strangetrip | [GP] Shoot that poison arrow

[GP] Shoot that poison arrow

None of the guests noticed when the spiky-haired man-child in jeans and purple t-shirt, wrists wrapped in cheap leather and metal bracelets, arrived at the Madonna Inn a few hours before midnight on February 13. That, in itself, wasn't all that surprising. Eros, otherwise known as Danny Valentine, had millennia of experience doing his job without being spotted.

What was surprising was that the dude at the front desk did see him. Tall and Nondescript waved him over and then gave him a room number 'in case you wanted to rest'. But Danny didn't.

Want to, or rest. He spent the time before the clock struck midnight polishing his love gun. Not like that. He'd find a girl to spend his nameday with. He always did. No, this little beauty was made by Hephaestus himself. It shot love darts that disappeared on contact.

At midnight, kitted out with more love darts than there were people in this pink and gold monstrosity, Danny left his room and shot the first person he saw--and didn't wait to see what would happen.

No point getting a slow start. He had a lot of work to do.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

It was one of the pleasant things about the Inn, added to 'the sun actually rises' and 'no daemons so far', the general politeness of the residents. Most people had, Ignis thought, learned quickly to speak or make some kind of noise when approaching him. He preferred to ignore his deficiency as much as possible, and his current housemates - so to speak - respected that.

"I can't judge the color, but there is indeed coffee." Most likely it was dark enough to be nearly black even in a spoon, because in the absence of complaints Ignis made the kind of coffee he himself liked. Without waiting to be asked, he retrieved a mug (with the ease granted by several hours of rote memorization followed by six weeks of making this kitchen his territory), poured coffee into it, and offered it in the woman's direction.

Yasmeen moved forward and glanced suspiciously into the cup. "Not pink," she pronounced it and breathed an audible, if ironic sigh of relief. She took the mug from him with a brief twinge in her shoulder, probably from last night. But when she inhaled, it wasn't coffee she scented.

It was him.

The sharp pain in her shoulder subsided as she set the coffee down again and moved toward him single-mindedly. It had been too long since she'd been with someone who wasn't Raleigh, and he was irresistible. Why that should be, she didn't question, nor his desire for her, only slid a hand up his arm to let him know she was coming and pressed in close.

The hand sliding up his arm evoked none of the thrill he'd felt when Vax had done the same, none of the desire to continue, and when her body pressed against hiss all Ignis could think of was how to step away and explain her mistake.

Except he'd been leaning against the counter, and just moving would either bring her with him or risk dumping her on the floor. And on top of that... quite probably she was out of her senses the same way Vax had been. It would pass quickly enough, and he had no idea what happened if the bespelled one was thwarted.

So he kept still.

No sooner had she begun than she felt him stiffen beneath her hand, and not in the way she was accustomed to a man stiffening at her touch. Even so, her body continued toward his, pressed close and she inhaled along the line of his jaw. She didn't kiss his mouth but instead dragged her lips and tongue along that path--

And stopped. Dead. Released from whatever had possessed her. She shuddered violently at the thought that the bugs had somehow triggered a mating heat, and would have turned and fled had she not come fully aware of pressing her attentions on a man who wanted no part of her...no part of women, quite probably.

Quickly stepping back, she offered a sincere and trembling, "My apologies," and dug her claws into her own palms. "I would never...I should not have... It won't happen again."

He'd needed no apology from Vax, and indeed did not need one from this woman. Neither had been in their right minds, as neither would have looked twice in them. He was uninjured, thoroughly unharmed in fact, save for some little confirmation of self-discovery. Which was not harmful, however useless the knowledge that in at least his limited number of test cases he had no interest in women was likely to remain.

Still, this apology felt different, somehow, so rather than dismissing it, he simply replied, "Apology accepted. This sort of thing appears to be going around today." If two people had latched on to him, how much worse must it be for more appealing folk?

