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 Posted: Sun Jun 29, 2014 1:01 am
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Posted: Mon Jun 30, 2014 10:56 pm
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Kress sighed at Kaitlyn's words. He knew full well how difficult it would be to see his brother again, especially with the state that he had left things. He just didn't want to believe it. He gave a small, melancholy smile before turning to the woman supporting him. "Yeah." Kress said, though it didn't mean he wouldn't watch over him. It was sheer luck that he was the one assigned to the job and not someone else. His brother could've been back on the market by then if that were the case. Kress's gaze peered over at Kaitlyn before stepping into the carriage gently, slightly curious about what had taken place. He raised an eyebrow. "So, why did you stop? Most people would have just kept on going once they had gotten their pay. Considering the fact that I got in your way, I figured that if anything, you would have made me walk home." He wanted to know what her response would be. Would she had done it if it were anyone else?
~
Alistair's smile turned warm as he walked home with Nico. He was just happy to have him back, though he was honestly dreading what would happen once he reached home. His father was bound to notice Nico again, and he was bound to notice that he and a rather hefty sum of gold had gone missing, though it hardly made a dent in the family fortune. Alistair heaved a sigh as he was soon before the front door of the manor before latching onto Nico's hand. The moment Alessandra opened the door, Alistar gave her a grateful thank you before pulling Nico through the seemingly empty hallways and into his room. He flipped on a light before plopping onto his bed. Just when he though that he was home free, a slight knock came at the door, one that made Alistair's stomach sink instantaneously.
Alistair lifted from his bed before creaking the door open, seeing his father's personal maid giving him a respectful face, though the look in her eyes were as cold as ice. "Master Reiville wishes to see you in his study, young lord." Alistair cringed. His father knew, though he was curious to know how. Alistair peered back at Nico before smiling at him, assuring that everything would be perfectly fine, no matter how false that was. The male followed the maid through the hallways into the study. Upon entering, Alistair gazed around, noting all of the dusty books that had been around since his childhood, and at the end of it all in front of a window was his father sitting at a grand wooden desk, absolutely livid, and his mother standing next to him with tears streaking her face. The moment she had seen him her eyes widened before her sobs had gotten louder. "Oh Alistair!" She said before she latched onto him, her tears staining his already bloodied clothes. "Step away from him Odessa!" Alistair flinched as his father raised his tone. His mother had instantly stopped, her gaze grave, and even more saddened before the maid escorted her out on his father's command.
Alistair's gaze turned cold, his body numb before inching closer. It was upon reaching him that he felt a strike upon his face that was hard and metallic, the ring he was wearing leaving a small gash Alistair's cheek. Alistair exhaled. He wasn't surprised. "You honestly thought that you could steal gold and I wouldn't notice it?! And for what?! A slave?!" He father droned on. "I cannot believe my own son would betray his own family for a peasant!" Alistair bit his tongue, even though he had many choice words. He wanted answers first. "How did you find out?" Alistair asked slowly and calmly, though he was absolutely enraged. His father gave a condescending smirk, as if Alistair had asked a dumb question, though the blonde knew better than that the man had his ways. "Your little friend told me." Alistair's attention snapped to his father in an instant, his gaze hard and furious. "What did you do to her?"
Alistair's father matched the blonde's icy gaze. "I gave her incentive, then punishment, as I do to all of those that step out of line. Why does it matter to you anyways? They are simply peons here to make our lives simpler! The sooner you understand that, the better! Yet here you are, using our fortune to save some dispensable slave! We could have replaced him at half the price it took you to retrieve him! " Alistair snapped within an instant. "They are not some dispensable toys here for our amusement! They are human beings that stayed loyal to this house even after they had the opportunity to flee! Whether you like it or not, Nico is my friend, and he risked his life to save mine. I would have gladly given my own life to save him. He means much more to me than this fortune and this family! He's been better to me than either ever have." Alistair stared up at his father's stone cold gaze. A shiver went down his spine, though it was soon quashed.
((OOC: Hi Chibi, I apologize for such a long wait.))
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Posted: Tue Jul 01, 2014 1:23 am
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Kaitlyn frowned. "Well, you just had to get hurt while interfering with my job." she said with a roll of her eyes. "If you die because I wouldn't stop the carriage and make sure you got back to base safely, it'd come out of my hide and my paycheck." she said, revealing that her reasons were, as always, for her own self-interest.
