The Bond Between (1x1 Ivory_Coated_Stars)(DISCONTINUED T-T)

[chibi_blue_mouse]

Without a word, Kaitlyn pulled out one of the bags of gold that Alistair had given to her and she tossed it onto Darius's desk. "I sold that kid for you. Turned a better profit than the market could. You're welcome, by the way." she said, before glancing at Kress. "Crow here wasn't what you would call happy that I was making a profit off his mistake." she said, glaring at him a bit.

Nicodemus chuckled as he folded up a cloth and held it to the wounds before taking one of the strips that Alistair had ripped and using it to hold the cloth in place, beginning to bandage the wound. "I don't think I'd make a very good mercenary . . ." he said before sighing. "If I stayed there, that's what I would have needed to become. Kress's boss only wanted to sell me. I didn't have much use, being the wrong target and a slave on top of that." he said softly. "I wanted Kress to come here, but . . . I don't really know what happened to him. We were both sold as slaves . . . I guess he didn't get as lucky as I did." he murmured as he bandaged the wound. "I just wish I knew what could possibly have pushed him to become a mercenary . . . a . . . killer." he murmured, frowning in thought. He'd always seen his brother as a protector, but now . . . Well, he supposed it was childish to keep the same view of his brother now that they were both grown. He sighed as he finished bandaging the wound. "Okay, my turn." he said with a small chuckle, trying to get thoughts of his brother out of his head for a bit. He removed his own shirt, frowning as he noticed just how dirty it was. There was still a bit of throw-up on it from when he had retched in the carriage. He flipped it over to see where the whip had cut through, he frowned slightly. He could patch it up, but it'd never be back up to the standard of what it used to be.

Ivory_Coated_Stars

 

[Ivory_Coated_Stars]

Sure. 'Mistake.'Kress's gaze stayed constant as he felt the small glare of Kaitlyn bore into his skull. He came to the assumption that she wanted him to follow her lead. He showed no signs of emotion as usual, something that felt...familiar, after what seemed like so long, despite the fact that it had only been about the course of two days that the whole entire mess occurred. The male narrowed his eyes to match Darius's knowing that even though his attention was on the large chunk of change Kaitlyn left on his desk, he was still uneasily suspicious. The mercenary simply smiled, though there was something off about it.

"Well, I suppose this means the two of you are in the clear." The male said before coming around his desk to the crow, slapping his back rather harshly as a "congratulations." Kress knew better than to think that the other was simply being joyful. He knew about the injury, though that could be assumed from simple analysis of the crow. Kress expected nothing less from the man's abilities. However, if he knew about the slash on his back, it begged the question 'what else did he know?' Or even 'what else was he capable of finding out?' Despite that, Kress did what he could to divert his attention from the renewed stinging pain along his cut. Keeping a straight demeanor, the male bit his tongue, even though he could feel Darius observing his reaction. Kress was sure that the hole in his clothes gave it away though. Darius looked to Kaitlyn with a skeptical look, as if he was waiting for her to explain, not even bothering to hear Kress out.

~

Alistair peered down as he heard Nico explain his reasoning for not staying with his brother. How he would have to become a mercenary, ergo a killer, in order to have a place there. He wasn't going to deny it. Nico's brother very well may have killed people in his lifetime. But he had to have a reason. Right? Alistair sighed. "I don't know. Maybe he didn't have a choice. It seems like the both of you didn't have many options to begin with." Alistair watched as Nico methodically bandaged his wounds, making note of what he was doing so he could replicate his methods. "He may be a killer, but he still seemed rather concerned for you." Alistair said with a sight breathy tone, as if he was trying to be rather quiet about his words, even attempting to convince himself that Nico's brother was actually good. The truth was, Kress was a hardened assassin, and even Nico faced that side of him, even if it was only until they found out who each other was.

