Completed Quick Trip

[Lachlan Irwin]

He wasn't allowed to ride back beside the driver on the way back to Vel Anir.

Subjected to sharing the carriage space with Odessa once again, he took to trying not to touch her, but his long limbs made it difficult not to stray into her space. Lachlan long ago gave up being mindful of her space, but not at the expense of his legs being uncomfortable.

At least he silence between them was kept up for a few hours.

The instructions were for the carriage to keep riding until the horses need rest, and only then would he Initiates too take a reprieve.

"You need to eat." Was all Lachlan said as the carriage came to park outside a town's inn. The horses would need the night to recover, but Lachlan was not waiting around while that happened. "Need you to keep your strength up, we are still on mission."

 

[Odessa]

Odessa was not thrilled on the trip back, trapped in the tiny carriage with Lachlan. She felt the pressure of his leg against hers, but chose to ignore it rather than call him out with whatever bitchy remark she'd prepared for the moment. She realized that it was probably for the best she did not antagonize him further. It seemed to have the opposite effect of what she wished: leaving her alone.

She did not even dare to read her book again. Instead Odessa chose to sit perfectly still, staring ahead. And she intended to keep it up until the trip ended or until the horses required their regular break. It seemed that after many hours of silence, they were coming upon that time.

You need to eat.

He broke the silence first. Odessa drew her attention away from the oh-so-fascinating wall of the carriage to look at him while the carriage came to a halt. "I'm fine." She shrugged.

Need you to keep your strength up, we are still on a mission.

Admitting he was correct was not something she was willing to do easily, but she still found herself stepping out of the carriage as the door opened. She landed with a light thud on the cobblestone below. "Think of how much easier it is to fight people when they are starving. I don't feel it, but they will." But while she did not feel it, there was a slight sway to her as she stood before the carriage and a sort of dazed look on her pale face. Frankly, she looked as though she might pass out if she could feel her body's desperate cries for food. "Why don't you get something to eat and I'll get two rooms? We can meet here at sunrise and continue the trip. Sound good?" She was not interested in further conversation.

 

[Lachlan Irwin]

"Yeah, well I am not taking chances on that scenario, Urahil."

How would she know she was able to go on without collapsing. Perhaps he could horrify her and say he knew how to resuscitate her, give her the idea his lips would be on her own again... but he would sooner try to forget what he did last night. She had been a good fuck, Kress, the best after the two girls he enjoyed the company of. There was a hunger in her then, and it fed him equally.

But he should not have done that to her. Should not have made claim to her like... like she was his for the taking.

"Two rooms, yes. I'll organise some food to be taken to our rooms." So they would not need to spend anymore time with one another for longer than necessary.

 

[Odessa]

She rolled her eyes again, recalling the many times her cousin warned her that if she didn't stop then they may very well get stuck like that one day.

"No one is making you take any chance, Irwin." She spit his name at him. "But I know my body. I know what I can withstand. Hunger drives people to madness, stupidity, weakness." She stopped herself from continuing, noting the look in his eyes. Something aloof, something...a muddled mess of emotions she was unfamiliar with. Disturbed? Perhaps. She stared, squinting for a moment before his own response had her turning on her heels to continue with her plans.

The rooms were easy enough to secure. Two of them, unfortunately bridged by the door shared between them with a lock on either side. Her side would be locked after he returned with food of course. There would be no repeats of their last night. Never again. She would never tell him that after he'd falling into his drunken slumber, she dug the ring out of a bag and slipped it on a finger. Only to remove it a few minutes after from the pain she felt. Kress, she wondered if he had been trying to kill her.

Never again.

A part of her wondered if there was something the two needed to say to one another to ensure that it was a one-time thing. Odessa, at least, had no idea of how to start that conversation.

 

[Lachlan Irwin]

Meals were sorted and paid for, and Lachlan was glad to have a wash basin in his room to use to freshen himself up. There was only another day of travel before they returned to Vel Anir, but he could not wait to be back in familiar territory, amongst his few friends, and many lovers.

It would do him some good to forget the Urahil girl. She had been a mistake and too much hassle to begin with, but that seemed to run in the family... save for the few good Urahils he knew of.

Kress, Ivan was right. Nobles were a headache and a half.

The rest of his evening was spent in solitude. After his meal, he soon rested in bed and did not recall at what point he had fallen asleep. When morning came, he was quick to hand in his key, look for their carriage driver and invite him in for a quick meal. The ride back to Vel Anir would be quiet, for Lachlan would shut his eyes and disengage until the driver knocked on the roof of the carriage to alert them of the arrival back home.

 

[Odessa]

Odessa didn't eat the food Lachlan brought for her. She was not hungry. She did not sleep that night. Her thoughts only raced on and on until the sunrise violated the darkness of her room.

She was out of bed first, still dressed and making no effort to clean herself up before she was downstairs. She turned her key in first and sat in the carriage some time before Lachlan had invited the driver to share breakfast. Neither seemed to have noticed that she was there. If they did, they certainly did not show it.

She thought about hiring her own private carriage. Felix would probably bury her alive for being wasteful and useless. She would prefer he killed her first. She could finally rest for a little while that way.

They returned and Odessa seemed to be in an identical state to the one she was in the last time they shared the carriage. She stared straight ahead, eyes open, and completely silent. This time, however, if Lachlan's legs were to encroach on her space, she would recoil. That look of aloofness never left, though.

Six hours would pass in this uncomfortably thick silence and when the familiar taps alerting them that they had arrived home sounded, Odessa let out a long, drawn out sigh and threw the door open. Without even a look back in his direction, she stormed off into the Academy.