"It should not have happened," Yasmeen repeated, shaken still but rapidly recovering herself. She wouldn't soon forget that feeling of compulsion or the guilt of pushing herself on him. "I kidnapped my dearest friend to spare him marrying a woman for duty. Please know I regret, deeply, any distress that caused you."

Her palms were bleeding, she noticed when she lifted the coffee mug. It didn't matter. They'd heal.

"Distress? No." Not distress, exactly. It had been over too quickly for that, and he hadn't exactly realized his disinterest before. There was clearly a difference between lack of opportunity and lack of desire. As educational as Vax had been, in a different way.

A faint coppery scent he recognized as blood hit the air, and he frowned slightly before going for one of the first-aid kits he'd stashed around the room. Blood in a kitchen was always worrying, if only due to the possibility of contamination.

The tension in Yasmeen's shoulders relaxed enough for her to unclench her free hand. But what was he... ah, some kind of medical kit. It was unnecessary, but if he needed the moment to compose himself, she would hardly begrudge him after what she'd done.

"This has happened to you already today?" As conversation went, it was flawed, but she didn't chatter at the best of times and this was hardly that.

"Indeed, you're the second. The poor fellow before you was nearly as apologetic, after." 'Nearly' only because he hadn't actually sliced himself somehow, and the woman clearly had. Ignis offered the first-aid kit to her. "Would you wrap whatever's bleeding, please? My sense of smell isn't nearly good enough to clean only affected spots, I'd have to scrub the entire area to be sure."

"Perhaps he lacked the experience of being forced to satisfy the whim of someone he didn't desire," Yasmeen replied, for once unguarded in her response. He impressed her with his observational skill and his calm demeanor.

"In any event, she needn't worry about the bleeding. It's stopped already and I didn't drip anywhere but the coffee cup." Nevertheless, she took the kit from him and wiped the mug down with an alcohol pad that she hoped would denature the nanites in her blood.

"Perhaps so. Still, none of us are injured, and neither of the two of you was forced to continue the unwanted contact." There was no need, at present, to doubt her word about the blood, so Ignis just nodded. "Do you need more coffee, then?" If what she'd had had ended up bloodied.

"Neither of us, but what of you? It was clear enough you didn't want me to kiss you." She'd known that and been unable to do a damned thing about it. Maybe that was why she seemed unable to let this go so easily. "The coffee's fine, thank you." She'd only smeared blood on the cup.

What of him? Ignis shrugged. "I wasn't forced into an unpleasant and uncharacteristic act with someone I'd not have thought twice about otherwise. I was not, in fact, forced into anything more than a few uncomfortable seconds," those seconds had occurred at different points, but they'd occurred nonetheless, "and I'm not without defenses if it had come to that. Nothing of me, thank you, I'm well enough."

Yasmeen's gaze narrowed on him and beneath her headscarf, her ears twitched irritably at the implication he was somehow distasteful. "If you mean because you're blind or bear scars, I couldn't care less."

"I'll admit those hardly help, but no." She didn't need another cup of coffee, but he did, so Ignis fetched one for himself. "I'm simply not the type. My talents are elsewhere."

"Not the type for romance? Understandable. Don't let me go soft for a man, ever." But he meant something else, and she shouldn't care, but for some reason, she did. "I expect my opinion counts for very little, but were you interested in women, I'd take you to my bed willingly enough."

"A pity I'm not, then." In one sense, anyway. It was certainly a compliment, and meant as one. "But less of a pity for you, as I expect I'd be fairly soft if I had the option."

"And were I so inclined, I'd count it as a compliment if you did." Finally, she found something to smile about, if only sharply and somewhat wry. "So we're a perfectly ill-suited for romance, and therefore well-matched as friends. Already you remind me of a very dear friend."

"Is that all it takes?" Ignis was amused, and not even despite himself. The mix of head-on directness, perception, and quick answers reminded him of Gladio. That had been all it took, to start, with him as well. "Oddly enough, I find you remind me of an old friend of mine, as well."

"Hardly." Yasmeen's voice dropped into a richer, more normal register. "But any man who can handle knives as you do without the use of his eyes is a man worth knowing. I'd wager you handle other weapons with similar ease." She'd be very surprised if she were wrong about that. She rarely was.

