The Outsider

[Godhand]

The soup was pretty damn good. It tasted something like tomato but it was creamy like chowder. Godhand was really wolfing it down because when he wasn't paying for a meal, he never knew when it would get snatched away from him. He needed to get as much out of it as he could before then. The girl was sweet and had a good heart but the halfbreed was a rough customer and he didn't want to cause any trouble. Just then, maybe it was the soothing effect of the soup, he started to feel a lot better. A lot more optimistic; like there wouldn't even be any problems. These hopes were soon dashed however when Aileen and Tristram burst into the room. They were talking fast and loud; both were pretty excited. The dragonian wanted him out of there. Well, that had been obvious since the start, but now he was really getting pushy about it. He wanted him gone now. That was fine with him, but just as the mercenary was about to get up and leave Aileen stood up for him. She was a mousy girl, and from her sister's reaction Godhand guessed that she didn't usually defend herself. The swordsman didn't know how he felt about her putting herself out there for him.

Before he could even work it out though the dragonian shifted to some crazy moonspeak native to the region and started yelling at Lasair. She had the common courtesy to keep speaking the common tongue, for which he was grateful, and out of her side of the conversation he could more or less piece together what was going on. Godhand was just about to step in and say his piece, that they didn't need to fight over this. That he wanted to leave just as much as the big guy wanted him gone and that there was no reason for this to turn into a thing. But before he could Tristram said something. It had to be pretty hurtful too because both sisters seemed shocked. That, and now even Lasair had shifted to Dragonian or whatever the halfbreed's language was. The man pulled himself up to his full height, trying to look dignified, before walking out the door. Normally the swordsman would have let it go but the moment two tears streamed down Lasair's face he shot up from the bed and chased after the Dragonian.

Tristram was just about to turn around to see what all the loud stomping was but before he even could Godhand leaped into the air, grabbing the back of the halfbreed's head and slamming it into the ground during the fall. His head bounced off the wooden floor like a damn basketball and right away he was out of it. The mercenary always loved using the one-handed bulldog; nothing was quite as satisfying as catching someone who really deserved it with it. Nevertheless he grunted in pain when he landed and immediately checked to see if he had reopened any of his wounds. He almost expected a big spot of blood to form on his bandages again but luckily for him he was fine. The swordsman pulled himself up to his feet and considered hitting the dragonian with a death valley driver for good measure but decided, once he got a look at his dazed expression, that he had done enough. Godhand dragged the man outside and shut the door.

To the hitman's surprise the dragonian started beating on the door to get back in. What balls on this guy! Did he really think Godhand wouldn't kill him if it came to that!? Just as he was about to open the door and lay an unholy beating on their unwelcome guest, Lasair ran in front of him and opened the door. The two of them stared at each other for a few seconds, neither saying a word, but just as Tristram opened his mouth Lasair hurled the spear, easily a foot longer than her, out into the yard and shut the door. She locked it afterwards this time. She slumped against the door, sniffling, while the Dragonian shouted all sorts of curses from outside. Most prominent was "I can't believe you're kicking me out but letting him stay!" Godhand thought about going out there and smacking him around a bit but he knew the girl wouldn't like that. For now, he didn't know what to say so he said nothing.

[Lasair Anubail]

The door was something sturdy to lean against. It was something that could hold her up when nothing else seemed able to. Why Tristram had said such a hateful thing to her, Lasair didn’t know. He was supposed to be her best friend and though he lost his temper from time to time, he was never outwardly cruel to her. He may stomp around and pretend like he owned the place and everything he said was law, but that was fine, he was a Draconian. They all had a rather bad habit of doing that and she usually found a way around it, but for some reason he was being overly zealous with this whole Harley issue. And why, because he was human? So what? There were more and more humans coming into Dheathain every day thanks to Daroch and the Fae council opening the ports of Talmhaidh to outsiders. And yes, some bad things had happened, but that didn’t mean that every single human who stepped foot on Dheath soil was evil or bad.

After no less than a minute, the shouts outside the door slowly began to grow quiet until Lasair could hear the heavy steps of Tristram moving away from her house. He’d be back. There was no doubt in her mind that he would come back, but whether or not she’d let him in or even listen to what he had to say was a completely different story.