Nicodemus knew that Alistair would be in trouble. Although he was eternally grateful that the other had done what he did, he knew the Lord and Lady would not be pleased with their son's actions. He was just a slave after all . . . So when Alistair was summoned to be before his father, despite Alistair's reassuring smile, Nicodemus knew the other was in trouble. So he followed him at a distance, not wanting Alistair to be in too much trouble for his sake. After all . . . it was his job to keep his friend safe. Because he followed, he heard the exchange between Alistair and his father and he was touched by Alistair's words, even causing him to blush a little bit. Alistair would die for him . . . Considered him to have more value than his own family? Why? Nicodemus didn't think he was that special. But he put that aside. Alistair's father wouldn't be happy at that outburst, Nicodemus knew better than to even hope for that. So he waited just outside the door, ready to intervene if necessary.
((It's okay.))
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Posted: Tue Jul 01, 2014 8:20 pm
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Kress smiled, happy to know that Kaitlyn could still get so worked up. He even chuckled a little, a certain smugness adorning his features. He was just happy to know that things were the same between them, despite what had occurred over the past few days. "I'm insulted, to think that you would figure that I would die from a scratch." The crow joked. "You can't get rid of me that easily. Someone has to be around to match that crazy gunslinging of yours." Kress leaned back with a sigh. "But really, I'm sure Darius is livid. He may very well kill us before the night is up." He didn't really want to think about it, but he knew how much trouble they were in.
~
Alistair shivered slightly, wondering what would happen at this point, his demeanor wavering in the slightest, but a part of him was prepared. Until his father reached for the drawer on his desk. Upon opening it, Alistair's eyes widened as the man pulled out a whip, slightly bloodied from the interrogation that had taken place earlier. Alistair recoiled slightly before his eyes went from determination to fear. "Since you think that they are so equal to us, then I suppose it is only fair that I punish you like one. You will learn your place!" Alistair turned to run before feeling a gash at his shoulder at the crack of the whip, and the stinging pain that followed. A series more came after, one after another slicing through his clothes and into his skin.
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Posted: Wed Jul 02, 2014 10:53 pm
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Alistair's eyes widened as he watched Nico step in front of him, the whip hitting him instead. The blonde's grey eyes darted to his father as well, who seemed surprised as well. Alistair stood from his spot on the floor, his gaze turning to anger once more. He was upset to see the one he saved saving him. He was upset that Nico took yet another risk for him, though his anger was only directed at himself. The male stepped in front of Nico, grabbing his arm before staring his father down, his back stinging. "Now if you're satisfied. We'll be taking our leave, father." Alistair turned to take his leave with Nico in tow, not even daring to turn around and look at his father's stare. He dragged the other to outside of the room and down the hall before the pain set in, and he leaned against the wall for support. He was struck four times, and a strange part of him thought that this was simply karma for what he had done to Nico's brother just that day. Alistair sighed before speaking to Nico. "Why did you do that?" He asked.
((Gah! >.< I'm sorry! I think I might've put size seven than size nine by mistake. I can be quite a ditz at times. sweatdrop ))
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Posted: Fri Jul 04, 2014 1:10 am
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Upon feeling the carriage run over a slight bump in the road, Kress's eyes opened from his slight sleep. If he could call it that. Being honest, he couldn't do much sleeping at all. To say the day had been long was a vast understatement, and one of the first things he wanted to do when he returned was push Rin into a fountain for their earlier interaction. He already figured how much hell the bluenette would give him for returning in such a pitiful condition. As the male watched the cityscape pass him by from the interior of the carriage, the crow realized that they were nearing the base located in the seedier side of town. With a small sigh, Kress thought about what to do now that all of the excitement boiled over. Would he return to the way things were before. It probably wouldn't be easy, especially now that his brother led him to the new revelation that his job was a lot more life altering to other people than he led it to be. Then again, he had been doing it for so long that it would just feel odd for him to do anything else. Visiting him may very well be impossible, especially now since Darius and the other higher ups would be sure to keep a closer eye on him and Kaitlyn, paid off or not. Kress closed his eyes again, pondering on his next meeting with his brother before opening his eyes, feeling a slight dull sting on his back. Above everything, he had to get his wound of his fixed first.
~
"You don't-" Alistair sighed as he looked over at Nicodemus and smiling in an exasperated fashion before putting his hand to the wall trying to stand on his own. "I see you're still as hopeless as ever! I don't want to see you get hurt either Nico." Alistair's gaze wandered to Nico's wound, a look of sadness on his face. He couldn't help but think that Nico had gotten hurt because of him. Alistair released a breath he didn't realize that he was holding before looking at the floor, the faintest blush of embarrassment on his features, though his pride prevented him from showing it to Nico directly. "I want to be the one to protect you for a change." He said quietly, though due to the silence of the halls, his words were slightly audible.
