Scales & Spells

[ShadowFighter15]

"Trance as long as you like; I rented this room for about a week... I think. I'll have to check with Durnan later."

Marcus watched her as she cleaned herself up in the tub. As she climbed back into bed, he shifted so that - like her - he was on his side facing her, although he brought one wing over the both of them like an extra sheet.

 

[Vixandra]

Verrith

I cuddled in closer and let myself go, safe, warm and protected in his arms. The day feel away into that dark, velvet peace of my trance.


Six hours later, I returned to myself, coming aware of my surroundings slowly. First, before my eyes opened was the feeling of arms around me, strong as steel. I stretched, feeling every long-unused muscle remind me of the eve before. It wasn't a bad ache, one of hurt. It was a slow, deep reminder and I enjoyed it.

A look outside showed just the barest hint of dawn coloring the sky. I smiled and slid from the warm bed. I gave a silent giggle at my underthings strewn about and wondered for a moment how my stocking ended up on the tub's fill spout.

I dressed in a pair of silk leggings, a backless tunic that reached the tops of my thighs, a pair of boots and pulled my hair back into a high ponytail. I strapped on my swords and blew a kiss to Marcus' sleeping form.

The balcony doors opened easily at my touch. I stepped outside into the cool night air, pleased to see the balcony was large enough to go through my morning exercises on. There was a harmony to things, a balance I found and lived in that morning. Between the exquisite pleasure of last night, the repetition of my swords flowing through my hands and the peace that both brought, it was a wonderful way to start the morning.

 

[ShadowFighter15]

A still half-asleep Marcus rolled out of bed not long after Verrith. Well... 'rolled' is being generous, more of a collapse. He brushed his hair out of his eyes as he stood up and stretched, letting out a loud sigh as he finished... which caused him to accidentally freeze the room's Neverwinter water clock. Hoping that the clock wouldn't be too hard to re-calibrate once it thawed out, he used his amulet to throw on a pair of loose dark slacks.

He heard Verrith out on the balcony and walked over to the doorway, watching her run through her morning exercises as he leant on the door frame.

 

[Vixandra]

Verrith

The smile that curved my lips was the only indication that I knew Marcus was there watching me. I finished the last of the sword positions and turned to face him, sliding my blades into their sheaths.

"Good morning," I said with a grin. "How'd you sleep?"

I waited for his answer then smiled. "I know I hit trance in a flash and was out for longer then I expected. But its been a rough past few weeks."

My stomach gave a grumble. "I think it may be time for breakfast."

I walked up and met him in the door frame. "If I have any hope of keeping up with you, I'll have to keep my strength up you know."

I wanted to kiss him, wasn't sure if could refrain from tumbling back into bed if I did so, and wasn't sure I cared.

 

[ShadowFighter15]

"Like a log. I'd be surprised if I didn't after all that, though."

At her reply, he got a bit curious as to just when she'd originally planned to get up, considering it was just dawn now. "'Longer than you expected?' Just how early were you planning to get up?"

Her mention of breakfast perked him up. "You're not the only one who'll be needing their strength if it's going to be that good all the time." He wrapped his arms around her as she came close and - not being able to resist - kissed her gently. He deepened the kiss after a moment, his hands roaming her back as his tail coiled around her thigh.

 

[Vixandra]

Verrith

I grinned at him asking me how early I planned to rise. "I'm usually up two hours before sunrise, depending on when I started my trance. It normally takes me only four hours, but I guess I needed the extra down time."

I bit at his lip before pulling back. "No, food... ohhh... ieep stop that! We need to eat."

More kissing ensued. "No really, I'm going to... oh my... stop that, I'm hungry!"

A suggestion that I had to giggle at. "No, that's not food. I want bacon and eggs... no that's not what I meant... no real, consumable food... get your hand off of that, its mine and I'm not sharing right now. No! My pants!"

I wiggled away, laughing delightedly. "Food, armor repair shop, maybe some more shopping, hey don't give me that look. I'm female, even if I am an elf. Shopping is in my blood."

I growled and then smiled. "I'll make you a deal- we go eat, and go shopping, and I'll wear my little black gown. This way you get a show while I get my outing."

I reached into one of my bags and pulled out the gown in question and it was indeed, a little black gown.

 

[ShadowFighter15]

Marcus couldn't resist trying that; even if it did just amount to a bit of teasing. He'd been wanting to spend most of the day naked and sweaty (well, metaphorically in his case, what with the lack of sweat glands and all) with her in various parts of the room, but her suggestion of the - surprisingly minuscule - black dress, he relented.