Lifting her head, Lasair reached up and wiped the tears from her cheeks, she didn’t want Harley to see her cry. It was embarrassing enough to have a fight with her best friend about him while he was standing merely a few feet away, but then to have him say that... she just didn’t want to worry the human. After all, he was supposed to be recovering not throwing enraged Draconians out of her house after having tackled them to the ground. Normally, she would shy away from such a blatant act of violence, but in her mind Tristram had deserved it. He needed to be knocked off his feet sometimes so that someone could show him he wasn’t standing on the highest mountain in the known regions of Althanas.

Stepping away from the door, Lasair moved passed Harley, but when she went to move passed her twin; Aileen reached out and laid her hand along Lasair’s shoulder. It stilled her, but she said nothing. She just wanted to forget that the entire incident had ever taken place and that Tristram had never come here today. Nodding her head to Aileen, Lasair slipped into the guest bedroom and began tidying things up. She placed the large tome back on the bookshelf with all the others, picked up the discarded bowl and placed it upon the nightstand and then began cleaning off the bed. It had a multitude of small shards of wood around it, which meant the sheets and the comforter needed to be washed and she had to get in touch with one of her friends to see if they could make her a new bed, but which friend?

While she was in the room, Aileen hesitantly moved towards Harley. Her hands were clasped in front of her as her fingers nervously ran over her smooth skin.

“I’m...sorry for Tristram’s behaviour.” She said in a small voice. “He’s not usually that, umm... pig headed I think the word is. And Lasair... well, when she gets upset she tries to brush it aside and keep herself busy so as not to worry others.”

The man just looked rather sheepish and uncomfortable with the whole thing. Maybe Lasair should have just let him leave even if he wasn’t yet fit for it. “Hell, I’m just sorry for causing so much trouble.”

She didn’t doubt that, he certainly looked like it. “It’s not really trouble... Lasair and Tristram fight all the time; I don’t understand how she can stand to hang around him and all those Draconians. He just said something extremely hurtful to her, I’m sure within a day or two they’ll be back on good graces.”

Aileen felt slightly uncomfortable with the clearly larger man standing before her, but she tried not to let it show. When he raised one of his hands, Aleen tilted her head to the side and watched as the chains still attached to his wrists clanked and smacked against his back and shoulders.

Wrapping the ends around his hands, he turned his attention back to her. "Listen, sweetheart...You wouldn't mind getting these off, would you?"

“Oh... umm... but Lasair might want to tie you down again—I mean make you helpless again—I—I mean, I’ll, I’ll go get Lasair!” And without wasting another second, the small Fae practically turned and fled the hallway, slipping into the guest room where Lasair was.

[Godhand]

Godhand didn't expect to be bothered by that Tristram thing as much he was. I mean obviously it upset him when anyone was rude to a lady, but that weird back-and-forth moonspeak thing had really set him off. It was probably because he didn't understand a damn word of what the halfbreed was saying and was free to fill in the blanks with some of the worst things he could imagine. And that was something you should never say to a lady. But even if the Fae hadn't told him to let Tristram go, the Dragonian was too far away for the mercenary to catch him now. Maybe if he were back in Radasanth, but stuck in some city he didn't know and his quarry did? No chance. Plus tracking a guy across a port town just to slug him was probably a bit much.

The swordsman wrapped the chains around his hands and began to test their durability with his fingers. He didn't want to break them because, strange as it may sound, they technically belonged to Lasair and he didn't want to cause the girl any more grief. It was to his surprise then that he realized he couldn't break them. It was strange that she possessed such powerful bindings. They were stronger than Mythril, anyway. Did half dead mercenaries drop by often? It really wasn't much use ruminating on it, however; he had to get Lasair to take them off. He couldn't very well walk the city looking like an escaped convict.

When he reached the guest bedroom he wasn't really surprised to see her busying herself with menial work. That was probably the best thing to take her mind off her friend's betrayal. Nevertheless, Aileen was still rubbing her sister's back and stroking her hair. It was somehow beautiful. The mercenary hadn't ever really been part of a family. At least, not a "family" in the traditional sense of the word. Thus, this sisterly display tugged at something within him. He couldn't say what.