Alistair looked down, rising from the bed to get clean water and cloths. When he sat on the bed behind Nico, he noted that Nico was simply staring at his shirt. Alistair looked at it. "I can get you a new shirt, so don't worry to much about it." The blonde said before pausing at the sight of Nico's gash. His gaze was pained, noting that his skin was completely smooth and flawless, just to have this one deep gash on it's surface, one that seemed deeper than his own. Alistair closed his eyes momentarily before putting the cloth to the water and gently putting it to the gash, cleaning it.

chibi_blue_mouse

 

[chibi_blue_mouse]

Kaitlyn shrugged in response. "He got in my way. Too close for any of my ranged weapons to work efficiently." she said with a shrug. "I was just lucky to be faster and got around him." she said as an explanation for Kress's wound. "I might have been a bit eager to get him out of my way though. Kress is valuable, I know this. I'd like to make sure he sees someone about his back so it doesn't have to come out of my paycheck." she said, frowning, her desire to leave showing. It was certainly in character for any of Kaitlyn's normal activities. After all, 'Time is Money' was a motto she lived by, she hated when things took more time than she wanted.

Nicodemus hissed and stiffened as he felt the wet cloth hit the wound, the stinging sensation shooting all up and down his back. Other than that though, he made no other protest. He set the shirt down. "I'd argue with you about the shirt, but you have never listened to me about it before. I doubt today would be any different." he said with a small chuckle, trying to keep the conversation going. Talking helped distract from the pain. "How's it look?" he asked, needing Alistair to keep talking to give him something to focus on besides the pain.

Ivory_Coated_Stars

 

[Ivory_Coated_Stars]

Kress looked over at Kaitlyn as she lied through her teeth to keep up the facade. Darius seemed to narrow his eyes before turning. "Fine. The two of you are dismissed." He said before seeming to turn his attention to the coins on his desk, speaking to the other mercenary present. With that dismissal, Kress swiftly walked away, going to find the medic that they kept on hand. Kress only hoped that they were actually there. They had a living to make too. Kress stopped at the door of the room that she usually spent most of her time in, opening it abruptly. The crow spotted her there and simply looked at her before the blonde simply raised her eyebrow and sighed. "What the hell happened to you?" She said as the crow closed the door behind him. Stella wasn't exactly someone Kress enjoyed paying visits to, though he go to see her when his wounds got bad. Otherwise, he mends his own injuries. Kress stopped to match her crystalline gaze before trudging into the room. The woman simply turned to pull out supplies. "Pull up a chair."

Kress walked at a snail's pace to a wooden chair before pulling it next to the small table Stella was sitting next to. He turned the chair so that his back was open and facing her before pulling off his shirt, revealing his wound. The woman furrowed her eyebrows before swearing. "Dammit Kress. What in the world did you get yourself into?" Kress simply folded his arms over the back of the chair, causing him to lean forward. "Can you mend it or not?" The raven haired male asked in an irritated fashion. The female simply inhaled, as if she were contemplating it. "Of course I can fix it, but I would be lying if I said it wasn't going to be painful." Kress could hear the blonde leave to rummage through what sounded like mason jars in a cabinet. He closed his eyes slightly before hearing the clack of her heels approach the chair again. Kress's eyes darted to the table as he saw her set down a few small random jars, water and a clean rag, gauze, a match, liquor and a glass, as well as a needle and some thread.

Kress turned momentarily pale at the sight of all of the things on the table before watching Stella pour bourbon in the glass she set out. She handed it to Kress. "Unfortunately, I'm all out of any numbing agent, so this will have to substitute." Kress took a long look at the brown liquid before drinking it down. "Why do I have a hard time believing you?" The raven haired male asked before taking another sip. "I have no idea.~" The female said in a sarcastic sing-song voice. Kress clicked his tongue before setting the glass down and taking a bullet that she handed him, putting it in between his teeth before closing his mouth entirely. It's not like he planned on making conversation anyways.

