Rogue Sloth

Amnesia [Suki & Summer]

Cas nodded and stood back, hoping Iris knew what she was doing when she said she would see what she could do for them. If it was too much, he was willing to eat some of the food they’d brought with them, but privately, he hoped she would be able to get them something to eat despite their small reserve of cash. Staying in a pub without taking advantage of the house-made food would have been quite a waste. It certainly wasn’t something he had done before either. Although I’ve never been broke enough to pass up the chance to eat out before, he thought with a frown, understanding just how far removed he was from the citizens of the country beyond the capital. Whenever he’d wanted to buy something in the past, he’d always been able to do so without even thinking about how much money he had in his bank account. Now, knowing that Maisie had only given them a few credits to scrape by, he was hyper aware of how cautious they had to be whenever they spent any of it. It was a stressful feeling.

Fortunately, the man behind the counter took pity on them. The prince felt a bit guilty that they had to lie to him, since he was so kind to them in return, but it wasn’t like they had a choice. The most he could do was try to repay him and the other people of Aspiria as a whole later on by figuring out how to solve the wealth divide that plagued the nation—if he returned to the capital, that was. The bartender and Maisie had both been unconditionally hospitable, so he didn’t want to move on without doing something for them in return. They deserved to be rewarded for their big hearts and selflessness.

When Iris thanked the man for his generosity, Caspian did as well, murmuring his own appreciation as he stared in amazement at the bags of food he’d brought out for them despite their inability to pay for it. In the capital, no business owners were that benevolent. However, he didn’t dwell on it for long before the barkeep’s next words made him falter. The suggestive wink the man gave him made him twinge pink. He doesn’t mean…? He studied his face for a moment as he pondered over the odd warning. No, there’s no way. A stranger wouldn’t get involved in someone else’s love life, right? He was probably just advising us to treat the room well. He knew that young people often mistreated their hotel rooms whenever they spent a night out, so he decided that must have been what the man was talking about. At the very least, it was a more comfortable conclusion than the alternative.

Running with the thought, he offered the barkeep a smile. “Don’t worry, we’ll leave the room just as we found it after we’re done using it,” he assured him. Turning around to follow Iris back though the crowded room, it took until they reached the base of the stairs before he realized how his words might have sounded. Well, shit, he cringed, hoping sincerely that the barkeep really had been talking about the quality of the room they were borrowing and not about what they would do while they were spending the night. If he’d been wrong, he’d just accidentally implied that they wouldn’t only be sleeping while they were there.

Silently collapsing in on himself in embarrassment over his bad habit of speaking before he thought through his words, he kept quiet until he and Iris arrived at their room. As he stepped inside, he took a look around. It was homely, but it was much better than sleeping on the open ground. And since there was a bathroom, he could take another shower before they left. Overall, it was the best kind of shelter they could have hoped for.

“It’s a good thing your fever broke,” he mused, unzipping his hoodie and sliding it off his back now that he didn’t need it anymore. “This place is great.” He could feel the music from downstairs pulsing in the floorboards beneath his feet, but it was a very minor downside in comparison with the perks that came with rooming at the pub. His eyes wandered to the bed. When he was younger, he’d fantasized about the thought of sneaking off to a hotel room to spend the night alone with a girl, but he’d never thought it would happen because he was on the run from a group of people who wanted to kill him—or that they would actually just be there to sleep.

What a twist, he thought, turning back to Iris. “I’ll take one of those,” he said, slipping one of the paper bags from her hand. “Do you want to sit in the desk chair or on the bed while we eat? I’ll take whichever one you don’t want.”

Amnesia [Suki & Summer]

Cas is starting to have a harder time battling between his wants and his needs, haha. (His 'wants' being that he's really attracted to Iris, and the 'needs' being that he knows they already have more than enough to worry about without getting more entangled than they already are)

Amnesia [Suki & Summer]

“Why don’t we just call it even?” Cas suggested with an amused shake of his head. He had a feeling that if they left the debate about who owed whom open-ended, they would just keep arguing about it forever. She seemed to feel like she could never repay him for the night he’d found her in the forest and brought her to the hospital. However, he felt like she’d done more than enough to make up for that when she’d helped him escape from her father’s basement. If anyone was in debt, it was him, since she was sneaking him back to the capital—assuming he would still go back—at the risk of getting in trouble with the rebellion. He knew she would just fight him on it if he said so though, so it was easier to pretend like he didn’t think she had done more for him by asking to meet her in the middle ground.

