Private Tales Foosty Gobshytes

[Kaius]

Kaius's eyes rose to watch her as she tended to the fire, her words causing his brows to furrow for a brief moment. It was difficult to forget the sort of lives that dreadlords had, it was even more difficult to see her as a dreadlord at all. She was fiery, yes, but although Kaius knew better, she seemed soft and delicate and nothing like the pictures most people would paint of a dreadlord if they had to describe one.

It was her eyes that told him different. They were a deep pool of restless colour, an ocean of hopeless grief. He'd fallen into them and knew, all the beauty of the universe could not even hope to compete with this simple thing: passion. Passion turned her eyes into orbs of the brightest fire, and in them, Kaius read clearly that she would fight to the very last tear for her life. She would not let the world break her. Passion made her beautiful.

He swallowed and smirked, and returned his eyes to the task at hand, deftly ripping out the multicoloured feathers that decorated their dinner. "I'm saying you have little regard for your life. You're a little too goal driven. Not a bad thing, when you're smart about it.." his brow quirked.. "You.. goddam muppet."

 

[Riley]

Her crooked smile grew, something Kaius seemed to have a gift at drawing out. A smile she'd almost forgotten about. Almost forgotten how to do. Or had a desire to do.

"Not bad," she pointed the charred end of a stick she'd been using to poke the fire with in the man's direction. "But if you call me a muppet again I'll have to give you a fukin' shiner." Riley was smiling when she said it but it was hard to tell if she was serious or not.

Attention shifted to the stream. "I should wash up while there's still light." Before it got cold. "You gonna be okay cooking up the bird yourself?" And maybe she needed a breather. To stop staring into the goddamn brilliant green eyes of his. That infectious smile.

 

[Kaius]

Kaius's grin widened and he gave a husky laugh at her threat. He didn't know what a 'shiner' was but he could only assume it was an act of violence, coming from her. He glanced up briefly to catch her smile and tore the last of the feathers from the bird.

He tried not to laugh again at her question of whether or not he'd be okay on his own to cook, but the amusement of it sparkled in his eyes as he looked up at her and he nodded .. "I'm sure I can handle it..." he cleared his throat.

"Do what you have to do.." he smiled with a sigh as he pulled himself to his feet, and quickly went about making himself a spit for the fire and skewering the pheasant to cook it over the flames. He lifted a skin of elven wine and poured a little over the meat, and helped himself to the rest as he settled down..

 

[Riley]

Sometimes she forgot how old Kaius was. And a big part of her hoped he forgot about how young she was. She had to force herself to turn away from the shirtless elf. Plopping down along the gravely beach of the river, she began peeling off her boots and woolen socks. Then went her belt and weapons. A few daggers hit the sand and rocks.

The light was already waning. A quick look over her shoulder showed that Kaius' frame was backlit by the fire as he roasted their dinner. Turning back to the river, she sighed and peeled off her shirt.

"No peeking," she barked without turning to look at the elf and stripped off her pants. Wading carefully into the river with her mess of hair hanging low down her back she went toward the deeper center to submerge and scrub off the dirt of the last few days.

 

[Kaius]

Kaius' cheeks dimpled as he laughed at her demands.. "On my honour, lass.. My eyes are averted.." he called back. He couldn't say he wasn't tempted, she was a beautiful thing, but he wouldn't risk making her feel uncomfortable..he wasn't a letch. He'd lived over twenty of Riley's lifetimes, but adults were adults to him and his people. If she didn't look or act like a child, he wouldn't treat her like one. Arwyl had a way of making him feel old, but she didn't..

He took a long draw of his wine and rotated the pheasant over the flames as she washed, his eyes on the flames as he'd promised..

"Did you ever hate us?.. Elves I mean.." he asked curiously, his tone more sombre now. He knew the city were taught to hate everything but human, but they particularly hated elves and he knew what she was doing right now, being in his company at all was punishable by death.

 

[Riley]

Fingers ran through her hair, squeezing the cool water of the river out. She turned to Kaius, noting he was very much sticking to his word. A part of her was surprised by that. Maybe a little relieved. Maybe even a little disappointed.