~

Alistair looked at the wound, though he was soon snapped out of his daze when Nico began to speak. The male could only smile in a slightly pained fashion as he methodically worked on fixing the gash. "It's...It looks fine..." Alistair was good at deceiving, but never with Nico. And he resented that fact. The male sighed in an exasperated fashion, knowing that Nico was going to read right through his words. As Alistair finished cleaning, the blonde began to grab pre-torn strips and bandage him.

chibi_blue_mouse

 

[chibi_blue_mouse]

Kaitlyn also left once they were dismissed. She followed Kress until she was sure he was getting treatment for his back and then she went to her room, smiling a bit as she added the remaining bag of gold coins and the bag of silver coins to her stash. She then decided to take a well deserved rest and went to bed.

"Liar." Nicodemus was quick to call Alistair out on that. "How bad is it really?" he asked, now even more worried about the wound since Alistair seemed to feel the need to lie to him about it. He winced as he felt the bandages go over the wound. He wasn't going to be able to sleep on his back for a week.

Ivory_Coated_Stars

 

[Ivory_Coated_Stars]

"Done." Kress rose from his chair as the blonde handed him his shirt, taking it irritatingly before pulling the bullet from between his teeth and setting it on the table. He pulled on the shredded rag, knowing that he would have to throw it away the moment he got back to the room. Being honest, he didn't even know why he bothered to pull it on in the first place. The crow watched as Stella grabbed the bullet, seeming to examine all of the new grooves it had. "Well, weren't we tense?" The blonde teased before Kress shot her an exasperated look. "Be careful with those stitches Crow. I didn't work my a** off just to have you mess up my hard work." Kress simply mumbled before setting all of the coin he had gotten from the previous predicament he was in. He would get more. The Crow grumbled a small "Thank you" before heading through the door, hearing Stella in the background. "I mean it Crow! No work for at LEAST a week!" Kress simply continued on, ignoring the female in the background and eventually making it to his room. With a soft sigh, the male simply pulled off his shirt, throwing it into the trash can before deciding to go to sleep.

~

Alistair sighed audibly. "It's a little deep, but survivable, so it seems. This may not seem very comforting, but my experience with things like this is rather limited. Probably not the best candidate to be your doctor." The blonde said, trying to lighten the mood as he finished wrapping Nico's wound. It was soon that he rose from the bed and gave a bright smile. "Finished." He said before cleaning everything up and sitting down. "Though just to let you know, you may still want to have someone check it." Alistair said, though he was decently confident that it was okay. After wards he sat down on the bed, looking over at Nico then plopping back, forgetting momentarily that he had an injury. He'd always been reckless. "Today has been long." The blonde said as he abruptly sat up, wincing due to the stinging pain.

chibi_blue_mouse

 

[chibi_blue_mouse]

Nicodemus laughed a little as Alistair said he wasn't the best candidate to be a doctor. "Neither was I when I started helping others." he admitted, shrugging one shoulder, the one that didn't hurt so much. Nicodemus hissed through his teeth as he stiffened, one hand reaching out to stop the other as he saw Alistair plop onto his back. He didn't even have time to remind the other that lying on his back was a bad idea. He dropped his arm and relaxed as the other sat up quickly. "Yeah, you're gonna wanna sleep on your front for a couple of days. Maybe even a week. Depends on how fast you heal." he advised, a small smile on his face. It was rather silly, that Alistair forgot so quickly that he had four lashes on his back. "Anyways, we should change the bandages in the morning. As long as it doesn't look inflamed, and if there's no yellow-ish coloring on the bandages, we should be fine." he said, scratching an itch on the side of his nose. He sighed and looked up at the ceiling. "Hey Al?" he asked, calling him a not-often-used nickname. It was a nickname he only used when they were alone together, and he felt comfortable enough. "Do you think it's possible . . . for me to be a free citizen?" he asked, clearly hesitant about the question.