It was also a better alternative than letting his tongue slip about the ways he’d thought of for her to repay him while he was still feeling a little warm after kissing her. He reddened slightly, mentally chiding himself for the salacious ideas, though he didn’t have very much control over where his mind went when he indulged himself with her lips. He was just glad he had the tact not to say it out loud, especially since he didn’t want to give her the impression that he was trying to race toward anything more than what they had already been doing. Primal desires aside, he was rational enough to know that now was neither the time nor the place for anything like that.

So, he buried the fleeting thought as she took him by the hand and fell in step beside her as she led him through the gate to Eulmore. As soon as they passed through, he saw that this district was in much better condition than the one they had just left. The town looked relatively untouched by the war, and there plenty of people milling about the streets. The sight was equally as relieving as it was unnerving. He was glad that they seemed to have a decent chance of finding a place to stay for the night, but at the same time, he was worried about being recognized by a member of the Scourge. Trying to keep his head down in the presence of so many other people, he pulled his hood over his head as he followed Iris toward a nearby building.

The place she was headed to looked lively. It was bustling with activity, almost reminding him of the capital with its high energy. To his surprise, he felt a pang of homesickness as they walked toward the door. Even though he’d been hurt by the apparent lack of care by his friends and family, the pain didn’t stop him from missing the place he’d lived for his entire life. The realization made him wonder if he really could bring himself to leave without turning back. High born life was more deeply ingrained in him than he’d thought.

Putting the thought aside for now, he tucked his chin slightly as he and Iris strode through the pub, tense with worry that someone would recognize him. To his surprise, however, none of the men and women who glanced in his direction reacted to the sight of his face. It seemed like they didn’t know who he was. Maybe people out here don’t pay attention to my family like people of the capital do, he realized. If they didn’t know what he looked like, it would be easier for him to blend in.

Hoping his theory was right, he looked up while Iris spoke with the barkeep about staying in a room for the night. Despite the man’s crude words about the Aspirian military, Cas was happy to hear that there was a room available that they could use. He fought the urge to wrinkle his nose when the bartender spat on the floor, disgusted by the way he so carelessly contaminated a place where people ate but wisely keeping his contempt to himself. This isn’t the capital, he reminded himself. People do things differently out here. If he hadn’t been so enticed by the scent of fresh food, he might have lost his appetite, but he was too hungry to be completely deterred by the man’s unhygienic habit.

“Do we have enough money to buy something to eat?” he asked, leaning closer to Iris to keep his voice down. They still had food left in the backpack he was carrying, but now that they were taking their time to get back to the capital, he wasn’t sure if they had enough to supply them the entire time they were on the run. Besides that, his empty stomach twisted desperately at the prospect of eating something other than stale bread and canned stuff.

Topic of the Day/Week/Whatever

1x1 writer here. I'd say my biggest pet peeves are partners who don't contribute to the plot (even their characters just go along with whatever mine want to do in the IC). There's a difference between a character with a passive/submissive personality and a ragdoll.

Also partners who take control of my MC without asking for permission first. It's surprising how common this is even though I don't know anyone who likes it when it happens to them.

One more for good measure: Partners who post interest checks making a huge hullabaloo about not ghosting a RP with them because they hate it more than the devil himself, but then they ghost you as soon as they lose interest. The double standard is so frustrating.