Hand dropped to the surface of the river. Fingers spread, feeling the tug of the current, the shift in water moving fluidly around the obstacle she made. A quiet sigh at his question.

“No. Misunderstood? Feared? Yes.” She began wading out, feet curling against the sand and rocks as she stooped to shrug back on her clothes. “The war between Anirians and elves has been going on how long now? Thousands of years?”

Carrying her boots and socks to the fire, she sat down within the circle of warmth it provided. Palm dragged across the olive skin of her face, pushing away the remaining water droplets of the river.Damp clothing clung lightly to the curves and contours of her body.

 

[Kaius]

His head turned only slightly as she spoke, and he had to refrain from turning a little more as he heard her wading out of the water.. He smirked and nodded.. "Far longer than you and I have been alive.." he answered with a quiet sigh. He'd been alive more than four hundred years and had never known any of the peace he'd longed for.

"I suppose, if you're taught to fear then you will fear. It's my experience that most of your kind are taught to hate, I'm surprised to see it never stuck with you." his brow arched as his eyes rose to watch her sit by the fire, his stormy gaze lingering a little too long on the way her clothes stuck to her shape and he huffed with a Gods help me glance to the skies.

 

[Riley]

A shrug of her shoulders as she reached for a water-skin, taking a sip. The sun had set on the horizon and its warmth was slowly beginning to fade beneath the curve of the land. "Yeah, I dunno why it never stuck. My mother took me to deliver food and supplies to the refugee elves on the outskirts of our town. Seems like it didn't stick with her either. I think when they came to take my brother before me, for the Academy, something in her snapped."

She sighed and put the water down.

"But not enough to keep them from taking me too," there was a bitter taste in her mouth that she tried to swallow down.

Fingers raked through her damp hair, tugging at the snarls and knots, trying to smooth the darker hair away from her face. Hazels held a spark of the fire as she turned them to find Kaius' own stormy gaze. "Suppose I should be grateful that you, Arwyl, and Riz didn't pummel me on site after I blew through your jail cell." A small smirk. "How'd you all end up in that shithole anyway?"

 

[Kaius]

Kaius tried to hide the disdain on his face but his jaw clenched several times as he kept his thoughts on the matter locked behind his teeth. The cruelty of the city of Vel Anir was something he'd always found it difficult to comprehend, and he'd grown up with a terrible father. He'd have fought until his last breath before giving up his child to something as abhorrent as the academy, but that wasn't what Riley needed to hear and it was ignorant of him to assume her mother had any real choice in the matter. Still, how she could have let her son and daughter go simply vexed him.

"Well.. You're out of there now.." Kaius stated calmly and forced a dry smile as thought that would solve all of her problems. He was certain that it wouldn't, in fact it'd probably cause her a hell of a lot more. "We'll fight for you, lass..Not that you need us, of course." he smirked, and turned the meat over a final time before taking his blade to start cutting. He offered Riley the first slice with a quiet laugh as she spoke of the jail cell..

"Well you did get us out of there.." he huffed and shook his head. "It was twenty years since the Anirians destroyed our home and killed Arwyl's people.. He usually celebrates it by getting piss drunk and picking a fight with whatever humans he can find, this time they were guardsmen, and they had quite a few friends.." he laughed under his breath but there was no amusement in his eyes.

"He'll be the death of me... And I'm not sure how he'll live with himself when that happens. Unless you're the death of me first, in that case he'll be fine.." he bobbed his head, and his cheeks dimpled in a grin.

 

[Riley]

'Yeah and I'd rather die than be dragged back," she stated as quickly and surely as the crack of a whip. Most runaways were executed if ever caught. But there were worse things. She'd heard stories of souls being ripped out. Being turned into mindless tools of Vel Anir.

Despite the warmth of the fire, she shivered.

And twenty years since Arwyl's family was murdered? His home destroyed? About the time she was born. Luckily, she thought Talus had been too young to be a part in that. But how many other elves had he murdered? She still remembered everyone they'd made her kill. Every last face shivering beneath a hood.

She took the meat he offered. "Thanks," a crack in her serious expression as she took a bite.

Head shook in the growing darkness, the warmth of the fire spreading a glow across her skin. Drying her damp clothes. It spread a glow across Kaius' bare chest and those scars splattered across his skin.

