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The dangers of being Mini'd
(2014-02-24 - Now)
No description.
Warden Thache "Thats what brought me he--YOU /ARE/ FOLLOWING ME ARN'T YOU?!" The pirate accuses as he hangs on for dear life on the back of the bouncing Spooks. "I think I'm touched." A pause. "Well I wouldn't mind being touched..."

A grin.

However as they pound past he'll reach down and try to scoop Avira right onto the back of the racoon as well, settling her infront of her if possible. "You really can't stay away can you?"
Warden Thache Warden's eyes twinkle as they pound along. "Really?" He drawls, holding tight to Spook's furr as he glances behind himself at the cat. "Well then. If this was truly an accident then we have no one to blame but fate!" A pause. "I can't complain."

After all. She is adorable when flustered.

However at that moment things take a slight turn for the worse. Spooks missteps and takes a tumble. Skidding sideways the critter /narrowly/ misses the claws of the feral cat. The claws take chunks off the bark of the tree.

Warden himself looses his grip on the critter at the sudden spinning and flies free of the racoon. He slams hard against the side of the walls, slipping down though the cracks even as the cat continues to pouce at the Racoon.
Avira "I am not following you!" Avira says defensively. "I swear! It's a coincidence! I'm just here to collect gummi blocks!" she knows it is futile though. He's going to swear until the day he dies now that Avira is his stalker. Wishful thinking on his part.

But until then...

She tries to outrun. She really does but as far as what moves faster, Spooks is faster now enabling Warden to snatch her up off the ground as he passes. She flops onto Spooks' back right in front of Warden. "I'm not here for you." she sits up and peers behind Warden. "Really!"
Avira "YES REALLY!" Avira barks back, awkwardly working to return the Spine to its sheath while flopping around on Spook's back. One hand gets a hard grip on the fur beneath her to stablize herself. "Gosh, fine! I blame fate! Fate has saw to it that I cross paths again with you, pirate, and I-ack!!"

Avira flies sideways, squished between the wall and Spook's soft fur. It fortunately doesn't injure her but it does dislodge her from the racoon. She slides to the ground and shakes her head, then immediately pulls out the Spine again. Could she fight a giant cat-...wait.

Yes. Yes she could. Avira waits.
Warden Thache Warden picks himself up off the floor and shakes his head to clear the cobwebs off of it. He wasn't expecting to get knocked around like that. Spooks skitters further down the hallway, cat in hot persuit.

It actually runs right by Avira and her drawn sword.

Apparently it wants bigger and more plump prey.

Spooks /is/ plump.

Staring after the giant-sized cat the captain pauses a moment. One eyebrow quirked up in amusement. Still mini'd. Still with that chimpmonk of a voice, but somehow still with that hint of an irish accent.

"Apparently you arn't as pouplar with more traditional felines." He tosses towards the woman planting herself for a fight as he casually strolls over in her direction. "Don't feel too bad, the thing didn't look to have as good taste in women as I d--"

A growl from further down the corridor, where the chase began cuts him off and the pirate glances over his shoulder to find they /both/ are being peered at by not just one, but five sets of glimmering cat's eyes.

"...oh. Lovely." A pause again. "Think you can take them all or is this a time to hide?"
Avira Avira is ready to fight!!! Avira is...

...totally being ignored by the wildcat. "..h..hey..." she frowns, sounding a little miffed by this rebuff. Well Spooks was certainly bigger and juicer. She was tiny-..tinier. "Well it's not like I wanted to get attacked by a giant cat anyway-" she huffs back, lowering the Spine. Just as he stops in mid sentence, she too freezes and looks down into the darkness.

Not saying a word, Avira slams a hand down onto the ground before her, coating it with a sheen of ice in their wake. "Or running, running seems good." Avira runs.
Warden Thache "Wait! No! Don't ru--"

Too late!

Warden curses as Avira bolts. "RUNNING IS A PREY RESPONCE!" He shouts towards her as the cats suddenly unleash a cacophany of yowls and give chase. "I THOUGHT YOU WERE A HUNTER!" He accuses as he takes to his heels after her.

The cats that chase them are smaller than the previous ones. A passel of younger kittens, though still easily large enough to make a mouthfull of either of them.

The ice patch helps at least. The first three wipe out entirely in a pile of claws and fur and suprised hissing. The gnaw on each other in anger and a play-fight breaks out over who gets to attack the toys.

