Private Tales Brothels and Broken Things

[Cassian]

His torso was already starting to glisten with sweat, and he only just lifted his blades in time to catch her quick retaliation, pushing himself back to skid in the gravel as he dodged the last two attacks and he parried, spinning round on her to bring two blades down toward to both her upper and lower back.

 

[Lexi Quinzell]

When he split his blade to go for two separate attacks she uttered a slight curse under her breath which was beginning to hitch with the exertion. She turned sharply at the waist to catch the blade heading for her lower back and brought it up smartly into the one going for her upper back. His blade hovered a hairs breadth from her skin. She glanced to it them up to him, quirked a brow.

"I hope you know you'll be kissing every inch you hurt better later," she spoke in a low voice whilst they were this close so only he could hear it. Lexi was pushed him back, exerting just a little of that strength he had been at the wrong end of a few times and then brought her sword down low, going for his knees.

 

[Cassian]

He was panting, glad of the brief reprieve as she spoke to him and he laughed and rolled his shoulders "Aye, lass.. Likewise. We better get hurtin' then eh?.." he grinned, but hadn't expected the push back and he skidded, arms coming up to slam her blade into the dirt before rushing at her with a quick succession of blows from both blades.

 

[Lexi Quinzell]

Step. Parry. Step. Parry. Parry. Parry.

He was a blur of movement and she lost ground quickly as she was forced on the defensive over and over. That he was nearly 10 years her senior and had been a soldier since birth showed. Her shirt was beginning to stick to her skin.

Finally he caught her. She had been trapped n a pinsor movement as one of his blades came towards her on either side and she hadn't quite been able to move quick enough to parry both blows. It was only a graze, a slice across her cheek, and for a moment she thought it was nothing more than a scratch then it began to bleed.

Her jaw clenched.

"Oh now it's on," and she wasn't lying. Her next blow showed she had been holding back when it back to strength. More than holding back.

 

[Cassian]

Cassian felt his heart stop dead as he saw the trickle of blood and his arms fell "Fuck, Lexi I'm sorry lass." he breathed out and made the mistake of moving toward her, entirely intent on grovelling, but she had another idea. His blades lifted in quick reflex in attempt to block her next blow, but the strength of it cast his blades back against him, knocking them into his chest and he was sent flying. Gravel ripped at his back as he skidded into it with a pained growl, his chest heaving as hot blood spilled from two vertical wounds.

He rolled to his side with a grimace, the silence of the crowd deafening as they watched him slowly pull himself to his feet with a stagger.

 

[Lexi Quinzell]

Lexi hadn't been expecting him to drop his guard and she was momentarily stunned when he went flying. She had been holding back but if he had been prepared he should have just been able to hold her. A small grimace crossed her face but she couldn't let it show and, in a way, she was glad he had been punished for doing the same to her. On the field he couldn't do this to her, he would have to keep fighting even if there was a sword going through her chest.

"C'mon I've tossed you harder than that before," the words were half a joke half serious. If it had just been them she would have been busy apologising, feeling awful about it like she was inside. But she couldn't here. Her hand flexed on her sword. "Hit me."

 

[Cassian]

He frowned at her and cast a glance over the crowd, he knew the mistake he'd made, it'd only been a fucking scratch and it shouldn't have happened, but his worst mistake had been feeling like he wanted to help her. Fuck, why had he agreed to this? Blood spilled down his torso to leave small drips in the gravel, but he rolled his shoulders again and swung his bloody blades in his hands, trying to ignore the burning pain he felt.

Cassian didn't want to hit her, but he had to prove to her and the onlookers that he wouldn't let things get in the way in the arena and on the field.. "Get it done, Cass.." he muttered his usual pep talk to himself with a quiet groan and moved quickly toward her again, launching himself up to come down with his blade aimed at her shoulders.

 

[Lexi Quinzell]

Her whole body was tense as she held her back from healing him. Until the fight was over she wouldn't be able to without compromising her authority. Her rigid posture made it harder to roll into a stance to catch his blow however. The sword came up but instead of softening her arm enough that the force didn't jar her it sent shockwaves down her arm and torso. A soft huff of effort escaped her as she went down to one knee with the force of it. Then she was pushing back as she stood and broke their swords apart and gave her own swing towards his abdomen this time.

