Fate - First Reply Into Thin Air

[Samantha Black]

Halfway through buckling her cuirass when Henk's problem landed in the middle of the plan. Ral turned to him while he explained and mentally chewed on some solutions. Strangely enough, he probably could have fit into her clothes considering how close in size they were. If nothing else, Henk was a bit broader through the chest and shoulders, but something looser-fitted like a cloak would have worked fine.

Sadly, all her extra clothes had disappeared on the night he'd been attacked by their beastie.

"As exciting the prospect of you running around naked in Maraan is," she began while pulling on her leather greaves, "I don't think that would be the best choice for this. We'll just have to stop somewhere and get you some new clothes. You can't go back out into the desert like that to hunt the beast anyway."

What a fabulous opportunity for her to stretch her non-existent doting-girlfriend skills!

 

[Henk]

Thank the gods for small favors. There was still some concern about the fact he'd be glowing until they found something for him to wear, but it was preferable over streaking about with his sensitive bits hanging out in a city full of all manner of sharp pointy places.

A shudder ran down his spine.

"That's probably a better idea. Come on, suddenly I'm anxious to get out of this room and breathe some fresh air." They could sit here and talk about their plans all day, but Henk was beginning to feel a bit restless. They'd wasted enough time as it was, and he'd feel much better after some new clothes and a lead or two.

Harrod was leaning against the counter, reading something as the two of them left arm in arm, but said nothing. The moment the two of them stepped out into the afternoon sun bearing down on Maraan, Henk felt the light baking into his flesh and winced.

"Be careful about touching me while we're out here." Henk murmured under his breath as they crossed over to where the horses had been left, unhooking his arm from hers. "I wouldn't want to accidentally burn you."

Obviously, that only applied to everything above the belt, but he wasn't about to say that part out loud.

"Main market should be busy a few more hours, plenty of people hawking clothes there, I'm sure. Want to take the horses?"

Ralene

 

[Samantha Black]

The arm thing was weird. Was that what couples usually did? Walk everywhere they went, arm-in-arm as though terrified to be separated? Ral played along only because it seemed that's what Henk felt was necessary to show, thinking perhaps it was mostly his inner chivalrous self bleeding through. Perhaps it was what Henk envisioned when he thought of having a lady to call his own: leading a damsel by the arm as a means of both guidance, support, and a show of his strength.

Ralene was not a damsel and dropped the ploy the moment they reached the horses.

"No," she replied, "they need to rest in the shade. If we get any leads today, they'll need to be ready to move out tonight."

Her own horse was dozing, one back leg cocked, lower lip drooping. An ear flickered back as she approached the beast and moved to pull something from a back saddle bag. As she stepped back into view Ral pulled on a pair of fingerless leather gloves with curious metallic embroidery on the palm that stretched like veins around to the back side of the hand where an open circle of runic alchemy shone embossed into the leather.

"You said you store the sun's energy in your body, right?" and now that he was out in the sun bare-chested she could see what he meant by his glow. Locals might just think it was simply his pale flesh, but Ralene knew better. She could feel the arcanic energy radiating off him. Ral nodded for them to keep moving and lead the way through the narrower alley between Harrod's building and the next out to the larger, more open street just beyond.

"Too much and you start to cook like a roast on a spit?" her gaze appraised his figure keenly, curiously, "I might be able to siphon some of that energy from you if you get too close to that threshold."

 

[Henk]

Henk was of a similar opinion, leaving the horses would save their strength for when they would truly be needed. The shimmering-skinned initiate moved to walk past them and into the narrow alley, but stopped as Ralene retrieved a pair of odd-looking gloves. Most wouldn't think much of the fancy-looking handwear, but Henk had spent enough time around Ralene and Alistair to recognize a rune.

"The Sun's energy... something like that. I still don't know exactly how the mechanics of it work. It's more of a mutation than a power, honestly." Of course, his time at the Academy had taught him how to control that 'mutation' far better than he'd been able to originally. With practice, it had been honed into an ability just like any other. "But yes, if I let myself take in too much, it begins to affect my internal organs. That's why I made those curtains for the room, so I don't oversleep and fry myself before I wake up."

The pale blue eyes never left her gloves as she followed him into the alley and back out onto the main road they'd first arrived on after passing through the gates. It was just as crowded, if not even more than before. Perhaps with his glow, though, that could be a good thing.