The other two though? Well the last in the pack leap over the squbbling siblings and make great strides towards the fleeing pair. One raises a a paw. Claws catch the light and with a suprising speed and agility brings it down towards Avira.

Warden can see it out of the corner of his eye and with a curse that would be bleeped out by the censors throws himself as the fleeing hunter to try to knock them both aside and into a crevice in the wall.
Avira "THERE ARE FIVE OF THEM! We are grossly outnumbered!!" Avira is no Angantyr. She actually can't afford to throw herself at such a ridiculously stacked-looking fight. Though if Angantyr did see this happening he'd probably yell at her. To Avira's credit, she can actually run pretty fast.

The ice works as intended, causing a five-cat pileup on the ground. She's pretty eager to not stand around and admire her handiwork.

While she doesn't look back, she does hear the cat advancing behind her to pounce. The tugged-free Spine starts to reach upward, angled where the cat's paw would be brought down upon it. Her plans are suddenly interrupted as Warden tackles her sideways and pushes her through a dark crevice in the wall.

With a huff as the wind is knocked out of her lungs, she falls to the floor beneath the Pirate, the Spine rattled out of her grasp. "Ugggh...geroffameh."
Warden Thache "Elequent as always, Lady Wolf." The pirate growls as he slowly extracts himself frot he tangle of limbs. There is a note of some pain in his voice as he does so, but the smirk is still there. "Usually I prefer throwing my women on something softer than a tree. So my apologies."

Its dark in the crevice and before Warden can say more the face of the cat blocks the entrence. Peerin in and trying to stick its paw far enough in to get at the two toys inside. Its cawl dig spirals of wood out of the brach, but come just an inch or two short of catching the pair of them.
Avira "Ugggh..." Avira groans again, though not due to any pain from the impact. She looks rather embarassed now in fact as she squirms her way out from underneath him. As she moves, the woman snatches up the Spine moments before that paw comes reaching in after them.

Avira stares at this for a few long moments, looking numb, before barking out a "0Down, kitty!" in the command voice in order to get some space. She looks over at Warden grumpily.

"Well now we're both /stuck/ here until those cats go away." She seems miserable. He knows he certainly wouldn't mind his captive audience.
Warden Thache The cat outside looks very suprised as it suddenly backs off and lies down as there is a little tinny voice from the hole in the wall that gives it orders. The animal glares at the hole distrusftully, tail lashing back and forth. Hopefully he migtht loose intrest soon...hopefully....

When she turns back to glare at Warden though, she would find him trying very hard to resist the urge to sit down on a exposed part of the crevice. His ears pinned back. His eyes glaring. "Would you kindly /not/ call me 'kitty'." He grumbles towards the woman. "...and yes. We are stuck here. Unless we want to go exploring."
Avira Avira watches the reaction of the cat and smiles. So it worked, even in the adorable little chipmunk voice. This brings a sense of relief to her face and she leans her back against the far wall of the crevice. Now if they could just wait it out...

She takes notice of Warden's reaction now and lifts an eyebrow. "I wasn't talking to you." she starts, then Come here, Warden, would you do that? Well, okay, it's me, so of course you would. Maybe I should test it with something more..distinctive?"

She smirks a little wider. Maybe she had a bit of power over him!?
Warden Thache Ask and ye shall recieve.

Though prehaps its not exactly what she might want.

His ears go from pined back to perked forewards in a split second and his tail twitches. His eyes brighten and he fairly /leaps/ across the space between them. Not quite a pouce, but close enough. She's leaning against the wall and as he come stowards her with that liquid grace of his he slams the palm of one hand against the wall to one side of the head.

"You called?" A pause again. "Just what kind of distincive are we talking here, luv? I mean we /do/ seem sto be stuck here for awhile..."

...so yes. 'Come here' might not have been the best command.

...but it worked! One way or the other!
Avira At the suddenness of the movement, a surprised expression overcomes her face and she straightens considerably, staring at the pirate. Her eyes dart to that hand, flat against the wall so close to her head, then back at him. All the sudden this doesn't seem like the best of ideas to try. Not only did she kind of feel bad using what kind of did amount to mind control but..dangit, now he's up in her face.

"N...nothing, just wanted to see if that worked." she says, trying to resume an unflappable demeanor. It's not really working. "And it doesn't have to be a while, not if I can help it!"

She tries to peer around Warden to see if the cat is still there.
Warden Thache "Oh come on, I could be such stimulating company if you let me." Warden's voice holds that tease in it as he leans against the wall. So very close to her. "...and it worked. Arn't you happy about that?" He adds, his green eyes twinkling.

