[Flashback]The Snake and the Spider(Iskessah)

[Volinir Orchid]

Volinir grinned, deciding that any contact was good contact. "With pleasure. Kalinor fabric is the best fabric in the world, you know, and this is the best Kalinor has. Appropriate, then, that it should grace the loveliest skin in Ravok..." he murmured, taking the ream in her hands, along with a few more from the wardrobe, and tying a loose knot around her wrist, planting a delicate kiss on her forearm just above it. He continued up her arm, drifting behind her while the weave of fabric wrapped snugly around ruddy skin. "Study closely," he whispered lightly in her ear before repeating the process on her other arm. He snaked a strip of cloth across Iskessah's waist and pulled her close, slowly winding up her torso, all the way to her collar. Light hands caressed her breasts, and ashen lips teased her neck. Finally, he knelt down to do her legs, lapping languidly at the limbs as he spun the cloth around her calves, then thighs, and finally hips, letting the silk slide slightly as he covered the space between her legs. Of course, he'd stop at any point if she showed signs of discomfort.

[Iskessah]

The cloth felt even better wrapped around her. The light friction of cloth closely rubbing her skin made her feel warm in ways that fire never could. She released a soft sigh, her skin tingling pleasantly where he planted his lips. It wasn't until his spindly fingers reached her breasts that she recognized what he was doing. Either he was very subtle, or she wasn't paying attention, but she had been to a brothel enough times to recognize foreplay. The kisses on her neck elicited a small "Mm", and it took some concentration to stay standing, since whatever he was doing to her legs made them want to collapse like jelly. She half-wanted to shift into a more stable form, but she stopped herself just in time, panic over what she'd almost done making her more alert. This male was certainly fun, possibly more so even than any of the professionals she'd paid for in the past, and there was no reason not to have her way with him. She would just have to be careful about how much she let herself lose control. Staring absently in the general direction of his head, she idly immersed her fingers in his hair. She was entranced by the slippery locks; hair was still relatively new to her, and Volinir's was almost as soft as the cloth they were now both wrapped in. By the time he had finished wrapping her in silk, she had conjured a solution to the dilemma of her weak legs. Taking his hand in a gentle but inescapable grip, she dragged him over to the bed, where she finally let her legs collapse, pulling him down on top of her.

[Volinir Orchid]

Volinir followed eagerly, going so far as to push her as they neared the bed. He fell upon her, seeking her lips out with an almost feral hunger. He'd been holding back before, but now duty and instinct were urging him onward with all the ferocity of a cracking whip. He felt venom pumping into his fangs as if he were on the brink of starvation, a couple drops even dripping from them. There was no time for thought or caution, there was only the passion of here and now, with Iskessah.The cloth cocoon was a barrier, though. Nimble hands fondled and toyed and tore textile, grabbed the crook of her knee and pulled it up, while the slow rhythm of their lust began and built to the tune of his hammering heart.

[Iskessah]

Some small part of Iskessah's mind thought it was a shame to damage such pleasant coverings as the cloth they both wore, but the more dominant part of her mind seemed to agree with Volinir that they were in the way of their bodies touching. Following his lead, she tore at his own coverings, letting the threads drape and entangle them as they writhed together. What he lacked in technique, he made up for in passion. Iskessah arched her head back, her lips parted, voicelessly climaxing before collapsing, sated, back to the bed. She felt utterly relaxed, as she usually did after sex. But this time, she did not have to worry about being kicked out of the room at the end of the hour. With the tiniest hint of a smile on her face, she drifted off to sleep, her arms still wrapped around the strange foreigner. ~*~*~*~ Iskessah awoke much as she often did, to the sense of a cold room with the fire gone out. And yet, she did not feel cold. There seemed to be a lovely source of heat right next to her. Still half-asleep, she slithered around it, her scales gliding smoothly along its surface. Her forked tongue flicked in and out, familiarizing herself with the taste-scent of this thing which evoked such pleasant feelings. It wasn't until she had all 150 pounds of her weight coiled atop his torso that she began to remember where she was, and what had happened.

[Volinir Orchid]

Volinir drifted back into the realm of the awake, groggily blinking awake to something large and heavy on his chest. The afternoon was certainly more than satisfactory for him, and he was looking forward to the trip home to Kalinor with his prize. As Iskessah's form came into clearer view, his eyes widened and his heart jumped into his chest. "Snake!" Not knowing what Dhani were, he'd assumed Kess had run for it when she saw their visitor, and it had slithered atop him while he was asleep. It didn't seem particularly alert, so perhaps if he was just subtle... The muscle's in the Symenestra's arm slowly twitched, hands creeping up behind the snake while he hoped against hope that the rattler wouldn't notice. He resisted the urge to swallow as pitch black claws hovered over the base of the snake's neck, and a section of its length a few feet away from it. With a silent prayer of Viratas, his fingers snapped down on the creature's neck and torso like a steel trap, nails digging into the scales as he tried to yank its head away from his flesh, and his body out into a line as he rose up, his fangs extending to their full inch and a half. Should Iskessah fail to do anything clever, the daggerlike teeth would plunge into her hide, pumping twin payloads of paralyzing venom into her body.