 

[Cassian]

Cassian wasn't one to throw in the towel, he'd been taught to fight until you kill or fight until you die, and one of them had to win this fight. As she pushed back and took a swing at his stomach he managed to jump backward with only a small nick. His blades twirled again as he pressed back, another onslaught of rapid blows, hard and heavy, clashing and scraping metal on metal. His foot swept at her, attempting to take her off of her feet, which if he managed would follow with his blades lifting, twisting in his hands and coming straight down toward her neck and chest to be held back.

 

[Lexi Quinzell]

The small jump back allowed her a second to breathe but that was all she was getting before he was on her again. All she could hear was the sound of their blades hitting and with two she needed to focus on it was taking up more of her attention than if he had had only one weapon. His foot caught her off guard which she cursed herself for with a colourful word as she landed on her back in the dust with a hard thud. Even then Cassian offered no break and swung his blades to her neck and chest. She managed to sweep her blade up quick enough to knock the one going for her chest from his hand entirely but the other just touched the skin of her neck.

She swallowed slowly and then held up her hands in mock surrender. Her blade had been between them but his position, and more importantly the position of his sword, gave him the upper hand.

"Well done," and this time the smile was genuine. A sudden roar of a cheer went up from the crowd.

 

[Cassian]

Cassian's chest heaved, glistening in the sun with a mixture of blood and sweat, and the moment she spoke he dropped his blades to either side and reached to pull her up with a grimace and reached a hand to cup her jaw to look at the wound he'd caused her. He cared little about the crowd, they'd both proven themselves as capable both in combat and in putting their duties before their sex lives, now they could fuck off for all he cared. "Y'alrigh'?" he rasped at her, desperately wanting to kiss her in apology but he wouldn't chance it.

 

[Lexi Quinzell]

Lexi blinked at the unexpected tenderness; the hauling to her feet, the concern over such a mild scratch. She had gotten worse on the field from spray debris let alone a sword. After a moments hesitation she leaned her cheek into it and then put a hand on his chest. That familiar swirl of magic and they were gone.

"I'm fine," her voice was soft and gentle but firm so he knew she wasn't trying to hide any pain. "I was just slow, you're quicker than you look," she tried to make the situation lighter, could see that the injury was hurting him more than her. "Sorry about the... tossing," now it was her turn to look upset.

 

[Cassian]

They'd both had much worse in the field, but he looked over the cut that had been caused by his hand and it only made it feel a thousand times worse. His chest ached, though not from the wounds. He tried to catch his breath, feeling his wounds knit and letting out a deep sigh and pressed his lips to her forehead and let her go. "Don't be.. It was a good fight." he frowned and looked down, leaning to pick up his discarded blades.

"You do have more kissin' to do tonight than I do though.." he pointed out with a forced smirk.

 

[Lexi Quinzell]

"Cassian look at me," Lexi tugged him up gently, one hand on his cheek so that he was forced to look at her. "I am ok," she needed him to know and accept it. She couldn't let him keep drowning in the past; for such a strong man he was incredibly broken in certain ways and had to be handled in the right way.

"You didn't hurt me, I think Red could have given me a nastier scratch," her free hand ran it's way down his chest and stomach. Rested on his hip. When he still didn't look convinced she tugged him down and breathed the words against his lips and sealed it with a searing kiss.

 

[Cassian]

He really wasn’t good with guilt. Even the slightest scratch he feared would bring the hole thing toppling down, it was irrational, she was far stronger than that and he knew it. He stared at her, his eyes still begging forgiveness even though she was right there assuring him.

“Aye lass I know..” he did know, but how the fuck was he supposed to cope with her being hurt in the field now when a simple scratch had caused him to crumple? Things felt different now. He felt weaker in ways.

He looked down, watching her hand trail a fiery line down his chest, his stomach muscles twitching slightly. The kiss burned, and he sighed against her lips in acceptance, dropping his blades again to cup hold of her face and keep her there despite the murmuring and awkward shuffling of the crowd.

