The New Recruit

[Metarie]

Blood dripped from his lip to hers. Salty tears filled his eyes again. Like a lover’s sweat, one fell on her cheek and slid down her cheek bone to her ear. The arm trapped between them slipped and dragged his hand across her breast.

Mire moved to buck, to get out from under him, to improve her position, but he moved instead. Azuel scrambled back and sat up on his knees. Mire let him get away from her. The blow to her gut had knocked the fight from her. She ran the back of her hand across her mouth, smearing his blood across her cheek. Mire’s brows drew together as she propped herself up on her other elbow. She snorted.

“Tch. Sounds like an excuse to me.”

“I shouldn’t have hit you.”

Mire looked away sullenly and sat up, resting her forearms on her knees.

“I shouldn’t have hit you either.”

[Azuel Vyaduka]

He made the mistake of looking back at her, desperate for her approval. His brows pointed down at the outside. They were matched by the curvature of his frown. His blood had fallen on her. He swallowed uncomfortably as she wiped it all the way to her... ear. Mingling blood. The metaphor reminded him uncomfortably of the scene in the gardens.

He blinked longer than was necessary, his whole body shivering.

“Tch. Sounds like an excuse to me.”

He was brought out of his sexual discomfort to face his insecurity. He winced at the sudden transition. Of course she had heard him, why wouldn’t she have? She was right anyhow, and he knew it. Even if he didn’t want to know it, he knew it.

“I shouldn’t have hit you either.”

He chuckled, feeling weirdly mirthful at that statement. “I wouldn’t be so sure. Not often you find a descendant willing to get punched without imprisoning the one who did it.” He was amazed that he was able to keep his voice deadpan. He jumped to his feet. Telling the joke had made him feel a little better, and he was as surprised as any by the sudden buoyancy in his step. He moved over to his discarded helmet, dropped when she had sent him reeling.

His frown returned when he reached down to pick it up, noticing all the new dents it had gained. Oh well. A short lived sense of well being was better than none. He picked it up and dusted it off, evaluating the damage. He sighed, figuring he might as well try another jest. “If anyone asks, I fell down some stairs.”

[Metarie]

Mire moved to stand, too, reaching first for her chest plate and slipping it over her head.

"Pfft. I already said you're a total sub and you know it." Images of Azuel in buttless leather pants and ridiculous positions suddenly filled her head. A snort-laugh escaped her and she smacked her hand over her mouth, eyes wide. Another laugh escaped and she couldn't help it. Taking in a deep breath, Mire doubled over and howled with laughter.

The word stairs drifted into her consciousness. Mire wrapped one arm around her waist and waved the other hand at him. She was gasping for breath, tears streaming down her cheeks, and laughing.

"STAIRS! AHHH HAHAHAHAHA! Leather! HAHAHA PANTS! HAHAHA!"

[Azuel Vyaduka]

Azuel nearly dropped his helmet at her first comment, but he managed not to fall into any traps by saying anything. It wasn’t as if he even knew his preferences anyways! He’d never so much as visited a brothel. Yes... he thought, images of the elf flooding into his mind as he had lain on top of her. He didn’t know his preferences. Definitely didn’t.

When she burst out laughing, he flinched, ducking his head a decent distance and blushing furiously. How could she know his thoughts that didn’t make sense wait maybe she was laughing at his terrible jokes okay. It took him several moments before he summoned the courage to turn around. He hadn’t thought his jokes that funny.

W-what had she just said? Leather... pants?

“H-hey!” He said, reaching out towards her with his palm half-opened. He didn’t seem willing to actually take more than a single step in her direction. “Just what are you thinking about right now? Stop!”

[Metarie]

Mire gasped and waved her hand at him again. No sound was coming out at this point. Teodinus, she was going to pass out if she didn't get a breath in.

"Ok. Ok, ok, ok... O... K." Mire wiped a finger beneath her eyes to clear away the tears. "O... K..." She sounded calm, but her eyes were open very wide as she stared at Azuel.

"Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. Images of you dressed as a Sub popped into my head and I couldn't help it." Her whole body shuddered as she tried to quell another round of laughter. She failed, but managed to get it under control. She felt exhausted.

"Hehhhhh..." Mire breathed out a shaky breath.

"You're an idiot, you know that?" Mire wiped at her eyes again before making sure the chest plate was buckled snug against her. The mirth left her as a sobering thought appeared.

"I don't think I have ever met someone who has so much who hates himself so much."

Mire shook her head, reached for her remaining gear and pulled it on. She checked her gear and then moved away in the direction of the patrol route.