"I, uhh..." He hated to interrupt but the manacles were a matter of relative urgency. Lasair perked up almost humorously and ran forward to undo the locks. To Godhand's surprise she didn't use a key but instead pressed down on some area of the mechanism, he couldn't say where, and then both cuffs rolled off his wrists and collapsed into a mound of chains on the ground.

"They're made so you can take them off yourself," the Fae explained quickly.

"Well, don't I feel silly?" She seemed to be in slightly better spirits so Godhand ventured forward. "Am I to understand that these are...Recreational bindings?" He gave a minute wink to the girls.

Lasair blushed sheepishly before replying with a quiet "yes". Delightful.

"You know, I wanted to thank you again." He was tentative this time; it seemed like he'd already thanked her a hundred times. But it seemed like she wouldn't let him go unless she was sure he was healed. He had to prove it somehow. "I feel a lot better, you know. And I want to pay you back somehow. Is there anything I can do for you?"

"I'm glad you're feeling better." She said with a smile. "And umm... well I suppose you could come to work with me tomorrow if you want." She could always use some muscle to help her, after all she had been wanting to move that book shelf...

"That'd be grand."

[Lasair Anubail]

The inside of Lasair’s shop was unique to the say the least and to say the most was she tried for something mysterious and strange and only succeeded about halfway between the two of them. All the windows in the shop were covered with heavy purple curtains that didn’t allow even the briefest glimpse of light to filter in. All the wood, the floor, the counter and the countless shelves lining the wall and tall bookcases were constructed of dark wood that was clean and easily perceived, but left it to blend in with the deep shadows around the large room. On top of that, the only sources of light inside in the place were crystals placed everywhere. Besides book and strange items that were both successful experiments and complete and utter failures. She kept them all and tagged them with a list of ingredients that she also kept in a book so she knew what worked and what didn’t. One of her more prominent failures was a steel claymore mounted behind the counter of the shop. It seemed like a normal sword except for the fact that he blade was drooping as if it were made of rubber.

Lightning was such a tricky element to enchant with and steel never co-operated.
A small pieces of paper stuck to the wall beside it listed off all the ingredients that had come together to create such a failure too. Beside that was a shelf unit covered with jars that had glittering powders, green gooey water like stuff and a few animal parts if one wasn’t mistaken. Beside the front door was a large book shelf over two feet taller than Harley and would make any person wonder as to how she could even reach the top of it. Small crystal creatures lined the spaces where there were no tomes and other kind of items fell in front of them, like Algora teeth, which she had plenty of.

Closing the door behind Harley as he slipped into the shop after her, Lasair moved over to the window and flipped the CLOSED sign to OPEN, in hopes that she might just lure in someone to work with today. Her bare feet moved across the dark floor as she drew in a deep breath and prepared for another day of work. The place always smelled of the woods and something else, like magical residue that she doubted any regular human would be able to detect. At least it would be entertaining with Harley here to keep her company and hopefully Aileen would stop by around lunch time. After all, Lasair had packed some really yummy treats for them all to eat. Then again, if Aileen didn’t come to here, she could always go harass her, herself. After all, Aileen ran the Crystal Manipulation Shop, which was attached to Lasair’s Synthesis Shop. There was a small door nestled in the back room that none of the customers ever got to see, which allowed her and Aileen and move about freely between the two stores. Just in case they ever needed anything from one another or just wanted to talk. For the most part, they usually shared lunch together and talked about whatever customers they got that day, and then they closed together and went to their separate homes, only to do the same thing the next day! It was fun, but the routine of it all was one of the reasons why Lasair had began exploring other lands of Althanas. She wanted some adventure in her life. She wanted danger and monsters and good looking men coming to her rescue with sword drawn!

Aileen had always seemed happy and content to keep moving through her life in the same way almost every day, but Lasair found herself wanting more. She’d read a lot of stories about warriors who did amazing things in their lives and she wanted to be part of that herself. Though she knew she would never be a true warrior, all warriors needed someone to back them up and help them and Lasair knew she could be that person.

