Three Parts Good Day, One Part Bad Company (Leigo)

[Aehra]

To Aehra's credit, she didn't actually scream. Although, that was more due to the fact that the shriek lodged itself in her throat when her breathing became shallow and too fast. She tried her best to respond to the boy, but could only manage a word or two between her gasps for breath. "You-- I'm-- fine, b-- but-- that-- thing-- it's-- it's-- it's--" She stopped and clutched at her chest. The thief dropped to the ground heavily, his head lolling lifelessly towards her. His hand rested on his chest at an awkward angle on his chest, over the gaping wound and starburst of blood blooming in his torn shirt. Aehra pushed herself away until her back pressed against the wall, her entire body shaking with the effort of calming her breathing. Every time she came close, every time she could feel herself taking in air a little bit easier, she would look at the dead body in front of her, and she would forget how to breathe all over again. She wasn't sure how to think, what to think or do about any of this. The man (wizard, boy, killer) was still on the ground, talking to-- to-- whatever that thing was. Their words were muddled, and her head was pounding loud enough that she couldn't make them out. None of this made any sense. Aehra's father had always spoken of magic as something good, something to be respected. Aehra's mother had practiced it herself, although Aehra had never ventured to ask, and she had simply accepted that the mother her father so obviously loved would never do anything that wasn't good at its very core. Now, though-- now, all she could picture was the woman she barely remembered, her golden hair tinged with blood, her fair features marred by the cool dispassionate expression of the boy on the ground. Her eyes skittered uneasily over the boy's frame, settling on his fingers, which looked slightly burned. Some part of Aehra thought that maybe she should be concerned and offer help, but the rest of her was terrified that the blood-soaked... whatever that is would be going through her chest next.

[Leigo]

Looking at the girl, he held some pity for her fright. He couldn’t understand it though. It was his first time killing a man, yet all he could think of was the physical. Those thieves had more than one chance to remain unharmed. Too bad for them for not listening, the boy thought. There was no way he could change anything that had happened. Yet he did owe this girl much. Leigo owed some blood, a few unbroken bones and his right to breathe again to the girl. Debts were always a tiresome business, but for a change he didn’t mind being indebted because he could pay it back. The blond would pay it back. A stout, strong woman – too bad it was her first time facing real magic. There were none to blame, if anything, it was a good thing. It meant mages of Zeltiva knew how to keep their mouth shut and not spill such information needlessly. Holding onto the walls with his healthy hand, he held out the burned fingers to Onuo. Seal yourself, she’s frightened. A momentary humming and then the creature could respond. Shouldn’t we dispose of her too? Everything the familiar said made sense once more, but no, he couldn’t listen to it. She’s… a friend – for now. Leigo too would have thought of ways to dispose of the girl without killing her (she was a woman after all, and a child seemingly), but not now. Now he owed much. As Onuo slowly reformed its icy husk into a less practical, orb-like shape – it didn’t take it long to seal. The familiar had done enough for the day. Time for resting was at hand. Thank you – his final thoughts to the creature. Leigo was certain that Irylid could just as easily recognize the other wounded thieves if the need ever rose to hunt them down. And he would kill them if he ever saw them again, certainly. Finally he and Onuo were at the same wavelength – they understood one another better. Getting up clumsily, Leigo picked up his ring and returned it to its rightful place. There was another thing in his hand, a pin perhaps, he wasn’t interested enough to examine it further. It belonged to the girl, he knew. It was the reason she was here. After regaining some security on his feet, the boy headed towards the girl slowly. Holding out the healthy hand, he made it so she could see her pin inside the palm. “Thank you” he whispered “we’re indebted to you” again a pause, giving the girl’s shock time to process information better “Let me take you to a medic, it’s the least I can do.” He wasn’t certain if he would get a response, so after a bit he could add. “I won’t hurt you. If I wanted you dead, it would’ve been over by now.” Finally he mumbled “An Abranox pays his debts.” He didn’t mind not seeing the girl ever again. No, that was a lie. He didn’t mind losing sight of her as long as he could repay her before that happened. She wasn’t likely to listen to reason. But then again, he had all day.