"I prefer knives. Daggers, really, if you're talking about combat." She was observant, in addition to pleasant company. If nothing else, whatever was driving people today had done him that much of a favor. "But I've also a fair amount of skill with lances. And some training but no expertise otherwise." There had been a fair amount of testing and basic training, in order to determine where Ignis had talent and didn't."

Yasmeen grinned at that, willing to let the rest of it go for now. "I also prefer daggers. Ranged or close, and lethality is a choice. I never pull a gun if I'm not going to use it." Brandishing a weapon you didn't plan to use was pointlessly showy, and it foreclosed any solution other than killing.

"Even with my eyes, I was never especially skilled with guns." His accuracy had been abysmal, or at least nowhere near his personal standards for skill. "But yes. I hate to lose tactical options when I don't have to."

"Yes. Not to mention that threats are a weak woman's weapon." She had no need of them. The occasional warning for those who didn't know her, but not the threat of a waved pistol.

Threats were a weak weapon for anyone, or rather threats alone were weak weapons. Any threat not backed up was merely a suggestion, after all. "They're certainly ineffective in most scenarios."

[GP] Shoot that poison arrow

Re: Ignis - for Yasmeen, Vax, and OTA - in the kitchens, naturally

Re: Ignis - for Yasmeen, Vax, and OTA - in the kitchens, naturally

Re: Ignis - for Yasmeen, Vax, and OTA - in the kitchens, naturally

Re: Ignis - for Yasmeen, Vax, and OTA - in the kitchens, naturally

Re: Ignis - for Yasmeen, Vax, and OTA - in the kitchens, naturally

Re: Ignis - for Yasmeen, Vax, and OTA - in the kitchens, naturally

Re: Ignis - for Yasmeen, Vax, and OTA - in the kitchens, naturally

Re: Ignis - for Yasmeen, Vax, and OTA - in the kitchens, naturally

Re: Ignis - for Yasmeen, Vax, and OTA - in the kitchens, naturally

Re: Ignis - for Yasmeen, Vax, and OTA - in the kitchens, naturally

Re: Ignis - for Yasmeen, Vax, and OTA - in the kitchens, naturally

Re: Ignis - for Yasmeen, Vax, and OTA - in the kitchens, naturally

Re: Ignis - for Yasmeen, Vax, and OTA - in the kitchens, naturally

Re: Ignis - for Yasmeen, Vax, and OTA - in the kitchens, naturally

Re: Ignis - for Yasmeen, Vax, and OTA - in the kitchens, naturally

Re: Ignis - for Yasmeen, Vax, and OTA - in the kitchens, naturally

Re: Ignis - for Yasmeen, Vax, and OTA - in the kitchens, naturally

Re: Ignis - for Yasmeen, Vax, and OTA - in the kitchens, naturally

Re: Ignis - for Yasmeen, Vax, and OTA - in the kitchens, naturally

Re: Ignis - for Yasmeen, Vax, and OTA - in the kitchens, naturally

Re: Ignis - for Yasmeen, Vax, and OTA - in the kitchens, naturally

Re: Ignis - for Yasmeen, Vax, and OTA - in the kitchens, naturally

Re: Ignis - for Yasmeen, Vax, and OTA - in the kitchens, naturally

Re: Ignis - for Yasmeen, Vax, and OTA - in the kitchens, naturally

Re: Ignis - for Yasmeen, Vax, and OTA - in the kitchens, naturally

Re: Ignis - for Yasmeen, Vax, and OTA - in the kitchens, naturally

Re: Ignis - for Yasmeen, Vax, and OTA - in the kitchens, naturally

Re: Ignis - for Yasmeen, Vax, and OTA - in the kitchens, naturally

Re: Ignis - for Yasmeen, Vax, and OTA - in the kitchens, naturally

Re: Ignis - for Yasmeen, Vax, and OTA - in the kitchens, naturally