None of it had really turned out that way yet. Though she’d had some interesting adventures. Especially if one counted being kidnapped and ransomed off to Imperial, only to escape the evil clutches and save the day!

“Oh, wait right here Harley, I’ll be back out in a minute!”

The small Fae rushed passed the heavy purple curtain behind the counter, the one that separated her shop into two very distinct rooms. Of course, her hurried behaviour resulted in a light squeak and the sound of a few things tumbling over as she forgot she’d left out some stuff. This was followed by some ‘ows’ and then finally ‘I’m fine!’ before everything went silent back there once more. She was only back there for a minute or two, no more. But when she returned her rucksack was no longer around her shoulders. There were things she had brought in it that she wanted to work on, something for Harley and something for herself. But for now, there was that blasted bookshelf and maybe she could get him to help her with some of the heavier stuff in her backroom. She never ever let anybody back there, but she supposed if it was Harley it would be okay. And she did keep running into that shelf unit and there was the one time she smacked her head off it. Man, that’d hurt... a lot.

“Well, what do you think of my shop? I’ve been running it for...ohh, about thirty years now.” She said rather proudly.

[Godhand]

"It's nice."

At one point Godhand might have been taken aback by a claim like that, but after all the crap that'd gone down, her lizard friends and fairy wings, he was prepared to take her word for it. Hell, if those pointy-eared elves could live forever then why couldn't she? The shop itself was kind of a weird mishmash of styles. It had the curtains of an opium den, the dark wooden furniture of a dungeon, some strange glowing crystals that provided all the light in the room and she topped it all off by lining basically everything with post-its. He picked a random one off a shelf only to read:

Tooth of Dragon + Wing of Bat + Mandragora Root = : (

Another one sort of looked like a drawing of a dolphin with a laser strapped to it's head with the heading "Oh no! Sharks!" Each little post-it seemed stranger than the last until Godhand finally gave up on trying to understand them and deposited the fistfull of notes on a nearby shelf. They'd gotten a little clumped together but somehow the mercenary doubted Lasair would need to consult them in the future.

"Thanks!" She said rather cheerfully as her own eyes began looking across at all the shelves and the book cases. "I kind of missed it when I was out adventuring...synthesizing things is just so much fun!"

"I'll bet. Thirty years, huh?" Godhand was rather uncomfortable. He was never any good at making small talk and had actually been expecting something more like a bazaar stall, with many people coming and going at once. Something to keep him busy.

"Yeah, I used to run the Crystal Manipulation shop with Aileen, since it belonged to our parents. But, I enjoy synthesizing more, there's an excitement to it because you never quite know what will happen. Would you... I mean, since it's still early and I probably won't get a customer at this time of the morning. So, would you like me to show you how I synthesize?"

"Crystal Manipulation?" The mercenary had never been much good with magic, which conversely meant that he wasn't very good with magical regions. He was much more at home in Alerar or Corone than in, say, Raiaera. The Red Forest in particular, with it's technology-negating, was a prominent thorn in his side and a place he despised with all his being. Still, he lightened up somewhat when she asked if he wanted to see her go to work. Might be fun. "I'd like that."

"Yay!" She practically danced around him, "I've never shown anyone other than my closest most trusted friends and certainly not a human. So, I hope you can keep a secret." She winked at him, then grabbed him by the hand and began leading him towards the back of her shop.

[Lasair Anubail]

Organized chaos. That was the best way to describe the back area of Lasair’s shop. Things were all over the place, but in neat little piles that seemed to represent something to her and though almost all the shelf space was used, it was used well, leaving everything with a certain place among the others. The floor was a little different though. Most of the floor was left clean, albeit there were traces of some stuff here and there that looked a bit like ash or soot...or possibly even carbon? Who knows, it basically looked like the remnants of something, most likely the after effects of however it was that Lasair made those wonderful little synthesis toys of hers.

In the centre of the room was a very large circle painted in white along the floor with what must have been an extremely steady hand, hers. Within that circle was another one, slightly smaller and between the two of them words were painted in Dheath, flowing in beautiful lines that most monks would envy. And then further more inside of that one was a series of complex lines and shapes that would have most people twisting their eyes backwards, forwards and finally rolling into their eye sockets trying to figure out. It was basically a spell that she had created herself and painted upon the floor, one that helped her channel her energy and allow the synthesis process to be much easier for her to accomplish. Without it, she sometimes found herself nearly passing out after combining items together. But with it, she could synthesis many times during a day without having to worry about depleting her own energy.