Of course, Ral seemed to have a theory of her own, and he had a suspicion it involved the mysterious leather on her hands. "That so?" Henk bit the inside of his cheek, looking forward as they passed through a small crowd gathered around a fist-fight between an elf and a drow with piles of gold strewn about the floor as bets. in a small dawn ring on the floor. "I'm usually fairly adept at keeping myself at a reasonable level, but it's certainly a good idea if we get into a pinch and need to dim me in a hurry, or if I get distracted somehow."

The further they walked, the denser the street got. The markets would be closing in a few hours, at least the ones selling legitimate goods, so there was always a final rush to grab whatever one wanted before the night's end. "Honestly, it's probably good we came to Market first. Whispers and rumors are just as plentiful as any other product here, if you prod in the right places."

Ralene

 

[Samantha Black]

Ralene flexed her gloved hand into a loose fist, half listening to Henk while her eyes scanned the crowds and the market. Though maintaining a firm understanding of travel and escape routes as well as an awareness of the crowd one traveled through came second-nature to the Initiate, she was also on the lookout for vendor stalls or stores showing -

Aha.

"Over there," she nudged Henk's bare arm and nodded across the way, "I think I see robes and clothing."

 

[Henk]

Henk really needed to stop putting so much effort into his explanations. It was beginning to seem like the moment he spoke more than a sentence, Ralene's interest waned faster than Edric's energy in a graveyard. He didn't care too much, mind you. Right now getting something to cover up with was priority, and then they could move on to more pressing matters.

The boy's head turned to follow her nod towards a set of several shops with all manner of colorful garb hung up to be hawked by pushy merchants with hungry coin purses. Most of it was probably awful and garish, but maybe he could find something in his wheelhouse. Worth a shot anyways.

"Yeah, let's go."

They hadn't made it halfway there before Henk had caught the attention of a rather brightly dressed half-elf, sauntering over and making outrageous claims as to how incredible the Initiate's physique was. Before Henk could even process what was happening he'd been pulled to a gaudily painted stall where robe after tunic after suit was thrust in front of his bare chest, the slender fellow making observations about what did and didn't work aloud.

"Mm, Too bright. No, too loose. Oh, far too concealing!"

Suddenly, the half-elf met Ralene's eyes, and his face split into a wide smile.

"Oh how rude of me! I should of course include your darling partner in the decision!"

Oh no.

Ralene

 

[Samantha Black]

For her part, Ral had mostly taken a back seat once they'd crossed the foot traffice to find the shops. Rather ... to be found by the shopkeep. This was Henk's venture, after all, and if there was one thing Ralene was not, it was a fashionist-

"Oh how rude of me! I should of course include your darling partner in the decision!"

"Uh-" she'd been standing just off to the side, gazing over the various textiles and patterns on display with a general lack of interest when that line caught her. Well, they certainly didn't prepare you for this at the academy, but hell if she wasn't adaptable to the odd encounters and situations.

Ralene looked to the shopkeep, looked to the robe in his hands, then looked to Henk.

A devious smirk slowly spread across her expression, "Of course. I'd be delighted to help," that smirk had grown to a broad grin, pearly whites on display as she sidled over to Henk and traipsed her fingers over his chest in spiraling circles, "something unique and flashy like a ... what do you call those bright colored birds everyone here seems to have?"

 

[Henk]

From a trained killer to a glorified mannequin. That wasn't a transition Henk had ever expected to make, but that was about the size of what he'd become in a matter of seconds. It was bad enough when the stick-bodied gentleman was throwing everything up against his chest no matter the size or color, but when he invited Ralene to help Henk knew he was in a world of trouble.

Sure enough, the expression that crossed her face wasn't too different than the one she'd worn when trying to get him to break in front of Harrod with a wandering hand.

The merchant immediately seemed to recognize the bird Ralene mentioned, and while his brow did furrow a bit, as though trying to discern whether or not the woman was joking with him, his smile never broke. Henk began to interject. "Raen, I don't know if..." He couldn't finish a single sentence before the half-elf shoved his way between them practically crooning. "Oh, I do believe I have just the thing you're looking for, Miss! Hold on a moment!"

In a whirl, he vanished into the back of the stall. Henk fixed his gaze on Ralene.

"You're enjoying this far too much. I won't forget this."