"Okay, deal. Just give me a minute to get changed." He touched his amulet and a pair of sturdy boots and a loose white shirt materialised on his body. The shirt had a pair of slits for his wings, which tied closed at the bottom. They were hell to tie which was why he was glad for the amulet, which bypassed the need to actually tie them.

He waited for Verrith to finish getting ready before wrapping an arm around her waist and walking with her down to breakfast.

 

[Vixandra]

Verrith

I smiled and stripped down then pulled out a pair of black panties, a matching demi-corset, stockings of stay up, and a pair of ankle-high boots. I slipped the black dress on over all of this, smoothing it around my sides so I could lace it up the front. The bottom hem skimmed along the tops of my thighs while the top was held up by a pair of thin straps. If I bent over too far, a line of skin between the tops of my stockings and the bottom of the dress would show. I demonstrated this for Marcus as I smoothed my boots around my calves.

I pulled a hat out of one of my other bags and put it on, setting it at a jaunty angle. It was a hat of disguise and would let me change the outfit if I needed to. If I caused a carriage accident or something.

I preened my wings for a moment, settling a stray feather or two back into place before letting Marcus escort me out the door.

Downstairs the inn was a sleepy place, obviously just waking up. Duran was behind the bar, a ledger in one hand, an abacus in the other. He glanced up when we entered, noticed the arm around my waist and went back to his accounting after shouting for a waitress.

She looked intimidated by Marcus and suspicious of me, but was polite. "What can I get you this mornin'?"

"Bacon, eggs, flapjacks and juice," I replied after a look at the morning's menu board.

 

[ShadowFighter15]

Watching her get dressed, Marcus had a feeling that he might be a bit 'uncomfortable' for their trip and was glad that his undershorts would keep him contained.

"I'll have the same." he said to the waitress. Once she had gone back to the kitchen, he looked over at Verrith. "So, anything in particular you're wanting to shop for, or are you just going to see what you find?"

 

[Vixandra]

Verrith

I tilted my head to the side, thinking. "Other then getting my armor fixed, nothing in specific. I've got some money left over from a previous job, plus what I got from my share of the bounty money. Its been a while since I was able to go shopping without having some quest or another needing my urgent attention."

I leaned back in my chair and grinned ruefully. "This is the first 'vacation' I've had in a long time. I usually have things piled a mile high on my plate. Before I heard you were in the region, I had just finished up finding a cure for a sick dryad, before that rescued a child from an orc tribe, and before that more jobs. A week or two off with you will be nice. Do you have any plans in the upcoming future?"

 

[ShadowFighter15]

"Nothing in particular; thought I might swing back home in Conyberry for a bit, haven't been there since the plague in Neverwinter, but I can always leave it for a few more months or so if I have to. Be good to see my family again; mum, dad, that annoying little squirt of a sister." He chuckled as he remembered Annabelle and some of the things she'd done with her budding sorcery. A moment later, something Verrith said registered with her.

"Wait; you heard about me? I thought you were just hunting those drow that grabbed me."

 

[Vixandra]

Verrith

"Yes, I heard about you," I admitted around a bit of food. "Half-dragons aren't exactly common, you know. I decided to try to see if I could find you, maybe challenge you to a sparring match or swap stories, see if you knew any flying tricks I don't. I'd found your trail, then found the trial of the drow and followed them instead. A new challange is all well and good but I loathe dark elves, figured I could catch up with you later. I didn't expect you to be in their 'tender' care."

I frowned at the thought of them with Marcus. "I would have saved anyone from the drow, even if was a murderer that I killed after doing so. But to see you there, knowing they couldn't be planning something kind with you, I had get you out. I hate them and I've never met another winged humanoid. I'm grateful you didn't turn out to be an ass."

I concentrated on eating, hoping I wasn't blushing. Being the only one of my kind bothered me sometimes. I knew I was an elf, but the wings... the wings marked me as different and I didn't know why I had them. Hearing about another winged being had made me feel like maybe I wasn't so different. Okay, he was a half dragon, but still, he had wings. He wasn't "normal" for either of his parent's races and he wasn't a pompous ass with little or no use.

"Conyberry, huh? I know you said it was a small village, what's it like? Is it mostly human? Is your family large?"

 

[ShadowFighter15]

It was pretty clear that she'd had some rather bad experience in the past with drow, but Marcus decided not to pry, hoping she'd tell him when she was ready. He was glad when she asked about Conyberry, shifting the topic to something a bit more light-hearted.