If it worked or not its hard to tell. He might ust be fooling with her.

"I'm sure we could find something to make the time fly..." He leans slightly to the opposite side as she peers around him. His breath getting awfully close to her neck. The way she is leaning its not /that/ hard to do. "You might even enjoy it..."

Oh she can see the cat, peering into their little hidey hole. Its starting to look a little bored at least.

Whats more however, she notes a line of blood leading from the entrence to where Warden was seated, and pooling there.

Apparently that first claw was closer than she thought.
Avira In the back of her mind, there was doubt. Did the Voice really work on a sentient demihuman such as Warden? Or was he just playing along to make her uncomfortable. His reaction here made her wonder just that as he leans in. Just the faintest hint of embarassment can be seen upon a slight reddening of her cheeks but for the most part, her face remains angry-looking. Almost pouty. A hand reaches up to push Warden out of her personal space.

"Oh I'm sure you have ideas." Avira says dryly, watching the cat. The big cat that is, not Warden. The blood trail gets her attention and she follows it to where Warden had been moments before.

She looks back up at him. "You're bleeding." she accuses. "Let me see that."
Warden Thache The pirate will never tell which. Even if he did tell which Avira would most likely not believe him. The man is a liar and a cheat, and an admitted one at that. He leans in /almost/ close enough to kiss her right at the hollow of her throat before that shove takes him at least a pace back. Giving her a touch of breathing room at least.

That razor edge smile remains on his face as she angry-pouts at him. "I'm quite inventive if you let me be." The man drawls towards her before frowning at her next words.

That frown continues as he glances back over his shoulder. "...che...I really like this coat. Damn thing ruined it..." He mutters before quirking an eyebrow. "Why? Worried about me now?" He asks as he turns slightly to reveal a long gash in his back, a tear in the jacket. Even the tip of his tail seems to be clipped.

The cat outside? Still lying on the ground. Glaring.
Avira At this point, it was unfortunate, but Avira really would have trouble believing Warden. Especially right now as she was so close to him and had little alleged barrier against him. But a slow shove seems to do the trick and the pirate slips backwards further.

Stepping away from the wall, Avira starts to circle Warden, trying to spot the source of the blood herself. "Well yes, just a little. If you have an injury, it makes you easier to track. Having these cats track you easily will hurt you in the long run-oh, oh dear...here, take off your jacket and shirt."

The woman reaches to one of the pouches at her waist. "I have some bandages on me that should help."
Warden Thache Warden is a strange fellow. Sometimes he is as intense and passionate and angry as a small sun, and other times he is cool as clear salt water and playfull as a north wind. He can swich between all the different seemings in a moments notice. If he didn't feel like it, that shove wouldn't have budged him.

However he did feel like it.

So it works.

At the request he smirks, that wicked and woflish smile growing just slightly in brightness. "I /knew/ you would want to get me out of my clothes sooner or later. So foward though." His brows raise in a teasing manner. "I like it."

However it seems he is at least willing to take her request. He slips his jacket off, then the vest and shirt. The wound itself is jagged but shallow. Bloody, but not life threatening. His toned arms and chest are a network of various small nicks and scars, but taunt with muscle and hardly an ounce of fat. The physique of a swimmer.

The more curious ones are a jagged scar across his right shoulder, and then a slash down his back.

"There? Happy now?"
Avira Unfortunately, Avira expected a reaction such as this the moment she suggested that Warden remove his jacket. An overly dramatic sigh escapes her on this one.

Well at least he's cooperating? Avira will take it.

A sigh escapes her as she walks around so she's behind him and examines this wound. Out come her first aid supplies as she carefully cleans it. The peroxide applied to it first stings quite a bit.

Curious, though, her fingers trace the older scars which she wonders about. "Yes, I am happy. You are so much more agreeable when we're working together."
Warden Thache "Oh come now Lady Wolf, you sigh and complain but you're enjoying yourself. Admit it." Warden smirks back towards her though he hisses when she starts to clean the wound. Quite like a feline, his ears slowly slipping back to lie against his skull and his tail twitching slightly as she ministers to his wounds.

He's smiling. He's laughing. He's smirking at her. However under her fingers his muscles are hard and pulled tight. The tension evident in her touch, as if he's just waiting for her to try to put a blade in his back.

