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Post by Angel ♥ on May 26, 2008 13:04:55 GMT -5
Rory was stood with her back to the fighting and her arms wrapped around herself, still pale under her hood. Now she understood the stories and the bad reputation of the slums. As bad as the castle was, no-one would have ever dared to speak to her like that, nevermind grab her and try dragging her away. She was shaken by how defenseless she was; totaly vulnerable when Phoenix wasn't there.
Rory just nodded to Layla a little. It wasn't alright, not at all. She was still shaking a little, suddenly far less trusting of the people around her. She had just been brought down to earth with a bump and she wasn't sure that she would be able to live in a place like this. She wasn't like Layla or Phoenix, she couldn't deal with people like that as easily as they could, and she seemed to be pouting as she ran her fingertips over the broken stem of the wooden rose.
She glanced up and over her shoulder at the sound of Phoenix's voice, smiling to him weakly as she nodded slowly. "Just a bit shaken up...are you ok?" She asked him, her gaze sweeping over him to make sure that he wasn't too badly hurt.
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Post by Vyncent Schwarz on May 26, 2008 13:17:21 GMT -5
"I'm fine, sometimes you just have to teach idiots like that a lesson. Nobody will touch you again, I promise." he told her, looking quite worried as the market began to wrap up and people began to leave. He could see she was more shaken up than she was letting on, and he frowned a little - perhaps she was better off at the castle, it had been stupid of him to take her with him. "I'll be at the inn in a few minutes, Layla." he nodded to her, the girl throwing him a brief nod in reply and wandering off to help pack everything away. Then he turned his attention back to Rory, ignoring his pounding head as he swept himself off.
"Hey, listen. You shouldn't have had to go through that, I'm sorry." he told her quietly, walking them away from the masses of people to stand next to a rather deserted market stall. "If you want to go back to the palace now I'll take you there, okay? I don't want you to feel unsafe here but I'm not gonna lie to you - it IS pretty harsh round here. And you might find it easier to go back to the palace is all..." he didn't even like to hear the words coming out of his mouth; in the short time they'd been around each other he felt he couldn't stop thinking about the princess. Foolish, espcially considering the social difference between them, but that's how things were.
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Post by Angel ♥ on May 26, 2008 13:42:05 GMT -5
She was more shaken up than she was admitting, and it would probably be a long time before she let Phoenix leave her on her own again, even if she had to listen to arkward and unplesant conversations. That didn't mean that she wanted to go back to the castle though. She would rather have to learn to deal with that type of situation than have to return to the palace to marry that awful man. Plus, she might maybe just not want to leave Phoenix just yet. They had only just met and...well...she could always go back in the morning if she really wanted and still be there in time for the wedding, but for now she wanted to stay.
"It's not your fault, but thanks for saving me..." She mumbled to him, her gaze on the ground. Did this mean that he wanted her gone? "I don't want to go back there, I would rather have to face people like that every day than be married to someone like that." She told him, raising her gaze to look up at him. "Please don't make me go back there..." Awweh, that was just a whisper really, Rory looking worried that he was going to announce that he couldn't look after her and this was all a mistake and that if she didn't let him take her home then he would just leave her here.
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Post by Vyncent Schwarz on May 26, 2008 13:53:42 GMT -5
"I told you, nobody is going to make you do anything while you're outside the palace walls." he smiled at her brightly, trying to hide how pleased he was that she didn't want to go back there - not that he should be pleased, but to hell with that. "Of course I'd save you. Do I look like someone who'd let a pretty girl get carted away by an idiot?" he winked at her and looked around at the slowly disappearing market, folding his arms. "Right, there are no other asses around here for me to beat the crap out of. I think we should go let Layla know that you didn't kill me for leaving you alone." he nudged her a little and led them off again through a small side street, making sure she stayed close - he wasn't letting her out of his sight now, not after what had just happened.
The side street led into a larger square, the inn looking rather run down and typical of the slums, but the lights inside were lit and it looked merry and welcoming. "She must be in a good mood after all. The door is still open, usually she'd lock me out if I'd really annoyed her." he chuckled to himself as he walked across to it, Layla in the doorway to greet them. "I was thinkin' of locking you out, but that would be unfair to your friend, wouldn't it?" she told him lightly, the thief nevertheless looking as though she'd blessed him with a gift, even throwing her that charming smirk as he walked inside.