Ivory_Coated_Stars

 

[Ivory_Coated_Stars]

Alistair laughed, slightly embarrassed by the fact that he had done something so foolish, especially in front of Nico. "I suppose that not sleeping on my back would be the wise thing to do. Haha..." He said, before listening to Nico explain what to do about his bandages, smiling he looked over at him. "You'll be the first one that I go to." It was true, Alistair didn't trust anyone else to handle his wounds, and refused to have it otherwise. Upon hearing his nickname, which was rare as of late, Alistair turned to Nico, his gray gaze glancing at the male. He loved his nickname, or rather, he loved the fact that Nico had given him one. When he asked if he would ever be free, Alistair took a deep breath. He didn't know how to respond. He wasn't entirely sure. "I don't know." The male looked down before looking back into Nico's gaze. "But...If that was what you truly wanted, I would do what I could to make it happen." Though the male pausing at his last statement. There was no doubt in his mind that he would try to make Nico happy, but in all honesty, he wouldn't want the other to leave. Because at that point, he wouldn't see him nearly as often. Alistair's gaze lowered slightly. "Does...this mean that you no longer wish to be here?" The blonde asked, curious, but also jealous at the thought that he wouldn't have the other to himself. "I'm being selfish." The aristocrat thought to himself, trying to imagine the thought of Nico moving into the city.

chibi_blue_mouse

 

[chibi_blue_mouse]

Nicodemus shook his head rather emphatically. "No way. I just . . . I'm scared." he admitted. "It's because I don't want to leave that I want to be free. I . . . I don't have control over my own life. I never got to choose if I wanted to stay in a household or not. I was never asked for an opinion and even if I had been it wouldn't have mattered. I would have just been ignored. But . . ." he sighed, not quite sure how to explain this. "Your dad bought me. And sure, he gave me to you to be your protector, but he still owns me. And after what I did today . . . and how angry he was that you spent so much on me . . . I'm scared he'll sell me. And . . . for the first time since I became a slave . . . I want to fight against that. Because I don't want to leave. I want to stay." he said, staring at his hands that were clenched in his lap, frowning a bit. I want to stay with you. he finished in his mind. But he wasn't about to say that. Alistair was his best friend. And the first person who wasn't a slave to treat Nicodemus like an actual person. He wasn't about to risk that by revealing that his feelings for Alistair might extend to beyond friendship . . .

Ivory_Coated_Stars

 

[Ivory_Coated_Stars]

"You don't want to leave?" The male asked slightly surprised, though happy. He paused for a second momentarily, however, doing what he could to keep himself from jumping to conclusions. "I-I mean, I suppose you have many friends here that you would be leaving behind if you were to just leave." Alistair gave a soft sigh as his eyebrows furrowed slightly. He couldn't deny the fact that Nico had a point. Despite the fact that Nico was "given" to him as a guard, he was still technically owned by his father, and at this point, there was no doubt in his mind that his father would try to sell him on the market just to spite his son. And Alistair wouldn't put Nico through the endless cycle of being bought and sold over and over again, which he knew his father would do if he simply bought him again. Alistair was at a loss. He knew what happened when slaves went against his father, and the last thing that he wanted to do was see Nico go through what Alessandra had. Alistair looked up at the other, the same fiery look in his eyes that he always had when he had a new goal or an unorthodox plan. "I understand. If this is really what you want, then, as I said before, I will do what I can to help you."

chibi_blue_mouse

 

[chibi_blue_mouse]

Nicodemus looked up and smiled at Alistair. "I want to be free Al. I don't want to have to leave." he said, feeling extremely grateful to have Alistair as a friend. Then he raised an eyebrow as he questioned something that Alistair had said. "You think I have many friends here?" he asked curiously. What had given Alistair that idea? Nicodemus mostly kept to himself if he wasn't around Alistair. He extended a helping hand if someone needed help, of course, but he couldn't really say he'd made 'friends' with anyone else besides Alistair.