"Oh, no, no, no. I will not be the death of you. Do you think Arwyl would ever forgive me for that? He barely tolerates my presence as is." She had on a lopsided smile as she said it.

"And worse, I'd be left with the task of keeping his petulant ass alive all by myself." Her grin widened, her tone clearly jesting.

 

[Kaius]

Kaius'eyes creased with a smile as he drank down a few long gulps of his sweet red wine. He dragged the back of his hand across his lips and held the skin out toward her in offering. "Well, we'll try to avoid either of those things happening, but you could do with being a little more careful. Makes life and freedom a little more, probable." he mused with a subtle wink at her.

He pulled in a lungful of smoky, pine air as he watched her, noting her shiver. He wasn't sure if she was cold, but his eyes lingered on the way her damp clothes stuck to her skin and he suppressed a shudder of his own. He shifted onto one knee and took his blanket which he reached to pull around her shoulders as he knelt in front of her..

"Arwyl…" his brow lifted as he pulled the blanket tight around her shoulders and found her eyes with amusement in his own. "Was the one who asked if we could 'keep' you.." he grinned, but it slowly faded to a subtle smile of... admiration?...Shy desire?

He realised how close they were and his muscles tensed. The woman was captivating, rarely had anyone piqued his interests. Arwyl was always trying to pawn him off with one random female or another, but Kaius never paid them much mind. Riley, however, had caused a stir, and every day the internal conflict in his mind grew louder and louder as he fought against every urge he had to get as close as he was now and every impulse to kiss her.

He knew better than to get mixed up with a human. They weren't compatible, they weren't supposed to be together in that way... His throat ached as he looked at her, knowing that her life would be over in what would be a blink of an eye to him. He'd outlive her the way he'd outlived so many. She'd be another painful memory.

"It's a difficult job..." he answered finally and cleared his throat. "The pay is awful.. But I think you'd be up to the task.." he laughed under his breath.

 

[Riley]

She took the wineskin, pressing her lips to the fabric of her damp shirt on her shoulder after a gulp.

She froze as he came near. That blanket around her shoulders. His touch just on the other side of that blanket. A puff of his warm breath in the smoky, night air.

Riley had been fighting for herself so long. Taking care of herself so long. She didn't know how to respond to...this.

A gentle touch. A caring hand of another. The look in someone else's eyes like they actually...cared.

Goddamn it.

Riley hated feeling out of her depth. And since she'd met Kaius he'd made her feel that way. How he'd shielded her even after they just met. How he'd gently pressed her to stay with them in the woods. How he and Arwyl had followed her even after she'd as good as given them both the finger.

"He actually said that?" She huffed, the half smile still tugging on her lips. Golds and greens shifted within the sea of light brown of her eyes. They warmed and betrayed her, getting lost into the green pools of his own gaze.

Head nodded in agreement as she caught herself.

"Yeah, the payment is real shite," but her half-smile quickly disappeared. He didn't move and neither did she. At once she felt the space between them was too much. Not enough.

"Kaius," she began. There were so many things she wanted to ask him. To warn him about her. To push him away. To pull him closer. Instead...

"Aren't you cold?"

Oh for fuk's sake Riley. The hell is wrong with you?

"I mean," she stammered. And she never stammered.

 

[Kaius]

"Aye..He did." he answered quietly, eyes studying hers closer now that he had the opportunity. They shone like sunlight on polished stone, and hid a wealth of well justified mistrust. The myriad of colours seemed to swirl together like moss creeping over rich soil and freshly fallen autumn leaves. And when she smiled they ignited with a glow dazzling him with the warmth of the deep brown and the seductive green dancing around its edge. He was staring, ensnared and trapped like a moth who'd drifted much too close to a flame, and he was drawing slowly closer until she said his name and he hesitated with a near inaudible "Yes?..."

Her question caused his gaze to fall and his jaw to clench.

The fuck are you doing, Kaius?..