The inn was warm, several people milling about in the lobby area while others wandered down from the stairs, yawning. It seemed more like a large house than an inn, several of the inhabitants looking as though they lived there opposing to just staying there for the night.
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Post by Angel ♥ on May 26, 2008 14:37:40 GMT -5
She couldn't hide her relief as he didn't march her back off to the castle right then and there, smiling to him gratefully as he repeated that she had a choice as long as she was out there. "Thanks Phoenix." She smiled to him, blushing predictably at the second comment before shaking her head a little. "I'm starting to think that being pretty might be a bad thing around here." She sighed lightly before shaking her head a little, as if to dismiss her last comment, moving to follow behind him as he started walking, having no intentions of getting distracted and falling behind or anything like that, being close to Phoenix was safer.
"Hmmm, maybe she's not as much of a she-demon as you think." She teased him lightly, trying to lighten the mood a little and make herself feel better as well. "Or maybe she feels sorry for you after your fight? I'm guessing you bumped your head because you seem a little dizzy." She added, arching an eyebrow at him before shaking her head a little. "At least your head doesn't look to be bleeding."
The inn felt comfortable and warm even if it was nothing like what she was used to, though she still stuck close to Phoenix, just to make sure that nothing else happened. She was too tired for anything else to happen tonight.
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Post by Vyncent Schwarz on May 26, 2008 14:55:09 GMT -5
"Naw, if he'd have really done some damage he'd be staggerin' around by now. He's just a little confused." Layla laughed at her 'dizzy' comment, Phoenix pouting at her, "His head's too hard to do any damage to." she grinned, knocking the thief's head as if to make a point. He actually did seem quite dazed then, but that may have been to do with the fact that Layla had very hard fists, and could punch with the best of them.
"Nice to see you're all worried about me. If being worried involves seeing how much damage my skull can hold." he smirked, brushing his bangs out of his face and watching as Layla locked the door behind them. "I'm tired, see you in the morning." he waved rather sleepily to the girl, motioning for Rory to follow him as he began to trudge up the stairs, other patrons moving out of his way automatically. It seemed he practically lived here too, the others knowing all too well where he was going to go and even if he was in the mood to talk to. Layla smirked as he left, resting a hand on Rory's arm before she followed.
"Don't worry about him, he's out like a light in literally two minutes, and he's notorious for sleeping late. Seems like he's all flirted out by the time he goes to sleep, so you have nothing to worry about. It's just up the stairs and to the left." she told her softly, releasing her again and grinning as she moved amongst the other patrons.
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Post by Angel ♥ on May 26, 2008 15:22:37 GMT -5
Aurora couldn't help but grin as Layla knocked on his head, "Well, he does seem to be rather hard headed." She laughed lightly in agreement, Rory's teasing much more light hearted than Layla's, but then again the two women had totaly different personalities hadn't they? Layla was the she-demon and Aurora was the Princess that wouldn't say boo to a butterfly. They would probably have made a formidable pair if given the chance, though Rory was still undecided over what to think of Layla. She seemed likable enough, but Rory would always be worried about upsetting her and making her yell.
She paused as she put her hand on her arm, looking bemused as she looked up at her, the light in the room making her features much easier to see even though she had her hood up. "Oh...yeah. Thanks, I will make sure to remember that." She nodded, feeling more comfortable with following Phoenix up to his room now. Plus, she figured that if he did by any chance decide to try anything then Layla would probably come and beat him up if she screamed.
She turned left when she got to the top of the stairs, as advised, pausing to work out which room belonged to Phoenix.
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Post by Vyncent Schwarz on May 26, 2008 15:37:09 GMT -5
Layla gave a small wave as she left before returning to the others; apparently to them in the middle of the night it WAS a good idea to drink ale, and getting the rest of the patrons to sleep at this rate was going to be entertaining.
Phoenix's room was just to the left of the stairs as she'd said, the door still open after the thief had walked into it. His room really was quite fascinating if you took the time to look at it, full of trinkets and treasures and odd little bits of stuff that looked as though they were half-complete. A good-sized bed filled the wall by the window, though there was a hammock hung lopsidedly on the wall opposite that looked a lot more well used. A ladder stood next to the bed, leading up to some hidden doorway in the ceiling and beyond, and what looked like a dart board had been hung above the window. If that didn't get someone's attention, then the enormous treasure chest beneath the hammock would.
