Knight in Shining Armor (Andre)

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

Tock scowled at the man. She was starting to get frustrated. He seemed to somehow have the ability to go from charming her with his sweetness to making her recoil in just one breath. As soon as he said he wanted 'to stay with her,' she had the sudden urge to flee. She hadn't thought anything about this night through, and had just been following her shameful urges. If it had been any other man, he would have been happy to be done with her, once the 'deed' was done. Yet this one was getting all clingy. Tock wasn't one to be tied down. She had too much work to do, too many projects to complete, and too many personal issues to sort through. The last relationship she was in had ended quite badly, and left Tock with a bad taste for romance. She had mostly avoided anything to do with it ever since. She'd had moments of raw passion, like with Wart... but both girls had equally understood that it was about the sex, and nothing else. So even if Tock had simply met Andre in a bar or some such, thoughts of romance, relationships, and commitment would have been the furthest thing from her mind. She was a woman who lived in the moment. It took something much more than an urge for something physical before she started thinking beyond the moment. And today, when Tock was heading home after committing quadruple homicide, when she was dealing with the haunted memories of even worse things than murder, the very idea of 'staying' did nothing but drive her away. This man was too good for her. He was brave, and had stepped up to protect her, even at the risk of his own life. He was sweet and kind, and flattering her quite a bit. And since he was a Knight, he was probably honorable, and just, and pure, and all of that stupid horse shyke that Tock wasn't. She was dark, and dirty, her hands stained with innocent blood, her mind gripped by madness that she had just faced for the first real time in her life. She scooped Handy up and placed him on her shoulder, keeping her eyes down and her mouth shut as she used strips of Andre's shirt to firmly tie the splint in place. She put wadded up pads of cloth under the sticks, covering the wounds, so that the ties would both hold the sticks in place to keep the bone straight, and hold the makeshift bandages in place to stop the bleeding. It was the best she could do, without any training in such things. "Don't call me beautiful again," she told Andre in a dark, haunted tone. Her eyes were distant. She was picturing the dead Svefra girl back on the boat. Had she been beautiful then? Had she been beautiful when she plunged her dagger into the father's chest, inch by inch, watching his eyes as the life bled from them? No, she couldn't deal with this. She couldn't deal with this man praising her and treating her like she was anything other than a dirty, horrible person. Didn't he understand that the sex had just been... sex? Just been a need, and he just the nearest warm body to fulfill it. Despite how sweet he was, she had no intention of staying. It would just give him the wrong idea, and he deserved better than that. Better than her...

[Andresciel]

The Knight nods to her words, watching her expression the best he could as he pushed himself up. His chest was sore, his arm killing him, but he still moved. He pushed himself up with his right hand, moving towards the dying fire from his campsite. He could hardly see as he picked up a few sticks, twigs and grass, tossing them upon the embers. As he did so, he focused on his magic, calling his res down into the pile of tinder, and focusing on the heat there. Fire jumped to life nearly instantly atop the grass, where the embers couldn't have reached by themselves. "Aye Tock. I won't call you beautiful. I suppose I'm too much of an honorable knight for ya." His words were low, as he looks at her. Only one other female had he shown interest in, and it had nearly killed him. She hated him for his magic, for his ability to reach into the world and call to life the elements. He still remembered the pain as he looked at her. "You can go if you wish." He brought his left arm up against his wounded chest, groaning, as he thought to himself.

He might not survive another attack, but he wouldn't die without meaning. And the woman obviously had little care for him beyond her own needs, so he would soon be alone in the wilds, his mind already growing dark. And yet, he picked up his dagger, placing it across his lap, "Would you at least mind strapping my right gauntlet on. If I get attacked by another hungry lion, I'd like something to shield my arm." He chuckled, his pain evident even as he looks at her. "And Tock. I don't know if something happened to you, whether you did something or not...But my patron taught me to never judge a person by their darkness...Only by the light within them."