He can feel her touch against the scars and he smirks slightly. The shoulder one seems to be the oldest, years obviously. The one across his back slightly younger in age, but still at least nearly a decade. He must have been very young when he got damaged like that, but the wounds, both of them, were life threatening.

"And you're so much more adorable when you're blushing. What might your point be?"
Avira "You flatter yourself." Avira says dryly as a means of dodging an acknowledgement of whether or not he was right. Warden's company was...odd. On one hand he was absolutely infuriating and clearly a despicable man out to do despicable things. A shining example of why, in the end, Avira decided that she did not have it in her to be a real pirate. On the other hand, he did have a sort of roguish charm to him. Vexing, that.

But as she bandages his wound and feels the tension of his muscles beneath her hands, she begins to wonder just how much of those smiles were merely fake, covering up what was really going on in his head. Right now his body betrays the tension inside him, as if any moment he was expecting an attack.

Fortunately for him, Avira is not planning one. Call it a weakness, but she wasn't the type to bury daggers in people's backs. She's still holding on to that aversion to killing.

"Well this explains why you don't seem to be deterred by scars." she pauses and makes an embarassed noise. "Tch, nothing, hold still, I'm almost done." Warden will feel bits of sticky medical tape holding down the gauze over his wounds. Then, a slim finger traces around it, leaving the faint tingling feeling of slow regen magic behind. "There. I'm no healer like my best friend but I did try to learn a few things in case of emergencies."
Warden Thache "Always," Warden agrees with her on her dodge. So the dodge sort of worked, and sort of just stroked his ego once again. Of course Warden seems capeable of turning everyting into a compliment to himself. Its a gift he suposes. He /does/ think of himself as a charming rogue, so he would be pleased to know that much works.

The tension doesn't leave his body, but there is a gentle shiver at the rush of healing magic. His eyes half close. It tingles all the way down. He isn't used to this. To someone else treating wounds.

He sort of enjoys it.

He also is trying to not enjoy it enough to let his wariness down.

Life is a knife in the back for the pirate. He always worries about that. He trusts precious few people, and so far life has born that worry out.

"I have worse ones than you or Lord Idiot could ever give me." He speaks of the scars of course as he glances back over his shoulder. "Nice little memories and lessons learned." He adds with a twist of his lips into a smirk. "You have your own don't you?"

A pause however before he draws a breath and slowly lets it out. "...and thanks."

Apparently he isn't too proud to acknowldge that much.
Avira What was really strange though? Why wasn't Warden making lewd comments at her while she was fixing him up? Did it have to do with the tension? Maybe that was just an act too. Though Avira notes this, she doesn't comment on it and all too soon those hands are gone. "Okay. That should hold for now. I don't think you'll be bleeding for much longer so we won't have to worry about the smell...eventually."

Still...no knife in Warden's back.

"Oh really now. While I understand I am not the most intimidating of people, Angantyr is another level on his own. He could certainly leave a scar." She looks at him oddly before catching on to his perhaps hidden meaning. "Well yes, yes I do. One or two..."

She pauses. "...you're welcome." A frown follows and she turns away, looking to the entrance of the crevice very carefully. She doesn't get too close, knowing the wildcat did have some reach inside.
Warden Thache The lack of comments? Well thats rather obvious. He has found out though long and painful experinace that flirting that hard with someone who was holding a bottle of peroxide over an open wound only ends in pain and suffering for him. Most women like to splash EXTRA on it if he gives them too much 'help'.

However, as soon as she's done...

"Mmmm. We could go exploring, see if we could find a shower to get all the scenet off." Again that smirk. "I wouldn't sharing a shower with you, take less time that way wouldn't it. I promise I wouldn't even peek." The smirk grows. "...much."

"If it was Angantyr here, I wouldn't have let him within' a mile of me. The man is the most bloodthirsty 'hero' I've ever met." He says that with a touch of sarcasm. "And no, he wouldn't leave a scar. He would just kill me." He says it so matter of factly.

He quirks an eye up in her direction.

"Would you? Kill someone that is? It would have been dreadfully easy for you to do just now and you have said it more than once. I'm a rouge, a bastard, a dastardly blackhearted pirate." He seems pervicely proud of that simple fact.

"The world would be better off without my kind, isn't that what you heros think?"

The cat outside is...wait. WAIT. The cat seems to be gone! At least he's not visible from their little sanctuary.
Avira She doesn't look back at him when she hears him speak up again about showers. "Funny, where were these comments when i had you shirtless?" she mutters, edging closer to the entrance when she spies no cat in sight. "That's fine, I don't need to be subject to your wandering eyes and hands." she adds crisply.

