Moonlight Rondo (Closed)

[Apollo Wilde]

She raised an eyebrow at his refusal. To be fair, it was meant as a friendly gesture, but without that extra layer, she’d definitely be feeling the cold. She wasn’t going to push him on the issue, and, with a “what can you do” shrug and scrunching of her lips, she pulled the undershirt back on.

Scooting over a bit more, she made a bit more space for him to slide down. Looks like they’d be sleeping face to face. A bit awkward, maybe - but if she didn’t think about it, she’d be fine. And besides, this would keep him from slipping into that torpor that she saw before.


Well, at least knowing what it is makes it a little easier to deal with it, should it happen again. I’ve got to make sure to keep him warm through all of this.

Settling in, she shifted on her side to face him. Propping her face on the palm of her hand, she studied him. As he said ‘dragon’, her brows lifted. “ ‘Dragon’?!” It came out as genuine surprise; something that would be an almost first from her. “I thought…” So many questions. Out in the wastes where she was from, there wasn’t much by way of “magical” creatures - after all, the Turaoi were forcibly moved to the lands that no one else wanted. Forsaken even by the lowest of creatures, furthest away from anything that could be considered modernity. “I thought that they were just a children’s tale…” What was the right word? Dragons had always been mere fables for her people. “Among my people…” She smiled a bit, wistfully, “We talk of shapeshifters. There’s not much out in the Wastes. Scrubby bushes, bugs. Scavengers. The land’s so blighted that it seems completely devoid from all kinds of life. But you know, there’s still things there. And because it’s so barren, we have to treat everyone and everything with care. We all have to rely on each other - from the smallest moth to the largest prowling jackal. But a dragon…I have so many questions!”

It seemed that the years and carefree attitude dropped in those moments, replaced only with the shining face of an excited child. “Tell me all about the dragon! Is it true that they breathe fire? That they live forever?”

Beneath the thin blanket and rug, she moved closer to him, the tops of her thighs pressed against his. This close, she could feel that even though he was "normal," "warm," he still felt a few degrees cooler than her. The warmth from her body seemed to be pulled into his. It wasn't too bad, actually - for despite his dragon heritage, he still felt human. Soft skin over powerful muscle. And this close to him and with better observation, she had to do her best to not reach out to caress them. Would they feel like bits of glass? Marble, maybe?

 

[Nouh_Bdee]

Lina’s shock made him nervous. It wasn’t supposed to be some monumental revelation. He didn’t want it to affect how they treated each other. It was odd, to tense his body while lying on his side in bed, but that’s what happened. He saw the interest grow on her face, and the anxiety on his rose to match it. When she told him she had questions, he almost laughed out loud.

“Alright,” he said with an apprehension that had half turned to relief. “Questions, I can handle.”

He couldn’t do it. He was nervous that all that excitement on her face would turn to something else, something that would make things different between them, instead of passing into familiarity. Still, he couldn’t resist that smile on her face.

“‘The dragon?’ You mean my great-grandfather?” he teased. “I call him Koro.” There was a smile on Kai’s face now, despite his nerves. “Yeah, he can breathe fire. He used to do it for us when we were little.” He had to think about her other question. There was a story there he was trying to remember. “I think he’s supposed to be immortal, or at least he doesn’t get old. His parents were killed, though. I remember hearing about that. He can shapeshift, too, but not into just anything. I can’t, for the record. Some people assume I can.”

Lina’s thighs touch him and he froze, not sure how to react. Seconds passed. Kai recovered his wits. Telling her about it could’ve gone a lot worse, he supposed.

“At least you’re not fleeing in terror. I can’t breathe fire, either, but that didn’t stop one silks trader from practically abusing his horses trying to get away.” Kai laughed, but it wasn’t a pleasant memory. “If your people don’t see many non-humans, how did you get so open-minded?”

 

[Apollo Wilde]

Her expression faltered - caught between insulted and anger. For a moment, she simply glowered at him, before taking a deep breath.

I’m sure he didn’t mean it that way. He’s a monk. Weird and sheltered monk.

With thighs to die for. Wow.

Perhaps it was unintentional, but at the latter thought, she pressed the front of her thighs closer into his. Somewhere, in her primal hind brain, she luxuriated in the warmth of him, and pitied the fact that they still had clothes on. But that was her hind brain, and therefore nothing more than what could be considered passing fancy.

“You weren’t listening to me,” she said in a long sigh, the unspoken, what are you, stupid?!, leaking from her words. “My people were nomadic and peaceful. Nomads - meaning that they wandered and saw a lot. A lot got passed down into stories. How do you believe in Samsara if you’ve never seen her? But you just know, right? That’s the same thing with us.”

She sucked her teeth in annoyance, the “open-minded” bit still gnawing at her. “I also just told you that the way of my people is to treat everyone and everything with care. Open to travelers, to anyone that may need our help. We all rely on one another in the wastes. Why do you think that would change when I left?” Unable to hide her annoyance any further, she reached up and tweaked his nose, holding it deftly between strong fingers. She held it long enough to make it uncomfortable as she glowered at him, before she let go.

“Did you think I was some sort of desert simpleton? Stealing because I’m too dumb to do anything else?” The nose tweak was proving not to be enough to slake her annoyance; she now pinched his earlobe, though not painfully. “Some idiot that doesn’t know her ass from a hole in the ground?” A pinch to his collarbone. “Someone who would run screaming the moment she saw something that she couldn’t instantly explain?” A poke to the side of his neck. “You didn’t think I’d be able to handle that you’ve got some magical blood in you?” Another poke - this time, to his armpit. The scowl was starting to lighten - her pokes and prods now came with purpose: she was trying to see if he was ticklish. “And now, you insult me and my people? You, little monk puppy?”

In a flash, she had wrapped her legs around his waist in a sort of wrestling hold - using the leverage to launch herself on top of him, and then she was tickling him mercilessly, keeping him pinned. “Monk puppy! You’re going to learn today about the world outside of Samsara; didn’t even know the history of this land. I’m not going to let up until you apologize!”

 

[Nouh_Bdee]

Kai had gotten himself into a real predicament. Lina was clearly upset about something he’d said, but by the time he’d figured out that what he thought was an innocuous question was actually a bit condescending and prejudiced, Lina was on top of him and all the breath was out of his lungs.

“I…ss…y…Th…” he gasped, then gave up trying to speak in favor of breathing between cackles. Kai hadn’t laughed this much in years, certainly since joining the monastery. It was a vicious, punishing assault, and it lifted his spirits as much as it confused him. Barely a single day ago, they had been antagonists. Uncharacteristically friendly and respectful antagonists, but antagonists nonetheless. Now, he was laughing as she dug her fingers into his sides.

He tried to fight back. His own fingers shot to her ribs, he felt her softness and the tight muscle underneath. That, plus the weight and warmth of her on top of a certain part of his body moved his thoughts in another direction, another thing he’d barely thought about since joining the monastery. He felt himself start to swell, and if she didn’t get off of him, she might feel it soon, too. He didn’t know why it was happening. She was attractive, of course, and he was growing to enjoy and respect her, but he wasn’t supposed to be having *those* thoughts about Lina. They were just supposed to work together to get back the staff. That was all.

He was still convulsing, weakened by her relentless assault, so he went limp, played dead, tried to croak out the ghost of a surrender. None of it kept his cock soft. Kai just hoped she would move of her own volition, before it was too late, and she felt his erection.

 

[Apollo Wilde]

Hearing him laugh so hard only made her tickle him harder. If she was truly a devious person, this would’ve been the perfect time to slide a knife between his ribs and call it a day. Instead, the only weapons she continued to yield were those deft fingers, discovering each new vulnerable spot. Who knew that someone with dragon ancestry could be ticklish?


And, in a way, this was helping her. It was like a fresh breeze blowing through her mind. Gone (at least momentarily) were the thoughts of tracking down Magus. No worrying about how to track him, how to overtake him, how to get the staff back. How to eventually win a fight with the monk that she was currently straddling and touching until it seemed tears would come from his eyes.