His fingers unfurled from the blanket he realised he'd still been holding to keep it locked tight around her shoulders to trap the warmth. "Oh.. No, I don't feel the cold much, not until the snows arrive.." his lips twitched into a brief smirk and he sat back. An apology found itself on the tip of his tongue but he locked it there and swallowed it, to apologise would be to acknowledge the intentions that had crossed his mind and admit how close he had come to crossing a line. He opted to clear his throat and help himself to some of the roast pheasant which he made short work of eating whilst washing it down with more wine.

"I'll keep watch for a while, you should get a good night's rest, we'll be riding most of the day tomorrow to make good time." he murmured as he chewed.

 

[Riley]

She'd seen the freckles on his face and across the bridge of his nose. The way his hair curled beneath the tips of his ears. Those same ears she'd been taught to fear but hadn't feared for some time now.

She swallowed as he pulled away. His touch gone as quickly as it had come. Her heart was...racing. Fingertips curled tightly around the edges of the blanket. She had scabs on her fists. Scabs and scars from how many fights she'd been in. How many faces she'd punched.

"No," she grunted and stood, looking down at the man before quickly tearing her eyes away to look at the darkness beyond the ring of the fire. "I'll take the watch. You get some sleep. Gonna go walk the perimeter." It was clear in her tone and actions that she wasn't giving the man a chance to argue.

Her stubborn tone hitched to something lighter with a small twitch at the corner of her lips.

"But I'm keeping this since you said you didn't need it." Clutching the blanket around her shoulders, she plunged into the darkness to check on the horses first. And Kaius was right. They had a full day ahead of them. If the information checked out, then they'd have a chance to stop a prison transport before it reached the inner jaws of Vel Anir. And there was no doubt that the transport had some of Arwyl's people inside.

Fingers pulled and tugged the rough fabric of the blanket closer as if she could re-feel the warmth that Kaius' digits had left behind.

 

[Kaius]

Kaius' gaze followed her as she stood up, a quiet huff given as she seemed to disagree for the sake of disagreeing. He rubbed at the back of his neck and sighed, about to argue but by the sound of her racing pulse, he assumed he'd made her feel uncomfortable. If she wanted space he wouldn't stop her, but he wouldn't sleep either. He'd listen..

"Alright.." he answered quietly, and gave a small smirk and a brief nod as she claimed his blanket. He took another long drink of wine and settled down on his bed roll, drawing his bow close to him and resting his hands under his head to stare up into the canopy of leaves and through them to the sparkling diamonds on the inky black sky.

He wanted to tell her not to go too far, to be careful, but he knew how it would be taken and refrained. He'd simply keep his senses sharp. In the silence, he listened to her footsteps, and realised how fast his own heart had been beating.

"Fuckin' muppet, Kai..." he muttered quietly to himself with a shake of his head..

 

[Riley]

Riley sucked in a breath of night air and checked on the horses first, making sure they had enough lead to graze but not enough to get into trouble. Forehead pressed against the black horse's muscular neck and she sighed against him.

"The hell is wrong with me," she whispered. Pushing away, her hand smoothed a path down the horse's neck, giving him a light pat as she moved on, boots stepping lightly around their small clearing. Every now and then, she'd stop and listen. Head canting to the side, eyes scanning the darker shadows of the trees around them.

She heard coyotes in the distance. Perhaps a pack running their nightly territory.

Riley walked the perimeter a few times, until the stars shifted in the sky and the moon was higher. Until she couldn't quite shake the weariness from her bones. Only then did she return to the now smoldering embers of the fire.

"Kaius," a whisper as she approached in case he had fallen asleep. She sunk down to her bedroll but added a few chunks of wood before she settled onto her side, facing the elf. She wasn't sure but a part of her wondered if he'd been awake this entire time. She thought it best not to ask.

"You good for this next watch?" Her lids were already drooping.

 

[Kaius]

"Mh?.." he hadn't slept, but blinked his eyes open and let out a sleepy sigh in pretence that he had. His eyes creased with a smile as he looked at her and he gave a light nod.. "Aye.. Get some rest, Sparky." he rumbled. The soft sounds of her breaths along side the gentle breeze that ruffled the leaves and crackling of burning wood was enough to send him drifting off, but he caught himself and jumped awake, rubbing the sleepiness from his face as he sat up.