[Iskessah]

At Volinir's initial reaction to seeing a snake in his bed, Iskessah at first thought that it was a fun joke, having him wake up to something that terrified him. But half a second too late, sense caught up with her, and she remembered what it could mean if word got out about what she was. Why was she in her snake form? The only think she could think of was that she had gotten so used to sleeping in that form that she has changed in her sleep. Her confusion distracted her just long enough for Volinir to grab her. She rattled a warning, but before she could react further, he bared his fangs and bit through her scales. Instantly, a wave of dizziness washed over her. She did not have time yet to wonder what Volinir was. All she knew was that this feeling brought back unpleasant memories of events long buried, of a time when she had been weakened, unable to fight back. She could not let such a thing happen again. She had to fight back. With what little was left of her strength, she lifted her tail, and swung it pitifully toward the strange creature who bit with poison like a Dhani. She barely managed to bop him on the head before her tail plopped limply back to the bed. This was bad; if she couldn't move, she wold be completely at his mercy, and right now he didn't look very merciful. The agonizing pain lancing through her neck only made things worse. She had one chance, and it was a long-shot. If he didn't already suspect her of non-humanity, this would confirm it. But she could not fight in her condition, so unless she gave him a reason not to, he might kill her soon. Trying to concentrate through the pangs of fire was nearly impossible. She tried to focus on her human form, tried to remember what it was like. A wave of weakness accompanied the pain, making her feel like even holding her coils together was beyond her ability. She was torn between writhing and laying perfectly still, with the end result being slight movement of her head back and forth. Breathing heavily, she mustered the last of her strength. She HAD to do this. Blasting through her weakness in one last blaze of agony, she forced her human form onto her body. Her body began distorting, her tail splitting in two to form legs, arms splurting from her torso, not far from the source of her pain. As soon as she had a mouth to scream, she cried out. The weakness reduced her would-be screams to quiet moans, but nary a tick passed without anguished sounds escaping her throat.

OOCNice going, jerk

[Volinir Orchid]

His shoulders sagged in relief as his venom did its work, and he released the snake just as it began to transform back into... "Iskessah?!" "What the petch... Did I petch?" As soon as that was over, waves of guilt and worry washed over him. He'd eaten recently, so she'd live, but it would hurt. It would hurt a lot. "I'm so sorry!" Volinir stammered, "I thought a rattlesnake had snuck in here, I didn't know you were a shape shifter, I..." he took a deep breath, unwinding a strip of cloth from his arm and making a makeshift bandage out of it. "I'm going to get you help." he said calmly. Volinir bolted his armor on frantically and scooped Iskessah up in his arms, scurrying down the hallway and stairs to the lobby where Tarsin was standing lazily. "Get a healer; this woman's been poisoned!" he barked at the man, his brow creased with worry. It didn't matter if they blamed him, or if she did. There was no way he was going to let her suffer.

[Iskessah]

Iskessah weakly tried to protest; the healers worked directly for the Black Sun. She didn't have her papers with her; they might put her in a cage... The pain was impairing her critical thinking and problem solving functions, so that all she knew was that she did not want to involve government facilities. Tarsin had seen Iskessah a few times before when she'd come to the boarding house to deliver messages, but he did not recognize her, as she was naked and her face contorted in agony. He knew his boarder for a foreigner, however, and said, "The Healing Hand won't help you. You'd need citizenship papers for them to even be willing to see you. Your best bet would be to find a healer among the other boarders, but I don't recall any medicine men coming to stay recently." He shrugged helplessly. There really wasn't anything he could do. Poisonings were sad, but hardly a noteworthy experience in Ravok, especially to foreigners. With no promise of relief, Iskessah cried out sharply and curled into Volinir's chest, digging her fingernails into his chest-plate in a futile attempt to distract herself.

[Volinir Orchid]

Volinir offered Iskessah his hand to squeeze, wincing as if her pain was his own. When Tarsin told him the Healing Hand wouldn't help him, he cursed under his breath."If they really care that little, then they can caetzso!" the Sym snapped angrily. "This poor soul's in pain, and they'd just stand idly by?" He chewed nervously on his tongue, accidentally pricking it with his fang and sending a burst of venom into it. It didn't draw much more than a hiss of pain, though. His own poison didn't worry him; his spit would neutralize it before it could do any damage. His spit. The Symenestra nodded sharply to the man and dashed back up the stairs, setting Iskessah down on the bed again and unwrapping the bandage. He drew as much saliva as he could into his mouth, and got to licking. "This should help..." he explained between laps. With luck, the saliva would counteract most of the poison.

[Iskessah]

Iskessah writhed in Volinir's arms, wondering with the small part of her brain that was not occupied with pain just what he thought he was doing! He was, licking her neck? What, was he some kind of dog, who thought that licking wounds made them better? He honestly seemed to think it would help! She struggled to get up, get herself to someone, something that could actually help her, maybe find something in the poisoner's journal... but even without the man's pathetic grasp on her, the poison had completely sapped her strength. And yet... she realized suddenly that she no longer seemed to quite be in pain. She hesitated to believe she had somehow miraculously recovered, but she felt...better. Still unable to lift an arm, but her breathing became easier. She rested her eyes in relief. She almost drifted off to sleep, but remembering what had happened the last time she let that happen, her eyes snapped (sluggishly) back open. She could not even bring herself to enjoy the attention Volinir was lavishing on her at the moment. Last night had been sensual, but this... he was slobbering like a mongrel. Still, she seemed to be recovering, if slowly. To pass the time, she decided to try for a little light, casual conversation. "Wha'd you do t' me?" she mumbled, her jaw still apparently as lazy as the rest of her. She did not know of any race besides Dhani who had poison in their bite and Dhani were not venomous in their human form. Whatever he was, he probably wasn't human. "An' wha' are you?" Being both a foreigner and non-human was not a good thing to be in Ravok, but his need to lie low would hopefully discourage him from telling anyone what he knew of her own...unique qualities.