Private Tales Brothels and Broken Things

[Lexi Quinzell]

Lexi blew a smoke ring towards the ceiling and then another to her own amusement before glancing down at him as he laid sprawled out beside her. The light from the window had dimmed again so dusk must have came and went during their exercise session. Nobody had once knocked on the door which should have alerted him to the fact they hadn't heard a thing. Kain knew she hadn't had a fit yet but crashing would have brought him running. It also was not something she wanted to subject her men to when she didn't know if they had found someone for the night.

"No the room is hexed," she offered him the pipe and then slowly slid back down to the tattered sheets and ran a hand through her messy hair. The blankets were wound about her legs and backside but left her torso, gleaming with sweat, exposed to the air. "A courtesy I do for all my paramours," amusement danced in her eyes.

 

[Cassian]

His brows rose and he took the pipe, taking a long draw before choking at her choice of words “All of your—?!... fuck here I was feelin’ all warm and fuzzy and special. All my paramours are usually paid for the night. Seems you’re no exception.” He grinned at her, took another draw, and held it as he gave the pipe back, half expecting a slap.

He was glad of whatever magic she’d used however, he wasn’t sure he was up to the inevitable shit he would be due from the group if they had known. He wasn’t entirely sure how Kain would react at all. He let the smoke out slowly as his lips trailed from her stomach to neck and he lay down next to her to pull her against him.

“How am I supposed to be content with any whore after that?...” he huffed against her shoulder.

 

[Lexi Quinzell]

Lexi gave him an incredulous look when he suggested that he could buy her and gave his neck a little nip with perhaps a hint more teeth that strictly pleasant for the bedroom. If she were perhaps feeling a little stronger she would have thrown him through the wall. Instead she took the pipe back and set it to the side and watched as he gently rolled her onto her back and kissed up her body. A soft noise of content escaped her lips as she ran her fingers through his hair and gladly went with him into his arms.

"It'll be a great struggle for you," she patted his chest gently and laughed against his skin. "You know... the White Ravens are full of women like me and you wouldn't have to pay," she ran her fingers lightly down his torso as she twined her legs with his.

 

[Cassian]

He growled at the bite and laughed, he deserved worse. Her skin was warm and soft, her body perfectly moulded to his as she allowed him to pull her close. With whores, after his money was spent, either he left or they did, but he found himself enjoying the time spent exploring her skin and relaxing with her. She seemed to calm a storm in him and it let him be content for a while.

He laughed at her, teeth bared in a grin at her words “Aye it will..“ he mused and kissed her shoulder. “I fail to believe there are any other women like you, lass. But I guess there’s plenty of me to go roun’... I suppose I could stick aroun’ for a while since you’re so insistent that you can’t live without me.” His brow quirked.

 

[Lexi Quinzell]

Lexi had to concede him on that point; there were no other women like her. Probably for good reason. Even still she snorted at his words and then slowly rolled so that she lay on top of him instead of next to him and tapped his chest with a crooked smile.

"It's your cat I cannot live without, whenever she things its safe again to crawl out from under the bathtub," her eyes flicked sideways then to the copper bath which seemed to be the only thing that looked as it had when they had first entered the room. When she returned her gaze to his it was more serious though. "Are you serious though? You wish to join the White Ravens for a while?" she rested her elbow beside his head and propped herself up on it there.

 

[Cassian]

He ran his hands down her sides as she rolled back on top of him and groaned at her words.. “Aye. She was persistent about wantin’ my company too. I tried to leave her with other people twice.” He looked down at the ginger kitten curled up under the bathtub for safety and he laughed under his breath. Poor thing. She was the only loyal thing he had, she’d seemed to take a liking to him and decided to stick around. “Psst” he called to her, and she got up with a stretch and walked up onto the broken bed to nuzzle at them.

Her serious tone caused a sigh and he scratched at Red’s ears as he nodded gently. “Aye.. I’ll stick aroun’ for a bit..” he dipped his chin in a nod. “Blue Bollocks would miss me anyway.” He smirked, but his smile faded as he realised what he’d been agreeing to. He tried not to let the thought deter him. It was a job and a living for now. It just so happened that he’d liked the company of his comrades, and his commander.