 

[Lexi Quinzell]

Lexi gave a muffled noise of surprise when he cupped her face and held her but she didn't protest or pull away from him. Her hands came up and over his hands, her thumbs gently stroking down his hands to his wrists where she rested her hands for the duration of the kiss. She didn't pull away. In a way she could understand the worry and the fear brought on by his past and now mingling with their growing complicated relationship. So she stayed, she let him have what he needed as both his Commander and his lover and ignored the noises of the crowds. If they were going to gossip and make comments about her being hurled through the streets in a towel they could be punished by watching this.

 

[Cassian]

He did need it, he had to pour every shred of emotion he’d felt into that kiss and get it out of his mind. He groaned quietly, and the sounds of Peter and Alec’s wooping caused his lips to curl and grin against hers and he broke it, pressing a smaller kiss to her head before stepping back and rubbing at the back of his neck.. These public displays of affection were becoming a habit.

Most of the crowd stopped gawking and shuffled around awkwardly as though they hadn’t been watching the whole time. There were men scowling and women fawning and gossiping with one another and he bent to pick up his swords with a quiet “Fuck me..” and shook his head.

“It’s a lot of fuckin’ pressure when you’re sleepin’ with the city’s fame..” he commented.

 

[Lexi Quinzell]

When he finally released her she took a shaky breath, brushed her fingers across her lips where they were slightly swollen from the passion and emotion. His embarrassment made her smirk and she lowered her hands to hook her thumbs into the waistband of her breeches. His comment, however, made her face change slightly and the smile faltered a little. Seemed weaker.

"It is like... having the largest, most judgemental family constantly around you," Lexi confessed and she pitched her voice so that the others could hear her too, shooting them a dark look. It got a few more of them moving quicker including Alec and Peter who scrambled over one another to try and look busy with their own training once more. When there was more noise and movement she placed a hand on his arm, a small frown marring her brow.

"Does it bother you?"

 

[Cassian]

He smirked as he watched the crowd start to divert their attention elsewhere and looked back at Lexi, glancing down at her touch and frowning with a shake of his head at the concern on her face “Nah, lass. I couldn’t care less..” he smiled at her and wrapped an arm around her to walk her back over toward Kain and the others.

It didn’t bother him, he was more concerned about doing something to cause her trouble or embarrass her and there was a certain level of intimidation when it wasn’t only the woman’s parents he had to worry about judging him but an entire city. He decided not to care what they thought of him, as long as she was happy.

 

[Lexi Quinzell]

Lexi wasn't entirely convinced but she stayed her tongue, let him guide her over towards their little Band of warriors after she had picked up her sword and sheathed it once more at her hip. The bleeding at stopped on her cheek but when they got closer Kain lightly touched the wound and it closed. She threw him a rueful smile of thanks.

"You're getting sloppy," he commented drily, arms folded over his chest in a disapproving frown.

"You're just annoyed someone else managed to put me on my arse," she snorted a little. But, she agreed with him a little. She hadn't let him distract her as much as he had let her distract him but even a second was enough in their line of work. It was something they were both going to have to work on.

"Actually, as you're all here. I have an assignment for us, we'll be leaving tomorrow. Tryst --" she called to the half giant lumbering over with a barrel of ice pressed to his head. It took too much energy to heal the larger man for small bruises such as this. "You're coming with us this time, we have reports of a Jörmungandr near the Blightlands. It's going to be cold, wet, fucking miserable. We'll take one of the ships, sail up the river and then around. Aeleanor is coming with us too,"

 

[Cassian]

He cast a glance as Kain tended to the wound on Lexi’s face and looked away, gripping both boys by the crook of their necks to squeeze at them a little harder than they expected as they stood grinning at him. He frowned at Kain’s words “She kicked my arse. Nothin’ sloppy about her.” He corrected, gesturing at the slick blood that covered his torso, his jaw clenching slightly as his own father’s voice rang in his mind uttering the exact same words..

