(no subject)
Elderberry #3. Circle of Protection with Hot Fudge and Whipped Cream
Story : knights
Rating : PG
Timeframe : 1252
Word Count : 814
“It’s a glove. Sorta,” said Reida as Kairn stared dumbly at the awkward loop of cloth dangling from her fingers, knees curled against his chest, occupying as tight a corner of the bed as he could manage.
“So what?” he said, frowning. “I ask them to kindly stop beating me for a moment so I can put it on?”
Reida batted the glove against his cheek and dropped it back into her lap with a sigh. “You keep it in your pocket. you dolt. Slip it on when they‘re not looking”
Kairn eyed the sigil branded into the cloth with a slow shake of his head. “Berwyk will kill me, you know.”
“No he won’t,” said Reida. She edged a little closer, held out the glove to him, and Kairn gingerly plucked it up by an edge, retreating even further into his corner as she advanced. “Berwyk likes you.”
He frowned, turned it over, ran a finger over the lines. “Why are you doing this for me anyway. Did Sethan…?”
His eyes were a bit too wide as he brought them back on her, and she wondered for a moment what he must have looked like, painted lips, ribbons in his hair. She caught her tongue sliding between her teeth. “No,” she said, hastily. “Sethan didn’t tell me. I mean-” she shook her head “-didn’t ask me. To help you.”
He was frowning at her, nearly falling off the back end of the bed as he lengthened the gap between them.
Reida shrugged. “I’d do it myself,” she said. “But Berwyk doesn’t like me.”
He was turning it over slowly, eyes narrowed, holding it out as if it might bite.
“Wouldn’t you love to see them writhe for a change?” she said. Somehow the image of Kairn zapping someone wasn’t half as appealing as the one of him in lace, but it had its merits nonetheless, especially if that someone was Aldo.
“I…I guess.” He folded it over, sigil inside, stuffed it into a pocket, and turned that suspicious look back on her. “Thanks, I think.”
She was on her way to dinner when she found him, a miserable puddle of Kairn, melted into the space under the steps. She stepped over the foot jutting out from the shadows, headed for the stairs. Kairn pooled on the ground wasn‘t anything new. Kairn pooled on the ground when he had a new weapon, one she gave him…She thought of explaining to Sethan where she’d last seen him, thought of him explaining it to Sethan, and she stopped.
Reida braced herself against the side of the stairs, took a look around, and peered into the darkness. “The hell happened to you?” she addressed the jumbled mass of limbs collapsed on the ground.
Kairn lifted his head from the dust and blinked one purple, swollen eye. “Didn’t work,” he said, through cracked lips.
Reida shook her head and sighed. “Of course it didn’t, you stupid, stupid…” Alright, so it wasn’t foolproof. Yet. Though in her hands, she supposed it would work well enough. Crouched low, she reached for an arm.
As he rolled into the light, the lines became visible, circles overlapping circles, laced with strokes between, all rendered in angry pink skin. His clothes were torn, and the sigils continued, slipping under the tattered neck of his shirt, peering through holes in his pants.
“Holy Mother, what’d you let them do to you?”
“Yeah,” said Kairn, peeling the cloth from one bloody knee to examine the marks that ran over the battered flesh. “I let them do this.”
“You had the damn thing,” she said. Another quick look to make sure no one that mattered was about, and she hauled him to his feet.
Kairn wobbled and grabbed the rail. “I…I got Aldo,” he said. “On the leg. But there were five of them...”
Reida shook her head and muttered “stupid” a few more times. “I’ll patch you up,” she said.
Kairn gripped the rail a bit more tightly and edged away as much as his shaking legs would let him, which in the end didn’t amount to even a full pace. “Why so nice?” he said, fixing her with what might have been meant to be a glare, if only his eyes weren’t already swollen half shut.
“Because.” She reached, he flinched, she swept a bit of hair back from one of the nastier imprints. “You’re not going to tell Sethan.”
He stared at her a moment, puzzled, or at least she figured that was the look he was trying to approximate with the portions of his face that could still move.
“Now,” said Reida, fumbling through her pockets with her other hand for a tube of grease paint, “I’m not going to have to strip you to find them all, am I?”