Maybe it was inevitable that during their “tussle”, there would be a lot of squirming. Jostling. The rubbing of certain body parts against one another. And for a while, there was nothing but innocence in her tickling of him. She certainly hadn’t started off like this with the intention of arousing him. And she wasn’t entirely sure why she’d started this anyway - other than it seemed like the best thing to do at the time. And to hear his laugh, see his smile, there was no way that she could be convinced that she did the wrong thing.


Or maybe it was the fact that he’d tried to fight back - his own hands going up to land against her ribs, bumping against her breasts. Not so obvious as to seem like a definite attempt at a grab, but enough to make her squirm back out of his grasp. She wasn’t ticklish - at least not where he could get to easily, especially with them still being clothed - but the effort proved he wasn’t going to take this laying down.


Well, figuratively, at least.


Maybe it was all of the above that made his growing… “enjoyment” that much harder for her to detect. It crept around the edges of her senses, a dim realization that something was changing between them. He was growing stiller now, having “given up,” and her attacks slowed in their ferocity. It seemed all too soon she was brought back to the world, realizing that she was straddling a handsome guy that was clearly pleased with the course of actions. A small, only slightly wicked grin crept across her face. She took advantage of him laying still to suddenly reach down and grasp each of his wrists in each of her hands and pinned them over his head, effectively leaning over him, face to face. It was a hold he could easily break - he was, after all, much bigger than her - but from the way she tightened her thighs on his waist, pressed down against the bulge of his cock, that it would be in his best interest to stay still.


“Well, well, well…Looks like the little monk puppy is caught in my grasp.” Leaning down further, the tip of her nose brushed against his, her breath warm against his lips as she spoke next. “You know…” a small grind against him, thoughtful, “it just occurred to me that once we find Magus, you’ll want to take the staff back. Which I can’t have. Maybe I should make you break your vows. A monk that’s not chaste…” Leaning down now, her lips against the lobe of his ear, she whispered, her voice barely more than a hum, “isn’t much of a monk anymore, is he?” A flick of her tongue against his earlobe then, followed by her pressing her body fully down against his, her hands still on his wrists, the tip of her tongue barely more than the tracing of a feather against the whorl of his ear. “What do you say? I promise I can make it memorable….”


She pulled back now, just enough to see his face. In the warmth of the candlelight, her face above his was serious in its desire, the hint of unspoken desire in her eyes. An inch, half an inch away - her lips hovered over his own. Her right hand left his wrist to trail down the side of his neck, finally brushing over the scales that had captivated her. Her thumb rubbed along the underside of his lower lip, tracing higher to rest in the center of it. “Come away with me, Kai. I could show you so much.”

 

[Nouh_Bdee]

Kai froze, mortified, and then stayed frozen in apprehensive confusion. Lina…wasn’t upset? She didn’t mind him having those thoughts about her? Did that mean that all this tension, the strange affection between them was real? Or was this just a ploy to make him want her to have the staff.

The thing that surprised him the most was that he wanted it to be real. He wasn’t ready to give up his vows, to fail to return the staff to the Brothers, but it almost made him wish he’d never made them, that he and Lina could’ve met under different circumstances. His “little monk puppy” definitely liked that idea.

As his mind churned, Kai’s body betrayed him. It started to writhe, his hips grinding up and into Lina’s body, his balls tightening and cock aching. He’d been celibate for years, after all. To call Kai pent up would be an understatement.

At least she wasn’t lying to him, trying to make him think she wanted him without it having anything to do with the staff.

He finally got a little control over his wayward gyrations, but to stop the stimulation that threatened to spoil his vows then and there, his hands gripped Lina’s Poluca-blessed hips, holding them still against the bulge that his thin, loose underclothes were only technically trying to contain.

“So you’ll take me on some romantic tour around the world in exchange for me breaking my vows and letting you have the staff?” He smiled, but he wasn’t happy about how appealing that sounded. He’d meant to make it sound ridiculous, to convince both of them that he couldn’t do it.

“Fuck,” he whispered, hopefully quietly enough that she couldn’t hear it. The more they stayed like this, the more he wondered what she would feel like impaled on his cock.

“Lina, I…my vows are important to me.” He bit his lip, but he hadn’t tried to actually move her off of him yet. “But I am sorry for that…and for…for earlier…”

 

[Apollo Wilde]

This had certainly taken a turn. She’d merely wanted to tease him - see him get flustered, stammer, and end it all with a good laugh before she turned her back to him and went to bed, leaving him with a whining erection. He seemed the sort that would simply be miffed by it, not the type that would get enraged and resort to violence.


But now she was on top of him, really getting a good look at him, and in this light, he was absolutely stunning. Whatever humorous thing she was going to say left her lips, and she sat quietly atop him, listening to him speak. She left her thumb in the center of his lower lip, focusing on the pink shell of her nail, anything than to look into those eyes.


Seconds ticked between them, broken only by the rising and falling of her chest, the tight grip he held on her hips. How had she screwed this up so badly? “It’s a joke, of course,” she tried to laugh it off, shaking her hips lightly from side to side. “You’d cut off your hand before letting me walk away with the staff,” she tilted her nose up, a playful air of snobbishness about it. “Too wound up to have fun, dragon boy.”


She traced the lines of his lower lip, before letting her right hand trail down the side of his neck, settling on a small patch of scales. Anything to keep her mind off of how he felt beneath her. It had been a while since her last sexual partner, and the close contact hadn’t entirely left her unscathed in the “desire” department, either. But she wasn’t going to take advantage of him, even with the promise of the staff.


Shame, it was a soft, mental sigh. It would’ve solved one of my problems in one fell swoop.


“Nothing to apologize for,” an attempt to change the subject, said far lighter than she actually felt. It was odd. He was handsome; she’d known that since the first time they’d fought. Kind, too. Naive, but that came with the territory. He clearly meant well - even if he was ignorant of the world. And…he believed in something. Something that hadn’t caused her direct harm, even if it was in the tradition of what her people called close to ‘evil.’ “You have your beliefs; I have mine.” Her hands moved to his, resting over them, and gently pried them from her hips. She’d done enough. “But the offer still stands. If you decide to take it,” a soft tweak to his nose. “It’ll make getting the staff that much easier.”

 

[Nouh_Bdee]

His skin and scales both tingled as Lina’s hand slid over them. “Heh, right, a joke. Yeah, it was a joke.”

He wanted to argue, to tell her he was perfectly capable of having fun, but now wasn’t the time to do it. Not when he was very much wound up, although in a different sense of the phrase. At least he felt better about telling her he was part dragon. No one had ever called him “dragon boy,” before, and it made his lips turn up in a smirk.

He was glad her tickle attack had soothed the offense he’d caused her, but this tension between them had escalated, and that was a problem all on its own. If they were going to work together, they couldn’t hate each other, but Kai didn’t know if this…attraction... was sustainable either. Of course, he also hated that he wasn’t entirely sure how one-sided it was, either. Had she really been joking? Even if she had, was there a part of her that actually wanted to have sex with him for reasons other than the staff?

“Well, thanks,” he said, hoping she would just take it as a blanket statement. Kai thought that meant Lina would move off of him, and lie in the bed, and stop touching him, but she just sat there. He looked at her, eyes narrowed, one brow raised. Why didn’t she move off him?

“Do you…should we try to sleep?”

 

[Apollo Wilde]

Still, her fingers ran long, looping patterns over the small patches of scales on her neck. He didn’t seem to mind (at least not enough to say anything), so she saw no reason to stop. They were so slick beneath her fingers, but warm like the rest of him. It was truly fascinating.


“I could touch these all night,” a soft murmur, hardly above a whisper. Her eyes had left his face, focusing on the shining scales beneath her fingers.


I wonder if he’s got them any where else…

“Do you have them any where else?” Thought gave way to voice, and she didn’t seem shy or embarrassed by any means. If there wasn’t this…bubble between them, she would’ve thought nothing of yanking up the edge of his shirt just to see, because was he really going to stop her? But that was crossing a line and she knew it. “Ah, never mind,” again, with that sly grin, that seemed to have something tender tucked in the corner, that she was aware they were both in on the joke, on something unspoken between the two of them.