The thief was currently leaning against one of the walls as he unbuckled his boots, looking up and smiling lightly as she came in. "Sorry it's such a mess, I wasn't expecting company and, to be fair, I DO live in the slums." he told her with a gentle laugh. "It's not much, but it's home... well, one of them." he shrugged, setting his boots down by the side of the hammock. "Feel free to take the bed, I only use it when I'm too tired and/or drunk to get into the hammock. Though Layla probably told you about that and other things." he smirked.
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Post by Angel ♥ on May 26, 2008 16:00:43 GMT -5
His room was just as she expected, it just matched his personality perfectly. "That's alright, I love your room..." She told him with a smile, lowering her hood once she was inside, unfastening the clasp on her cloak to remove it and drape it over one end of the bed. The dress that she wore under the cloak was simple yet elegant, purple in colour, cut to fit her slender figure. Over this she wore a wide, black belt around her waist in an attempt to give the illusion that she had some sort of curve to her figure. "You have so much...stuff!" She smiled as she sat on the edge of the bed, taking the time to let her eyes wander around and take in the oddities of the room, such as the dart and the ladder and the treasure chest and other things that she just hadn't noticed yet.
"Oh, she was actually being nice about you. She just told me not to worry because you'll just fall to sleep as soon as you get up here." She nodded as she slipped her shoes off and sat cross-legged on the bed, still gazing around the room. "How did you collect all this...stuff?"
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Post by Vyncent Schwarz on May 26, 2008 16:15:17 GMT -5
"It's disturbing that she knows me so well." he rolled his eyes, though seemed pretty amused by what Layla had said, glancing about the room as if he had forgotten about everything that was in there. "I guess I just collected stuff I liked and... over time it got to be a lot of stuff." he laughed; this was the first time he had actually looked at his room in a long while, usually he just walked in, slept, grabbed something from one of the draws or out of the chest and left again. "Some of it I had to take for a job I was doing, but the 'employer' either didn't want it anymore or they weren't paying me enough, but either way I ended up with it all. I s'pose some of it is probably worth money, but I'm not interested in that." he shrugged, "The item is worth more than the money."
Yes, that little statement seemed to describe Phoenix's state of mind perfectly, the thief somehow managing to clamber into the hammock without getting stuck or making a fool of himself, but then again it did look like he'd done it many times before. He sat up and stretched, smiling lightly as she took of her cloak and openly admiring her dress. "You know, that guy you're meant to be marrying is really losing out. And I'm laughing inside just knowing that." he announced to her with one last, charming smile before he settled back in the hammock, arms folded. Perhaps it was just because he was tired that made him voice his opinion so abruptly, but you could practically see his mind shutting down as he fell asleep, out like a light (as Layla had promised) in under two minutes.
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Post by Angel ♥ on May 26, 2008 16:41:21 GMT -5
Rory was working on letting her hair down as he spoke, collecting all those little diamond clips in her lap as she took them out. Ugh, how many clips had they put in? It was going to take forever. "Hmmm, I think that happens with me and jewellery. I think I've just ended up collecting it, I've not even worn some of the pieces I have...but they're all back at the palace." She sighed lightly, as if remembering that she wouldn't be going back home any time soon. Oh well, she would just have to take care of the simple bits of jewellery she was wearing.
His final statement before sleep made her laugh and blush all at the same time. She would love to see his face in the morning when they told him that she was gone, but, alas, that was a spectacle that she would just have to miss. "Night Phoenix." She murmured to him as he laid down, the light in the room seeming to dim, leaving just an orb of light floating by Rory's head. Well, she was scared of the dark, she couldn't leave it fully black in here could she?
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Post by Vyncent Schwarz on May 26, 2008 16:56:27 GMT -5
(Skip!) * * * * * * * * * * *
Phoenix woke up late, predictably. He hadn't seen an early morning in a great many months, since the jobs he usually ended up on led to him being out almost to sunrise, and he was asleep before he knew it. He couldn't even really remember falling asleep, one arm hung over the side of the hammock as he started to come around. He had turned to sprawl on his stomach in the middle of the night, and his hair had come loose from its plait as it often did when he was sleeping, the thief sighing heavily. If he didn't get up soon then Layla would prod him awake, and he didn't need that when he was only half-conscious. Yawning, he turned to lie on his back in the hammock, one leg now hanging from it as he rubbed his eyes.