Cautiously, she peeks her head out the opening. Her voice goes quiet now. A whisper as she continues to banter. "I doubt he'd call himself a hero, even if he has a keyblade. You are right, though, he would likely kill you, especially if you laid hands upon Maira. I think you are smart enough to realize why."

He asks that question and at that point, she has to back away from the entrance to turn to look at him. She stares at him for a long moment, apparenly sizing him up and weighing her options of answering that question. "I..."

Hesitation.

"I...don't kill people. I'm not like Angantyr in that regard and he knows it. We have an understanding." For just a few seconds she seems a little vulnerable about this. "I've never killed a person before and I really don't want to start."

She folds her arms over her chest. "So you'd just have to be dealt with another way."
Warden Thache "You /still/ have me shirtless, which I think dreadfully unfair that only one of us is that way." The pirate counters as he stands and twirls in place to show off. He is like that, showing off. He chuckles though before shrugging. "You're loss. I can guarentee that you would find it enlightening."

Talk turns slightly more serious as she creeps up to the hole. Her head scooches out slightly as at first and catches no sight of a cat waiting for a tasty morsel to come sneaking out of the hole. It looks clear! They could be safe!

"Because he fancies her of course. And is all tormented and dark due to the fact that he kills people. And he likely doesn't think he's worthy of her. Then goes out and does a bit of murder and feels horridly guilty about it again." Warden drawls out with a slight shrug. "He's like a cliche stepped out of some tormented old trid-show." A pause. "I don't have room to talk on cliches I supose, but still. I will."

At the admission though he pauses, quirking one eyebrow up slightly. "You don't?" His head cants to the other side. "At all?" One hand taps against his bare ribs as he thinks on that. "Well I supose that is a choice. One that some could respect. Difficult though. Very difficult." A pause again. "Killing a person isn't all that hard, holding back? Much more difficult."

He pauses again, noting the look from the woman. How unsure she looks. "I supose that is something I could respect. Provided you're telling the tr--GODDAMN CAT!!!"

He aborts to this as the wildcat leaps down from a brach it was hiding on just /above/ the entrence and jams its paw in to try to get to Avira. Warden reacts by snapping a hand out to try to grab the lady and jerk her back away from the hole. Overbalancing them and falling backwards away from the reaching paw.

...at least she gets to be top this time.
Avira "You should probably put that back on." Avira offers cheerfully. "So there is less exposure of your wound." Not that the shirt doesn't have a big hole in it right over the gash. Since the cat DID get him through the shirt. "Besides, it's probably cold." Not that Avira hadn't checked to see whether or not Warden's speciies has hair or fur.

Since it looks clear, Avira carefully starts to step out of the crevice.

"Mmm, that's almost it, Warden, but not quite. I wouldn't call Angantyr tormented at all. He is perfectly okay with his urges and the fact that he has killed people before. He's a darkness user that has it under control, you see. For...reasons I probably shouldn't share openly. He does have a thing for Maira though."

But slowly, she nods. "I've never killed someone. And I've never wanted to. I've...just been lucky so far that I haven't been put in that position." There were so many issues with sharing that with Warden...so many ways to take advantage of that.

"But I am telling you the-" Avira's words are cut off as she's dragged back into the crevice and onto Warden. In a confusing tangle of limbs she falls to the floor with her face on his chest. She seems in shock. "Wh...what..."
Warden Thache His species does /not/ have fur. However it also seems that he isn't all that cold, as he isn't in any hurry to put that shirt of his back on. Apparnetly the writers wanted a fanservice section of the show. The man defintally isn't shy about well...just about anything at all. "And deprive you of the view? I wouldn't dream of it."

There was a lot more he could say, however the cat sort of distracts him at that moment. He lands with an /ooph/ and a hiss of pain. Landing /on/ a new wound is not going to be good for said new wound. He scoots back as fast as he can those last few inches as the wildcat jams its paw in once more to try to get at the pair of tasty 'mice' in their little hole. Arms clench around her in that tangle of arms and legs and the pirate hop bounces backwards as he stutters anti-grav boots a moment to get that extra distance away.

This close, curled up against him for the second time she can /defintally/ feel that there is no fur. Its skin, just a very feline build. There is also the scent of leather, the sweet tang of rum, and something strangely spicy that seems to be uinque to the pirate himself.