[Azuel Vyaduka]

Azuel’s jaw dropped at the thought of himself in sub gear. He shoved his helmet back on, thoroughly embarrassed, as she continued to giggle at him. How could she just admit something like that to somebody? If the thought of her in her underwear suddenly appeared in his head, which it hadn’t, and certainly not repeatedly from various angles, he would never have been able to tell anyone, much less her.

His helmet’s visor was, annoyingly, half closed. It came as a welcome distraction when he had to shove it all the way back up. He was feeling pretty foolish for his prior use of it to hide his features from the elf. The elf whose name he still didn’t remember. Azuel felt incredibly awkward.

"You're an idiot, you know that?"

“...Yeah.” He responded. She didn’t seem to like his response much, as her giggles ended. He felt a little bit bad about being the cause. She had an endearing smile.

“I don't think I have ever met someone who has so much who hates himself so much."

“W-well can you blame me?” He asked, staggering into step beside her with a couple short lopes. He didn’t realize that she was now going along their patrol route rather than heading back for headquarters to deal with his apparent madness. “It’s not like I’ve done a single thing to get any of the stuff I have. You are probably more worthy of my life than I am, you’d at least do something with it. Everything I have was my grandfather’s doing, one way or another. And I just squander it.” He supposed his father also deserved some credit, but Azuel didn’t care to mention him at the moment.

He sighed, scratching at his side before remembering he had leather armor covering it.

[Metarie]

Surprisingly, Vyaduka fell into step beside her instead of scurrying back to the guard house.

"Deserve." Mire remained silent for a while, thinking about what he said.

"Maybe that's part of your problem then. I'm not so sure that if you'd lived my life you'd be any different. You might have had expectations, but I didn't have any. Can you imagine? Everyone thinking you're a lost cause from the start just because you didn't have any parents, were an elf, and a girl?" Mire snorted in disgust.

"Tch. I'm pretty sure they expected me to end up in a brothel. And, let me tell you... for every good person in that system, there's at least ten bastards who would willingly lend us out for a few extra bishani." Mire avoided thinking about the ones who did go down the wrong path.

"We're all given the same education and the same opportunities. For some, taking advantage of the opportunities is easier than others. It's all about being willing to put yourself out there and make an effort. It's about not letting anything or anyone other than you define who you are and who you will be. I mean, if I had listened to all those people like you who hated elves, I'd probably have killed myself years ago."

Mire glanced around as she talked, watching people come and go. The musket bumped against her butt when she walked. She stopped, annoyed, and turned toward Azuel with her hand out.

"Gimme the bullets and stuff. You carry this dumb thing." Her fingers moved in a give me, give me, impatient motion.

[Azuel Vyaduka]

The way the cobblestone interacted with the grass of the gardens was particularly interesting at this section of the road. Azuel just couldn’t stop turning his eyes downwards to stare at it instead of his attractive female elven companion. If she had listened to people like him... she’d have killed herself? Was the blood of some elf, somewhere, on his hands? “I never wanted to hurt anyone...” he mumbled. It seemed such a feeble defense in light of his actions today.

It seemed to be enough for her, or perhaps for once she actually hadn’t heard him. He quietly voiced an “Ah!” noise, surprised by the request, “Um, right. Here you are.” He reached down to his belt and loosened the ammunition. The little metal balls added an additional rattle to the clinking armor of the two guards as they walked down the street.

He passed the simple brown bag of bullets over to her and grabbed the rifle from off her back. He lifted it over her head so that she could easily duck out of the strap while taking the bag at the same time.

He wasn’t certain how to take her life advice, so he stayed quiet. He slung the musket over his shoulder, where it comfortably rested. He eyes the bayonet warily for a short moment, as if it were a serpent that might strike. “I never knew...” He didn’t like to think about the orphanage in that way. It wasn’t as if he thought he could do anything, but he felt responsible all the same. He blushed a bit, realizing he had demonstrated his inexperience yet again. “That... probably doesn’t surprise you much.”

The gentle curves of the path took them to the lake. The patrol was nearly over. There were few enough people that Azuel felt comfortable taking a detour. He placed his hand on the elf’s shoulder. “Hey, wait up a second.” He moved over to the water’s edge and pulled his glove and helmet off. He doused both into the water before leaving them on the road. He then cupped his hand and splashed his face with water, finally ridding himself of the accumulated dried blood. His split lip was still bleeding, but at least he could keep himself from looking like some sort of undead beast in guard armor.

He knew it was a rather drastic exaggeration. But it felt good to be clean again, at least.

[Metarie]

Mire ducked out of the strap, taking a gamble with him at her back. She was demonstrating trust. He'd better appreciate it.

"No, it doesn't. You have to take time to get to know people before you know things." Now that the musket and its rounds had been switched, they moved on. Their footsteps made crunching noises.

Vyaduka put a hand on her shoulder and she looked at him, surprised. He'd been acting like she carried some kind of a plague because she was an elf, and now this?