 

[Lexi Quinzell]

Lexi smiled as the cat approached. It amused her how quickly the small bundle had taken the whole thing in her stride but then she had been on the field of battle with the Demon Prince so this was probably nothing. She reached her free hand out to pet the ball of fur too. She let the sigh go though it did not belong in her bed, at least, not that kind of a sigh. However the fading smile she wouldn't abide.

"Hey," she abandoned Red for the time being to wind her fingers through his hair and tug gently, demanding his attention back from wherever his thoughts were going. "Don't look like I've just sentenced you to death please when I am lying on top of you naked. It damages a girls confidence you know," her lips pressed to the hollow of his throat and up his jaw. "You can leave any time, just think of it as a nice break for the poor whores along our travels. I'm practically taking one for the team here."

 

[Cassian]

Cassian flinched as his hair was grabbed and she got his attention as well as a quiet curse under his breath. But she was kissing him again and he moaned “Like there’d be anythin’ that could damage your confidence, lass.” he laughed under her breath. She was right though, what the fuck was he doing thinking whilst she lay here with him like that. “I don’ like havin’ somethin’ to lose.” He explained with a throaty rumble and turned his face to graze his lips over hers. “Aye. You took one alrigh’ “ he laughed and ran his fingers into her hair to grip it in retaliation, stealing her lips with his.

 

[Lexi Quinzell]

“I don’ like havin’ somethin’ to lose.”

Lexi could agree with such a thought and after the story of his brother and father she understood it more than she might have before. Their line of work was dangerous so she couldn't promise him there would be no lose but she hoped she had proved it wouldn't be because if a mistake or call of bad judgement that such a thing would happen. Lexi would bleed for her men till the last drop. His retaliation lit a fire in her belly and she melted into their kiss like a molten flame.

"Well the bed is completely fucked," Lexi's words were breathless. Poor Red had retreated once again to the safety of the bath and the bed now lay entirely flat. Fresh feathers floated in the air above them and Lexi caught one and twirled them in between her fingers gently. She didn't want to leave but duty called at her. Placing a kiss to his lips she stood up, nabbed a robe from the saddle bags which had been brought up with their effects when they had arrived and threw it on.

"Whisky?" she could check in on the others on her way downstairs.

 

[Cassian]

The woman was going to kill him. But what a way to go..he'd die a happy man.

"Aye, lass... As am I." he let out a puff of air, sending a feather flying back upward, a fresh dusting of fine sweat covering his bare skin. Cassian returned her kiss and watched her get up, groaning quietly as he admired her naked form over again. His grin widened. "Out. Standing." he muttered as he pulled himself up with a frown at his aches and bruises. Her question had him look at her as though she had hit her head a little too hard, what sort of a question was that?.. "Have you just met me?.. Aye I'll take a whisky." he smirked and shook his head.

He watched her leave, and he lay with his thoughts for a short while before quickly washing and pulling on some fresh clothes to hide his bruising. He'd try to put the room together a little too, but he wasn't sure where to start, the place was wrecked.

 

[Lexi Quinzell]

Lexi made a face at his comment before unlocking the door and slipping out ensuring as little of the room could be seen from anyone else on the landing. If she were in the room then the lads would be on either side of her, it was the usual pattern of things. She stopped first by the door on her left but there was no answer before that of her left to find all three of the boys inside. Alec was sitting up. Their laughter stopped when they saw their Commander and then there were a clamour of questions.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," she held up a hand to quieten them. "I just need a little more rest," her eyes flickered to Kain for it had been a question too - did they have time for rest? A slight nod. No word had reached them otherwise. From here it truly would be the ride home. "Try not to stay up to late, we'll take tomorrow to restock then leave the day after," a series of nods as she shut the door quietly and then padded her way downstairs.

The bar tender seemed surprised to see her but glad and sent her back up the stairs with the whole bottle as well as two glasses.

