they didn't have far to go.

Swaying just a little, he turned and gently deposited her onto the bed. Then he joined her, settling in beside her and yanking at the blankets so he could drape one of them over her wings and around her shoulders, cocooning it around her. "I don't know about you," he said as he worked, sort of tucking her in. "But when I get in a mood, burrowing in warm blankets always helps at least a little."

[DragonSong]

He scooped her up, and it actually startled her enough that she stopped crying for a moment. She blinked at him, owlish, and just continued to stare as he deposited her onto the bed.

Just...put her on the bed. And pulled the covers around her. And despite his nearby presence, she didn't feel nervous to be in his bed.

A low, shuddering sigh left her and she turned her face into the blankets, burrowing in and curling her legs up a bit. She peeked out at him from the cocoon of fabric that he'd made around her, eyes still wide and red-rimmed, though slowly drying.

"...Thanks," she whispered after a long moment. Then she cleared her throat and added, a little steadier, "It...really wasn't your fault. I asked. I'm..."

She blinked, sniffled, and swiped at her eyes. "M'sorry," she mumbled. "It just...I didn't even remember I'd ever...felt like that. And then I did, and it was just—"

She closed her eyes and burrowed a little deeper into the blankets. From the mound of bedclothes, her muffled voice came again:

"...Your voice is pretty."