(An Eon of Healing — Shiva & Kutu [kooh-tooh]) (Index) (Support me on Patreon!) (Buy me a coffee!)
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The Rickety Crown Inn. All Kutu knew was that it was based somewhere in Plague, was a long way from home — considering she had never left the Haven’s territory before The Siege — and that most of the patrons were more on the shady side, to put it lightly. Both smiles and inappropriately long stares equally made her skin crawl, made her want to put as much distance between them as she could, yet none had dared to approach.
Settled in a booth that was tucked away in a corner, she curiously blinked at the scrolls that sat on the table between her and her mentor, Shiva — finally picked them up after the skydancer, with quickly waning patience, silently gestured at them for the third time.
“Gene scrolls — Jaguar and Rosette,” her mentor’s voice sounded deceitfully patient. “You’ve held up well while we’ve been here.”
Kutu felt prideful at receiving praise — a difficult feat in itself on a good day — and couldn’t help her smile. The pair had been holed up for weeks — “neutral ground”, Shiva had absently remarked when they first arrived, “we need to stay low.”
The imperial had only dared to ask once about when they were to return home. After a brief lecture about patience, that was immediately followed by an exceptionally draining practice session, she knew better than to mention it again.
That was during their first week. They were now reaching the three month mark.
The two redeemable things about the inn was the music, and Appolymi. When Shiva would step away, she’d sit at the bar to wait — felt safest there while contently listening to the nocturne bartender share story after story between serving customers. It was a much better way to pass the time than being holed up in the room she shared with her mentor.
“So this is the pretty little gem I’ve heard about,” a voice purred moments before a body, uninvited, slid itself into the booth Kutu occupied. Startled, she quickly scooted from him when she felt his cloak brush against her arm, then made to glare through her mask as she had seen Appolymi do — only to freeze when a black, armored hand firmly grabbed her under the jaw. The stranger’s face was completely shrouded by a hood; glowing, red eyes briefly held her green ones before the hand forced her to turn her head left then right — which was embarrassingly easy because of her obvious shock at being handled.
“Alaric,” Shiva prompted, a sharpness in their tone that Kutu had, thankfully, never been on the receiving end before; even on her off days.
“Better that I get the first touch in than one of them,” the stranger — Alaric — replied offhandedly. The implication heavily hung in the air even as she was finally released.
Heart pounding in her chest, Kutu stared at Alaric as he turned to Shiva. Hoping to hide how shaky her hands were, she absently rubbed where the male had touched her; wished that her only escape route wasn’t blocked.
“I didn’t wait around for you to appraise my student.”
“No, Alaric. Perhaps the next one.”
The spiral leaned back, rested his arm along the top of the booth behind Kutu. “That’s what you always say,” he retorted, tone disappointed. The imperial opened her mouth to ask about the aforementioned students, but quickly snapped it shut when the male leaned close to her, his attention still directed to her mentor. “Promises mean nothing if you don’t follow through,” he mock whispered.
“Let her be,” the skydancer said, moving to stand. “Now that you’re here we can finally begin. Wait here, Kutu. I won’t be long.”
“This inn’s hard to find,” Alaric lied. He pulled his arm out from behind Kutu to briefly ghost his gloved fingers down her cheek. “It was nice to meet you, Gem.”
Sliding out of the booth, he lingered a long moment with his back to her, as if weighing his options, then followed Shiva down the hallway that lead to the inn’s rooms.
Kutu, though curious to know what her mentor would want with that, felt sick to her stomach. Instead of taking her usual seat at the bar, she waited a full two minutes after the pair was fully out of sight before hurrying straight to her room with her scrolls.