Searching for the little black band that usually held his plait in place, he managed to slip the thing around his wrist so he didn't lose it, running his fingers through his hair. Ugh, he was dazed, and it was too light in the room, and... and when he had went to sleep, he remembered, there had been an angel in his bed. Suddenly he was wide awake, shuffling to sit up so the crimson tousles tumbled down over his shoulders. Ugh, to have to do your hair in the morning and be a guy - what a pain in the ass. But no matter how short he cut it, it soon grew back to this length, so he'd learned to leave it alone. His eyes flitted around the room dazedly and eventually to the bed, where he expected Rory to be.
Of course, in his mind it was very likely that meeting her could have been a dream... but then the back of his head felt like it had been slammed back into a wall... and funnily enough, that's what he had dreamed had happened.
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Post by Angel ♥ on May 26, 2008 17:08:44 GMT -5
Rory hadn't been able to get to sleep until just before sunrise due to a combination of worrying about her predicament and worrying about life in the slums. She had finished letting her hair down, storing the clips away in her money pouch, having found a hair brush to comb out her hair until it shone. In fact, she looked to have fallen to sleep while brushing her hair, the brush not far from her open hand. She was laid on her side on top of the blankets, her hair fanned out over the pillow, a few rouge strands falling into her face, fluttering with her soft breathing. She was still fast asleep, one hand tucked under her cheek, expression relaxed and full of innocence.
She was exhausted, not used to getting so little sleep, the strange surroundings not helping her rest. She would wake up as soon as she heard Phoenix moving around in the room, half of her mind still alert and awaiting signs that showed that he was awake so that it could wake her up properly and they could make sure she was properly hidden before the guards swamped the city and began their search for her.
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Post by Vyncent Schwarz on May 27, 2008 4:18:50 GMT -5
Phoenix could only sit and stare for a moment when he saw her, and realised it wasn't all a dream. A light smile crossed his face and he ran a hand through his hair, giving himself a moment to manage to wake up properly. She looked even more beautiful when asleep, her hair lighting up the room from its reflection against the sun. And she looked so innocent, it was hard to believe she had such strong morals and opinions inside her, looking at her now. Who would have thought he'd be waking up in the presence of a princess?
Then he shook his head, clearing his foggy mind of sleep and hiding a yawn behind his hand. This was ridiculous, he realised, he wouldn't be with the princess for longer than a few days at the most until they found her friend (or he got caught and killed, but he wasn't really looking much into that turn of events). So there was no reason to act as though she was something special, he was just looking out for a girl in trouble. He'd done it before, and most likely he'd do it again. End of story.
But then again, that didn't mean he couldn't enjoy it while it lasted. Glancing at her only once more as he slipped from the hammock, he rested one hand on the wall to stop himself falling and stretched, footsteps unusually light on the wooden boards. Automatically he moved to one of the shelves cluttered with trinkets and other items. He was on his toes, eyes bright as he began his search for something, ignoring the faint shout from below which would probably be Layla waking up some random drunkard. Hah, he would usually be next after that, but he was already wide awake even if he was a little late getting up.
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Post by Angel ♥ on May 27, 2008 5:53:38 GMT -5
At least she was sleeping when he woke up so that she didn't see him staring at her like that. In truth she didn't think that she was all that pretty, there were other women up at the palace that looked like her...and there were others that were prettier; she just couldn't see herself as being overly pretty or anything special. Plus, she would have felt arkward if she'd have been awake to notice him watching her, at leasing behing asleep saved her from being embarassed. Well, until she woke up anyway.
A small scowl flickered over her features as she began to wake up, obviously able to hear him creeping around even though he was being quiet. She had been waiting to wake up anyway, having been unsettled all night. Her eyes fluttered open, blinking slowly to clear her vision, seeming rather bemused as she looked around at the strange room. Awweh, she was all confused and lost because she had just woken up, she had no idea where she was or what she was doing there...but this definatly wasn't her room.
It took a moment or two for her mind to wake up enough to fill in the blanks and remind her of how she got here, Rory hiding a yawn behind her hand before sitting up and stretching out. "Hmmm, it's morning now?" She asked, her voice still laced with linger sleep, rubbing at her eyes.
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