Sliding off of him, she shifted, turning so that her back was to him. Both out of comfort and in understanding of his…arousal, and not wanting to make things worse. But she was determined to get comfortable, and it was with some snuggling and slight burrowing into the mattress. And pressing back against him, his crotch pushed into her rear until not even light could get between the two of their bodies. Was it with a slight grind that she finally settled in? Maybe.



“Good night, Kai,” cast over her shoulder without a care in the world - even as she pressed further into him, enjoying the warmth of another body. It didn’t have to be erotic if she didn’t want it to be.




The next few days were spent traveling - hitching rides, but largely on foot. It seemed that Magus was overly confident; he hadn't done much to cover his tracks. It both bothered Lina and relieved her. It made it that much easier to follow him, but there was no way that he didn't know what he was doing. Maybe he'd assumed that she'd be alone; it wasn't that she broadcasted the fact that she was 'friends' with a monk. If anything, he'd probably laugh at her incompetence in not stealing the staff years earlier. And no matter how much that fact stung, she also had to remind herself that it wasn't that simple. Every time she looked at Kai, she was reminded of that. He'd told her why he'd spared her that first year, but why would he keep doing it? Neither one of them were much for talking, which gave her plenty of time to simply study him in moments that she didn't think he was looking. Still trying to figure him out, of course - and when she did speak, it was to give information about the territories they were going through, the history, or what little she knew of it, and landmarks. She figured that he hadn't gotten out much; she knew he wasn't from here, so why not educate him a bit?

Sure enough, as she suspected, Magus wasn't heading towards the Wastes - he was deviating from them. Going south, then cutting southwest, avoiding the mountains on the east, and following a major trade route down to the Matsi river; it was one of the major tributaries in the region. It wouldn't be hard to catch one of the hundreds of shipping boats to any of the major ports that went south on the river, all the way down to where it opened into the Green sea. And from there, well, things would get more difficult. If luck still held with them, they'd be able to catch him before he hopped a vessel.

 

[Nouh_Bdee]

“It…does feel nice…” he breathed, her fingers tracing the lines of his scales. He couldn’t seem to make himself move her off, or be firm with her at all, not while this tingling, soothing sensation danced up and down his neck. He knew this was a bad idea, and getting worse. The more she touched him, the more he enjoyed it, the closer he was to giving in. Still, when she asked him where else he had scales, all he did was smile and blush, lightly tanned cheeks pinking.

Lina was a confusing woman: affectionate, challenging, and detached in turns. Kai knew he needed to stay focused, to keep his mind on the goal, on getting back the staff, but he was having trouble thinking about anything other than the woman on top of him.

Her wiggling her ass into his crotch didn’t help with that. If it weren’t for his underpants, his cock would’ve slid right between those plump cheeks. There was a thought so arousing it was a little bit painful. Kai barely slept that night. He lay there for hours, refusing to move, refusing to accidentally touch her any more or any less.







It wasn’t until the second night of walking and hitching rides that Kai started sleeping better. Brother Qilima had only packed a tent large enough for one, and a single bedroll, so sleeping pressed against Lina’s body was the new normal. It wasn’t getting any easier to stop thinking about the pressure of her body against him, to avoid being hyperconscious of the warmth and softness under her clothes. At least they kept their clothes on while sleeping outdoors. He was actually able to get a healthy portion of a night’s sleep. He wasn’t much for conversation on the march, focused on staying awake and putting one foot in front of the other. Luckily, his usual self was so taciturn that Lina didn’t seem to notice.

She talked to him as they walked; telling him the history of the reason, important geography, etc. At least half of it sunk in. It was interesting, but he just wanted to find the staff and lie down. Other than that, it was as pleasant as a march across the foothills could be (not very; but the views were quite nice). By the third day, he felt more rested and energetic.

That was good, because that was when the trail started looking fresh. Maybe this Magus had been delayed. Maybe he had taken a rest, Maybe he was setting a trap. Whatever the reason, they finally found tracks that Lina and Kai could both tell were only a few hours old. Without even a word between them, they started moving faster, their boots making deeper tracks of their own.

 

[Apollo Wilde]

I’m not sure if I’m ready for this.


It was a chill bead of sweat running from the edge of her hairline down her jaw, slipping across her throat. Magus, by all stories she’d heard, was a monster in human flesh. Some stories stated that he too had magical blood - that of an orc, or a troll. Or that he was a berserker, and that monstrous blood just fed that much more into his enraged state. Sheer physical power was one thing, but a mind that seemed to think nothing more of new and inventive ways to take human beings apart was what really churned in her stomach.

There was no simply being killed if they lost.

It would be days of torture - perhaps even the promise that it would end, only to make it that much longer to more of Magus’s delight.

I don’t know if he’s got the ability to kill someone. It was a quick thought, flitting across a harried mind as she looked over at Kai’ori. The thought made her stomach sink further. The last few days, she’d really grown fond of him. Through all of her teasing, her poking, prodding, she couldn’t help but to admit that the stoic, somewhat standoffish young man had grown on her. She wouldn’t deny the comfort she felt when they shared the small bedroll. Sure, the first few nights had been a little more gratuitous teasing, grinding when there was no need for it, but it’d died down to her simply moving closer to keep warm. One morning she’d woken with her arms wrapped around him, him still sleeping, and in the morning light, face to face, she had to resist the urge to kiss him.

“My, my! If it isn’t the Bandit Slayer herself. I should be honored.” The voice was gruff, but strangely amiable - roguish. Confident. Perhaps genuinely flattered that he’d been tracked effectively.

How was his voice around them and nowhere at the same time? She instantly stopped in her tracks, throwing up an arm to keep Kai’ori behind her. If anyone was going to be hit first, it was going to be her.

“I guess I should be flattered that you’ve heard of me,” she managed, her voice stronger than she felt it. A deep breath, and she visibly forced herself to relax. She had to play this as cool and as confident as she possibly could. Any advantage she could get.

“In this line of work? Who hasn’t heard of The Bandit Slayer, the Shadow Thief? Once I knew that you were a part of this, well, I just had to see what all of the hubbub was about.”


And then there he was - simply spat out from the lush woods around them.


Magus was…disturbingly non-descript. He was an older, somewhat stocky man, with broad forearms covered in coarse black hair. The hair on his head was equally as wild; curling rough sideburns and a mass of black pulled back carelessly into a bun. He was taller than Lina, but not by much - shorter than the average man. But what he lacked in height he made up in sheer musculature. He seemed less man and more bear, with large hands with thick palms and nails, right down to the rough brown tunic, pants, and boots that he wore. He had no visible weapon - but there was one familiar object strapped to his back.


“And you’re cuter than I would’ve thought,” he said, without a hint of leer or teasing in his voice. “I wasn’t sure what you’d look like.” His voice, though low, bordering on a growl on occasion, held no malice. “I figured you were a girl, just from what I’d seen myself, but couldn’t figure out anything past that.” He scratched the side of his nose, flattened across the bridge and scarred, the result of several breaks.

“I’ve heard quite a few things about you,” her voice, though she tried to keep it light, came through clenched teeth. “Namely that you like the taste of blood.”


“Oh, that?” A lopsided grin, showing sharped teeth, his canines bizarrely prominent, even moreso than hers. “What can I say? Although I should add, you can’t believe everything that you hear.”


His attack was so fast that in the span of an eyeblink, he’d not only closed the distance between her and him, but slammed his fist into her stomach, right beneath the ribs. The sound that she made was a horrified, choking gasp; her brain barely registered the pain. The impact sent her stumbling back a few feet, a testament to the strength of the man before them. She crashed into the ground with a heavy thud, the only sign that she was still alive was a heavy wheeze, followed by choking coughs as she struggled to get to her hands and knees, stopping in her feeble efforts midway to collapse pitifully back into the dirt. If the impact to her stomach wasn't enough, with as hard as she hit the ground and with the way her vision swam, she was sure that she may have had a concussion.

