Thar Shaddin

When Drayel heard the crash, he spun around so his back faced the noise and he blocked the way for Talia's body. He looked over his shoulder, peering suspiciously around until he located the source of the noise. Another man stood over the hickey covered bride, gaping and pointing as he turned red in the face.

"CHARLES?!" He bellowed eyes bulging. "W-WHAT ARE YOU DOIN WITH MY WIFE?!"

Oh. Drayel blinked as he glanced at the tw-one. One girl in his arms. He blinked again as he tried to locate the other girl, only to realize he'd thrown her into the crowd of males who were patting her hands and cooing comforts at the shocked woman. He blushed. Whoops.

"IT'S NOT WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE!" Wailed the bride as she struggled to regain her dress in the proper position. Drayel got a flash of tata for the effort. He blushed heavily before trying to find somewhere else to look. His eyes landed on the cake, three stacks high and pearl white with little pink roses decorating the sides. Atop it stood the screaming man and the sobbing woman. Ooooh. Poor bastard.

"HOW DARE YOU! YOU PROMISED YOU WEREN'T SEEING HIM AGAIN!"

"Oi, Talia." Drayel murmured nudging her gently with his elbow. Everybody else was huddling around the squabbling couple like flies to a cow patty so they went unnoticed as he continued to eye the cake. "It's been a while since I've had a cake. Why not grab that one seeing how they clearly aren't going to need it? I mean, why waste food when they're clearly going to fight with it in a moment, eh?"

"BUT PLEASE! TIMMY!"

"WHOSE TIMMY?!?!"

"OH SH-T! I MEAN JOHN!"

"They're distracted." Drayel whispered with a slow grin. "Target's wide open. What's your call?"

Drayel's voice distracted her from the spectacle that she was viewing and trying hard not to enjoy. There really shouldn't be anything funny about a woman who was making out with her husbands best man, and then call him by a different name! She tried to keep from grinning as she looked up at Drayel. "Why not? As you said they probably won't be needing it! Poor man...I think." she added as she saw the very drunk groom take a swing at his friend and accidentally punch the guy next to him who in turn fell over onto the soon to be ex-bride.

"Although I do feel like we will regret leaving just as all the action is starting." This time she allowed herself to giggle as they casually snuck around to where the cake was. "But this will make a good breakfast tomorrow." As Drayel was trying to figure out how they would carry the cake Talia took a sugar flower off the cake and ate it. "Yup, we are definitely taking this cake." She said as she licked her lips to make sure there wasn't any icing stuck. Drayel seemed to have figured out a way to balance the cake between them and soon they were inching towards the door.

Of course everyone was too distracted by the fight that seemed to be breaking out to really care what they were doing and they very easily made their escape into the night. "Where to husband?" Talia said with a smirk, the fresh night air had helped to clear her head a bit. "We can't go to my place. If my boss found out that I let a man, or anyone, in at night then I could get into some major trouble. What about your place?" While she waited for his answer Talia tried to figure out what they were going to do for sleeping arrangements. It was obviously too late to find the old codger who had set them up so it looked liked they'd be spending the night....together. Maybe Drayel would be okay if she slept on the bed and he was on the floor? Or they could switch if he insisted.

"We'll have to go to an inn." Drayel announced with a sigh as he continued to juggle the cake. He made a face as they marched onwards, his nose wrinkling in thought. "If we go to the Drunken Rat, I'm aquaintances with the owner. I'm sure I can swing a deal with him from the money I swiped from that woman we danced with."

Drayel hummed in amusemnet before glancing down at her and snorted.

"I'll order a double bed and a cot. Then you have the bed, and I'll set up cot beside it so neither of us have to sleep on the floor. Fair warning however, it's not the nicest nor the safest. I'll probably wake to any noises so if I jerk upright I suggest you don't move. If it wasn't the cheapest place around, I'd find somewhere else but alas we cannot afford it. Is that alright with you?"

Talia blushed when Drayel mentioned sleeping options. Looking down and the ring on her hand she really hoped that it wasn't morphing and doing some kind of mind-reading magic on them. Nah, that couldn't be it, more likely Drayel, as observant as he seemed to be, saw that she was deep in thought about something and assumed correctly what she was thinking about.

She sighed before she looked at him with a crooked smile. "Well if you are going to be such a fitful sleeper we might as well share the bed. It will lessen the chance of you tumbling out of the cot and pulling me down on top of you. " She was about to add: and no funny business but thought it would be better if she not assume anything, after-all it wasn't like he had tried anything today and goodness knows he had more then one opportunity.

As they approached the inn Talia noticed Drayel's head perk up and that he was starting to look around suspiciously. "What now?" She all but moaned. She prepared herself, and the cake, to run again if she had to. Maybe it was just a cat making noise in an alley way but with their luck it was someone else. She noted to herself to ask Drayel why they kept running away from everyone.

"Oi! Get out here ya fat lazy slob." Drayel barked as he glared down the alley. "Don't think I didn't see you ducking behind the trash. Come out!"

A loud grumble escaped from the alley and out emerged a large shaggy dog. Drayel snorted in disapproval but the dog simply huffed at him before glancing over at Talia with an almost intelligent gleam in its eyes. It's wide back made level at approximately three feet while his head when straightened reached three and a half. Black shaggy fur covered the wolf's body while a leather collar hung around it's neck. Bright green eyes peered at her as a pink tongue rolled out in quick heavy pants.