Stepping back into the room she locked it behind her again and then brandished the bottle in victory before making her way back to the broken bed to pour them both a glass.

"Maybe I should keep you around as a cleaner," Lexi mused eyeing up the small pile of rubble he had started to gather into one spot.

 

[Cassian]

"How are the lads?"..He muttered as he was stood looking pretty hopeless with a broken piece of wood in his hand, looking around for it's source, but he had no idea where it had come from and he huffed at her words and threw it into the pile. "Aye.. Maybe I should keep you aroun' as my bar wench." he quipped back at her and smirked. What a sight she was, naked under that robe, in bed with a whole bottle of whisky... there was that happy sigh again.

He gave up the fruitless task of trying to organise the room and climbed back into bed to accept a glass, sprawling out and propping himself up by his elbow. The headboard wasn't much used to anyone anymore. "Right.. Your turn to tell me those stories of yours. You had mine, fair's fair. It's either that or some drinkin' games." he clinked the glass and drank down the first one down, enjoying the heat of it as it ran down his throat.

 

[Lexi Quinzell]

"They're fine, Alec is awake which is a good sign. Sometimes the spell heals the wounds but it doesn't necessarily mean it works. We'll leave the day after tomorrow - give Alec and me another day to rest," she crossed her legs and balanced the two glasses on her knees as she poured them, passing one to him and taking a sip from the other. The way she spoke was quite matter of fact but it was obvious she was relieved her gambit had worked. Her lips curled into a smirk at his quip but the idea of being a bar wench didn't sound all that bad - probably a lot more relaxing.

The smirk vanished however when he asked about her stories. She swirled the whisky in her glass.

"What story do you want? I'm surprised Peter and Alec haven't told you everything already."

She downed the contents of her glass then filled them both up again.

 

[Cassian]

Cassian nodded with a look of slight concern as she spoke of Alec, but she’d said it was a good sign so he’d settle for that. He snorted as she spoke of rest.. “Rest?! That was this is?... Then what do you call recovering from rest? ‘cos that’s what I’ll be needin’.” he grinned at her. Absolutely nothing about their night had been restful.

“They’ve told me bits and pieces. I know yer an excellent commander, crackin’ body, gorgeous face, yeh like to throw men aroun’ a bit and take great delight in torturin’ em. I know yeh seduce women more so than men an’ I know you left one behind. I know yeh can fight and I know yeh can fuck.” his brow rose.

“I want to know what i don’t know. The stories you think I’ll judge you on.” He smirked, and drank.

 

[Lexi Quinzell]

Lexi only threw him a dark smile when he asked what she did to rest before sipping at her whisky. He would be finding out shortly - that was, if he could keep up. But she held back a quip at him to listen instead to what it was he knew about her, or thought he did anyway. It seemed all he had said was all he needed to know at least in her mind. The rest was just the path of how she had got to that woman and it was in the past.

She picked up the bottle so that she could move to mirror his position and prop herself up on the bed with her elbow. What exactly would he want to know?

"I didn't leave Rose behind more she got tired of waiting for me," she offered him a thin lipped smile then took a sip of the whisky. "Let's see. More about me. Both my parents were in the Order - you would like my mother," a soft laugh. Taylin was a force of nature to be reckoned with. "They were away on mission a lot so I was raised more by the Scholars. I wanted to be just like them so I studied hard, worked my way up the ranks," a slight shrug. "It is a pretty boring usual story. My mentor was the last Commander. When he died it was passed on to me. Four years later and here we are now."

 

[Cassian]

He looked at her over the top of his glass as he drank, deciding not to ask more about Rose. It wasn’t the time to revisit the pain of past relationships, so he left it with a nod, and held out the empty glass for his new bar wench to fill.

Again, the whisky started to take its desired affect, dulling the pain in his bruised muscles, and she was keeping his mind busy.

He grinned as she spoke of her mother. “Aye, I can only imagine.” he mused and gave a light shrug “My mother died when I was young, but she was kind for an Anirian woman, that I remember anyway. I’ve a sister somewhere too, makes me a tad wary visitin’ all the brothels that I do.” He winced.