The sound of Magus's approaching boots filled her with fear, but she was far too stunned, still, to try and get up. Even the sound of him clucking his tongue, despite the fear that it poured into her, wasn't enough for her addled brain to communicate to the rest of her body.

"Now, if you stay down, play nice, this doesn't have to get any uglier. You know, I kinda like you," his voice was coming clearer. "Didn't think you'd be the kind to bring backup, though. What's your deal?" His voice abruptly changed directions.

Kai'ori!

"D..." Gods, the pain! Breathing was an agony, sending her ribs stabbing into her lungs. "Don't-" The small word was enough to make her retch from the pain, bitter tears collecting in her eyes, "Don't touch him," she managed to get out, gritting her teeth so hard that she thought they might crack. She was leaning heavily on her hands now, her gaze sharpened in that dirt-streaked face. "You deal with me."

"You? Down there, in the dirt, like a mere beetle? That's funny!" He threw his head back, letting out a booming laugh that wouldn't have been out of place in a pub. "And only after one blow? You stand up again," and he still sounded as jovial as ever, "I'll just have to take one limb after another until you can't."

 

[Nouh_Bdee]

He heard Magus before he saw him, which might’ve been the most terrifying thing about him. They’d been tracking, successfully despite the difficulty, and they knew he’d been moving quickly until recently. How had he known he was being followed? Was that his delay? Were the tracks since then a trap?

Kai frowned as he bumped into Lina’s arm, but held his tongue. This wasn’t the time to gripe at her for acting like he wasn’t perfectly capable in a fight. Magus didn’t look very impressive, but it made Kai nervous to see how utterly unconcerned he looked to face off with the two of them. He stepped to the side while they bantered, trying to see if Magus was even paying attention to him.
He kept his footsteps quiet, but it didn’t matter. He’d barely left the path before Magus moved faster than Kai’d ever seen anyone move, despite his bulk, and sent Lina to the ground in a heap. Kai had fought Lina eight times over the years, and he knew she could take a hit. That meant Magus hit like a runaway carriage. Kai wasn’t sure he’d do much better than Lina on the receiving end of one of those punches.

“We’re here for the Staff, Magus.”

Kai stepped back onto the road, hands up in a fighting stance. He was determined not to be caught unaware. Magus just laughed. Kai’s cheeks burned, but not as much as they burned when he threatened Lina. He stepped forward, one foot in front of the other, weight on the balls of his feet.

“What do you even want it for, Magus?”

Another hearty chuckle, but at least he wasn’t looking at Lina any more. “Why would I tell you? I wouldn’t tell her. I don’t even know who you are.” He wasn’t wearing his robes any more, so he didn’t look like a monk of Samsara.

“Exactly,” Kai tried to say confidently. It didn’t come out that way. “You don’t know what I’m capable of. It would be smart to just hand over the staff and walk away.”

He knew it was a long shot, but his mind was reeling, confronted with how outmatched they were. Kai was grasping at straws to make it out of here alive, hopefully with the staff.

“Very well.”

Kai blinked, then quickly tried not to look shocked. “A wise choice. Just set the staff down, and you’re free to go. I won’t pursue you.”

Magus’s lips twisted into a smirk. “Oh, no, I meant ‘very well’ as in, ‘very well, I’ll see what you’re capable of’. I’m not giving you the staff.”

In a flash, Magus was right in front of him. If Lina hadn’t given him a lesson on how fast the man was, he’d never have been able to block his punch in time. As it was, calling it a block would be generous. Kai felt the impact in his bones.

He tried to take advantage of Magus’s movements to get a kick in, and while he was swinging his legs, he had to block Magus’s fists two more times. The man was just so fast! His forearm was throbbing already.

Kai’s kick backfired, leaving him open for Magus to sweep his own boot up under the monk’s leg, flipping him into the air. Kai twisted as he fell, and Magus’s next punch cracked something in that same forearm. Pain shot through Kai’s body, and he clutched his arm to his chest as he landed on one knee with his left hand in the dirt.

This was going horribly.

Magus looked down at Lina, and his threat from earlier flashed through Kai’s mind. Kai was more and more certain with every moment that it was no idle threat. He felt like he could already see Lina lying there, maimed, helpless before he killed her.

Kai charged before Magus could get a word out, but he didn’t tackle him. Instead, he kicked some of the dirt and mud from the path up into the terrifying man’s face. He didn’t look to see how well it had worked; he just reached down and lifted Lina’s prone form with as much strength as he could muster. His right arm screamed in protest, but Kai fought through it and took off, perpendicular to the path.

Limbs and leaves slapped them both as Kai ran. One step, two, three and then Magus was on them. Kai’s hearing and sight, which he was fairly sure were better than a pure human’s, caught the master thief trying to tackle them from behind, and stepped aside just as they passed a tree. Magus grabbed the tree and swung his body, aiming a kick for Lina.

Kai spun, twisting to ram Magus’s kick with his other shoulder, hoping to put the man off balance at least. It felt like he ran full speed into a tree trunk, and he cried out in pain and frustration.

“What the fuck are you?” Kai gasped as he took off again, trying to keep his attention focused on the threat behind them.

“The guy who’s gonna fucking kill you two if I ever see you again!” Magus yelled after him. His voice got further away as he shouted. Was he letting them go? Kai kept running. He ran through the trees, hopping over creeks and bushes, over small hills, for nearly an hour at his top speed. He kept going after that as he slowed, running for another several hours with Lina on his shoulder until he could barely move. He finally stopped, and half-set-Lina-down/half-fell-over.

There was no sign of Magus. Had he let them go? Was he slower in a run than he was in a fight? Was his speed unnatural and it had worn off? Kai had no idea. He was just glad to be alive.

 

[Apollo Wilde]

She wasn’t able to do much, fighting the screaming animal instinct in her brain that told her to stay down, play dead. Stay as still as possible; anything to make the pain lessen. Lina had been hit several times in her life - and this counted as the absolute worst. It had simply come from nowhere, and the force behind it was otherworldly.

Worst of all - Magus was right.

He was right.

She couldn’t do anything - she could barely breathe, let alone think about getting up and taking him on. And he knew it and he was gloating over it. How had she ever thought, even with Kai’ori with her, that she would be able to get the staff back? What had been her plan? Had she even one to begin with?

What is he? It was something that nagged at the corners of her mind. Surely he couldn’t be all human. There was simply no way.

Kai’ori’s voice seemed to come from a distance. What was he doing? Was he out of his mind? Rage flooded her - towards him, towards Magus. He had the opportunity to run; why didn’t he take it? That idiot, he was going to get himself killed!

Pain sparked within new crannies as she dug her nails into the dirt, the noise of the two men growing further and further away, deafened by the sound of her pulse thudding in her ears. She could feel her blood, churning hot within her veins, circling from her chest through her arms, through her fingers, her legs, her toes. Before she could muster the last bit of something, that rage the burned in her stomach, lit by fear - the ground flew away from her, air whistling in her ears. Again, she was left completely speechless. She was moving, each step from Kai jostling her against his shoulder, rattling what had to be broken ribs against him, sending new bolts of pain through her body. One particularly high leap over a hill, the impact slamming her body into his shoulder, and the flare of agony that followed afterwards shoved her into the welcoming arms of oblivion.






Consciousness rattled back to her - and it was a lucky thing, for she was unceremoniously tumbled to the ground again, the sharpness of her landing jarring her fully ‘awake.’ She could do little more than gasp, sucking in deep breaths past the ache of her chest. The adrenaline that she had so ‘carefully’ cultivated before her being picked up was completely gone, leaving her a shell of herself, wrapped around a core of misery.

“…Were we followed?” A pained gasp as she pulled herself up to a sitting position, her left hand flying to grasp at her lower chest. She paused, not just to regain her breath, but to listen to the world around them. Her eyes followed the trail her ears tried to pick up. Where were they? She didn’t recognize the woods - no, this was more of a valley. What direction had he gone in? She tried to take in a deep breath, fighting past the stabbing of her chest - nothing. She couldn’t tell where they were. Nothing was familiar. Maybe it would be easier if she wasn’t hurt -

Hurt.