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

Tock stood and stared the man down. He was laying the guilt on thick now. She wanted to smack him. The dang fool was supposed to be laying down and resting, and instead he was readying himself for another battle. She was going to just leave him... she had to. She couldn't deal with this. It was his own damn fool fault for being a stupid petching hero and fighting the damn lion... In order to save her... She stalked around the campsite, shouting into the night, "Stupid petchin' tight arsed stubborn knights wit' 'eir damn fool razza frazza 'orse blowin' worthless 'igh an' mighty vagik bastards an' yer bloody petchin' no good pecker lickin' BULL SHYKE 'ONOR!" She kicked a tree a few times until some leaves fell down from above, screaming in frustration. She turned back to face him, rubbing a hand up across her face and into her hair. He was seriously ready to just sit there and wait for death to come. And he was too much of a polite, honorable vagik to even ask her to stay and keep him alive. Which was a whole different thing from the way he'd asked her to stay before. This man was going to drive her crazy. With a growl she advanced on him and pushed him down until he was lying on the ground again. "Quit bloody movin' 'round," she ordered him. "'Ese ain't gonna stop bleedin' 'less ya 'old still..." They'd probably get infected, too. She snatched the dagger away from him and plunged it into the dirt, then opened her water skin, digging out another scrap of cloth so she could start cleaning off the wounds. Cat scratches got nasty when it was a house cat... she didn't want to see what happened if these claw wounds went untreated. "Dun start wit' none o' that 'light an' 'onor' 'orse shyke, neither," she grumbled, roughly rubbing the damp cloth across his chest. "I ain't 'at kinda girl..."

[Andresciel]

He looked at her, his eyes clearly guarded as he watched her stomp all over all he had in his life. "Yeah well. Its hard to have honor and light when you don't remember much about your own life." His words were soft spoken, but true as he watched her stomp around, kicking an innocent tree. It was when she ordered him that he blinked, as she dropped down beside him and began to pour water on a cloth. "If you don't want to stay, I will not ask you to Tock. Many others would just leave me to die and think the world better because of it." He looks up at Handy, "But I suppose the genius who created such beautiful children couldn't be that bad." He looks at her, shaking his head as he leans back. "And to tell you the truth Tock. I'm tired of the strictness of the Order." He jumped at the first touch of the cloth to his wound, "Petching hell!" He growled, weakly as he settled down, watching her "Don't you know that shyke bloody hurts?" He sounded less like a knight, and more like a tired man. He reached up with his right hand, fingers circling her wrist, "Gentle now." He stated, trying to help her the best he could. "Will you talk with me? Tell me what makes you think you are so bad, and ugly?" The Knight groaned as he settled back against the tree, tossing twigs and sticks onto the fire. He wanted to understand how a woman like her could have become so jaded against the world. He had his own reasons. Perhaps... "Do you know anything about magic?" The Knight asked suddenly.

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

"Ain't what nothin' worth 'memberin' sometimes anywho," she muttered, not thinking it would be such a bad thing, not remembering things about her life. Ancient things, and more recent things. She grumbled to herself until he went on about not asking her to stay, then shoved the bloody rag in his face. "Dun go what tellin' me what ta does o' not ta does!" she snapped. "If'n I bloody wants ta stay 'ere an' nurse ya back o' whatever, 'en I's gonna does it, an' yer gonna bloody lay 'ere an' take it!" She was just generally pissed now, and vaguely knew she wasn't making much sense. Her frustration was leading her towards stubbornness, just because it was her natural defensive reaction to just about anything. Along which lines, she was ready to snap and yell at him that she didn't CARE if it bloody hurt... until he took her wrist in his hand, and started gently guiding her. She looked up into his eyes, and there was that flutter again. She really didn't know whether to kiss him, or punch him. She lowered her eyes again, blatantly ignoring is question about what she thought of herself. Instead, continuing to tend his wounds, a bit more gently now, she said, "Course I knows magic. What thinks I squeezed 'im out from 'tween my legs?" she nodded towards Handy, who waved at Andre from his perch on her shoulder. He knew when she was talking about him.

[Andresciel]

He looks at her "Well with a woman as..gifted as you, one can't tell." He holds his hand up towards Handy, "May I see him?" He asked, wanting to get a closer look at the little being. "I wield a bit of magic myself." He points up to a small ball of smoke slowly drifting down from the sky to hover over Andre. "Meet Velenor. My familiar, and closest friend." He smiles as the Little Avavali moved around Tock's head, before settling on her opposite shoulder. "Say hello Vel." He muttered as he shivered from the touch on his chest.

A high voice, almost windy, came from the smoke ball "Hello Vel." The Creature then proceeded to giggle, a sound akin to wind chimes as Andre rolled his eyes, "Sorry. He's a little air head. But a good friend." He still waited to see if he could hold Handy, to meet the little being properly. "After all, I should greet him properly after he helped you save my life." The Mage stated as he guided her hand away from his injures, and dug in his pack with his right arm. He came out with a handful of bandages, "These should work better then my shirt." He smiles, before he pulled out a small box containing a gift for him from his patron. He lifted out a leaf from an eldurberry bush, known to reduce pain, and infection, before placing it upon his tongue.