“I feel like you’re skippin’ all the interestin’ parts. Should I get the boys in to tell me more? They like a gossip.”

 

[Lexi Quinzell]

Lexi gave a started laugh at his admittance of the whore houses. It would definitely be a priceless moment watching it dawn on him that he had been attempting to seduce his sister but she had a feeling from what she new of Vel Anir she was most probably tucked safely away behind the fortresses walls. Still it was nice to get a little more information about his family and she quietly filed it away under the subjects he probably wouldn't want her bringing up when there wasn't a whisky in his hand.

"They probably tell my stories better than I do," she snorted and filled up his glass then topped up her own. Her robe began to slide off of one shoulder at her movements. "Do you really want me to tell you stories of monsters and clawing out my own eye?" She quirked an eyebrow at him. It was the story everyone wanted when they met her, the one they sung in the beer halls back home. Lexi had heard so many versions of the story she had even begun to doubt the events herself despite actually being there.

 

[Cassian]

The whisky was going down too easily, as it usually did, it was going to his head , as it usually did. He’d have to stop soon. Not that he ran the risk of breaking anything and he’d already been handsy with her, there wasn’t anyone else to pick a fight with and he didn’t want to pick a fight with her. Perhaps, a few more.

He leaned forward to press a kiss to her shoulder as the robe started to slip away, it was basically an invitation. “Aye. I want to hear those stories too.” he rumbled against her skin and kissed again, and onto her neck. She was addictive, and it was difficult not to get carried away.

 

[Lexi Quinzell]

"It does not seem very fitting pillow talk," Lexi murmured, her eyes half closing as he kissed along her skin leaving a blazing trail of heat. The sigh was a mix of pleasure and frustration but she did begin to tell him after a while. Of the different monsters she had faced over the years in the service of the White Ravens. The Inkanyamba in the waterfalls of the Ixchel Wilds when she was sixteen and foolish, completing the task by the skin of her teeth with Kain and Rose. Of the shape shifting Aswang in desert heat on her first solo mission and of the Typhon after a particularly nasty hangover. None of her stories were spoke with pride but in the straight forward way of a soldier who saw what she did simply as her job and nothing more.

"And then there was Gaia," she rolled onto her back. The bottle was below the half way point now - talking was a thirsty job. But Lexi handled her booze well and her words only slightly slurred around the s's. "It is one of the biggest battles I have ever seen the White Raven's go into for a single monster but she obliterated us," her face took on a sombre look made more severe by the flickering of their fire. "It was the first time I commanded on a field, but Lenzro - our Commander - was there and man I thought he was invincible," a slight shake of the head at the foolishness of youth. "Kain and I found ourselves pinned down by her and Lenzro attempted to give us the distraction needed to launch another attack. But his attention was pulled in too many direction. He wanted to help too many of his people at once and it cost him. The process of turning to stone can be a horrifically slow thing and it was for him; she wanted to take her time. She knew who he was."

A silence stretched for a while as her fingers played on the glass.

"Kain and I had managed to get to a better position and he was flinging spell after spell but nothing so much as turned her head. If she felt their strength she didn't show it - even the taste of steel seemed to merely make her laugh. There was only one spell that I could think of that might do something for a creature like that. It is a forbidden spell for good reason - binding a creature to your soul is a risky business. In truth I did not think it would work how it did I thought it might just give her a mortal body which Kain could cut down like any other then," her lips twitched into a sad smile remembering his absolute horror as he had heard her begin the chant. "The spell dictated that even though the creature was to be bound it still needed a window out in order for it to not fully possess a person. Eyes are often described as windows to the soul so it seemed simple to me. I only had my broad sword and my camping utilities on me so I just... took my spoon and scooped it out," it had been agonising ripping it from her body and she self consciously touched at her new eye. "When I woke up I had this tattoo and she was gone but I felt her inside. The scholars back home had no idea how I had done it, truth be told I didn't either when I re-read it now. There was nothing I could do for Lenzro though apart from cut his misery short. I slit his throat and they gave me his cloak," she shook her head with a hollow laugh.