Kai was on the ground, breathing hard, covered in sweat. Gritting her teeth, she got to her knees, then stood - taking one slow step after the other, making her way to him. Before he could speak, she passed her right hand over his body, her eyes closing. Once a day, borrowing against the power of her body, and never for herself. One deep breath, then another, fighting past everything to find that core in the pit of her stomach, that deep well of whirling, cool energy, the energy that kept her moving, helped her draw air into her lungs and kept the blood flowing in her veins.

Kai would feel her hand grow warm - not unpleasantly so, but certainly warmer than what was normal. Invisible feathers caressed him whenever she touched, searching, seeking - dwelling on the break in his arm. Heat would knit the bone together, burning, painful - but ebbing as soon as it peaked. There was a soft hum, musical, emanating in a pale opal light leaching from her hand.

Magic wasn’t unheard of in the world - not in such a place that harbored creatures such as dragons. But much like dragons, magic was fading, becoming little more than fairy tales. Healing magic, such as what Lina apparently possessed, had inched back further and further into the dwellings of monks such as himself, monks and nuns, growing older and harder to find. Of course, it was told that some people had a natural talent for it - considered almost hereditary. But healing magic didn’t lend itself to self-preservation, and came with stranger limitations that were completely arbitrary, according to rules that no mortal being understood. It’d never come up between the two of them - no reason to have, really - and she had no problem with applying it to him, holding her hand over his arm with a firm pressure that spoke of long years of practice. After all, though it was healing magic, it didn’t mean that the process was free from pain as the body knit itself back together.

“Hold,” she said, firmly, simply - as the pain again peaked, and then, finally, slowly, began to ebb, the blood free flowing, circulating through his body and taking the pain with it. “….You should be all right now,” she inched away from him. Once a day, borrowing from her own energy - it wouldn’t shorten her lifespan, as some healers had experienced, but it would weaken her severely. And in her already wounded state, she knew she’d be as helpless as a baby for hours yet. Barely able to make her limbs work, she fell down beside him bonelessly, somehow, still finding the energy to laugh incredulously at their position. Yes, she was helpless, yes, she had no idea where they were, but they were alive. That had to stand for something. “I’m going to have to rest…I can’t move after that.” Another soft laugh. “You crazy son of a bitch.”





Magus had tried to keep up. His enchanted blood helped him, that was true - but whoever this man was, he wasn’t human, and whatever part of him that wasn’t human lent him speed that went far beyond Magus’s. That alone was enough to make the older man pause. He slowed, content, for now, to watch where the young man sped off to, with the Bandit Slayer herself slung over his shoulder.

“Well, well,” he muttered to himself, unable to stop the toothy grin from spreading across his face. “This might be more interesting than I thought.”

His buyers would have to wait. He had the staff, after all. A little detour to remove his only competition wouldn’t be looked upon too kindly. And if they had a problem with it, he was sure that he’d be able to resolve it.


With the staff still strapped firmly to his back, he ambled after Kai’ori, whistling a merry tune. He had to find out who that guy was - and make that power his. He hadn't gotten this far in his life by letting power like that slip through his fingers.

 

[Nouh_Bdee]

Kai was barely conscious. His body was truly exhausted in a way that made it clear that every time he’d used the word before was hyperbole. He barely knew he was still alive, much less Lina, until he felt her hands on him, warm and soothing. At first he thought she was just massaging his muscles, and his cheeks flushed in embarrassment as much as gratitude. The relief was too great just for a simple massage though, and he opened his eyes.

Lina wasn’t even touching him. That should’ve been enough to tell him it was magic, but in case it wasn’t there was also a glow that shone between them. Kai didn’t have the energy to express the shock he felt to see Lina cast an actual spell over him, but the more she moved her hands over him, the better he felt. Oh sure, there was pain as his body knit together, but it came with hope as a powerful painkiller.

He laughed with her, and was hit with a realization when she lay beside him. Here they were, having narrowly and temporarily escaped certain death, and she decided to spend what little energy she had to heal him instead of herself. After all their annual skirmishes, something had developed in him, towards him; some feeling, some affection. He wanted to take care of her for a change.

He pulled himself to his feet. It felt odd: he was still more tired than he’d been in his life, but his muscles didn’t hurt to move; his body responded to him like he’d rested. He could do more. He smiled down at Lina, affection in his eyes even if he wasn’t ready to say it. He laughed again, remembering her question about being followed. He had no idea. He didn’t hear or see any sign of Magus behind them–he hadn’t for miles and miles. But looking back the way they’d come, he knew that if Magus wanted to, he’d have no trouble following them here.

“We left a pretty obvious trail.”

They needed a plan. They needed to find a way to hide, recover, and equip themselves to fare better against the terrifying master thief.
“Alright, there’s an obvious trail” he muttered to himself. “Need to draw him away, cover our tracks in a different direction…”

Kai walked over and knelt beside Lina. He hesitated for just a second before his hands gently pressed against her side, checking to see if she was safe to move. Of course, he’d carried her much more roughly on the way to this small clearing, so his caution was probably unnecessary, but his blush was mostly about how good she felt under his fingertips.

“I’m going to move you off the path, just for a few minutes. I don’t know how close he is.” Kai was assuming they hadn’t lost the man. Better to exercise unnecessary caution than to take unnecessary risk. “I’ll be right back. Rest.”

After gently setting her among a cluster of low ferns, Kai took off further in the direction they’d been running, doing his best to make the trail match his mad flight before, but conserving as much energy as he could. A mile or so further north, he found a wide, calm river winding its way down from the mountains to the west. Deciding it was believable enough that he and Lina would’ve taken the river from here somehow, he walked back to where he’d left her, careful this time to mask as much of his footsteps as he could.

Returning to Lina’s side, he couldn’t help but smile down at her. He knew she was still a thief, and he should feel to close to her, but she was also more complicated than that, and after all she’d done for him, and all she’d shown him of herself, he couldn’t bring himself to stay detached, emotionally. “We need to hide. You need to sleep.” She scooped her into his arms, carrying her much more gently this time, cradled against his chest. Together, they made their way deeper into the forest, perpendicular to the trampled path they’d left for Magus to follow.

 

[Apollo Wilde]

His laugh sounded sweeter than bird song, and in her woozy state, she had to wonder if it was because it was so rare (only recently coaxed out of him because of her tickle attack), or because she was actually, really, truly, losing what little sense she had left. As it was, she couldn’t so much as wiggle her fingers and toes, and the effort it took for her to give him a wan smile felt as if she’d done all of the running herself. Further proof in how much the healing took out of her (for it wasn’t just his broken arm; her magic had slipped him a bit of vitality back), she couldn’t even so much as nod as he spoke - though thankfully she still had enough presence of mind to hear and understand, even as his words increasingly sounded like he was speaking to her underwater.


Similar to the torpor he fell under when he got too cold, her healing magic always drained her - the more extensive the injury, the more it took from her. Most of the time, as she was careful with her magic usage, she was in a place that was safe to pass out for however many hours. This time, well - desperate times called for desperate measures. She longed for the smallest slip of energy to be able to tell him what was going to happen, what she needed him to do for her. But all she could do was continue her futile fight against the closing of her eyes.


When he returned, what felt like days later, her breathing had slowed considerably, and to any other bystander, she seemed deep in sleep. Somehow, though, she stirred, the smallest bit, not able to do much more than to give him a small, reassuring smile - and closed her eyes once she was bundled in his arms.









When she awoke, they were somewhere she didn’t recognize - and she had no idea how long she’d been asleep. The air was chill, and the forest was darkening around the edges. As her hearing slowly returned, she thought she cold make out the distant crackle of a fire. Her tongue felt thick in her mouth, and the idea of words seemed to be a mere concept, bubbles drifting away. She allowed her head to fall back to the soft floor beneath her, her brain still slogging through her recovery. At least the rest of her body was stationary and she didn’t have to be reminded of her inevitably broken ribs.