[Aehra]

Aehra didn't make any attempt to hide her flinch when the boy crawled towards her. When he reached out and she saw her pin in his hands, all of the tension drained from her body. She was too exhausted (physically and mentally) to keep up any sort of caution. She grabbed her pin from the boy, immediately running her thumb over its surface, reveling in the instant comfort that it provided. She frowned when the boy spoke to her. She laughed weakly at his words, only to wince in surprise when her throat protested violently at the action. Nonetheless, the boy's supposed lack of concern for his own (not inconsiderable) wounds nagged at her. "Ho--" she frowned a bit and licked her lips. "Honey. Your hands. Need Honey." Aehra swallowed, failing to ignore the pain as her throat contracted. She pushed herself until she was standing upright, leaning heavily on the wall for support. When she mustered the strength to shove herself away from the wall, she found that her legs were surprisingly unsteady, and she grabbed onto the boy's shoulders for support before drawing them away as quickly as if she'd been burned. She made her way towards the front of the alley, her legs growing only slightly steadier with the short journey. She braced herself against the wall. "Well," she called without turning around, "we headed to the infirmary, then?" She only hoped that dropping her defenses in front of the boy wouldn't cost her anything before she had time to recuperate.

[Leigo]

Leigo attempted smiling ear to ear when she grabbed back her pin. It was good to know there was still some life in her that fright couldn’t take away. He nodded at the thought of honey. Having no idea what she was talking about, he realized agreeing was his best bet. After all, any further awkwardness would only confuse the girl even more. Looking down at the pin as she held onto it like it was her last breath, he could see similarities. She would fight thugs for this silly thing. And he would fight them too for his father’s ring; he would kill for it. If anyone understood – it was him. He got a bit surprised when her hands latched onto his shoulders. The next second they were gone and he could reassure himself again. The girl however, still freaked out, started heading out of the alley a bit too fast for him to register immediately. She was still scared. That was good. Scared people were smart people. Not that Leigo would ever admit this openly. “Walk slower” he paused, adding “please” as a mediating touch. He didn’t want her to go too far ahead not because he felt the gentlemanly need to escort her to the infirmary. It was in fact for fear of her not being able to walk on her own. He couldn’t allow her to simply fall to the ground if he could help it. She had saved his ribs after all, perhaps even more. “What’s your name girl?” perhaps she would relax if they tried conversing instead of trembling towards the infirmary in silence. Gods knew he needed some peace of mind too. He just killed a man! Well, actually, Onuo did – the two were one, he might’ve not been able to do it himself yet it was still his soul that made the thief inert.

[Aehra]

Aehra's trembling legs steadied as slowly as they walked. She cast a sideways glance at the boy, conceding to his request to walk slower; it wasn't as though slowing down would make this worse for her, after all. They've barely made it out of their alley and into the warm sun when the boy speaks again. The warmth that had been so comforting earlier now seems stifling to her, and the blood on her skin bakes and dries until she can feel it crack with every step. It's uncomfortable, and she doesn't feel as though she wants to speak, but the warm copper in her palm conjures images of her father, exasperated more than angry as he always was when he scolded her. What kinda manners are those, old girl? Boy's try'na be good, you gotta try back! "Aehra." She said. "No last name. Not--" she pauses. That can't be right. She tightened her lips into a thin line and turned her face up towards the sun. "Tiorson. I think." She liked the ring of it, liked the way it felt on her tongue. "Aehra Tiorson." She isn't entirely sure how the naming thing went. She hasn't met anyone that didn't use 'son', but she rolled 'Tiorsdaughter' around in her mind and decided that it didn't sound nearly as nice. She felt a strange accomplishment at this, and let her mouth pick up a grin. "What 'bout you, shortie? Abanax or somethin', right? Hope it's not yer first name." For a moment, she entertained the possibility that it was his first name, and she held back a quiet laugh. Wouldn't that be somethin', she mused. She thought better of it after a moment and turned back to the boy. "Not-- not to say it's a bad name. I'm sure it's a fine name. For. Well." She wrinkled her nose. "I'm sure it's plenty respectable, 'swhat I'm gettin' at."