Ivory_Coated_Stars

 

[Ivory_Coated_Stars]

When Nico asked his question, Alistair simply tilted his head. Why did he ask him if he thought so. Well, he supposed that he did. Nico was a very likeable person. "Don't you?" The male asked, pondering his question even more. The blonde smiled and rubbed the back of his head in a sheepish fashion. "Well I always figured you would, you're just so adorable." Alistair laughed slightly before pausing and realizing what he said. "I mean, you're always there for people. You're kind and considerate, and always so content even in the worst situations." Alistair began to turn slightly red from embarrassment. What was he saying? He didn't know. He was just trying to turn his mouth off before he said anymore.

chibi_blue_mouse

 

[chibi_blue_mouse]

Nicodemus smiled a bit wider hearing Alistair's reasoning. "Well sure, say all those things are true." he said with a shrug, still smiling. He couldn't help but smile! Alistair called him adorable! It gave him a warm fuzzy feeling inside. "I haven't really been able to connect to anyone except maybe Alessandra." he said, considering Alessandra to be the closest person besides Alistair to being a friend of his. And he still felt like he didn't really know her that well. "You're a full-time job, Al. I never really got to know anyone else." he said, giving another shrug.

((I keep having the worst time trying to remember to add the quote. XP I mean, this is probably my umpteenth time editing a post to add a quote. It's not difficult, I'm just frustrated at myself. *pouts* XP))

Ivory_Coated_Stars

 

[Ivory_Coated_Stars]

Alistair gave the other a playful smirk when Nico said that he was a full time job. "What can I say? I've mastered the art of being a handful." He snickered slightly before thinking about it. He truly did find it quite unbelievable that he was his only friend, due to his nature. "You've been doing a great job handling me though." Alistair narrowed his eyes, a devious smile on his lips as he recounted the history the two shared. "When we first met, I honestly thought that you internally wanted to poison me." Alistair raised his eyebrow at Nico, knowing that the by inning of their relationship was rocky at best, though over the course of time, that had changed drastically. Within the period, the two had grown rather close. Actually, somewhere down the road, Alistair realized that Nico was his only real friend as well. Everyone else he had come across was simply a person present to procure his boredom. It was always like that before he met Nico, but the moment he came along, Alistair was never bored. Over time, he soon just became fond of him.

(OOC: I know what you mean. I sometimes type in the names wrong, or forget to do it. It can be quite nerve-wracking. Don't be so hard on yourself about it smile )

chibi_blue_mouse

 

[chibi_blue_mouse]

Nicodemus laughed when Alistair mentioned his first impressions of him. "Well . . . only after the first day." he played along, teasing him. "But can you really blame me? You were purposefully making my job difficult." he said, still laughing a bit. "Okay, maybe not poison you." he admitted after a moment to recover from the laughter. "Just strangle you a little." he teased. Nicodemus remembered those first weeks as Alistair's personal bodyguard. He had tried being passive, following Alistair everywhere, and that hadn't worked as, inevitably, Alistair had given him the slip. Soon, though Nicodemus caught on and just as Alistair was about to run off, Nicodemus would tackle him, effectively making running ineffective. Of course Alistair complained about it, but Nicodemus would make some off hand remark about thinking he saw a sniper and how he was just taking precautions. And that had only been the first month. Nicodemus couldn't help but smile a bit at the memories. That was his first bit of retaliation to a master he had ever preformed. And the fact that Alistair seemed more amused by his actions than truly offended only encouraged Nicodemus to act more as a person than his slave position would have normally allowed. "Good thing there haven't been any more snipers around, huh?" he remarked in a faux-casual tone, unable to help but bring up the memory.


((Well, I'm glad I'm not the only one who forgets. XD And that's seriously all I do. I don't misspell the name or anything, I just plain forget to put the quote in there at all. Not this time though. This time I remembered! XD))

Ivory_Coated_Stars