He looked over the sleeping woman with a small smile, gently pulling the blanket up around her shoulders and combing a stray lock of hair back into the rest of it with his fingertips. He wanted to lay down, perhaps a little closer, but she'd only lull him back into sleep and so he pushed himself up and wandered quietly to the stream that glittered with moonlight. He glanced back at her before stripping off the rest of his clothes and wading in to wash and wake himself up.

 

[Riley]

She was surrounded. She wanted to blame Jared. She'd been dumb enough to trust him once. He'd always been able to find her. She imagined his magic was in more than just the fire he could summon with a snap of his fingers. His hair dark as ash. Eyes a dark blue that in the right light looked almost black, like bottomless pits.

She'd hid while the other students slowly turned on each other and picked each other off from their class. Only half would be allowed back at the Academy. The instructors wouldn't come for them until their numbers dwindled, either picked off by their own or by the other creatures of the Myrk Wood.

"Here she is," she heard his voice and the footsteps of how many? Four...five others? She'd been grabbing an hour's sleep here or there. In a tree. Buried in leaves. Whenever she thought she could risk it. When her body wouldn't stay awake anymore.

She froze in her hiding spot as she stubbornly pushed the drowsiness away. Head popped up.

A hot, scalding flame shot near her cheek and she rolled.

"We kill her and we all get to go home by tomorrow night," Jared puffed his chest like a preening peacock.

"What makes you think you can goddamned kill me, you rat bastards?" Riley growled as she stood.

"Because," he sneered and never got to finish as a giant of a beast that seemed to be made of a dripping and oily black substance appeared like a wraith from the shadow of a tree and ripped the head off Jared and popped it into its fanged mouth like a grape.

Forehead creased in her sleep. Eyes twitched beneath lids. The air around her suddenly shimmered as a nearly invisible bubble enclosed her fitfully sleeping form.

Then it blinked out of existence.

Then on.

Then off.

There was so much screaming and blood. The sounds were terrible. The snap and crunching of bones. Riley curled into a ball on the ground, hugged her knees to her chest and squeezed her eyes closed. She felt resistance on her shield. She knew, without opening her eyes, it was one of the creatures.

Then on.

"No," she groaned in her sleep and a stray fist went flying, punching past Kaius' blanket. Head whipped on the bedroll.

Then off.

 

[Kaius]

He bathed and pulled on his trousers and sat by the fire for a while to dry off. After adding a few more logs to the fire he moved quietly back to his bed roll next to Riley's and settled down. He couldn't help but watch her sleep for a little while before sleep pulled on his eyelids and he drifted off beside her.

THUMP.

Kaius was awake in an instant, sat bolt upright with a knife in his hand. It took him a moment to realise that it'd been Riley who'd punched him, and exactly how hard she'd just hit him.. "Shit.." he grimaced, half cursing the pain, half himself for falling asleep in the first place. He rubbed at the bruise already blooming on his ribs as he looked over her, the troubled frown on her face, the shield that she was subconsciously using to protect herself..

"Hey hey, Riley.. You're alright lass.." he whispered as calmly as he could and reached a hand to gently grip at her shoulder as she thrashed, fully anticipating another punch.

 

[Riley]

"No," she murmured again, tone half whimper half growl. In the dream she felt a hand on her shoulder. The beast? The proctors dragging her off to the next torture?

But there was something about the voice. Some part of her brain that recognized it wasn't a threat. A voice she wished would say her name more. A voice that worked to peel back those last dredges of the nightmare she was entrapped in.

But not enough to stop her panic as her hazels snapped open and her sleepy mind only registered someone looming over her - backlit by the fire. Fingers came up swiftly, grabbing at shoulders as she tried to twist and tackle her attacker to the ground so she'd end up on top.

 

[Kaius]

He’d been ready to dodge any attempted punches or slaps that might have come his way, but he hadn’t expected to be grabbed. He let out a short grunt as she, Riley, the petite little spark that she was, pinned him and all his height and muscle to the ground.

“Oof.“ he winced and blinked up at her, his chest heaving with quickly drawn breaths “Riley! It’s me!... It’s me.” He frowned, but his expression was one of concern rather than anger as he stared up at her, and it slowly melted as he realised, he was looking up at her... He felt his skin warm..