In a moment, their peppy salesman returned, holding up the garment in question as though it were a delicate treasure untouched by man since time began. It was without a doubt the most hideous thing Henk had ever laid eyes on. A robe that had been plastered with shining studs and colored as though the designer was concerned a color would have its heartbroken if it were left out. As though a rainbow had exploded and this scrap of gaudily sparking cloth had captured every piece of debris.

"What do you think? I'd be willing to let it go at a premium!"

Ralene

 

[Samantha Black]

"Oh-ho-ho," Ralene cracked a laugh, as she reached over and patted Henk's cheek, "don't you worry sweetheart, I'm not going to forget it either."

Mischief escaped on a snicker, quickly shifting to baited curiosity as the salesman returned with perhaps one of the strangest concoctions of color she'd ever seen on a single piece of clothing in her life. Having never really cared much for fashion or appearances, Ral couldn't say she found the piece ugly.

She also couldn't say she found it attractive.

But it sure was a whole lot of something.

"That," she bit her lower lip and tipped a dark brow upward at Henk, "that might just be perfect. Let's see it on you, then."

 

[Henk]

One of his eyebrows raised as Ralene patted his face. It seemed the game was back on just as quick as it had been postponed. "As long as you like it, my love. Try not to tear into this one too badly when we get home, yeah?"

A moment of silence was broken by a quiet "My my." from the merchant and a quick clearing of his throat. The halfie's skin was so pale that his blush was fairly obvious. Henk smiled, looking back at the man and holding his hands out for the robe. "If you would."

Getting the thing on was no simple feat, surprisingly. There was no way to open the robe; Henk had to slide it on over his head, and it was rather tight around his chest. Even so, he couldn't deny the material made it rather comfortable and snug when he did have it on, as long as he ignored the colors.

Raising his arms and pursing his lips in thought, Henk eventually nodded. "How much?"

The price the merchant gave them was actually rather decent, so Henk tossed him the coin without a fuss. He looked like a jester with a bad case of color blindness, but he was covered, and already could feel his body temperature evening out.

Ralene

 

[Samantha Black]

Admiring the struggle of Henk getting into this ridiculous robe was a moment in time Ralene was certain she would not ever soon forget - just as promised. Regardless of the fact that Henk had an attractive physique, his broad shoulders and chest were presenting a challenge he likely hadn't been prepared for. It was an endeavor of self-control: donning the prized peacock shirt without busting a seam.

Ralene could relate. The Proctors had realized early on that she'd never fit into the clothing meant for girls and traded her out for the boy's wardrobe when she'd started packing on the muscles. Anymore, all her clothing was custom fitted and hand-stitched by Ralene herself simply for the fact that it was damn near impossible to find something that fitted properly any other way.

She smirked in response to his words, eyeing her fellow initiate as though he were merely a morsel of meat to be devoured. At once all tidily wrapped up in a rainbow of stitched desert silks. It fit him surprisingly well, but like hell would he be able to wear that around the academy without fielding a slew of comments.

Ral gave him a look-over and smoothed her fingers over the fabric pulled taught across his chest, "It looks good," then leaned in toward his face, real close-like, "brings out your pretty blue eyes."

For a moment she was just a hairsbreadth away from his lips, her own deep-sea blues staring into his, and then she leaned back to turn her wry smirk on the Merchant, "Thanks for the help. I'll try to be careful with this one."

Try being the operative word choice here. But the longer preserved that shirt was, the better.

"I don't suppose you have any red scarves?"

 

[Henk]

If Henk hadn't just been squeezed into the most hideous thing he'd ever laid eyes on and wasn't being watched by a half-elf who now looked at the pair of them as though he was watching a stage play as Ralene stopped just short of brushing her lips against his, he might have kissed her then and there just to prove a point. "Was wondering when you'd notice them. They've been following you long enough."

Ralene, perhaps thankfully, turned her head back to the figure ogling their interaction before he could do something so stupid. Still, he resolved to put this game of theirs to an end before they saw the outside of this city again. With her attention taken away from him for the moment, however, he stepped aside and flexed his arms, raising and extending them in an attempt to stretch a little more room into the cursed cloth.

Wasn't much of a success, really it just looked like he'd been enchanted by the aerobics fairy and decided to start practicing a routine.

The half-elf had a smile on his face that Henk really didn't like. The shifty cloth hawker was getting a kick out of all of this, watching them flirt. Still, he knew better than to delay when Ralene made a request, and he quickly fished out about six different scarves.