Amnesia [Suki & Summer]

Yep! I've got a couple things I want to slip into the IC after Cas and Iris go to sleep for the night :)

Amnesia [Suki & Summer]

Caspian rolled his eyes in disbelief when Iris backpedaled to say that she didn’t actually think he was harmless. He was sure she was just trying to make him feel better about it. Whether he liked it or not, that was the impression he’d made on her, so if he wanted to change it, he was just going to have to try harder at living up to the reputation he preferred to make for himself. He felt like he was making a decent start at it lately. How many spoiled high borns could say they’d survived a fight against a psychotic man with a knife? Or escaped from a collapsing building in the middle of a war? Even though those were pretty much the only two things he could add to his short list of badassery, he felt like they were achievements he could be proud of.

“You didn’t do that to get my attention,” he laughed when she claimed that her mishap with the bear trap had been the awkward thing she’d done for him. “I don’t think it counts when you were on your way to assassinate me either. Nice try, Slick.” It was almost funny how easily the words flowed off his tongue. Most people probably would have thought he was crazy for falling for the woman who’d been sent by the rebellion to kill him, but it had happened so naturally that he couldn’t help himself. Plus, after seeing the way her father and ex-boyfriend had been treating her, he knew she hadn’t actually wanted to kill him. He couldn’t hold it against her when she’d been coerced into coming to the capital in the first place. It didn’t feel right to even try.

Noticing that they were approaching the gate that would carry them into the next district, he looked straight ahead, trying to see if the buildings that laid beyond were in better condition than Bel Bicis. Since they were getting a little closer to the capital, he was optimistic that the area wouldn’t have seen quite as many battles as the ones closer to the outer edges of the country. He didn’t have much of a chance to look though, as he was soon distracted when he noticed that Iris had stopped walking along at his side.

Turning toward her, he stared for a moment, mesmerized by the way the yellow glow of the street lights reflected in her blue eyes. When she leaned in to kiss him, he met her halfway, closing his own dark brown eyes as he pressed his lips against hers. He was mildly surprised by her initiative, but it was a good surprise. His arms slipped around the small of her back as they kissed, and he pulled her closer to himself. Every time they closed the distance between them, it felt like they were the only two people in the world. He was reminded again that he’d made the right decision when he’d chosen to be with her instead of push her away just because it was easier.

After a bit—he lost track of how much time had passed—Cas pulled back from her lips to breathe. “Okay, I give. If that’s how you want me to repay you, I’ll do it as much as you want,” he grinned at her dazedly, trailing his fingers through her long, blonde hair while he held her close with his other hand.

Plenty of Sharks in the Sea [BuzzingBee & Dagger]

Alex has been doing this long enough that she's good at dodging questions xD
She's pretty much just biding her time until he's had enough to drink that she can slip in the idea of getting something to eat lol

Plenty of Sharks in the Sea [BuzzingBee & Dagger]

“Yes, your kind,” Alex reiterated, boldly sticking to her guns. “It’s less of a mouthful to say than ‘tall, fit and goddamn sexy.’” She may not have been as subtle of a flirt as other women—or subtle at all, for that matter—but she’d learned that quite a few men appreciated brazen compliments. They liked having their egos stroked just as much as girls did. Since she doubted she would ever see him again in her life, she had nothing to lose by being blunt either. If she had been out on a date or genuinely interested in pursuing a relationship with him or any other guy, she would have been a little more tactful, but all she wanted was the things his money could buy for her. It was hard to feel bad about leading him on to think she was after a one night stand when she hadn’t eaten in almost forty-eight hours.

She did find it curious that he insisted he didn’t go out much though. Daniel was too socially adept to be a recluse, so she guessed business was what got in the way of his other outings. Lucky me, she thought gleefully. Out of all the nights he could have chosen to hit the bars around Times Square, he had to pick the same time and place that she had. Now she really did feel like she’d won the bachelor lottery.

“Thank god for that,” she raised her glass when he talked about not being in a Nicholas Sparks flick. “Being in a coma sounds boring as hell. But if ‘something worse’ happened, I’d come back and haunt Chad’s dick, so he could never get laid again. He may not have shoved you up into his armpit, but let me tell you, he did not smell like daisies from an inch and a half away.” She wrinkled her nose for emphasis. If it had been any other guy, she might have felt bad for making him the butt of so many jokes, but she would never feel bad for mocking a braindead jock who thought he owned a woman after he bought her one drink.