“…Sleep…” She barely managed to get the word out, her diction slow and halting, as if learning the language. “Healing…takes…a lot…” It seemed those words alone were enough to exhaust her meager energy stores, and she collapsed back onto the floor. And so it would be through the night: her regaining consciousness long enough to speak a few words, then pass back out. In those little moments, she would be able to explain that she would be out of commission for hours more; perhaps the entire night. That he would need to keep watch. That she was injured but couldn’t heal herself. There seemed to be a small bit of improvement as the night went on, as speaking slowly but surely became easier, and the pain from her ribs all the more acute. Though she didn’t remember her dreams each time she awoke, she remembered the threat of Magus and the peril of their current position. She had no idea where they were; no familiarity came to her each time she woke. She had no idea if Magus had tracked them, and knew that in their vulnerable position it would’ve been easier than ever for him to do so, and ambush them. The only thing she took as a small comfort was that ‘ambushing’ wasn’t Magus’s style. He liked to fight out in the bitter open, relishing in each blow he could give. He liked an audience, she’d heard, and in the middle of nowhere like this, well, there would be no one around. But as she tried to think further, her brain, realizing that she’d reached her limit, went blank and consciousness would leave her again.



It would be in the small hours of the morning, when the fire began to burn low, that she seemed to be coming to. She wouldn’t move - not more than a tentative wiggle of her fingers, then her toes. The rest of her body was still too exhausted, too tangled in pain, to stand much more than that. So she spoke with her eyes closed:

“He’s going to be tracking us. But probably wants us to get far enough ahead to make it fun for him. He’ll probably taunt us with the staff; offer it back. Maybe get us to meet somewhere public; I heard he likes a show…”

She still didn't bother to open her eyes. "Do you know where we are?"

 

[Nouh_Bdee]

As soon as Lina started talking, Kai was on his knees next to her. “I don’t. We’re north, and then west from where we were, but I don’t know by how far. I…I’ve never run that far before, but your spell…”

He was about to rip into her for spending that on him instead of herself, but then he remembered that she couldn’t use it on herself, or at least he was pretty sure that’s what she’d said.

He looked around at the forest around them. The plants were different. They were closer to the mountains again, and the air was cooler. He had so many questions for Lina, about Magus and what he was capable of, and he hoped she’d have the answers. Right now, though, she needed to rest, as soon as they took care of some things.

“Let me check your injuries.” He didn’t have any magical healing ability, but he knew some basic field medicine that he’d learned from both his family and the monks.

His cheeks heated as he slid her clothes up to just below her breasts, and tried not to think about what was barely still hidden. His hands were warm, but not as warm as her skin as he felt for anything out of place. Going by the feel of her ribs underneath the skin and the way she reacted to his touch, she wasn’t as grievously injured as he’d feared. She’d recover without any help other than time. Kai’s job, then, was to get her some time.

“If he’s going to try to draw us out, that might be best. You need to heal, and we need to prepare before we try to fight him again. You and I have a conversation to have once you can keep your eyes open.”

He stole one lingering look at Lina’s midriff before he gently pulled her clothing back down. If Magus found them, Kai would try to goad him into just the kind of public fight Lina said he preferred. If they fought him at anything less than 100%, they were dead.

For now, though, Kai pulled out the rug from his pack, and lay next to Lina for warmth as he covered them both.

 

[Apollo Wilde]

Chuckling, she kept her eyes closed. Life seemed easier that way. Her hearing was returning to normal - another good sign. “Well, that puts us right in the middle of ‘I have no idea where we are,’” said with levity she didn’t feel. Her normal abilities returning meant that her higher brain functions were returning. And if they didn’t know know where they were, they might as well, be starting from the beginning.

She gave a small yelp as his hands lifted up the edge of her loose tunic. It caught her by surprise - and she had to bite her lower lip to keep any other sounds from slipping from her. His hands were warm, his touch gentle, almost like a feather tracing over her. A tentative press against her ribs, and she grimaced. “Bruised,” she wheezed, “better than the alternative,” another raspy chuckle. “I won’t be running any marathons here lately. And should you get the staff before me,” her expression softened as her eyes locked on his, “We’ll have to start our yearly dance all over again…”

It seemed that time had slowed, just a bit, between the two, his hands still under the edge of her tunic, her eyes still holding his. The air certainly seemed warmer. She could feel her pulse in the hollow of her throat, echoed by the touch of his fingers. Taking a deep breath, she found her words. “He’s not going to attack us here. Not in the middle of nowhere. And you’ll do no such thing.” Her voice took on a sharper edge. “I won’t have you taking on that monster by yourself.”

As he pulled her tunic down, the moment seemed to have to have passed, and she looked away. There would be no avoiding the inevitable - what they would have to do next. But she said nothing more, simply laying next to him under the warmth of the rug.





She hadn’t realized she’d fallen asleep until the bright sunlight began to cut through the tops of the trees. Great. How much time had they lost? At least two days. And still, as her body started to catch up to her mind, they were in the middle of nowhere, and hadn’t been attacked. That, at least, was something positive.

That, and how close they were. Again. At some point during the night, she’d curled up against his chest, resting her head on him. His head was against hers, his cheek against the crown of her hair. His arms had wrapped loosely around her, somewhat protectively as well as almost using her as a shield against the cold. She couldn’t blame him if it was the latter; they both couldn’t afford to be out of commission should Magus suddenly decide to switch things up to amuse himself.

So what now…He said that he wanted to talk once I was well enough. And now I’m well enough and I don’t have a single idea of what to do next. I’m only going on what I’ve heard about Magus - his inhuman power, his bloodlust. If he didn’t immediately come after us, then he’s got to be scheming something. He’s not the kind who would run off with the prize because he got away scott free. He’s got to be coming after us - but where would be the best place….If I head towards home, that gives me the advantage. But there’s still Kai…

Her fingers tightened on the edge of his shirt. I can’t run the risk of hurting him, considering that he’s protected me. But I protected him as well - so we’re even. Back on the same old footing, I suppose.

A heavy sigh. “Damn.”

 

[Nouh_Bdee]

Kai smiled. Their yearly dance. He liked the sound of that. He had some caramels that he kept hidden away he could share with her. She’d probably like them. A pilgrim had given them to him, unaware of how rare such indulgences were for the monks. Maybe he should find some more simple pleasures to take with him before he vanished back into the monastery.

He didn’t answer her about fighting Magus. He was learning that she would try to take on risk, every danger, to keep him from doing the same. He certainly wasn’t going to give her any promises that made such self-sacrifice easier. The more time he spent with her, the more he learned about her, the less her life as a thief made sense.

Questions about Lina churned over in his mind until he finally fell asleep. Once his eyes finally closed, he slept deeply, silently, once again resting more with Lina pressed against him than he ever had alone. The comfort, once he woke, did nothing to ease his confusion. Then he heard her say ‘damn’, and he tensed.

“What is it?” he whispered into her ear.

His head turned, and his eyes swiveled, trying to see if Magus had caught them. “Is he here? What’s happening?”

 

[Apollo Wilde]

Okay, the warmth of his breath against her ear shouldn’t have sent a thrill through her. But it did. And she was suddenly reminded of how close they were. And before she could stop herself, she nestled further into his arms. It could be considered an innocent thing, right? That was going to be the excuse she was going to go with. She let her fingers trail a long line across his forearm, using his warmth, unspoken strength, to steel herself.

“I can’t tell if he’s after us at this moment,” she glanced around them, as much as she could, without disrupting where she was at. “But I’m sure he’s trailing us.” Her fingers dug slightly into his forearm, without the bite of her short nails. “I…I heard a rumor, once. Old drunk talk, really. I never thought much of it. Never thought I’d run into Magus. I’d always heard of him like a boogie man, a monster that hid under the bed of all thieves. That if you had to steal, you’d have to stick to mid level things - anything higher up, you run the risk of getting his attention. And his attention isn’t something you want. Obviously.” A rough laugh there, followed by a winch. Bruised ribs weren’t broken ones, but they weren’t entirely healed ones either.