"You." Flat on his back he slowly raises his head. "Didn't look up did you." A pause. "You always look up! Its the best place to hide!" A pause. "I suppose you have a strange attraction to being pounced on by cats." A pause. "Or puncing on cats." A pause. "Or cats just want to eat you."

She can take any of those statements poorly should she wish.
Avira Maybe he's a descendant from one of those hairless cats...something to consider later at least. Should she even ask? What if he thinks it's racist?! What if he's like a bangaa, who will tear off your head if you call them a lizard!?

But that's not important now. What is important is that the tricky cat had managed to claw his way up into the tree where Avira couldn't see him. The larger animal nearly pounces upon the mini'd human until Warden makes his save. There are a few moments when she is curled against him, too surprised and angry with herself to really push him away. She's shocked how close she came to seriously being hurt (or WORSE).

"Look, I'm a human, not a cat! I don't think about these things!" Avira blurts out, sounding upset. She only takes some of those statements poorly as she pushes away from him with a small groan. "Now leggo of me." she murmurs, her shoulders slumped.
Warden Thache "You know," Warden grones from his spot on the floor. "As much as I like making a habit of this..." He's landed on his wound, and the explosion of pain somewhere against the back of his skull informs him that it likely was not the best of ideas. Even with the quick patch-work that Avira had done to him.

He can feel each bruise in his side and shoulder. He knows that will slow him down, but still she might can feel that reluctance of his to show even a hint of weakness. Held against him, the tension. The coiled power just waiting for someone to attempt to do /something/. Perhaps that was why he was so good at keeping his lithe frame from harm.

He was always expecting someone to backstab him.

"It doesn't matter! And its not just cats! Spiders! Slugs! Humans with /rope/. Ninjas. They all love that ambush from above tatic. Urgh..."

The man doesn't let her go quite yet, but doesn't seem to be attempting to rip her head off either. So thats something.

"And you're welcome." He adds with a sour look, a sour look that twists into a smirk once more as his ears perk up. "What do I get out of letting you go hrmm?" Now his tone shifts to more teasing, leaving his arms looped around her as she tries to disentangle herself.

"What if I'm enjoying myself? You're quite warm."
Avira A tiny part of Avira might feel bad if she managed to split his back open again from that. A tiny part. The rest of her would just grouse that this troublesome scoundrel cannot keep himself in one piece!

Even now she can still tell he's tense. Then again, after that near miss she cannot blame him. "...slugs? Slugs ambush from above?" She asks increduously, only now trying to squirm her way free. After a second she catches the 'humans with rope' reference and turns a little red.

"...in my defense I wasn't exactly human at the time..." she mutters, then sits up. "Hey! What do you get out of letting me go? You get one free get-out-of-being-punched-in-the-nose-in-the-next-ten-seconds card. Redeemable /today/!"

She huffs, "We need to focus or else we're going to be stuck here. I'd have to call the rest of VALKYRI for help and that could take time."
Warden Thache "Obviously you've never seen a Orion space slug in full battle regalia, its a sight to see let me tell you." Warden's glib reply rolls off his tounge as smooth as any of his insults or compliments. Every word dancing somewhere between truth and falsehood and never sure just which way any specific one might fall.

He lets the woman sit up, but instead of passivly and simply letting her go he brings himself up as well. His chin on her shoulder, his arms loosely around her sides. "I just saved your life, don't you think thats worth that card?" He drawls out, one ear twitching as he peers towards her out of the corner of his too-green eyes. The cat's slitted orbs glimmering with amusement and the reflected light of the surroundings.

He's quiet for that precious half-sencond. Almost moving like he would let her go before instead shifting tatics. "And apparently I'm bad company to spend time with. Insufferable and all?" He asks lightly. "Such cutting words to fling at me. Fine, if you want to know a secret? Cats get bored easily. So we can stay here and wait, or attempt to distract it with something else."

A shine of curiousity flits its way into his gaze. "I'd rather stay and chat. Just what /were/ you? At that time that is."
Avira "No." Avira deadpans. "I can safely say I have never seen an Orion Space Slug. My travels of space have thus far been to nothing more than gummispace." If anything, she'll admit that, throw him a bone since he did seem to enjoy learning random things about her travels or motives. Sure, it was a dangerous game to play and it could be turned against her in the future, but she didn't see the risk as too ggreat.

One hand lifts to gently grasp his chin for a few seconds, perhaps ominously, before she lets him go. "Well, perhaps it is a fair exchange." she says haughtily.