"Yeah, it's mostly human, like most other villages up that end of the Sword Coast. The local blacksmith's a halfling and a couple of the militia are elves, but it's pretty much all-human aside from them. It's a pretty peaceful place, which is surprising considering how close we are to Neverwinter Woods.

"As for my family; it's not that big: mum, dad, me and Annabelle are pretty much it. Mum wasn't married when I turned up on her doorstep, she was pretty young too; about 19 or so. I'm sure I was hell for her, but some of the other townswomen helped out til dad turned up.

"He was an adventurer who came to Conyberry for retirement, he and mum hit it off right away and it wasn't long before they were married. I was about four or five at the time so I can't remember the ceremony, but I'm told I made myself sick at the reception afterwards from eating so much. And I apparently froze part of the church's floor when I sneezed during the ceremony.

"Anyway, not long after their honeymoon, mum was pregnant with Annabelle. She could be hell when she wanted to, but she was my sister and I looked after her like any big brother should. 'Course, when she was nine and got herself stuck in a tree after chasing a cat, I let her sit up there for a bit longer than was necessary before climbing up and gliding down with her. She was only up there for about three, four hours.

"She's got mum's gift with magic though and she is a real prankster. If anyone could work out the full brother-tormenting potential of Prestidigitation, it'd be her."

 

[Vixandra]

I smiled, eyes far off. "That sounds wonderful. My village was on me constantly when I was younger. I mean, my mom, before she died, was wonderful and my father too, but they died when I was only 40, so my aunt watched over me for the rest of my childhood. She's a wizard though, so never understood my affinity with a sword but she did help me learn new spells. It wasn't easy being different."

I fluffed my wings and shrugged. "I love them, but being around my family, or even other elves, for too long drives me batty. I like humans and gnomes and even halflings. They have such a vivacious joy in life, even the evil ones that it makes things more interesting around them."

I finished my breakfast and ran up to grab a purse of holding (like a bag but with a strap) and met Marcus at the YP's main entrance. "Okay, off to the armor shop, yes? Lead the way, tall, silvery and studly."

 

[ShadowFighter15]

"You're the first elf I've known who thinks like that." he said. In the back of his head, he was wondering if this was tied to the source of her wings. He hadn't put much thought into it at the time, but the ease she's shown moving him the previous night seemed like more than she should have. He'd known elven swordsmen who were amazingly strong, but they would still have trouble moving something as heavy as Marcus without some sort of strength-enhancement. If she was a half-celestial it would explain it, but he had no way of confirming that suspicion.

When she asked him to lead the way, he gave an overly-dramatic bow. "Of course, milady." The shop was only a few blocks away so they made good time. Inside, a halfling with short, spiky hair stood behind the counter. "Good morning and welcome to Argali Arms, how can I help?"

"Just dropping in something for repairs," Marcus replied. "Where's your boss? Doesn't she normally deal with the customers?"

"I'm afraid She Who Always Speaks In The Third Person is ill. Probably just something she ate last night. Anyway, can I see what you want repaired?"

Marcus stepped to the side to let Verrith handle it from here.

 

[Vixandra]

Verrith

I raised an eyebrow but let it go that the owner was ill. I pulled out my mithral chain and showed it to the spiky haired woman. "Its a clean cut through the mithral links, which I know isn't easy to repair. Can you repair this? I'm not trying to be rude but this armor means a lot to me."

The halfling snorted at me. "That's not rude at all! Its special to you, so you want it fixed right. But it'll have to wait for She Who Speaks in the Third Person, for I cannot do this. But She can."

I got the price estimate, which made me wince inwardly though I didn't let on. It was worth it but it meant it was time to sell some of the nonsense we picked up. "I'm at the Yawning Portal, name is Verrith. If you could leave a message there when its done, I'd be most pleased."

The halfling nodded, "No problem, now if you'll excuse me, I'll take this back to get cleaned up first."

I watched the halfling disappear and looked at Marcus. "I do hope they take good care of that. You know how difficult it can be to find fitting armor with wings."

We walked out of the shop and smiled as a group of children ran down the street, chasing each other with swords, one of them claiming to be the hero of Neverwinter who was going to deliver whup-ass on all of the others.

I shook my head with a laugh. "I miss the playing of children sometimes when I'm on the road. Anyway, where's a good place to sell some of the things we picked up? A gem trader or something like that?"



OOC: Why am I wanting to make the halfling talk like a Kender today? I fixed it, but the urge is there.

 

[ShadowFighter15]

OOC: No idea, then again; I don't know much about Kender beyond their habit of nicking anything that isn't nailed down.