Most of them had patterns on them that Henk knew Ralene would turn her nose up at, but there were also a couple that he liked. One, in particular, was almost the exact same color that she usually wore, but there was a swirling blue design that weaved along the edges of it that brought out the red even further.

She'd gotten to pick for him, hadn't she?

Henk took advantage of the fact that she'd turned away from him, and wrapped his arms around her from behind, resting his chin lightly on her shoulder.

"Try that one on. I think it'd look good on you."

There wasn't the teasing edge to his voice that there had been with Ralene's request. Henk truly did think it'd look quite fetching on her.

Ralene

 

[Samantha Black]

When she'd asked for a red scarf she'd expected one or two options - not half a dozen or more. Red as a color was apparently very interpretive. A few looked more purple or pink to her, one looked like an angry orange color. The patterns were too busy, too fancy.

Couldn't she just find a nice, plain red?

Her brows furrowed at about the same time Henk's arms slipped around her middle, an action she gave not a single second of thought. Even if physical affection was highly taboo within the Academy, plenty of Initiates found times and places to practice it both within and without the academy halls. Especially when they were away on missions such as this. Ral was a physical kind of gal and the state of which she found herself was plenty natural to her. Enough so that she leaned back into Henk's chest and tipped her head to the side against his own on her shoulder.

"This one?" a dark brow arched upward at his choice and a hand reached out to take it from the merchant and inspect. She didn't hate it, it was the closest one the merchant hand in color to her old scarf she'd lost to a very angry dragon. Ral let it run through her fingers, not quite capable of fully appreciating the smooth softness of the thread for all the scars and callouses on her hands.

With a sigh she straightened herself and looped it around her head to let it settle around her neck and shoulders. It was lighter and more delicate than her last one which had been a mixture of wool and cotton, but perfect for their current climate. Especially since there was far more material to work with, which meant she could use it as a cowl out in the sands.

"It'll do," she nodded.

 

[Henk]

The merchant gave her a bright smile and a price that definitely sat a bit lower than what the scarf was actually worth. Henk paid a moment of his time to wonder how on earth he made any money when he was such a sucker for sentimentality and affection, but he wasn't about to complain about a good deal. Henk pulled back as Ralene wrapped it around her neck, smiling out of the corner of his mouth.

"I like the blue fringe. It's different. Goes with your pretty blue eyes."

Henk wouldn't admit it aloud, but the momentary closeness between the two of them was something he hadn't really experienced since that disaster of a ball they'd held at the academy a few months back. For most of his time growing up in Vel Anir, Henk avoided contact with anybody else solely out of fear that he would end up burning people. Not that he was particularly sought after for comforting hugs in the first place, being a dreadlord.

He hadn't realized how lonely he'd been until that night ended the way it had. There was never any time to brood or complain in their line of work, however. Thinking about what he did and didn't have, what could and couldn't be, none of it would help anybody.

As it stood, he was having fun pretending. If this was as close as he would ever get to experiencing something resembling a normal relationship, then he would enjoy it while he could. Graduation was coming, after all. Whatever tight-knit bonds were formed between them all would be torn and frayed by the time that was finished.

"So, I'm not half naked anymore and we've burned most of our morning. We've got a pile of books at the inn and a caravan somewhere near the palace to settle a score with." Henk prattled off a recap of their situation almost routinely as the merchant was stolen away by another customer, closing his eyes and the hot breeze of the savannah swept through the city and beat his forehead. "Are you wanting to wait until nightfall to go have our little reunion with them? Or are we brute forcing this?"

It was rather refreshing... The last mission he'd been on that'd gone long was with Edric, and if it were him they'd have been halfway through slaughtering every elf in the caravan by now. Though he had been kind enough to offer Henk an out once or twice out of courtesy. At least with Ralene he could discuss options.

"Honestly, I'm sick of our target being an unknown. We've been out here far too long for us to not even know what it is we're trying to kill."

Ralene

 

[Samantha Black]

Had Henk voiced his experience on missions with Edric he would have been met by a non-plussed Ralene. Edric, ye of little patience or strategy.

"The elves are in the palace," Ral reminded him, not unkindly as she fussed briefly with the scarf. She tugged on it, turned it, then finally managed to finagle it to wear as a cowl by pulling the hem of its long side up and over her head. It provided some shade from the sun and, as Henk so sweetly pointed out, brought out her pretty blue eyes.