She nodded. "Ok, sure..."

What else should or could she say? Pursing her lips, she thought about it, and realized cleaning up was probably a good idea. MIre moved to the water's edge as well and crouched down. Pulling off her right gauntlet, she dipped her hand into the water. Her knuckles felt bruised and the cool water felt good. The dried blood she'd smeared came off easily. Then, she splashed water on her face, too. She knew he'd dropped blood on her face.

She looked at Azuel, water droplets dripped from both their chins.

"Oh, hey... you missed a spot."

Without thinking, Mire reached over and smudged the spot away with her thumb. His face was prickly from the beginnings of beard hair.

"Yeah, that's better." She nodded and pursed her lips, forearms resting on her knees, as she surveyed the lake scene before them.

[Azuel Vyaduka]

Azuel staggered and nearly fell into the water when she started splashing around beside him. She had caught him a bit off guard, as he had doused his face and could not see or hear her approach over the water’s effects on both senses. He quickly caught himself on the edge and easily passed it off as though nothing had happened.

Next thing he knew, her hand was on his face. His whole body froze up immediately, and did not release him into she drew her probing finger away just as quickly. He stared at her with an open mouth, stunned, as she looked out over the lake. Who just touched people’s faces like that? Who did that? He stared at her for longer than was strictly necessary.

Eventually, his eyes narrowed. She must have caught on to him by now, she wasn’t an idiot. He drew his fingers through the water before raising them to point at her.

“Alright,” He began, standing in a half-crouched posture with his left hand supporting him when needed. Drops of water rode down the curves of his face now that he was actually moving. His tone was both accusatory and a little bit playful as he said, “You did that one on purpose, didn’t you?”

[Metarie]

Mire, who had been staring thoughtfully at the water, turned only her head to look at Azuel. Her brows had raised. Her gaze flicked around and she blinked. Truth be told, she had not sussed out Azuel's peculiar elf-problem. Now, had he been in regular clothes during their fight, maybe. Nothing he'd done implied sexual desire. On the contrary, every thing he'd done implied he thought he was going to catch some horrible disease just by touching her. Except that part where he put his hand on her shoulder just a moment ago.

She had been thinking about what had happened, trying to figure it out. She hadn't gotten to the root of the problem. They'd have to spend more time together for her to figure that one out.

He was a complete weirdo. A crazy, elf-hating, weirdo who was beginning to act like maybe she was OK, even though she was an elf. It must be all the inbreeding of the Descendents that does it. Mire's irrepressible sense of humor and positive outlook couldn't be helped, any more than Azuel's self loathing could be helped.

"Yes." She managed to keep her facial features dead pan. "I wanted to put my elfy cooties all over your face."

Mire stared at Azuel, waiting out the moments with near expert comedic timing, before rolling her eyes at him. Mire's expression collapsed into a friendly grin. She couldn't help it. He was open for teasing... wide open. Served him right.

"Pfft! You just had something on your face. What? You made all this effort to clean up. I should let you go around with a few flecks on your face?" Mire made a face and stuck out her tongue at him. "Do you have a mirror? No."

"What about me?" She pointed to her face and turned it this way and that. "All good?" There was dried blood on her bottom lip.

[Azuel Vyaduka]

The elf’s raised eyebrows and surprised expression immediately told Azuel his hunch had been wrong. She had actually meant nothing more than to remove the blood from his face. He fidgeted around the water’s edge and chewed his lip, accidentally, if only mildly, prodding at his split lip in the process. To his great concern, he could guess that actual teasing was soon to ensue.

The fact that he knew it was coming did not dull its edge. Azuel closed his eyes and froze before throwing his hands up to his head and turning to look out over the lake, his eyes resting on the calming scene of the waters rather than the dark inspiration her face worked on him. She made him feel like such an idiot. He hunched over, as if being small would keep her from noticing him, and his face flushed not for the first time today with embarrassment.

“I’ve got a mirror right here,” He mumbled, by now having figured out that she heard most of what he said under his breath. He made a halfhearted gesture to point to the water with an equally lazy, half-open palm.

When she asked about her own features, Azuel’s first instinct was that of simple kindness: to turn back and look. He immediately regretted doing so, as he could clearly see a speck of dark blood- his blood- on her lower lip.

Still feeling the blood dripping from his own freshly renewed cut, he used his upper lip to lap up some of the crimson liquid dribbling down his chin as he frantically tried to figure out his next course of action. He had already made the mistake of looking; there was no backing out of it now without being rude. “Ah... yes.” He replied. His voice was meek and small. “There is some... speck on your lower lip.” He didn’t want to tell her it was his blood, he just felt too awkward. The growing color on his cheeks blossomed into a full red shade, and he was sorely tempted to put his helmet back on. Instead, he quickly turned to look back out to the lake. His sleek, black hair, glistening with droplets of water, moved on a slight delay as it followed. It caught the dawn’s radiant orange light for a brief moment as it did so, giving Azuel a momentary crest of fire.