Daniel’s following question may have caught any other homeless girl off guard, but Alex was quick on her feet. She may not have known the names of most current actors and actresses, but she’d watched a few movies before she’d been forced to uproot her life and take to the streets. She was also good at changing the subject. Without hesitating, she replied, “Jim Carrey.” Breaking into a grin, she held up her hands. “Okay, hear me out before you say anything. Hallmark movies are painful to watch, so wouldn’t you want to see one with Jim Carrey playing the lead female role? I know I would. The man is a comedy god.”

Leaning just close enough to him that their arms brushed, she met his gaze with a foxlike smile, “If we’re asking each other questions now, I’ve got a game for you… Would you rather be trapped inside a Hallmark movie or never get to watch another movie again for as long as you live?”

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Mine was a major sumbitch xD
Clocked in at over 2400 words, but I finally got to throw in another piece of the plot that I've been holding onto for a while!

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

For the rest of the evening, Crow avoided facing Otto by drinking with Naida and Rayner at the Black Dagger. Knowing that he was going to be sneaking out of the inn to visit his old companions later that night, he limited himself to one honey mead, though his sister managed to convince the uptight lieutenant to indulge in a second mug with her. For the most part, the baron’s son kept to himself, so conversation with limited to the two siblings. Evelyn dropped by every now and then when she wasn’t busy taking care of other patrons, but the rest of the villagers in the tavern kept their distance. It was hard to tell if they were unnerved by the sight of nobles in their territory or if they didn’t know how to approach the former thief now that it was apparent that something major had changed in his life. Either way, no one besides the tavern keeper dared to approach him while he was there.

After a while, their fun was put to an end when Otto sent Percival to retrieve them. The knight seemed uncomfortable being given the role of chaperone, but he followed through with his orders, reminding them that they needed to return to the inn to eat dinner before food was no longer served. The threat of missing a meal was enough motivation to convince Crow to get moving, so he said his goodbyes to Evelyn and dragged his drunk sister with him to the other building alongside Rayner and Percy, where they met up with Otto and Preston for supper. Naturally, the baron took the first opportunity to reprimand them for loitering at the tavern for over an hour—and for letting the princess have too much to drink—but the viceroy brushed him off as soon as their food arrived, distracted immediately by the delicious-smelling meat and vegetables on his plate.

After the meal was over, they continued on their way to their room which, thankfully, was the proper size for once. It seemed like the travelers going to and from the warfront had no need to visit a village that was closer to the border than most of the battalions were. It was good news for him, because it would be easier for him to slip out of the room unnoticed if he wasn’t sharing a bed with another man. Percival seemed like a heavy sleeper, but he couldn’t be certain that the knight wouldn’t wake up if he got up in the middle of the night to leave. Even the stealthiest of thieves couldn’t prevent the creaking of an aged bed or the shift of a mattress when his weight was removed from it. Since this room had six beds—Otto had even paid for a sleeping space for Preston, likely because he foresaw that the viceroy would protest if he hadn’t—he could just snag a spot close to the door, so he could get away without disturbing anyone else.

With a plan in mind, he followed the group into the room as they filed through the narrow doorway one by one. As soon as he was inside, he turned toward the closest beds to the exit, only to pause when he saw that Otto and Rayner had already claimed them. The space was arranged with three beds against the left and right walls, so it would have been easier for them to make their way towards the back of the room and fill in that way. He narrowed his eyes slightly, certain they’d chosen those spots intentionally. Ever since Penelope had left, it seemed like the baron was determined to make sure he couldn’t run away. The watchful behavior reminded him of the way William had acted when he’d traveled to Younis the first time. Only now, it was even more vexing since he was no longer a criminal being transported by guards.

“Is there a problem, Lockton?” Otto asked, taking notice of his lingering stare. The baron was observing him with an unreadable expression, as if he was keeping an eye on a ward whom he didn’t trust to behave.