He leaned his weight on Peter’s shoulder as he listened to Lexi.. Fuck. He didn’t want to go, not yet, but he silently reminded himself why he’d come here with her, and why she’d wanted him to. He sighed quietly and rubbed at the back of his neck with a nod.. Get it done, Cass..

“How bout a few drinks tonight then?” he mused.. “Responsible drinks...” he added, casting a sideways glance at the boys.

 

[Lexi Quinzell]

Kain made a slight noise of disagreement but let the subject drop. For a moment the two shared a look before Kain broke eye contact and sighed a little in frustration. Alec and Peter muttered a slight cry at Cass's touch and playfully threw a few punches at his stomach to try and get out of their head locks.

"Do you two even know the words responsible?" Lexi raised a brow at the two lads who were nodding eagerly to Cass's suggestion. At Lexi's attention they both shrunk a little and became a little sheepish, rubbing at their necks.

"Well."

"If you mean we are responsible for people having drinks..." Peter started.

"Then yes," Alex grinned. Lexi rolled her eye but there was amusement on her features and the boys relaxed a little again. Tryst clamped a hand down on Cass's shoulders then, two beefy hands either side and grinned.

"Tryst agree - drinks! Amazonian come?" Lexi's lips twitched slightly.

"Sure, I could use a drink," she rubbed at the back of her neck and glanced to Kain who nodded too. With the group in agreement and Tryst letting go to lumber ahead again, she hooked her thumb into the waistband of Cassian's trousers at the hip as they walked.

 

[Cassian]

Cassian gave a husky laugh as the boys punched at his stomach and shoved them away. He couldn’t help but since a little as Tryst’s massive hands came down on his shoulders and he looked up with a grin at the half giant. It would certainly be good to have him fighting on the same side..Good to have one more on the growing list of men protective of Lexi.

“Yeah, lets go, Amazonian..” he echoed to Lexi with a playful smirk and a wink.

“Perhaps we might even get Blue Balls some company for the night, get rid of all that tension.” he grinned at the man, though there was a tone underlying, a subtle warning to lighten up perhaps.

Cassian lifted an arm around Lexi and pressed a kiss down on her head as they followed behind Tryst, only breaking from her when they got there to dunk his head in an open barrel of water and scoop a few handfuls onto his torso to clean off the blood and dirt from the arena so that he could pull a shirt back on.

He realised that he hadn’t had a drink today. His head seemed to react to the realisation with a violent ache, and he told the bar wench to leave the bottle after she’d poured a round of ale and a few cups of whisky, a small coin purse tossed onto the table as he sat.

“How long will it take us to reach the Blightlands from here?..”.. sailing with a hangover had to be better than riding with one, right? He didn’t know.. he’d never been on a boat.

 

[Lexi Quinzell]

Lexi took a seat whilst Cassian was cooling off and caught the barwomans eye as they sat, a slight nod and she would know what the Commander wanted. When she brought over the round she half raised a brow at Cassians request to leave the bottle but sipped at her own ale quietly.

"Should be about three days depending on the wind then however long it takes us to find the thing. It's harder to pin down a monster that cam swim," Kain spoke before taking a drink. He seemed to relax a little and Lexi patted his leg.

"Kain hates sailing," Alec smirked.

"I just prefer my feet to be on firm ground," he grumbled.

"I can find another Second if you would rather stay. Marcus is free," she took a sip of her ale and smirked at the look she received. Her eye flicked to Cassian. "We've got a good crew and there are a few images amongst them, I don't expect us to be away longer than a week. I'm sure you can bring your codex with you and study on the way."

 

[Cassian]

He had already thrown back one whisky and was chasing it with ale when Kain started talking, he wiped at his lips with the back of his wrist and smirked "Can't be that bad, surely." he commented and looked to Lexi for some sort of assurance before taking another swig from his mug.

Cassian inwardly groaned as she mentioned the codex, he'd thought for a moment he'd got out of further studying, but he offered a very fake smile and nodded at her "Sounds delightful." he laughed under his breath.

"I don' think I've covered those...jerrygander things, yet." he frowned, leaning back in his chair and ruffling his fingers into his wet hair. "What are they?."