#ashborndevil

[therunawayscamp]

ashborndevil said:

Valen pursed his lips. “I don’t know…” he drawled while demonstratively looking him over, from head to toe. Once his gaze had returned to Vilayn’s face he quirked a single eyebrow and smirked. “I could stand to look at you some more,” he concluded smugly.

Never one to mind being admired, Vilayn waited for Valen to finish his appraisal patiently, although at its conclusion he sniffed and wiped some of the blood from his nose to the back of his hand.

‘You have strange taste, sera. Personally, when I come across somebody looking like I do right now, I make it a priority to get away as fast as I can.’ He started moved his hand back to the elbow he was supporting and winced as pain ran through. ‘I must be even more charming than I thought.’

[therunawayscamp]

❝ Be careful. There may be a reason this ground has lain undisturbed for so long. ❞

Jo’Raya spared Valen a withering glance, the sort only feline eyes could give, before she resumed scrabbling at the dirt with her claws.

‘This one is always careful. Perhaps the prey should focus on watching for guards, instead of mewling like a distressed kitten.’

[therunawayscamp]

❝ Still waiting for me to do something sneaky and spy-like? ❞

Perhaps Tosti had been watching the mer too closely, although he was sure his hood was pulled down far enough to hide the direction of his eyes. He threw it back anyway and smiled.

‘Not at all. Should I be?’

[therunawayscamp]

❝ In battle, you look like you’re waiting for applause after every move. ❞

Rosie let her sword fall a few inches, striking an impressive balanced between sheepish and affronted with a pout and a glare which didn’t quite meet Valen’s eyes.

‘That’s how I was trained. I’m sorry if it doesn’t please you.’ She jabbed the sword up again, in Valen’s direction, and held it steadily pointing at him. ‘Maybe you’d like to come over here and show me how you do it, if you’re such an expert. And don’t make any jokes about the size and strength of your sword because trust me, I’ve heard them all before, multiple times.’

[therunawayscamp]

❝ I like the stories where the villain was the bastard beside you the whole time. ❞

‘Uh huh?’

Luca’s hand had been sidling towards Valen’s coinpurse. Now it snaked back into the seemingly endless pockets of her over-large clothes, safely out of sight.

‘Tell me more about that, sir. I’s real int’rested.’

[therunawayscamp]

❝ It’s quite comforting that whatever qualities I lack, you’ll invent for me… ❞

‘Good, I’m glad you appreciate my efforts. Unlike anybody else.’

Vilayn said this without looking up from the manuscript his quill was dashing across. Anyone might have assumed he was not giving his full attention to Valen, were it not for the sliver of a grin as he mumbled, in time with his hand shaping the words on the page,

‘Valen’s... sparkling... wit... and... enormous...’

[therunawayscamp]

❝ I’m giving you the benefit of the doubt and assuming you didn’t drag me here by force. ❞

‘Course not, lad, course not. I dragged you here with love and kindness.’ R’khan folded his arms. ‘Now how about, in the spirit of that love and kindness, you start telling me what that little run-in with the guards was about?’

[therunawayscamp]

❝ Honestly, a man’s gotta take his fun where he can find it… ❞

‘An’ ya found it in ole Braskan, did ya?’

Braskan stood like an apparition in the middle of a swamp, covered in mud from head to foot, dripping muck from his matted ponytail, and glaring with a ferocity that would have had him instantly venerated as a spirit of war by any innocent locals who stumbled across him.

‘Then I’s righ’ glad I brightened up ya day. Glad ta be a’ service. Glad ya had yer fun an all. Now if ya doesn’ mind, I’s goin’ ta wash.’