He crossed his arms obstinately and pouted, ignorantly destroying whatever divine appearance the sun had briefly granted him. As he stared out over the water, flustered beyond all, he made one thing clear: “I’m not getting it for you.”

[Metarie]

"What? Oh..." Mire leaned forward to use the lake as a mirror even as Azuel muttered it. She dipped her fingers in the water and rubbed the blood from her lip. She turned to look at him and watched with growing wonder and confusion as Azuel turned beet red. Comprehension dawned in her eyes.

"And you're shy, to boot! If that doesn't beat all! No wonder you acted like a vestal virgin when you saw those two..."

Well, huh!, she thought, adding another weird little fact to the 'list of impressions about Azuel Vyaduka' file in her head:

1. Virgin.
2. Inbred.
3. Hates elves
4. Shy
5. Clumsy
6. Self-delusional
7. Lazy
8. Descendant
9. Coward
10. Self-hater

"You really are useless, aren't you?" She sighed and pulled a handkerchief from one of the pouches on her belt. She turned toward him, one knee on the ground. Despite all his faults, he was kind of like a beaten, little puppy you wanted to scoop up, feed, and pet until his little tail thumped happily and swung around in a circle.

"Here. Press this to your lip to stop the bleeding. Sucking on it isn't going to do much. When it stops bleeding, I've got some salve here you can use, too." She had the salve to keep her lips moist and to keep them from getting chapped.

[Azuel Vyaduka]

Azuel’s face contorted uncomfortably when she mentioned the pair they had witnessed earlier. He wouldn’t exactly have compared his reaction to that of a vestal virgin. As he understood the faith of Roman god of the Hearth, they weren’t supposed to wield firearms with the reckless insanity he had demonstrated. He dipped his finger into the water and made little swirling motions in an attempt to distract himself. It wasn’t working.

He decided to try wondering if the elf was a Puradyne, but that only reminded him that he still didn’t know her name. He was starting to get nervous. Maybe it wouldn’t come up and he could sneak a look at the roster later.

She belittled him in the background, but it didn’t have much further effect. Azuel was already stooped over to such an extent that it looked like he might be contemplating the accumulated sediments at the pond’s bottom. He did wonder if they had a good way to drain and clean it. It looked sort of filthy down there.

He was mercilessly torn from his first non-awkward train of thought of the night by the elf moments later. She had leaned over to him and was handing him a handkerchief. He sighed, reaching with his left hand to grab the cloth because his weight was being supported by his right. This turned his whole body to face her.

He grabbed the handkerchief’s outermost edge so that nothing weird happened. Like holding hands or something. “Th... Thanks.” He whispered. Her words and her actions didn’t really match up. She called him and idiot one moment and practically doted on him the next. Then again, that was hardly the only way she was confusing to him.

He pressed it to his lip before switching hands such that his right was holding it to his face. He then picked up his helmet and stood. “C’mon.” He said simply, his voice still quiet as he tried to sort out the riddle that made up his patrol partner.

Then, out of the blue, it hit him. “Wait. We never went back to the outpost after my...” He gulped. Hadn’t that been the plan? To turn him in? Of course, looking back he felt kind of foolish having said the things he had said. Did that mean she had been right to hold him to the patrol? Had she saved his useless hide again? Azuel didn’t even know what he wanted to do anymore. He clutched his head, and not for the first time and certainly not for the last he found himself fascinated by the way the cobblestone was put together.

[Metarie]

Not to make matters more awkward, but the kerchief was a dainty, feminine thing and it smelled like her, too. He stood, so she stood.

"Yeah, we should get back to the post. I've still got an hours worth of training to do and I'm starved!"

“Wait. We never went back to the outpost after my...”

Mire pursed her lips and nodded before pulling on her gauntlet for the umpteenth time this day.

"Yep." Her gaze slid over to him when he grabbed his head. No, he didn't belong on patrol, but he might do alright as a desk jockey.

"We had a duty to fulfill. Now, it is done." And,that meant when they got back to the guard post he could do as he pleased. MIre began walking back the way they had come. She was still trying to figure out just what had set him off. It'd require further thought and while he was still here, she couldn't ponder like she needed to. He just needed way too much help. That kind of thinking would require down time and a pitcher of something tasty and alcoholic. Training, shower, food, booze, and thinking. That was her plan for the rest of the day. Well, maybe a little food first. Mire's stomach rumbled and she put a hand to her belly.