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Posted: Sat Jul 05, 2014 12:16 am
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Upon reaching a stop, Kress sighed softly, knowing that he would have to face the music eventually. He swung the carriage door open, hopping out and standing. Fortunately, the sharp pain in his back turned into a bearable dull throb. Unfortunately, standing and walking was all he was really good for at this point. The flow of blood leaking out of his body thanks to Kaitlyn, though there was still the fact that if he didn't seek medical attention, he would be out of the job for a while. That means that he would lose money. That means the bosses would lose money. And that, in turn, means that he would lose a place to live. Primarily because he wouldn't be of any use anymore. The crow was slightly agitated at his current predicament before simply crossed his arms and looking over at Kaitlyn, wondering what she was thinking. "I'm sorry you and your coin will have to part so soon." He said, a part of him kind of genuine about it. If it wasn't for him, there would have been a slim possibility that she may not have had to cough up any change at all. Though, thinking about it in retrospect, if she wasn't the one paying the boss off, it certainly would have been him. The male's eyebrow twitched at the thought.
~
Alistair could only chuckle at the other's comment about priorities. "I suppose you have a point, though if you keep jumping in my place, the fact that I'm the target won't matter anymore." When Nico mentioned his wounds, Alistair's spirits dampened slightly, wincing at the pain. "Haha, yeah. Probably should take care of this. And yours too." The blonde laughed before wandering the dark halls that lead to his room.
Upon opening the door, Alistair sighed loudly as if he was relieved. He swiftly pulled off his shirt, the fabric agitating the slashes on his back. He looked at his skin, nothing that he was unusually and uncomfortably filthy. He sneered at his unsightly appearance, blood and dirt coating his skin. He noticed his muscles coiling from the stinging in his back, though he willed himself to relax before his grey eyes peered at the shirt in his hands. It was far beyond getting mended. It was filthy, not to mention the fact that there were now gaping holes marring it. The blonde simply plopped down on his bed, wondering what exactly was going to happen as far as healing his wounds went. And what about Nico's wound? The male thought to himself, wondering how he would mend Nico's injury. Alistair wasn't too familiar with the art of healing injuries.
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Posted: Sat Jul 05, 2014 12:30 am
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Kaitlyn scoffed. "Eh, I still turned a profit." she said, shrugging off his apology. It wasn't really that important . . . just a small thorn in her side. She'd live. "Let's get you looked at. I don't want to have to pay more because you up and die on me." she teased him lightly.
Nico chuckled a bit as well at the bit about him jumping in Alistair's place. He shrugged his shoulders at the mention of his own wound, only to wince as he pulled at it. Okay, maybe it did more than just twinge . . . He followed Alistair back to his room, and watched as the other took his shirt off, unable to avert his eyes for a few moments. He then decided to busy himself by getting some water and a cloth to wash Alistair's wound with. That would be the first thing to do. Wash the wound. It was something he learned tending to other slaves who had been less lucky than himself. When he came back in from the bathroom, he saw Alistair laying on the bed. He ignored his own pain for now, his wound could wait despite him being just as, if not more, filthy and covered in dirt as Alistair. "Okay, fair warning, this will probably sting." he said, before taking the wet cloth and starting to wash out the wounds. He tried to be as gentle as possible, but he knew that it would hurt to make sure that the wounds were clean.
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Posted: Sat Jul 05, 2014 1:35 am
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Kress cracked a small smile at Kaitlyn's teasing. "Only if the top brass doesn't kill me before hearing you out." The crow walked into the building, that was seemingly abandoned until he reached the underground, where a decent amount of the guild was, except for the interrogation rooms and a few other places. Upon walking into the hall, he came across Rin, who had the most smug from on his features upon seeing the crow. Kress did what he could to walk faster, but with his injury, he was failing. "Wow Crow, you look terrible. I see that you finally met your match. I take it that kidnapping isn't your forte. It's okay not everyone can be good at everything. Just to warn you though, the top brass is pretty mad right now, particularly at you and your girlfriend-" Kress pulled his sword on the other, in absolutely no mood to deal with the blue haired male at the moment.