“N-no.“ Kairn’s knuckles went white around the rail.
Story : knights
Rating : PG
Timeframe : 1252
Word Count : 814
“It’s a glove. Sorta,” said Reida as Kairn stared dumbly at the awkward loop of cloth dangling from her fingers, knees curled against his chest, occupying as tight a corner of the bed as he could manage.
“So what?” he said, frowning. “I ask them to kindly stop beating me for a moment so I can put it on?”
Reida batted the glove against his cheek and dropped it back into her lap with a sigh. “You keep it in your pocket. you dolt. Slip it on when they‘re not looking”
Kairn eyed the sigil branded into the cloth with a slow shake of his head. “Berwyk will kill me, you know.”
“No he won’t,” said Reida. She edged a little closer, held out the glove to him, and Kairn gingerly plucked it up by an edge, retreating even further into his corner as she advanced. “Berwyk likes you.”
He frowned, turned it over, ran a finger over the lines. “Why are you doing this for me anyway. Did Sethan…?”
His eyes were a bit too wide as he brought them back on her, and she wondered for a moment what he must have looked like, painted lips, ribbons in his hair. She caught her tongue sliding between her teeth. “No,” she said, hastily. “Sethan didn’t tell me. I mean-” she shook her head “-didn’t ask me. To help you.”
He was frowning at her, nearly falling off the back end of the bed as he lengthened the gap between them.
Reida shrugged. “I’d do it myself,” she said. “But Berwyk doesn’t like me.”
He was turning it over slowly, eyes narrowed, holding it out as if it might bite.
“Wouldn’t you love to see them writhe for a change?” she said. Somehow the image of Kairn zapping someone wasn’t half as appealing as the one of him in lace, but it had its merits nonetheless, especially if that someone was Aldo.
“I…I guess.” He folded it over, sigil inside, stuffed it into a pocket, and turned that suspicious look back on her. “Thanks, I think.”
She was on her way to dinner when she found him, a miserable puddle of Kairn, melted into the space under the steps. She stepped over the foot jutting out from the shadows, headed for the stairs. Kairn pooled on the ground wasn‘t anything new. Kairn pooled on the ground when he had a new weapon, one she gave him…She thought of explaining to Sethan where she’d last seen him, thought of him explaining it to Sethan, and she stopped.
Reida braced herself against the side of the stairs, took a look around, and peered into the darkness. “The hell happened to you?” she addressed the jumbled mass of limbs collapsed on the ground.
Kairn lifted his head from the dust and blinked one purple, swollen eye. “Didn’t work,” he said, through cracked lips.
Reida shook her head and sighed. “Of course it didn’t, you stupid, stupid…” Alright, so it wasn’t foolproof. Yet. Though in her hands, she supposed it would work well enough. Crouched low, she reached for an arm.
As he rolled into the light, the lines became visible, circles overlapping circles, laced with strokes between, all rendered in angry pink skin. His clothes were torn, and the sigils continued, slipping under the tattered neck of his shirt, peering through holes in his pants.
“Holy Mother, what’d you let them do to you?”
“Yeah,” said Kairn, peeling the cloth from one bloody knee to examine the marks that ran over the battered flesh. “I let them do this.”
“You had the damn thing,” she said. Another quick look to make sure no one that mattered was about, and she hauled him to his feet.
Kairn wobbled and grabbed the rail. “I…I got Aldo,” he said. “On the leg. But there were five of them...”
Reida shook her head and muttered “stupid” a few more times. “I’ll patch you up,” she said.
Kairn gripped the rail a bit more tightly and edged away as much as his shaking legs would let him, which in the end didn’t amount to even a full pace. “Why so nice?” he said, fixing her with what might have been meant to be a glare, if only his eyes weren’t already swollen half shut.
“Because.” She reached, he flinched, she swept a bit of hair back from one of the nastier imprints. “You’re not going to tell Sethan.”
He stared at her a moment, puzzled, or at least she figured that was the look he was trying to approximate with the portions of his face that could still move.
“Now,” said Reida, fumbling through her pockets with her other hand for a tube of grease paint, “I’m not going to have to strip you to find them all, am I?”
“N-no.“ Kairn’s knuckles went white around the rail.