“But they said that Magus…ate the people who were strong. That he’s some sort of actual monster who gains the power of all that he devours. The way he hit me…it wasn’t human.” Her gaze went distant, a small shudder running through her. The only reason why she was alive was that Magus had to have been pulling his punches - only meaning to scare her. To see if she was worth eating. He’d said that he knew her, didn’t he? That meant that he was interested - and nothing good would come from that. Their paths hadn’t crossed before - their thieving ran in entirely different circles - and she’d foolishly thought that they never would. And now that they had, it was a walking nightmare.

“You probably presented yourself as a four course gourmet meal,” she groaned, tilting her head back against him, exposing the long lines of her throat. “So I don’t doubt that he’s going to be coming after us. Or after you.”

She should get up. Move. Do something. But she found it near impossible to want to drag herself away from him. So she snuggled closer; tried to tell herself that she couldn’t be scared, that she couldn’t fall apart. That she had to think of something. “Magus likes an audience - and he still has the staff. The more people he can make afraid of him, spread stories - the more money he can command for the people he steals for. Fear’s his biggest weapon.”

Laughter bubbled from her - light at first, before she began to cackle until tears formed in her eyes. “Oh my gods,” she struggled to get out, “We’re going to die. I’m going to die,” the laughter continued, growing all the more hysterical. She couldn’t see her way out of this - and what made it that much worse was that she was going to take him with her, all because of a stupid staff that meant something to a defeated people who would never reclaim their ancestral lands.

Before he could do anything, she suddenly turned - a shadow of the speed she’d shown in their fights. Her hands grasped the sides of his face, and she pulled him into her, her lips crashing against his ungracefully.

 

[Nouh_Bdee]

Kai squeezed Lina to himself, needing comfort in this moment just as much as she did. He lacked that history, of hearing of Magus the monster, eating prodigal thieves, but he’d been through that fight against him with her; he’d felt the man’s punches, and the glee he took in their helplessness. Kai had no interest in being eaten just to make those punches hit harder, or however that stuff worked. His arms subconsciously constricted Lina against himself even harder. They were in this together now, whatever came from it.

He wants an audience. To spread fear. Kai’s mind started spinning, trying to think of ways to use that against him, when Lina started to lose it. He gripped her even tighter.

“We’re not going to die,” he reassured her, not sure he believed it himself, but able to fake it relatively well in the moment because that was what she needed from him. “We’re going to keep moving. We’re going to come up with a plan. We can look for allies.” The monks would…No, the monks wouldn’t be any help. This wasn’t some shade they could banish or bind, some plague to cure. This was a man who had the sheer strength to rip them limb from limb. “We can come up with someth–urk!”

The back of his neck tingled. His cheeks flushed. Lina’s lips, soft and warm against his, pulled him in. For exactly four seconds he indulged himself. A fire stoked itself in his belly as he dove headfirst into her kiss. He had no idea what his hands were doing, but she felt wonderful in them. He thought only of her, wanting more, wanting less of himself, wanting less thought–and achieving that one–less worry, less overwrought self-piety, and more Lina. He melted into her.

And then he pushed her away, scrambling to his feet, cheeks red, eye watering. “You–”

His throat constricted. “You can’t–”

His heart was pounding, fingers twitching. “How?” Dare you? “How do you do that?”

His feet scraped the ground as he paced in front of her, anger plain as day on his face. “How do you just–how do you do what you want, like it’s nothing?”

He couldn’t even look her in the eye. She was the sun: too bright by far, and his eyes wouldn’t meet hers lest they burn. “I’m sitting here, wanting to kiss you, but I can’t, because he’s following us and we haven’t talked about kissing and I’m not allowed to kiss anybody and you’re a thief and you just…you just…you just kiss me? Like it’s nothing?”

He stomped his feet on the hard-packed dirt, ignoring the dull pain. “We haven’t even talked about doing that, and you just do it?”

He shook his head, his eyes having trouble focusing. It felt like his skull was squeezing them out of his head. “I’m a brother of the Order of Samsara, for Her sake! You can’t just do that!”

He pointed in a random direction into the forest, his voice rising, grating, growling, rough. “And what if we did more, huh? Did you think about that? What if I couldn’t stop; what if I couldn’t ignore how much I wanted to touch you and kiss you and all of that and he found us? How could you be so careless?!”

His mind was like a too-narrow city street, with too many wagons trying to fit between the buildings at once. “You didn’t even ask me! You didn’t even ask me if I was okay with how much I wanted to kiss you, and I haven’t done anything with a woman in years!” His arm gestured at her, lying on the ground, like she was a sumptuous feast laid out before him, bait to send him into a rage.

“And you dangle all this in front of me?!,” he sneered, before his voice turned into a growl, the beastial fury in his voice at odds with his complimentary words. “And you’re so unexpectedly kind and you saved my life in the river when you could’ve left me and you were ready to fight Magus and let me flee and you’re so…fucking sexy and you just…kiss...me? Like that’s something that two people can just do? Whenever they want? Like nothing else matters?”

“I took oaths!” he yelled.

He grunted, reaching over to rip a plant from the side of the trail, tossing it into the brush with another growl. “And I don’t even know how sincere you are? When you flirted with me in the inn, was it because you wanted me, too, or did you just know that I wanted you? And we’re just supposed to kiss, or even more, and then go back to figuring out how to stop Magus and fight over the staff when we’re done!?”

He took a prowling step toward her, pointing his finger right in her face, his lips twisted in a scowl that threatened to turn into a scream. “What are you even going to do with the staff if you get it? Huh? Tell me that! You said you weren’t going to sell it. Was that even true? What kind of thief doesn’t sell their stolen goods?” He got closer, and just a drop of spittle fell from his frothing lips. “WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO WITH IT, LINA?”

 

[Apollo Wilde]

Somehow, his lips were softer than she thought they were going to be. Which meant that in the moment, she had to admit to herself that she’d thought about his mouth in a not so chaste way. Little more than passing fancy, fair, but those thoughts had occurred to her. Moreso when she woke before him in their days traveling together, and she found herself watching him quietly as he slept, resisting the urge to move his hair from his eyes, or trace the line of scales on his neck.


Scarcely could the kiss do its intended purpose and he was pulling away from her. Her mind was still whirling too fast, too panicked, to realize what all was happening. That she’d insulted him, that she’d done something unmistakably idiotic. Even as he yelled at her - rightfully so- she couldn’t find the energy to argue with him or to feel embarrassed. Instead, she simply looked at him, a mix of fear and sorrow in those normally world-weary eyes. She seemed to shrink, look younger and lost. Somehow what he said was beginning to break through to her, water chipping away at stone, slowly but steadily.


She’d done him a great disservice; violated his vows. She’d been pushing those boundaries for years, quite possibly. But she hadn’t given herself the time, nor the hope, that he could potentially be as charmed by her as she had by him. When they first met, it had been his kindness that made her pause, start to think of him more, start to look forward to those attempts. And as much as she hated to admit it, maybe they were in this position now because the staff had become secondary to seeing him. And it hadn’t even started off as anything remotely sexual. He’d become the closest thing she’d had to a friend in years - perhaps even decades. She could be herself and still keep her distance when she was around him -


She reached up, caressing the side of his face. There was no false bravado there, no attempt to hide the truth. Letting her fingers run over those scales on his throat, she cupped his chin in her hand. Fixed her eyes on his. “The Staff belongs to my people. The point of me stealing it was for us to have a seat at the table. A voice for us to finally be heard, and have some rights restored to us. It’s a relic from our people - and I can prove it, once I have it in hand. That’s what this has always been about. It’s never been about hurting you, or ruining the temple, or making you break your vows or fooling you. Selling it was never an option. I just wanted…my people to belong somewhere. To not feel so lost.”


A small, barely audible chuckle then. He’d said something about her body. She supposed she should be flattered, maybe think it was something about her intrinsically, instead of the reality of the situation. He had to be scared as well, and if he’d been celibate his entire life, of course being this close to a woman, any woman, would cause some sort of physical reaction if he was inclined towards women.


So we’re both fooling ourselves, thinking that there’s something more than the fear of death. A small shadow of that devil-may-care grin, the smallest glint of those sharp canines. I can live with that. Let’s live this lie, until our last breaths.