"Probably somewhere in the Trades Ward. Bit of a walk, but the exercise'll do us good." By the time they reached the Trades Ward, Marcus' opinion had shifted.

"Why the hell didn't we think to just fly?" he said, obviously not used to actually walking such distances (or at least that he hadn't done so in a while). "Anyway, shouldn't be too hard to find the right traders. I can never remember my way around in here so I'll just follow you."

 

[Vixandra]

Verrith

I was grateful I'd worn the boots instead of the shoes I'd worn last night by the time we made it there. When Marcus commented that we should have flown I laughed. "Are you sure I should be flying over the city in this dress?"

I bent over to look at a bauble on a vendor's table to illustrate my point. The skirt of the dress rode up, showing the lacy tops of my stockings. "You think that wouldn't cause problems below?"

With a satisfied grin, I moved on, wandering whichever way looked interesting. I eventually found a shop that was buying gems and unloaded quite a few of the ones I had on hand, splitting the return with Marcus on the ones we'd gotten together.

To be fair, we wandered into a couple of arms and armor shops, a magic shop with a literal harpy working the counter who swore a blue streak a the both of us, literally and found something to eat in a quaint, if oddly painted tavern.

There wasn't a lot of seating room in the tavern, which ended up with me in his lap on a giant sized (why do they even have them? do they serve giants here?) bar stool. It was quite distracting, trying to eat perched like that.

 

[ShadowFighter15]

"A fair point." he said as she mentioned the problems the dress could cause if viewed from below. She was already causing at least one problem when she bent over and Marcus was glad that the design of his underwear doubled as a convenient erection-hiding system.

All in all; the shopping trip was surprisingly profitable for the both of them and a light snack in the tavern was a nice chance to sit down. Having Verrith in his lap while they ate was an added bonus (albeit a distracting one) and the occasional glance around the tavern would show him a few patrons who were either outright jealous of him or simply trying to get a look up V's skirt.

"Anywhere else you want to go while we're out?" he asked as they finished their food.

 

[Vixandra]

Verrith

I thought for a moment, wiggling just a bit as I did so. It wasn't horribly cruel teasing because I didn't plan to leave him suffering. "I'm good. Picked up what I wanted. We can fly back if you want to, I just have to use my hat."

 

[ShadowFighter15]

As she said she was fine to head back, he leant down and started to gently nip at her neck, one finger sliding up and down her spine. Marcus figured it was about time he did a little teasing back and stopped after just a moment.

"Well if you're right to fly back, so am I." he said, figuring her hat was a hat of disguise from her remark. "Lead on, my flirty, feathered companion."

 

[Vixandra]

Verrith

We settled our tab and made our way outside. The noon sun was vibrantly bright overhead, almost blindingly so. I wasn't used to being under so much sunlight.

I shot a glare skyward and gave a sharp nod, triggering the hat. It had been made for me, so worked around and with my own magic. It pulled the image from my head of a pair of fitted pants, a flowing shirt and a wide brimmed hat that was pinned to my hair so it wouldn't blow away. I checked behind me and then stretched out my wings, working out a kink from holding them so tight to my body in the crowds.

I shot a "come get me" grin at Marcus before launching myself into the air, angling to catch an updraft over a market square.

 

[ShadowFighter15]

Marcus grinned back at Verrith and took off right after she did, glad to stretch his wings. Her naturally greater speed meant he wouldn't have a hope of catching her in a race, but kept as close as he could.

OOC: Sorry for the lacklustre post; was working on a Warhammer 40k model earlier (started building an army for it a few days ago) and was trying to remove a bit of the plastic frame from a piece with a craft knife when the knife slipped off the part and through the first few layers of skin on my finger. Stings like a bitch and it's a little distracting (not to mention slowing my typing).

 

[Vixandra]

Verrith

We played aerial tag through the city, darting between rooftops and attracting all sorts of attention.

I glided down to the balcony of our room at the Yawning portal. My cheeks were flushed from the flight and I pounced on Marcus as soon as he landed beside me. "So, now what? We going to grab a nap and then take over the under dark? Rampage about the countryside? Molestifuckate one another?"

 

[ShadowFighter15]

"Well, they're all tempting options," he teased, reaching up to take her hat off and dispelling it's illusion. "But the Underdark'd be too much work and you can't properly rampage unless you're at least three storeys tall." He slowly ran a finger down her spine as the other rubbed the small of her back. "So," he continued with mock resignation, "I guess I'll have to settle for the third option." He kissed her gently for emphasis... and because he couldn't resist.