"No sense going to the caravan until their leader returns. He's the one we need an audience with." He was the one that they would be most likely to get answers out of ... for the right price.

"And I need to eat," Edric might've been able to survive off the lifeforce of trees and Henk off the light of the sun, but Ral was just a normal person who needed food to fuel her power.

"Let's grab some grub and head back. I want to do a bit more reading before we move out."

 

[Henk]

Well yes, the elves were in the palace, but if she suggested stealing back their wagon or breaking in he wouldn't have been totally surprised. He'd certainly pulled off more risky operations in his time as an Initiate. Still, it was a relief to hear her decision. Maybe once they were back at Harrod's he could find something in the books... and perhaps a way of making this thing a little more comfortable around his chest.

A man could dream.

"I could certainly use some food myself. We haven't eaten since last night." Henk turned towards the road leading back to the inn but found himself reluctant to go anywhere wearing the new outfit she'd selected for him. Oh well, anywhere better than in this busy market square. The eyebrows he swore were being raised at him from every direction would just have to be ignored.

On the way back to the inn, Henk led them through a short detour down another side street that held what the Initiate had claimed was a restaurant, but actually looked more like a half-log bar sticking out the side of a building under an awning. It was popular enough, though, with most of the seats at the bar occupied by men and women eating and drinking whatever was on offer scratched on the board behind the unusually well-dressed orc standing at attention with his arms crossed.

"Place has some decent food. Not something you're going to find in the rich districts back home, but far from slop." Henk muttered over to her as he ordered a bowl of stew, standing off to the side of the bar. He didn't plan on staying here to eat, not in the outfit that got him about the most judgemental look from an Orc he'd ever seen from their usually rather inexpressive faces. Unless the expression was anger. They were trying to keep a lowish profile anyways

As soon as Ralene picked something to eat and his bowl was ready, Henk would be off towards Harrod's in no small hurry. The old man must have been out and about because the closed sign on the door was flipped over. Harrod had given them a key, thankfully, so soon enough they were back in their haven of dusty walls and thick books to leaf through.

Henk sat in the chair, balancing an open book on the edge of a wash basin as he ate, leafing through pages between bites. Most of these were so old he worried about their 'monster' being unrecorded, but... what choice did they have?

"You find anything interesting yet?"

Ralene

 

[Samantha Black]

Ral opted for what amounted to an over-stuffed burrito. She was pleasantly surprised with the portion and the flavors - but it didn't take a whole lot to impress her particular palate. Never cared much for taste so long as whatever meal she ate provided the necessary fuel for her physique and power. Having been at the desert for far longer than planned, she already felt like she was losing muscle mass - though that may have just been all in her head.

She'd taken up the other chair, using the bed as a foot rest, and chowed down while poring through the various tomes of knowledge.

"Found something about giant sand scorpions that live in burrows beneath the desert ... doesn't mention them being invisible, though."

 

[Henk]

Henk let out a sigh. It felt like they'd gone nowhere for the last day and a half, and he started to wonder if maybe they'd been better off out in the Savannah where at least they might get attacked by the damned thing. At least then they could fight it. "Fuck, I'm wondering if maybe we just had something slipped into our food that first night and imagined being attacked by an invisible monster from the sand. At this point, I'd take that explanation."

The boy folded his book closed and set it on the floor beside the chair, peering over at his partner. Ral looked totally calm, like there was nothing frustrating at all about any of this. How didn't this piss her off? Henk prided himself on his composure, and it was pissing him off. It didn't help that she kept teasing him. Playing around with him and the inexperience he'd let slip.

"Hey, Ral..."

He turned in his chair to face her, biting on the inside of his cheek as he peeked over her shoulder at the page she read. "If you were going to make me wear this awful thing, you could have at least given me the damned kiss. Not like I've been able to get one over on you anyways."

A snicker crossed his lips. Remembering the look on the merchant's wiry face. He'd definitely lost that round, but that expression had been worth it. "Sure had that half-elf hanging on every word though. Guess our acting is up to snuff."

Part of him wanted to ask her if they could call the whole method acting thing off. It really wasn't helping with his focus on the task at hand, and now their fruitless hunt for info wasn't the only thing frustrating him.

Admittedly though, a bigger part of him was enjoying the whole thing.