Letting go of Harley’s hand—which was so much larger than hers it nearly swallowed it—Lasair moved towards the circles on the floor, her rucksack already resting beside them. But first, she grabbed a few things off some of the shelves; a clear crystal, two red dragon scales, a small jar with some really pretty looking dust and a small chunk of metal that she knew just happened to be Titanium. Her initial thought had been to use Prevalida for something like this, considering the metal’s uses when it came to magic, but she decided Titanium would be better since it resisted heat more.

Placing the items inside of the circle, Lasair looked around to make sure she had everything.

“Oh!” Running over to one of the shelves, she picked up a pair of glasses with blackened lenses in them instead of clear ones and then turned to Harley, giving them to him with a smile. “You might want to wear these. They’ll protect your eyes when it goes flashy, flashy and then kaboom-boom!” She said to him with a giggle.

Moving back over to the circle, Lasair knelt down next to it and took in a deep breath. All her child-like disposition suddenly melted away, leaving one very serious looking woman currently sitting on folded legs. For once her quiet demeanour and calm personality reflected her age, making her actually seem quite beautiful instead of just cute.

Reaching out with her right hand, the small Fae rested the tips of her fingers along the edge of the outer circle. The moment her fingers touched it, the paint around then began to glow a light blue colour, which quickly spread until it encompassed the entire circle. Then it moved on to the beautifully scripted letters, infusing each one with her own energy and making it glow as well before moving on to the inner circle and finally those intricate designs the items sat upon. Not all of them were set alit though, only the ones she would need for this synthesis. And as the last of their brightness filled the room, the glow grew brighter and rose up from the floor and floated just a few inches in the air.

The items rose next, as if gravity within the circle no longer existed. Her small body visibly tensed at that moment and her brows drew down in a slight frown as the items began to break and crack and mingle with each other. Then a sudden and intense flash of white erupted from the circle, pulsing throughout the entire room before slowly dissipating. Wobbling a bit, Lasair slowly opened her eyes and looked down at the items lying within the circle. There were small bits of left over and unused items, all of which looked like chunks of coal, or dried out and dehydrated black fruit. Even the jar the powder had been in was still there, unused and perfectly fine. But of course the more interesting items were the six small chunks of red crystal, the bottom of which was encased in Titanium and oddly enough they all looked exactly like the bullets from Harley’s gun...

Smiling, Lasair reached out and scooped them up into her hands before quickly standing and turning to the human.

“I made you something fun to play with.” She said to him as she extended her small hands towards him.

[Godhand]

The backroom seemed even more messy than the front, if that was possible. There were the standard post-its, but also every failed experiment she couldn't bring herself to get rid of. Of particular interest to Godhand was what looked like a spider with a glaive fused to it's back. There were eight spindly legs coming out of the metal, kicking uselessly in different directions. Too heavy to move. At first the mercenary judged Lasair cruel for keeping it alive, until he considered that he wouldn't really know how to kill something like that either. It was sort of like giving an anvil wings. After pulling something like that, you couldn't just throw it in the ocean.

He absently accepted the welder's glasses from Lasair, never taking his eyes off what he dubbed the Throwing Spider. He almost reached out to touch it, but was distracted by the ruckus going on behind him. The tiny fae had put together a small and seemingly random group of items on the glyph she'd painted on the floor. For synthesizing, she explained. Pretty soon the objects were floating and shining and Godhand braced himself, just in case her "kaboom" prediction came true. But apart from an alarming white flash, there was nothing to really concern himself over. The experiment had been a success, and Lasair presented him with what looked like ruby bullets. He gingerly accepted them.

"What, uhh...What are they?"

"They're red crystal bullets, unless you want to give them a better name. When they hit their target, they'll explode in a great show of fire and flying shards of crystal. Probably hurt a lot and if the initial shot doesn't kill the person, that probably will."