~
Alistair winced as Nico put a cloth to his wounds, his body tensing up. "Ouch." He said slightly before calming at Nico's gentle touch. It was soon that Alistair had gotten used to the feeling until it wasn't hurting anymore. "You seem to be skilled at this." The blonde muttered, his speech slightly muffled by the comforter. "You must have had to do this often." Alistair said sadly before sitting up and looking back at Nico in his peripheral vision. "You're next, you know. I may not be particularly talented at this, but I do remember the basics." Alistair gave the other a small smile. "I promise I'm not completely inept." The blonde sighed before looking at the bloody water, wondering just how much blood he lost, and worried about Nico's wound as well. "Does it hurt?" He figured it was a dumb question. Of course it did as it would for any sane person. "I mean, are you sure you don't want me to heal you first? It seems only fair." The male was seconds away from face palming. It seems only fair? Really? Alistair began to ponder on when it became so difficult to express in words what he actually meant.
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Posted: Sat Jul 05, 2014 2:05 am
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Kaitlyn had pulled out a small throwing knife and chucked it right past Rin's head, the blade nicking his ear as it passed him. "Maybe you should actually use your head to think before you speak. If you're not careful, one day someone will actually ask you to put your money where your mouth is, and you'll come up short." she said, a very, VERY thinly veiled threat in her tone. "Now get out of my way. Crow here was stupid enough to get in my way, and I have to make sure he doesn't die on me so it doesn't come out of my paycheck. I wouldn't be so generous with you. You're only a drop in the bucket." she said with a smug look on her face. Her boastful insult also was able to help Kress save face as well, implying that it was Kaitlyn who had dealt the wound to him instead of some rich boy who, as far as the guild knew, had never really had any reason to fight before.
Nichodemus smiled a bit sadly. "Slaves look out for one another. We're . . . not really seen as people, so we're not always taken care of properly. So we need to take care of each other. I . . . I had never been whipped before . . ." he admitted hesitantly, not wanting Alistair to feel guilty. It was his decision to jump in. "But I took care of others who came limping back with a lot more lashes than what you or I received today." he said, talking as he worked, wringing out the cloth, the blood staining the water, but he continued. He knew the difference between an irritated wound and an infected one. And he would be damned before he let Alistair get an infection. "It didn't hurt quite as bad as I thought it would." he said with a small smile. "Still stings like crazy though." he said, a bit of a hiss coming through. He'd been blocking out the pain mostly so he could focus on taking care of Alistair. "But I'll be alright for now. You have more wounds than me. As long as we both get treated it seems fair to me." he said before heading back to the bathroom to dump out the bloodied water and get some clean clothes. He'd tear at least one into strips, he wasn't really sure where any bandages were, if there were any, and he'd use one cloth to keep pressed against the wounds, try and stop the bleeding. "Mind sitting up?" he asked, sitting down on the bed. "I don't know where the bandages are, but I can make some if you're okay with that." he said, worried about actually tearing the cloth to make the make-shift bandages without having Alistair's permission.
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Posted: Sat Jul 05, 2014 11:57 pm
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Kress raised an eyebrow as he noted a knife knick Rin's ear, the blue haired male's eyes widening as he felt a slight bit of blood drip from the ear. Kress sighed slightly before letting the other go and pulling Kaitlyn's dagger out of the wall. His eyes peered at the disappearing silhouette of Rin going in the opposite direction of he and Kaitlyn. The crow turned to the sharpshooter, a small smirk appearing across his face. "I never figured anyone could get that one to shut up so fast. I must be losing my touch." He silently joked before turning and walking down the hall, eventually seeing the main room, where Darius and another higher up was sitting. Though the other was quite difficult to read, it was simple to tell that they had gotten intel that they were coming back and were waiting for them, despite the fact that Kress managed to ditch the mole he sent on the outskirts of town, so what happened in the forest was still most likely unknown to him. Kress looked around. It seemed rather empty, so he figured everyone must've been about their own missions. Darius slammed a hand on the table, always brash. "The two of you have five seconds to give me a reason as to why I shouldn't put a bounty on your heads and throw you to the hunters." Kress raised an eyebrow. Of course he wouldn't. That would require him to spend money on them. Not to mention that they would lose a lot more coin getting rid of them than they ever would gain by turning them in. Though, given, now wasn't the time to get technical.
~
Alistair sat up calmly before looking at the clothes Nico held in his hands. With a soft smile, he nodded, giving his approval to having them shredded. "I can live without." The blonde smiled, tearing the white fabric into strips. He then moved onto the next before speaking. "Well, I'm grateful that I have you here. Being honest, I really don't know what I'd do without you. It may seem selfish, so please don't be angry, but I was actually...happy when you decided to stay."
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