Perhaps that turned him off, she wonders. A persistant foe for certain. "Too bad I don't have any laser pointers on me." she laments, "...I wonder if those would work on you-wait. Your ropes, those might serve as a nice shiny distraction."

But he continues and Avira finds her earlier thoughts proving true. He was curious about her at least. "Another form of mine called a mutate. A while ago I was injected with a chemical that changed me into that...quite infamously, Hades of the Underworld changed me back. That...well that's a long story."
Warden Thache She grabs his chin and just as she releases it he twists his head to score a light kiss against her retreating knuckles. His sharper fangs brushing just slightly over her skin as she snaps her hands back.

Apparently that didn't turn him off in the least.

His eyes dance with laughter as he opens his lips to speak. "Ol' flame-for-a-head? Longtooth Hades himself? Oh my my my. He must have wanted /something/ from you for /that/ little favor. Your VALKYRI are /really/ bad at the whole hero angle arn't you?" His voice holding some kind of quiet amusement. "Dealing with devils. Becoming pirates and wanted women. Angantyr killing people willy nilly. You're as bad as I am."
Avira Warden will gradually notice that Avira seems to grow a little more tense in his presence when she feels those fangs brush against her knuckles. It's a small reminder that Warden was still pretty dangerous-though he might want to cuddle now, he never said anything about not putting a dagger in HER back!

Avira's explanation of the mutate and a slight reference to how it was fixed earns her some mocking. Her gaze falls and there's a look of consternation on her face. "...yeah he did. He wanted my service. We even had a contract drawn up over it. Fortunately, that contract had an escape clause that Mercade was able to break. So I don't work for him. And no, I didn't know he was someone who shouldn't be dealed with OR a Shadow Lord when I made that deal. Nor did I realize I was Manhattan's dusk princess."

"I'm...I'm not /bad/..." she says defensively.
Warden Thache "He's the /lord of the dead/, not exactly the most trustworthy of mytholgical figures. Even /I/ know that and I'm not exactly the religious type." The pirate replies as he watches the woman.

In private he relishes that little moment of tension he can feel from Avira. That moment of relisation that he isn't always all fun and games. That he is dangerous.

Admit it. That sharp half-smile seems to say. That danger is a bit of a rush isn't it?

"Mmmm," He murmurs quietly as she goes on the defensive. "I supose you arn't. In the grand scheme of things at least. "You seem to be genuine enough at least. Though I've known more than a few men and women who seemed genuine enough, until you peel back the outside and find the rot underneith. You try at least."

His head tilts to one side, slightly away from her. One ear pricks up and the other half-folds. "You at least seem to feel remorse when something goes wrong, rather that just justifing it. So no, you arn't bad. All the time at least."

The man falls quiet, a thoughtful gaze settling on the side of her (wary and blushing) face.

"I supose the ropes will work as a distraction," Suddenly jumping rails in the conversation. Likely trying ot catch her offguard. "Combine it with your ice and we might have something to work with."
Avira "Y..yeah well I didn't want to assume that just because he's a lord of the dead than that automatically makes him untrustworthy." Again, Avira sounds defensive and now a little...sad. Her deal had caused a lot of unnecessary trouble and nearly cost everyone Manhattan. As time goes on and he remains close to her, that tension gradually increases, muscles tightening as she puts herself in a ready position to -act- if she needed to do so.

"If anything I try to be honest." Avira quietly admits, folding her arms at her stomach. "I know I'm not some super pure-hearted maiden like a dusk princess is supposed to be." Maybe that's why she...wasn't one anymore? Avira cannot tell. "I guess I'm just too human to forgive everyone for everything." There's an awkward pause at that point. She's not sure what to say.

But then he speaks up and changes topics entirely-one she's much more comfortable discussing with this man now. "Combine it with my ice how? I'm thinking your shiny, colorful ropes could definitely draw attention. Like how when you dangle string at a cat-" Avira makes the motions with her fingers like she's dangling something above Warden's face.
Warden Thache "If you keep that up I'm either going to pounce you or bite your fingers," Warden warns as his agile frame finally releases her. He could feel the building of tension, twisting around inside her as if she were the spring on a watch. Eventually that tension would either break or warp that spring and if it breaks all that energy has to go somewhere.

That somewhere would be right into his face if he was any judge.

Not in a good way either.

So he lets go, limbs sliding slowly away from her. Fingers hissing quietly against the fabric of her outfit as he leans fianlly away from her.