Godhand smiled before reaching forward and pinching Lasair's cheek, slowly pulling her head back and forth. "Well you're just the gal that keeps on giving, aren't you?"

Lasair tried to smile around his strange pinching motion, but it didn't turn out too well. She did manage to giggle though. She'd never had anyone pinch her cheek before. "I like giving people presents."

Godhand chuckled before plucking her up from the ground bride style. He gave a quick spin, Lasair giggling all the while, and looked down at her. She was so adorable. He couldn't help himself; he leaned down and pecked her on the forehead. She blushed, her cheeks quickly becoming stained in a light red color as she reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck. With a bit of hesitation, she leaned up and kissed him.

The air seemed to get thicker around them. He almost thought to protest when she kissed him, something about being a gentleman, but somehow the words didn't come. He leaned in close, paused, then kissed her back. The kiss slowly got more desperate, their hands roaming hungrily over each other. He loved how she tasted; light and soft and sweet. He placed his hand behind her head and deepened it, before grunting and pushing her up against the bookcase. He squeezed her ass while pulling up her leg. It was almost like tango. Godhand nuzzled her throat and growled hungrily, breathing her in.

Lasair whimpered softly as her hands clutched at his body. Her small fingers digging into the flesh of his back, somehow having moved under the material of his shirt. Behind him, she noticed something shift and her eyes were drawn to it, finding the figure of her twin sister standing in the doorway clearly shocked and stunned having walked in on them. Lasair tensed a bit and pulled herself away from Harley, not that she had anywhere else to go since he had pinned her to the bookcase. "Uhh...Aileen?"

Aileen shifted uncomfortably in the doorway, her golden eyes wide as her hands nervously played with the fabric of her dress. She hadn't meant to... she didn't know...she'd just come over so... "I... uh... sorry to have interrupted, I'll come back to another time!" Then she went to turn and leave them so they could resume they're...stuff she didn't want to picture in her head.

Godhand sighed, smacking his lips as he nuzzled Lasair again. She curled against him, purring like a cat. God, she was warm. Finally, and with great reticence, the mercenary pulled back. "I think we better do this some other time, sweetheart."

Lasair moaned as she watched Harley pull away from her. As much as she didn't want him to, she knew it was probably for the best. She also knew she should go over and say something to her sister. Nodding her head, Lasair slipped her hands out from under his shirt then leaned forward and gave him one last, quick kiss before she moved to go after her twin.

[Lasair Anubail]

What horrible timing her sister sometimes had. It wasn’t like she’d exactly planned for that to happen with Harley, but really, couldn’t Aileen have come looking for her an hour from now? Or perhaps longer. Then she wouldn’t have seen anything and she wouldn’t have looked so darned upset and stunned by it. Honestly, she knew Aileen was extremely shy when it came to stuff like that, but she knew her sister had partners, mostly Fae. So it shouldn’t surprise her to see Lasair in the midst of something like that. Well, maybe a bit surprising, but she had acted rather strangely. Lasair would have silently turned and left allowing her sister to continue with whatever, not making a whole scene out of it.

Pushing passed the curtain separating the two rooms, Lasair quickly caught up to her sister just as she was reaching the front door. Running over there, Lasair grabbed the door and shut it before her sister could leave. The sound of the wood slamming closed resounding throughout the too quiet room as Aileen turned to face her. For a moment or two the two of them stood there, starring into each other’s golden eyes without saying a word. Was Aileen really that upset about what she’d just seen?

“Aileen... are you all right?”

“I...” Her sister turned her face from her, breaking off eye contact.

Lasair sighed, “C’mon... it was just a kiss, and you’re not upset about it, are you?” The fact that her sister didn’t answer her right away gave her enough of an answer to that question. But really, she’d only left Aileen alone with Harley once and only for a few hours while she prepared that soup for him. Not to mention he’d been unconscious and running a fever. Plus she seemed far more intimidated by the man than anything. Perhaps something had happened while she’d been watching him though. “If you like him, why don’t you just admit it to me?”