Crow scoffed and kept walking to one of the beds in the center of the room that had yet to be claimed. “You know exactly what you’re doing,” he said simply as he began removing his outer layer of clothes. There was no way for him to object to the baron’s sleeping arrangements without coming across as suspicious, so he didn’t bother. Laying down near the door would have given him easy access to the hallway, but he was skilled enough to slip out even if he had to walk a couple extra meters. His plans were still in motion, so he limited himself to making it clear that he was aware of the tricks Otto had been pulling recently to keep him in line.

“I don’t know what you mean,” the baron said, obviously playing dumb.

Of course he isn’t going to admit he’s treating me like I’m still a thief, Crow rolled his eyes. “Yes, you do,” he argued stubbornly, tossing his cloak over the footboard of his bed without meeting the older man’s gaze. He didn’t have to see the baron to know that he was probably pretending to be clueless about his own actions. He was also sure that his moody behavior was attracting the attention of the others, and he didn’t want to cause a scene the same night he was actually trying to sneak away from the group. “I’m not going to discuss it with you,” he warned Otto causally. “Just understand that I know what you’re doing, and I don’t appreciate it. That’s all.”

“You don’t appreciate being protected?” Otto crossed his arms, apparently unwilling to drop the subject. “I don’t know why it matters to you, but Rayner and I are sleeping by the door so that we’ll be in the middle if we’re discovered and attacked.”

“Discovered by who?” Crow asked, finally looking up after he’d removed his boots. Well aware that the others didn’t know about the mercenary he’d seen in Bellmare, so he was genuinely curious who Otto was afraid of being attacked by. “The Younisians don’t know we’re coming, so we won’t have to worry about being received poorly until we run into one of their battalions.”

Surprisingly, Otto faltered at the question. His eyes flicked to the other knights, who were also looking at him expectantly, before he cleared his throat. “Criminals, of course,” he stated firmly. “It’s common knowledge that these villages are riddled with them. It’s likely that we could be targeted while we’re staying here because we stand out, so I would feel more comfortable knowing you’re in the center of the room, where it’s safer.”

Bullshit, Crow shook his head, not buying the excuse for one second. The fact that the baron had wavered meant that he’d been scrambling to think of a believable lie. He was certain that Otto was trying to keep him from running away, even though he had no intention of abandoning his assignment. All he was going to do was see his companions for a little while and come back. There was no harm. “Whatever helps you sleep at night,” he drawled in unbridled disbelief, swinging his legs onto his bed and pulling the blanket over himself. There was no reason to keep fighting about it. The sooner everyone fell asleep, the sooner he could leave to visit the other thieves. For now, the smartest move was for him to let it go, so the rest of the group would wind down to sleep.

Hoping they would soon, he closed his eyes in wait for his chance to get away.

--

Crow wasn’t sure how much time passed, but it wasn’t too long after the lights went out that the sound of gentle snoring permeated the room. He shifted carefully on his mattress, opening his eyes to make sure that the knights were all unconscious. Naida was tossing and turning on her bed at the back of the room, but her breathing was heavy enough that he could tell she was dreaming. Preston and Percival both laid still, while Rayner and Otto seemed to be the sources of the snores. He smiled to himself as he silently crawled out of his own bed and bent down to put on his boots, working quickly to lace them up and then slipping on his cloak.

Once he was ready to go, he threw the hood over his head and crept toward the door with featherlight footsteps. He was just about to reach for the handle when he heard a voice hiss: “Collin.”

Bristling at the unexpected whisper, the former thief whirled around and groaned inwardly when he saw the dim glint of open eyes in the darkness. “Go back to sleep,” he murmured under his breath to Percival, who must not have been asleep like the others were. In retrospect, he supposed he should have known to wait until he heard the burly knight snoring like the other men. He hadn’t been a quiet sleeper the last few nights they’d been on the road.

“Where are you going?” Percy asked softly, disregarding the advice by sitting up on his bed. The mattress groaned beneath his shifting weight, and Crow grimaced, glancing furtively at Otto’s still face in the hopes that the sound wouldn’t rouse him.

“It doesn’t matter,” he hissed, his heartbeat quickening slightly with urgency. “Stop moving before you wake anyone else up… I’ll be back later.”

“You’re not going to see Penelope, are you?” Percival asked, taking a shot in the dark.