[Leigo]

Smiling faintly at her remarks about his family’s name, Leigo did his best not to provoke any sudden reactions out of the girl. Surely he could manage. Besides, it was fun to see there was still some spirit left in her. Having the shyke scared out of her sure did a number on Aehra’s mind. It was a rather strange name and by her lack of a last name he was certain she was either an orphan or a foreigner – or gods forbid, both. “I never did introduce myself.” The boy hinted briefly before adding “Leigo.” That’s what they called him. Calling him short was like claiming the rainbow tangible, yet the blond laughed at this. It was strange having her try to duck out of what was already said, but he let it slide and paid no heed. “Abranox is the name of my family… my lineage, legacy if you wish…” he wasn’t sure if she even needed to hear that, but he needed to say it. Tapping his fingers off the signet ring, Leigo wondered just how it all disappeared so easily. “Why didn’t you run, girl?” he paused, adding specifics “Why did you stay?”

[Aehra]

Legacy. She resisted the smirk that was valiantly trying to fight its way onto her lips. The boy seemed a bit-- well, he seemed arrogant, but he'd just saved her hide, so she supposed she wasn't in any position to judge him for being proud of his family. Aehra frowned at his question, unsure of how to answer. "Why didn' I run from the fight, y'mean?" Deciding that this was, in fact, what Liego had mean, she continued on without waiting for a response. "They should'na done what they did. They took-- they took things an' then threw 'em around like they were children's toys. S'not somethin' should be done." They continue on, and Aehra thinks she can make out the infirmary now, a ways off. "Besides, s'not like they're the worst I've fought." She reconsidered this, then amended, "Definitely some of the worst, but not the worst." She glanced at Leigo's hands again, mild concern causing her to narrow her eyes. "F'ya pour honey on the burns, they'll heal plenty fast." She nodded. "Had a girl show me, while back, that it was good fer cuts. Had t'find out on my own it was better for burns than scrapes." She grew quiet for only a moment before continuing. "I did think about it. About runnin'. Almost did, when I saw the fire."

[Leigo]

Leigo listened to her talk, chiming in only in nods of acknowledgement. He had no idea what to tell her after all. She was completely different than any girl he ever met. Sure there were always female warriors and this and that. Yet even that was always in service of some higher motion such as justice or courage – knightly and brave, stupid too. Something in the girl’s voice told him she was completely sincere. It was sad to know she likely won more fistfights than Leigo had even witnessed. “It’s shameful for a woman to have to defend herself.” He didn’t really consider her a woman, but only saying this was enough while not knowing how she might react. “It’s shameful to owe your life to a lady, my father thought me. Yet a wounded pride is better than a dead one.” He could’ve probably made it out alive anyway. There would only be a few ribs missing and several people less in the world – again, not something she needed to hear. “Thank you.” Nodding at the honey remark (again), Leigo’s eyes narrowed. “You can tell it to the physician, I’m sure he’d like to hear about it.” Cause he sure was getting tired of hearing it. He didn’t need anyone else to lick his wounds, he could manage just fine on his own.

[Aehra]

Aehra snorted; she'd been confronted with these sorts of notions enough times that she'd learned to let them roll off of her. Granted, it was usually during a fight, where she could turn her perceived weakness against her opponent, but she supposed that it made sense that people would believe the same things in or out of a fight. "No harm intended to yer old man, but tha's not a way to go thinkin'. I ent stupid anyhow, Sparks; I saw those burn marks, an' you mighta been able to take those thieves down with or without me there." She grinned. "Still, your thanks is taken. Knocked 'em up quite good, if I do say so m'self." Surprisingly, she found herself quite enjoying talking to Leigo, even if he'd made it explicitly clear that he would have much rather been somewhere else. Probably somewhere with silk pillows and pretty slave girls feeding him hazelnuts by hand, she imagined. Aehra certainly would have rather been in that position, no matter how oddly nice she was finding her company.

[Leigo]

Leigo nudged a bit at the girl when he heard yet another nickname. It was fine if she didn’t agree with his father’s words, but he had more than enough of names when he was a child. The child had grown up, but the brat remained, and it didn’t like names like that one bit. Still, he supposed there was some credit to be given – she was still sane, presumably. “You did” he said in acknowledgement of her triumph. That was enough discussion for his taste as he motioned to the infirmary which was incredibly close now. Clearly they wouldn’t be serviced immediately. Finding a doctor always took time and they weren’t really a priority by the looks of them. “After you” a calm voice, perhaps less bored than before?