Ralene

 

[Samantha Black]

The entire idea that there had been something in their food the first night on the hill was absurd. Why? Because Ral had hunted, skinned, and cooked the damn desert hare herself. And she'd never heard of a poisonous rabbit before but who the fuck really knew, right?

"Hey, Ral..."

"Mmm?" Ral slowly turned the page, leaving the section of giant scorpions for a new section on sandworms. Interesting...

"If you were going to make me wear this awful thing, you could have at least given me the damned kiss. Not like I've been able to get one over on you anyways."

Suddenly sandworms were a lot less interesting than the fucking fishing going on just behind her.

Ralene snapped the book shut and sat there, quite still and silent, for several drawn out moments while she considered this rather curious situation. How long had it taken him to grow the balls to make such a bold statement, she wondered. Ral set the book aside on the pile of others books on the table and slowly stood from her chair. When she turned to face Henk it was with the look of an ixchel tiger honing in on its prey. She might've crumbled boulders with the intensity of her gaze as she moved with slow, calculated purpose to Henk's front where without any hesitation she smoothly reached for his jaw and took hold of it with a dangerously gentle grip.

"Let me make one thing perfectly clear, Henk," Ral leaned down, her expression the very same slate she maintained when beating the ever-loving snot out of a fellow Initiate during training but her voice had taken on a low, husky tone that did not match, "you accepted that shirt all on your own and you let the opportunity for a kiss pass you by without taking it. That is not my doing."

 

[Henk]

Had Henk overstepped his bounds a tad? Oh, absolutely; he had half a mind to start apologizing for his words the moment she'd snapped her book shut and rose to her feet to stand over him. Oddly enough, surprising even himself, he wasn't particularly worried about the consequences of his actions. Henk making any sort of flirtation towards Ralene would be the equivalent of an otter hitting on a shark from an outside perspective.

But the pale-eyed boy recognized that look in her eyes, that fire that he'd seen in the sparring ring, and the one she'd flashed him when he'd challenged her before heading out to the market. Most of his attempts at getting a rise out of her ended in total failure, and why wouldn't they? Henk didn't know the first thing about women. Those eyes though...

He'd sparked something. Caught her ever-so-slightly off guard, and he liked how it felt. Now, he wanted to chase that rush.

His head tilted forward with her grip as she tightened it around his jaw just enough so that he knew she could snap it if she felt like it. It was his fault. He'd let the moment pass, and he hadn't stood up for himself. Maybe that was true, but... "I guess so, but you seem to like it, and I'm a sucker for compliments, you know." A cheeky smirk split his face, his eyes searching hers for any other sign of what she was thinking. It was Ralene, of course, there wasn't anything of the sort, aside from the shiver-inducing voice she was using.

"I agree with you, actually. Tell you what..."

Henk brought his hand up to the wrist that held his face.

She was right. He had a habit of letting things slip. Of fading into the background.

Henk pulled her hand from his jaw, his expression shifting to one not too dissimilar to her own. Competitive.

"Let me fix that one."

Knowing full well that he might be sent home in a glass jar for what he was about to do, Henk stood and leaned forward, bringing his face the same breath's distance away that she had several hours earlier. This time, he closed the gap.

Ralene

 

[Samantha Black]

Henk received no resistance in pulling her hand away, nor any threat or rebuttal upon his words or his move to take reclaim the missed opportunity from earlier. She'd been expecting his resolve to break at some point and merely been waiting to see just how long it would take. How far she'd have to push before Good Guy Henk set aside his gentile nature and go for what he wanted.

The amusement was in his gusto for the kiss. Instead of a short peck on the lips she might've expected from someone so inexperienced, he was really leaning into it.

Well alright then.

Ralene gave him his confidence boosting moment before leaning back into him, hands moving to his hips and bodily pivoting the Initiate back into the nearest wall of the room. She was less gentle with this but not making any action to harm or threaten, merely to assert herself as controlling the situation. Ral smirked as she parted from him, lingering before his face.

"Always thought you had nice lips," she murmured quietly to him, "bout time you put them to use. But you need more practice..."

 

[Henk]

Ralene could have shoved him through the wall and he probably wouldn't have cared too much right in that moment. For just one damned minute, he wasn't overthinking things, worrying about small details, or dreading what could happen next. Whatever this was, this weird feeling that had overtaken him to the point of dropping his walls, he didn't have to think about it. He could just do.