The question made Aileen’s lock eyes with Lasair’s, like she knew it would as she looked at her in indignation, as if trying to deny the accusation. It was a familiar game that Lasair used on her twin often, because she knew how she would react either way, though Aileen clearly had yet to learn this. Not that Lasair was going to complain about it, it just made reading her sister that much easier, as if it wasn’t already easy. They were twins after all, not only did they know each other better than anyone else did, but they were connected in a far deeper way that anyone else would ever understand.

“Who said I like him?” Aileen threw back at her, just as defensively as Lasair knew she would. That was the answer she was looking for. Now, if she continued to push the subject, she knew her twin would get rather angry with her, a bit embarrassed and flushed and then eventually just leave. But that was not what she wanted, not right now anyway.

Smiling, Lasair decided to throw her sister a balled curve. “Well, we could always... you know.”

At first Aileen just stared at her rather blankly, her brows furrowing as she tried to figure out what Lasair was saying to her. But the moment it finally dawned on her, her eyes shot open, her face flushed red and she practically tripped over her feet, despite the fact that she was standing still. It caused Lasair to giggle and made Aileen practically straighten herself up to her full height, which was no greater than Lasair’s.

“I...I would never!” The wings on Aileen’s back fluttered as she practically squeaked the words at her sister. Of course, they were a lie. There had been the one time the two of them had... well, not really wanting to get into details but they’d definitely had fun with this one Draconian they’d both fancied. Possibly one of the only Draconians Aileen had ever come to like.

“Yes, you have and if I remember correctly you enjoyed it immensely.” Lasair reached out and flicked the edge of Aileen’s nose as she said that, the large smile still pulling at her lips.

She watched as she sister stuttered something unintelligible as she caught her in the lie. It only made her laugh and then wrap her arms around her, holding her close. Aileen merely hugged her back after a second or two.

“Th-that was just a one-time thing, Lasair.”

Pulling out of the hug, Lasair held her sister as arms length, her hands resting on her small shoulders. “Not anymore it isn’t.”

Aileen’s jaw practically hit the floor. But before she could answer, Lasair opened the door, allowing a flood of bright light into the room that was quite painful to her dark adjusted eyes. Squinting, she began to usher her sister outside the door.

“I’ll see you tonight!”

Even as her closed the door her sister was still standing there quite stunned and not entirely knowing what she should be saying or doing. But Lasair had already made her mind up and though it wasn’t something she had planned on doing with Harley, she saw no harm in it. Heck, he might actually enjoy it, that Draconian sure had. Humming a merry little tune to herself, Lasair skipped towards the back room where she’d left Harley, the look on her face rather akin to that of the cat who just stole the milk and was very proud of it too.

[Godhand]

Godhand didn't know quite how to feel, standing there alone after that little interruption. He'd picked up on the fact that Aileen had been hurt by their actions, which he regretted, but at the same time he couldn't remember ever leading her on. She was cute, and he liked her, but she seemed far too terrified of him for the mercenary to approach her in any sort of romantic fashion. Still, it was strange. Godhand wasn't the type of person women just fell in love with at first sight. He'd had to have propositioned her somehow, but he had no idea what she could have interpreted as him wooing her. It was then that he realized that he was a stranger in a strange land; the customs here were probably completely different from those back home. It was perfectly likely that holding a door open for a lady in Dheathain was considered courting rather than courtesy. It was as Godhand weighed these facts that Lasair skipped back into the room, chirping and smiling and acting like nothing had ever happened. He briefly considered asking her if the situation had been resolved, whatever the "situation" was, but opted against looking a gift horse in the mouth. The gunman simply stood there and stared at her as she darted back and forth across the room, straightening this and retrieving that. She finally turned to look at him, tilting her head and blinking curiously.

"So, about that bookcase..."

"Oh, right!"

The rest of the day was rather uneventful. He'd stared down a belligerent Draconian, but that was the most action he got all day. Pretty soon it was sundown, and Lasair and Godhand made their way back home.

---------------------------------------

As soon as they both entered the house, Lasair sprang into the action, humming the same strange tune she'd been ever since her talk with Aileen. Godhand walked over to the bathroom, pulling up his shirt and checking his bandages. It was still just the dried blood from the morning. The wounds were healing up real good. Soon he heard the tiny fae shout at him from the kitchen.

"What do you want for dinner, Harley!? Anything you want as long as I've got it!"