“I told you before... to buy me dinner first..” he breathed out with a smirk, trying to ease the tension..

 

[Riley]

Recognition sparked in her eyes, melting away the last of the confusion, drowsiness, and panic. Chest heaved as she caught her breath, looking down at the elf. She froze even as her limbs trembled from the sudden spike of adrenaline. From going from sleep to awake like a crack of lightning.

"Kaius," she breathed.

How many times was this now? Three? Four?

She could feel heat threatening to tinge the hue of her olive skinned cheeks. Head shook once as if she still had to shake off that nightmare. She still was foggy on what happened. And finding herself distracted by his goddamned muscles beneath her fingers.

She told herself it took her so long to move because she was still shaking off that sleep. But that was a shit-faced lie. Slowly, her fingers uncurled from around his shoulders and a leg began easing off as she slid to sit next to him.

"Sorry," palm slowly dragged down her face. "Looks like I owe you dinner in the next town," she grunted, a temporary half smile on her face. "What..uh happened?"

 

[Kaius]

Kaius nodded slowly as she spoke his name, his eyes moving back and forth between each of hers now that she was so close. He swallowed as she took her time, but he made no move to touch her, nor to hurry her off of him, he simply stared, and his gaze wandered over her lips as his thoughts drifted for a brief moment.

A sigh escaped his nose as the pressure of her weight was removed from him, a pressure he'd found more than comfortable. He looked up at her and pulled himself to sit up beside her with a husky laugh under his breath as she apologised. "S'alright.. You're alright.." he rumbled and reached a hand subconsciously to curl a lock of her hair behind her rounded ear, his eyes lingering on it for a brief moment before he withdrew his hand.

"Looked like you were casting a shield in your sleep.." his eyes narrowed with a frown and he ignored the pain in his ribs, deciding to keep her violent outburst to himself. "Must have been a pretty bad dream, lass.." he sighed, still able to hear how rapidly her heart was beating..

 

[Riley]

The hand in her lap twitched. It took every ounce of her waking willpower not to reach up and entrap that hand of his against her face. To feel his palm against her cheek. All of his fingers through her hair.

She was a goddamn fool.

His hand retracted as quickly as it had been there. It was better that way. He'd be a lot better not getting attached to her. She'd been made to do terrible things at the Academy. And she had a long way to go to make up for it. To try and change Vel Anir. Somehow.

Still. She couldn't look away from the greens in his eyes as she frowned at herself.

"A bad memory," she sighed, eyes lifting to the stars above them and the slowly lightening sky. "They took us to the Ixchel Wilds when we were fourteen. They wouldn't come back for us until only half the class was left." She didn't need to say more or explain it. She imagined Kaius could guess at what it meant.

"After the wilds...I dunno. I think my body trained itself to do the shield when I'm asleep. I can't always control when it happens." A dark chuckle left her mouth. "See Kaius? I'm a weapon's grade mess. And don't you dare give me any goddamned sympathy."

 

[Kaius]

Kaius' brow furrowed as she spoke of her memory, and an unexpected anger swelled in his belly like he'd swallowed a fire seed, and each time she told him some abhorrent story of what the humans had done to her, it grew hotter, threatening to burst out of him. He knew these things. He knew what these people done to their own, and yet with her it caused a new sort of rage at the thought of anyone harming her. This, feisty young woman who needed no protection of her own and yet he felt the need to provide it.

His expression didn't change, even as she chuckled, even when she poked fun at herself and her own trauma and misery, even as she joked with him about sympathy. His brow remained furrowed, and he felt the need to comfort her, and also himself. Before he could stop himself he'd reached out to her face again and dragged his thumb across the few tiny freckles that peppered her soft, olive skin.

He couldn’t resist. He leaned in a little closer, closing the gap between them until their foreheads touched. Gods, he couldn’t fight against the thoughts that were rushing through his mind. Her very smell was flooding his senses now. Their breaths mingled.

Kai's eyes closed and his frown deepened, jaw clenching as he fought the urge that caused his lips to ache. He let out a deep sigh and let his fingers comb back into her hair, sweeping it back from her face.. "You're safe." he assured quietly.