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

Tock pouted slightly, but still lifted Handy off her shoulder and gently placed him in Andre's hands. "Be gentle wit' 'im," she said softly. "'E's jus' a baby. Only done Animated 'im beginnin' o' summer..." He was one of her youngest children, and she tended to dote on him a bit. She worried sometimes that the others would get jealous, since she took Handy with her everywhere she went. Though in truth it was simply because he was the easiest to carry around, and the most handy to have with her. She looked over at the little... smoke... bird... thing, studying him curiously. She reached up to poke at it, to see if her finger would go through. "'Ow's ya make 'im?" she asked. Animation magic wouldn't work on smoke. A body had to be solid, in order to hold the Soulcore firmly. So this couldn't be a work of Animation. She was quite surprised to hear the creature talk. None of her Automatons could talk. She hadn't figured out how to construct vocal chords yet. "Yer a cutie," she told Vel, giving him a small smile. "'Is one treat ya good?" she asked, nodded her head towards Andre. But then she had to focus her attention on the medical task once more, taking the bandages, proper bandages, from him and getting ready to apply them to the cleaned wounds. She shifted to move one leg over him so she was straddling him once more, getting quiet as she laid the bandages over the claw wounds. "Lift up a lil," she whispered, pressing the bandages to his chest with one hand, while she reached the other around his back to wrap a roll of the bandages around his torso, so she could hold them in place. She had to shift quite close to him to reach behind him and wrap the bandages, and she found her face quite close to his once more. She froze for a moment, staring into his blue eyes. They were quite pretty. In fact, he was a rather pretty man, when he shut his dang fool mouth for a change...

[Andresciel]

He looks down at Handy, settling him in his lap, as he chuckles, "You, sir, are a very handsome young man." He was careful with him, as he looked at her, waching as Tock's finger slid through Velenor's body, causing a round of giggles. "I didn't. He's a familiar from Fyrden. One of the Avavali race." He stated, shrugging as he watches the little being on his lap. "Animation. I've never seen it in use. If it can create such a beautiful child..then it must truly be one of the good magics." He muttered as he watches her speak to Velenor like he was just another human. He smiled at this, the warmth in it before he heard Velenor's words.

"Andre takes good care of me. Nothing harms me when I with him." The Little Avavali stated, floating around Tock's shoulder, before looking at Andre "He good man. But too shiny. Knight armor not suit Mage." The Familiar declared, quite loudly in fact, as Andre lifted Handy up onto his right shoulder.

Andre flushed at his partner, and companions words, before he lifted up, feeling her once more on his lap. With her arms around him, her face close to his own, he could only stare down into those beautiful brown eyes. Without thinking, he leaned down, his lips pressing into her own, just softly. As he broke the kiss, he closed his gem colored eyes to await any sort of tirade the woman wished to launch at him. But damn did her lips feel good.

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

The way he stared into her eyes made her uncomfortable. It reminded her of Satevis. And she didn't like getting that feeling from a near-total stranger. She didn't want this... didn't want anything emotional. He was just a man, a stranger she stumbled across in the woods. If she wasn't convinced that he'd die if left alone, she'd have stalked off into the night, and never looked back. Regardless of the experience they had shared. But then he kissed her, and she froze. It confused her. It was soft, gentle. Not the kiss of a man trying to get something more out of her (not that he hadn't already had that). Just a sweet, tender kiss... When he pulled back she raised her hand, about to slap him. Just because she wanted to drive him off, and convince him that as soon as his life wasn't in danger, she was done with him. But she looked at his closed eyes, and the content, accepting look on his face. Almost like he expected her to slap him, and was willing to accept it. Which simultaneously pissed her off and turned her on. She growled, confused, aroused, angry, and completely not in a clear enough state of mind to deal with all these conflicting emotions. She slapped him across the face, hard. Then grabbed him and kissed him even harder.

[Andresciel]

He didn't know what surprised him more, the slap or the kiss that followed. All he knew was that the kiss brought a groan from him as he hands touched his chest. His right arm, sliding around her waist, drew her up into him as he pressed his kiss deeper to her. He could hardly expect anything out of it, but still. If Tock was willing to give him a kiss, by the gods, the Man would kiss her. He broke the kiss for a moment, breathing slow to catch his breath as he sets Handy down inside his bedroll, tocking the little creature in, only to look up at Velenor. "Bedtime." His voice was heavy, husky almost as the Avavali darted into the bedroll beside Handy. He would then return his lips to Tock's own, his hand sliding down her back to her bottom. Gods if she slapped him again, then it might well turn into round three for the seemingly strange pair.