"Whatever's good, sweetheart!"

There was some banging and clanging as Lasair began rummaging for different utensils and ingredients, and then another shout.

"Oh, how are your wounds doing!? Any better!? Need medicine!?"

"They're fine."

Lasair squealed and hopped into the air when Godhand pinched her bottom. She quickly spun on her heel and playfully punched him on the chest.

"Don't sneak up on me like that!"

"Sorry, sorry."

"By the way, could you hand me that pot?"

"Huh? Sure."

As Godhand reached over to get it, Lasair pinched his ass. Now it was the mercenary's turn to hop. He shot an accusatory glare at the Fae, but she merely whistled innocently. It was then that the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it!" Sang Lasair.

Godhand hissed when he heard Aileen's next words.

"Aileen! Come in!"

God, this was going to be akward.

[Lasair Anubail]

She hadn’t expected her sister to show up so early. It did not change her plans in any way, in fact it may be better that she had decided to come around dinner hour instead of waiting until afterwards. Considering what Harley had started in the kitchen if her sister had waited then she might have come a little late and would have missed out on all the fun. And despite the shocked look on her face and the little complaints and reasons she tried to throw at Lasair telling her she didn’t want to, she knew otherwise. Aileen never truly did anything she didn’t want to. She was just naturally very shy and as such didn’t want to admit to such a thing.

“Oh, stop looking like a wyrven caught between two spears and not knowing where to run.” Lasair said with a smile. Her sister merely levelled a cool look from golden eyes upon her, eyes that held flecks of black which Lasair’s possessed but in far less quantity. It was one of the only ways to tell the two of them apart if they weren’t talking, besides the fact that Aileen was slightly ‘fuller’ than Lasair who was... well just a bit of a stick with some very subtle curves.

“Speaking of wyrven, that’s what I plan on cooking for dinner and you’re just in time to help me out, come on!”

Not even bothering to wait for her sister to respond, Lasair grabbed her hand and led her back into the kitchen where Harley was still waiting. Oddly enough he looked rather uncomfortable and she didn’t know why. Did Aileen’s presence bother him for some reason? They barely knew each other though and had interacted without her around for a very short amount of time. Oh, it would be bad if he didn’t like her, especially considering what she had in mind. But she didn’t get that feeling from him. He just seemed uneasy about something.

“Just relax, Harley.” Lasair said with a large smile on her face as she set about gathering a few more things from the ice box. “Aileen and I will take care of everything.”

One of the things she took from the cool area happened to be a clear bottle of a slightly green coloured liquid. It was wine made from really sweet leaves that grew only in Luthmor. It was a bit sweet and very smooth and happened to be one of her favourite drinks. The fact that it had a high alcohol content was only a plus in the mind of the small Fae. Grabbing three glasses from a cupboard, beautiful crystal classes that had a swirling effect of colours which twisted and turned almost looking like a tornado had created it, she poured three glasses. While she was doing that, Aileen looked sheepishly over at Harley and when her golden eyes happened to have met his red ones, she turned beat red and quickly turned away. She busied herself as best she could, filling a pot with water and with a simple word lighting a fire in the burner on the oven. Then she began cleaning the vegetables and cutting up the fruits that Lasair had already left out.

Lasair left one of the glasses on the table for Harley and placed one next to Aileen while she kept one for herself and immediately took a small sip of the liquid, enjoying the taste as it swirled over her tongue before she swallowed it. Sighing, she too began to prepare their meal with her sister and two of them quickly forgot about anything that was going to happen tonight. They fell into a practiced routine in which sometimes small pieces of food were occasionally thrown between them, their light voices and laughter echoed in the room and every now and again once of them broke out into a light tune. The meal was easy to prepare and before long a few pots were boiling and simmering upon the stove and one covered pan was baking in the oven. While that required little attention, the two Fae sat down at the table with their house guest and a small platter of cheese, hard bread, crackers and what would probably be considered exotic fruits to the swordsman.

“So, Harley...” Aileen began as she swirled the contents of her third glass of wine between her slim fingers. “What exactly are you doing in Dheathain? Not many humans come here, well to Talmhaidh sure for trade... but Luthmor is rather far from there.”