And it was fun. Overwhelming to the senses, the surprisingly soft sensation of her lips pressing against his, the way her fingertips were digging into his hips through the shirt he wasn't too upset about anymore, but fun nonetheless. Henk reached up, twisting the fingers of a hand into her black locks as she asserted herself, any words he attempted to speak little more than odd sounds he hadn't heard from his own throat before.

Just like that, though, it was over. She pulled away, leaving him full of a heat far different than the kind he was so used to harnessing every day. This heat burned much, much worse.

Henk didn't mind a bit. Her words actually got a chuckle out of him, as much as he could while catching his breath.

"Shut up." He muttered back through his smile. "Unless you're offering to help me with that, I don't wanna hear it."

Ralene

 

[Samantha Black]

Amusement remained fleetingly as Ralene's mind switched from pleasure back to work, "Maybe later."

There was still much to do, and the things Henk had on his mind were not part of her list. Removing herself from his immediate presence, Ral strolled back to her chair and sat down. With her feet propped once more and book back in her lap, she settled in for what felt like it would be a rather long afternoon.

She spent the next long while browsing through the pages of several books from the stack, checking with a glance to the window the height of the sun every now and then. There was little in the way of useful information - so far as it was useful to their mission - but no lack of interesting information to be gleaned.

After what felt like hours, however, Ralene finally discovered something relevant.

"I've found something," she spoke up, breaking the din of silence that had fallen upon the room, "...the tradespeople of the drifting sands called the Korabari invoked the ritual of the desert geist Ihmoen to cleanse their routes of those harboring ill-will or a curse's mark. In this, they sought to maintain peace along their endless journeys through the dunes. The desert geist is said to strike in the waning hours of the evening, just before morning's light."

Ral's brow furrowed in thought as she recalled their encounter with the beast and interaction with the elves along the trade route. Though the book she read from spoke on the lore and various cultures of the desert, it also seemed quite old.

"What did that old elf say to you again? About a curse?"

 

[Henk]

Ralene's attention left him as quickly as it had found him, and with such a quick dismissal she left Henk leaning against the wall to continue leafing through the next book. His eyes followed her for a moment, part of him still processing what he'd just done and the other part trying to slow the sudden beating of his heart against his ribcage.

Still, he couldn't help but smile. Ralene was right to focus on the task at hand, even though Henk found himself wanting to pursue other activities. Truly, she was an awful influence on him, he thought as he pushed off the wall and took a deep breath, walking back to his book by the basin without another word. There would definitely be time to overthink about what had just happened later, but there was no point in letting it impede their progress any further.

And surprisingly enough, progress seemed to come much easier after he'd gotten that somewhat out of his system. For a couple of hours, the books Henk finished and piled to the side flew by faster and faster, his mind able to focus for what felt like the first time in days. It wasn't until Ral spoke up again from her own growing library that he pulled his eyes back to her,

Ihmoen? The description she gave certainly seemed to match up with their mystery monster to a degree beyond coincidence, and Henk was willing to grasp onto any lead they could find at this point. Sliding out of his seat, Henk moves to look at the page alongside her.

"She said there was a curse on me, or both of us, I'm not sure. A mark of death one can only cast on a being the caster truly deeply hates. That... definitely lines up. You think this is our beastie?"

Ralene

 

[Samantha Black]

"I think this is the best lead we've got," Ralene replied as she earmarked the page and closed the book, "and we need another audience with the crone..." her brows furrowed in thought for several moments before she looked aside at Henk, "but who the fuck could truly, deeply hate you?"

Herself? Plenty of people, she supposed. Though she couldn't be counted as a bully, up until the revolution Ralene was one of the few Initiates in their year that most others avoided. She held no punches, she had no qualms with the savage life of the Academy. A handful of initiates had died by her doing and several others had been hideously disfigured by her attention in the sparring ring. It had never been personal, of course, Ralene had only ever meant to survive by any means necessary and for many years there had been very few rules to speak of.

Henk? He was powerful, physically and magically, but he was merciful. Henk was not like her or Edric or Elias or the others who would never think twice about the pain they inflicted on others. Beyond the places where power play mattered, Henk was quiet and kind. Another odd one among their year she lumped in with Chasmine and a few others.

Honestly, who the fuck could hate Henk? And deeply enough to put a curse upon him?