“…I don’t want to die without making love one last time,” she said, a quiet voice in the midst of his fury. “And if you’re going to die because of me, I’m not going to let you die without feeling it.” That smile widened a bit, trying its best to mask the fear, the futility of admitting that they could make it out of this alive. “You’re a monk. You’re supposed to do good for those that come to you. Do this for me. Please.”


Everything else could be figured out later. Even if Magus was right on their trail, could come out of the woods any moment, it didn’t matter to her. Didn’t matter that she had no idea where they were, that a bed, candlelight, anything, would’ve been more romantic, more suitable for a first time than where they were. Him, still trying to recover, her, with her bruised ribs.

 

[Nouh_Bdee]

The staff belongs to her people? It’s a Turoai artifact? Then why is it in the temple in the first place? What would Samsara have to do with it?


Kai felt conflicted, in a way he couldn’t reconcile right away, but he suddenly wasn’t so sure he wanted to give the staff back to the monks.


Wait, I’m a monk. Why don’t I feel like–

Kai’s eyes nearly fell out of his head. From kissing to being propositioned, and so soon? He didn’t know what to do. To Lina, it would almost seem like he’d fallen asleep with his eyes open, standing up. His mouth gaped like that of a fish. For a number of seconds best described as “too many”, Kai didn’t move a muscle. Finally, he blinked and took a deep breath.

“Fuck it.”

In a flash, he was on his knees next to Lina, his hands at her waist, his lips diving in for another kiss. This time he didn’t hold anything back. He wanted what Lina had. He wanted this ability to put all his thoughts about what he was supposed to do, about his oaths and his future and everything that would keep him from enjoying this woman that wanted to make love to him; from making her feel as good as he knew how, and letting her do the same to him.

His hands unbuckled her pants, sliding them down her legs. He had to bat her hands away. “You’ll get your turn.”

If they were going to do this, they were going to do it his way. Before he could get too deep into any objections, he’d have his mouth on her cunt. Hopefully that would shut her up.

He was pissed off. He cared about Lina, and he trusted her now: almost completely. But he still felt jerked around. Maybe that was just her personality, or maybe she'd felt some fraction of the internal conflict he'd felt, but either way: he wasn't happy about being flirted with and left uncertain when she knew he had an obligation to the Order. But using that anger to shut her out and ignore the feelings she'd cultivated in him wasn't going to work. He knew that now. So, it was possible that a bit of that anger was about to be taken out on her, sexually.

No half measures. If Kai was going to abandon his vows, he was going to abandon the fuck out of them.

 

[Apollo Wilde]

Considering how he’d reacted the last time she’d even ‘teased’ him, she wasn’t entirely sure what to expect. Him scoffing, perhaps, or reassuring her that they’d find some way out of it with a wide-eyed optimism that she’d come to associate with him.

What she wasn’t expecting was more profanity - I never thought I’d hear a monk swear! - and his lips on hers. Lips, then a fumbling parting - on her behalf, this time. Surprise was clear on her face, in those bright amber eyes, washed clean of her careless attitude. Even if she wanted to move, his hands on her waist, sliding down to her hips, kept her locked in place. And before she could even register that, he’d managed to get her pants down to her knees, taking her light undergarments with them. A neat triangle of dark curls met his eyes, and she struggled to try and close her legs.


“Wait...!” Not that she’d have time to answer - his mouth was on hers again, his tongue pushing past her lips, and, for once, she was caught off guard, and all she could do was return it. Tentatively, at first - as if she were scared.”


Wait for what? Why am I asking him to wait? I wanted this! Well, maybe not like this, but I…


“Kai’ori…” But what could she say? The way he grabbed at her suggested that maybe he wasn’t as innocent as she’d assumed he was. Wait, what had he meant by she’d have her turn? “Show me what you want…”

 

[Nouh_Bdee]

Kai scoffed, and pulled back from their kiss. Something had broken inside of him. Lina had broken it. It was the part of him that always kept him reserved, restrained, and yeah, probably more than a bit high-strung. It was part of why he’d become a monk. He realized that now. Yes, he wanted to believe in something more than the mundane, some higher purpose, but he wouldn’t’ve been able to tolerate the rigidity of monastic life if he hadn’t always been so worried about being himself, about letting people really see who he was, about sharing his surface thoughts and core desires.

Well fuck that. If he was in, he was all in. He didn’t care what anyone else thought. Not anymore. Even Lina, he was surprised to find that he did actually care what she thought, but he was willing to risk her rejection if it meant he could cut through the bullshit they’d both been putting each other through. And he was pissed off enough that he wasn’t going to be gentle about it. Perhaps afterward he would wonder what had gotten into him. He’d never acted like this before; never felt like this before. Not now, though. Now he was too deep in it. He’d have to ride it out. And so would she.

“Fuck that.” He shook his head, and glared at her with a heat that was hard to parse between lust and rage. “We’re going to start acting like adults and use our words.” His hand shot down to Lina’s collarbone, gripping her shoulder and neck with force short of violence. He supported himself on the knuckles of that same hand while the other pulled her pants and underthings the rest of the way off her feet. He didn’t want anything in the way.

“Here’s what’s going to happen. You want to make love? The first time you say that word in my presence and you think we can just make love out of nowhere?” There was a smile on his face, but it wasn’t the same warm, friendly smile he’d shown her occasionally in the temple. There was a wildness to this one, like she was his prey. “No. We’re going to fuck instead.” He narrowed his eyes. “And you’re going to start talking to me, while I eat you out.” The smile got wider. “You’re going to tell me how to give you the biggest orgasms you’ve had in your life, and then I’m going to tell you when you can stop.”

He didn’t wait for an answer, crouching down and lifting her thighs to throw them over his shoulders. He’d only done this once before, and not so passionately, but he remembered what one of his cousins (Hakari, who always like to push everyone’s buttons, and knew she could make Kai blush by giving him unsolicited sexual advice) had told him about going down on a woman: “start like a steamfly (those short-lived things that seemed to billow in the air like dust after a late spring rain) lighting on a flower petal, and finish like a bull-nosed wyvern with a bowl of stew.” So, he started with feather-light licks and nuzzles against her inner thighs, but it wouldn’t be long before he stopped being gentle.

 

[Apollo Wilde]

Oh, so that’s how he was going to be?


She’d been scared. She knew, better than he did (and ever would), what lay in front of them. And she’d wanted to be reminded that there was sweetness in the world. That there was so much to be gained in being close. Feeling heartbeats, the rise and fall of his chest as he breathed. In the moments that she asked, she would’ve been happy, truly, just sleeping close to him again.


That dream crumbled, mud dissolving into dirt.


“So, the little monk puppy has teeth,” she snarled, though not entirely unkindly. There was a harder edge to her voice, sharpened to match the hostility in his. Not quite hostility, but not entirely at ease, either. She glanced down at his arm, holding her still, as he slipped between her legs. And with a fluid, practiced movement, her thighs clamped down on either side of his head. Enough pressure was exerted to suggest that she could do serious damage if she chose to get serious.


She reached down to run her right hand through his thick hair, tightening as she neared the crown and gently pulled his head back. “I wanted to be nice. And now look at you, slavering like any other sad man. I’d thought better of you.” Her thighs lightened on him, enough to let him loose. “You want me to use my words? Fine. Clean out those ears, dragon boy, and listen to me.”


Her grip in his hair tightened as she spread her legs wide. Brazen, really - no speck of modesty to be seen there. The lips of her sex were plump, glistening already, dusted over with richly black curls. There was something about this rough play that was appealing to her - or her baser senses, at least. Something hopeful in that. If he was angry enough to focus on wanting to fuck her, as he put it, maybe there would be something left that would help them actually escape the encroaching nightmare. “You want to make me cum? Well, then, you’d better get that tongue to work.” Her grip on his hair eased - but only so she could easily pull him more towards her cunt. “Lick it like it’s snow,” she purred, “And if you do a good enough job, maybe I’ll do the same for you.”