“What?” Crow frowned. “No, she went back to her battalion. I won’t be seeing her again until we get back from Younis.”

“Then where are you going?” the knight asked again.

The viceroy tipped his head back slightly in exasperation. “I just have something I need to do while I’m here,” he answered vaguely. “I’ll probably be gone for most of the night. Don’t wait up.”

Percy studied him for a moment longer before he stood up as quietly as he could manage. “You shouldn’t go alone,” he said decidedly, putting on his boots.

“Gods, don’t follow me,” Crow groaned again.

“If something happens to you, it will ruin the whole mission,” the knight argued with a shake of his head. “You either let me accompany you as your guard, or you’ll have to stay here.”

“When did you get so bossy?” the former thief muttered, irritated that the other man had managed to back him into a corner. He could tell that if he didn’t agree to Percival’s terms, the knight would wake up Otto, and any chance he had of seeing his companions would disappear. The stakes were too high.

“When the king told me it was my job to keep you safe,” Percy replied, pulling his long hair out of his face into a low ponytail with a piece of twine. He slipped his cloak on and stepped over to the door. “Besides that… I wanted to ask you something.”

“Oh?” Crow blinked, mildly surprised that the taciturn man had an ulterior motive.

Percival nodded. He glanced at Otto’s sleeping form before taking the doorknob in his hand and pulling it open with a gesture for the viceroy to pass through first. Once they had both stepped into the corridor and put some distance between themselves and the others, he finally spoke again. “Do you think Baron Theroulde has been acting strangely?” he asked, meeting Crow’s gaze with a concerned expression.

The former thief raised his brows, caught off guard by the inquiry. He and Percy had been getting along decently for a while, but he hadn’t thought that a born and bred nobleman would ever care about his opinion on something like this—especially when the question he’d just asked could have gotten him into trouble. He was almost flattered that the knight wanted his input at all. “It’s because he doesn’t trust me,” he replied with a shrug. “I’ve been a criminal my whole life until about a month ago. Like a lot of the other people in the inner kingdom, he can’t look past the fact that I used to have a bounty on my head. That’s why he’d been so strict, I’m sure.”

“I don’t think so,” Percy said slowly, further surprising the viceroy with his disagreement.

“What do you mean?” Crow pressed.

“Well,” the knight rested a hand on the hilt of his sword. “It’s just the way he behaves sometimes. I may be off my mark, but there’s just something… jumpy about him. I didn’t notice it until the night you had your… erm, your dream. It was almost like we’d caught him red-handed when he came back into the room. I’ve been paying closer attention to him since then, and every once in a while, he says things that don’t sound right.”

Crow chewed on his lip thoughtfully as the other man spoke. Truth be told, he hadn’t noticed any of the “things” the knight was talking about. He’d always considered himself to be observant, but he wondered if Percival was right, and there was something about the baron that he was missing. “What do you think he’s hiding?” he asked, curious to hear the guard’s opinion.

“I don’t know… maybe nothing,” Percival exhaled deeply, seeming conflicted. “I don’t want to believe he’s hiding anything. He had an impeccable reputation at the castle, and I felt honored to work alongside him when I was told he would be joining us. Now that I know you haven’t noticed anything unusual about him, I think I may be seeing things that aren’t there too.”

“But that’s not necessarily true,” Crow objected. “I’ve been trying to avoid him more often than not, so I wasn’t watching him as closely as you have been. Now that I know you think there’s something fishy about him, I’ll start paying closer attention as well.”

Percival nodded, “I just wanted to make sure someone else was aware of it. If he truly is hiding something, it’s better for us to be alert.”

“It is,” the viceroy agreed. “Thank you for telling me.”

“Of course,” the knight said politely.

With the conversation out of the way, they hastened their pace as they walked toward the forest. Crow was still perplexed about the mystery of what the baron was potentially keeping from them, but as they drew closer to the meeting point, his concerns were outweighed by his excitement to see his old companions again after they had been apart for an entire month. He couldn’t wait to see them and find out what they had been doing since they’d last crossed paths.