 

[Cassian]

He kissed and massaged her as she spoke, listening to her endeavours with interest and curiosity. He supposed, he’d have to get used to facing the same sorts of monsters as she had, the sort he’d encountered over the past few days. It wasn’t going to be easy but he’d have been lying if he had said he hadn’t been drawn to it now. It was like a growing itch, a thrill he hadn’t got from any of his past missions, a challenge. And she had been a challenge too. One of far greater reward than the forty gold.

He lifted his gaze to hers as she quieted, though his fingertips continued to dance over her skin as he listened to her speak of her commander and her sacrifice. He suppressed a grimace at the thought of scooping out her eye with a spoon, and his brow furrowed at the end of her story. “That’s tough, lass. Sorry you had to do that. Seems they couldn’t have given that cloak to a better person. Don’t know many who’d have done what you done..” he frowned. His father was willing to let them all die rather than be proven wrong, both of his sons included. He clenched his jaw, and kissed her.

 

[Lexi Quinzell]

Lexi had that look most soldiers got when they struggled to get out of their own memories. She was trying to push it to the back of the mind but the haunted glaze was there. Despite it she nodded at his words in agreement - not many would have done what she had done and she knew why it had been passed to her for that reason. It took someone who had tough skin to be a Commander and Lexi couldn't imagine one of her friends she would want to put that burden on to. This right now was the first time in months she had opened up to someone.

The crushing of his lips against hers warranted a groan of need and her eyes shut as she pulled him to her. She wanted to forget and the heat of him against her would burn all other thoughts from her mind.

 

[Cassian]

He knew that look well, and he obliged in taking her mind off of it, it had been his fault for asking after all. There were no more breakages or bruises this time, and he took his time getting to know her skin a little better, leaving none of it un-kissed.. The energy for anything more rigorous than slow and gentle had passed.

His stomach growled as they lay intwined, and he stole another kiss before getting up and wrapping a sheet around his waist. "Hungry?" his brow lifted and he stretched, looking over the sea of debris and feathers with a shake of his head. It was going to cost him a fair price.

 

[Lexi Quinzell]

Lexi made a noise of muffled complaint when he left the bed but then she rolled into the heated part of the bed he vacated and seemed to be more content. A soft sigh escaped her. Now she was finally beginning to feel tired. Red jumped up now the quiet had come round again and nuzzled against her chest.

"Starving," Lexi watched him through heavy lidded eyes as she pet the cat. "I can't promise I'll leave Red for you when you get back though."

 

[Cassian]

He smirked at her words and pulled on some clothes, last thing he needed was being caught in the hallway in a state of undress, and his many new bruises would have been another source of amusement no doubt.

He ran into Kain on the way back up the stairs and cleared his throat casually, assuring him that Lexi was feeling alright and was resting. He'd seemed to accept that, and Cassian returned to the room with two bowls of stew and bread, and two mugs of ale. One of the chairs had been shattered and the other only had two remaining legs, and so he climbed back onto the bed to eat, of course, his stew was shared with the kitten.

"I realised I din't say thank you. For takin' care of my wounds the other day.." he told her and swirled some bread in his stew, his thoughts on how cold things had gone afterward. "I'm grateful." he rumbled quietly.

 

[Lexi Quinzell]

Lexi fell into a light doze almost as soon as Cassian was out the door. It was the kind most people who worked rough hours had perfect to try and grab sleep whenever they could. Though it had probably been 20 minutes tops she felt a whole lot more awake when the murmur of voices outside her door stirred her, promptly before Red put her tiny little paws on her face. She was sat up when Cassian came back in with a blanket pulled up around her as she attempted with no luck to try and comb the mess that was her hair.

She took the stew, glad for the interruption.

"You mean when you chewed my head off?" She raised an eyebrow at him and blew on the stew to cool it down a little. "You are welcome," and it was clear from her tone she did mean it. "When you took that coin you became one of my men. I'm afraid that means having to deal with having people care about you."