"Ice patches. I lure the beast into a patch, it goes sliding. Either into a wall or further away. Either one works doesn't it?"

The shirtless pirate smirks towards her, the expression holding something more personal. His eyes glinting oddly in the light. "And. For the record? To hell with how you are suposed to be. I was supposed to be a leatherworker. I make a much better pirate."

Though that does explain it, when he said he made her mask and hat.
Avira Avira elects to tease him for a few seconds longer before moving her hand away, a small smirk on her face. "Next time I'll get you some yarn, alright?" She promises, the tension still inside her despite her rather tame words.

At last she is released, believing that a promise of teamwork has kept him at bay for now. That or he was satisfied with the footnotes of her past she'd provided, if only at the expense of some ill-defined reputation. "I suppose you are one of those quirky men that enjoy the...imperfections." she mutters and moves to stand.

"Ahh, like that. I can do that easily, I practice that move quite often. It's very useful." She turns to look back at him, seeing that smirk. Her mouth opens, ready to question him over it when he offers up a tidbit of his past involving leatherworking.

"...you are good as a leatherworker too." Avira notes neutrally. "Now come, it's time to distract a cat that is not you."
Warden Thache She can believe what she wishes, he isn't very forthcoming on just what made him let go. The pirate isn't one to go into his thoughts on that. The yarn comment brings nothing more than a smirk from him.

With that liquid grace of a born mariner the man makes his way to his feet. It seems he has stopped oozing from the back since he is deciding to go get his coat and his shirt. He doesn't put it on yet however.

"Life is about imprefections, and just how you polish yourself to either enhance or hide them." The man replies, his board back to the woman as he slips on his shirt. "So yes, I supose I'm one of the ones that might enjoy them. Enjoy enhancing them. Until they shine brighter than any jewel you can find in the rings of Cassiopeia."

He smirks slightly towards her as he shrugs on his coat.

"Does this make me a bad person? That I have no shame and take pride in my missdeeds?" He adds as he flicks on his wrist casings. The equipment starts to hum as he strides towards the entrence of their little hideaway.

It seems that the man isn't expecting an answer, or he's already decided just what he answer will be because he adds without waiting for one.

"I'm glad you liked the hat."
Avira As he passes by, Avira takes a moment to check out his back to see how well it was healing up. To see that it has stopped bleeding for now is a bit of a relief, especially since Avira was afraid he had torn it back open again when he fell down after pulling her from the cat. She's also noticed that he sure seems to like not wearing his shirt around her. Part of her is definitely not surprised and honestly, she can't really help looking.

"I dunno about having my imperfections...enhanced. Corruption's not a road I want to take." Avira too heads for the entrance, a faint blue glow tracing her hands as she primes her ice magic. She reflects on his question....but doesn't answer right away. She starts to, only to be interrupted.

"It's a nice hat." she murmurs, "Are you ready?"
Warden Thache "Corruption is all around you my dear," Warden murmurs as he pauses at hte entrence. "You can't run away from it. You just have to figure out how to deal with it. Everyone does. Its just a matter of how you do it. Ignore it, embrace it, hate it but you will have to deal with it one day."

The pirate flourishes his wrists before the humming energy ropes slipping from the ends of their housings.

"My dear Lady Wolf." He winks once towards her. "I am always ready." A pause. "Ladies first."
Avira "I refuse to let myself be corrupted." Avira says quietly with steel. "Or I..." she looks sad for a few moments. What of her heart? What of her light? She never did recover it all after giving it to Manhattan. Maybe now her heart was just average. "...won't be letting it get worse."

Mentally discarding the depressing subject matter, she focuses herself fully onto her magic before darting outside. She does look up, briefly, as she exits before brushing her fingertips along the ground. Ice quickly begins to spread outward, coating the ground in a glistening sheen. She herself avoids stepping onto the ice and motions for Warden to follow.
Warden Thache "I never said you were corrupted," Warden mumurmurs quietly as he glances at the woman from the corner of his eyes. "Just imperfect. They arn't the same thing." A slight smile, more of a smirk is angled towards her. "...I supose you could say I like the both of them, but you? No. Not corrupted. Just imperfect."

A smirk again.

"Which /I/ find highly attractive." Also might be why he wanted her to go first.

When she moves however, he follows. Out into the housecat's den...no hesitation. No waiting. No daggers in her back. He just follows, with no more comments or banter on the subject.

They have a cat to distract. Well. One beyond him.

 
This scene contained 45 poses. The players who were present were: Avira, Warden Thache