"Honestly, running around like that." Drayel scolded whilst balancing the cake and glaring. "What are you even here for?"

The shaggy beast's eyes landed on the cake.

"Oh no. We fought for this cake. Though... maybe you can earn it." Drayel said slowly. He eyed the dog with a new light. "I have a job for you and I will happily share a third of this cake with you if you accomplish what I ask."

The dog's ears perked.

"There's an old man running around, he looks and acts like a merchant." Drayel began with a promising rumble. "Find anything on him, or better yet him and I will give you cake an a coin or two. See, he forced a pair of enchanted rings on the two of us and now we're unable to let go of hands. Rather irritating in itself."

The dog nodded eagerly before glancing over and giving Talia a tail wag for a greetings.

"Find the man, get the cake." There was no more dog. He was long gone, sniffing and tracking with the thoughts of cake dancing in his head. Drayel snorted before glancing over at Talia with a grin. "Easier than I thought. Though, he always was a sucker for food...."

Talia stared in disbelief as a collared wolf stepped into their midst. It took her a while to remember the rumor that she had heard about a shifter that the guards had captured and would occasionally use to help them with various missions. As she relaxed her tensed muscles she shot a grateful smile at the wolf as he left. Sure she wasn't a fan of magic and magical beings but she was really starting to get tired of this whole thing. Not that she didn't enjoy being the Drayel's company but more so because it was hard to do anything proper with only one hand.

Talia yawned as they continued on their way. "What are the chances of him finding the man we are looking for?" She asked Dray as they approached the inn. This time Talia was the one looking around. Not because she heard something but because she was a little worried that someone may notice her, or Drayel, entering an inn together, at night, with a wedding cake between them. It wouldn't take a genius to assume what was going on, although it may take to understand and believe the true story.

They put down the cake at the front desk and Drayel managed to convince them to save the cake for them, at least until the morning. As Drayel worked out the nights lodgings Talia yawned, this time covering her mouth with her freehand. Casually leaning on Drayel's arm, she blinked a couple times trying to keep her eyes open. It had been a busy day for her as well as a long one. In most cases she would have been in bed sleeping for hours and most likely be getting up in several hours to bake the daily bread. "Is there a problem gentlemen?" She asked sweetly with a soft smile up at the innkeeper who seemed more interested in what was going on in the common area then in helping them.

"It is nothing." Drayel stated flatly before taking the key and stamping up the stairs. He felt his teeth grind, trying to ignore the wide eyes that gaped at his back. He bared his teeth at nothing again, lips curling up in disgust. "Come on, our room is above."

Damn, how had those old croonies found them?!

Talia shrugged her shoulders as Drayel practically dragged her up the stairs. What had gotten into him all of a sudden? She hadn't seen what had been going on behind them so maybe Drayel had caught site of something unnerving in the common area? That must be it she thought as Drayel, for the second time that day, dragged her into the room before slamming the door. Either he caught sight of the silly girls, the old hag or some of his fellow guardsmen. Although by this point Talia didn't really care who saw them together and where, by now there probably were enough stories going around that who know what people had already said. Nothing worse could really happen...right?

"What now?" Talia asked as she looked around the room. It certainly wasn't the best, but it could have been worse.

"Wash up." Drayel grunted as he peered down at the groggy woman with an almost amused expression. "Then bed. You look like you've gone through a monster infested sewer."

He gently pulled on her arm and lead her to the bathroom, helping her wash her face by holding the soap, and when she and he were cleaned gently pulled her back towards the bed. He paused however when he came to realize something. He glanced over at Talia, clearing his throat as he went a sharp pink.

"Ah... How do you sleep? Are you sleeping in that.... or your underclothes?" Drayel seriously doubted and hoped it wasn't the latter. He may be a gentleman but was still male, and his control would only last so long. He glanced unnerved at her. "I'm simply asking is all."

Talia resented having to have help get ready for bed, but it was just so late that she didn't feel like protesting. It had been a long day and now it was time to rest - regardless of how awkward it may be. As Talia was pulled gently towards the bed all she wanted to do was curl up in the bed and sleep. Yet for some reason Drayel hesitated. Looking up at him she couldn't help but grin mischievously. She had yet to see him really turn pink so this was a treat, one that even in her sleepy state she was not going to let pass.

"Who sleeps in their day clothes? My underclothes are my sleepwear." She said honestly. "And it is our honeymoon after all." She added wiggling her ringed finger. Sticking her tongue out at Drayel who was rapidly turning multiple shades of red she giggled before shaking her head. "I'm just teasing Drayel. Don't worry, I will go to bed decent." Walking over to the desk and dragging along a still stunned man she grabbed a pair of scissors. "I won't be able to sleep though if I have to wear a long dress." Taking the scissors she cut the bottom of the dress until it just met her knees. Slipping her shoes off and twisting her hair and bringing it over the front of her shoulder, so it wouldn't be in the way while they slept she was finally finished.

"Okay, well I'm ready for bed. How about you?" When he nodded at her they walked back to the bed. "I'll go in first. That way your paranoid sleeping habits will be comforted knowing that you will be the first to see anything walking through the door." She couldn't help but poke fun at him again. Crawling into bed she faced him as they laid down. It was a bit weird but she always slept on her side and it was much easier then trying to sleep with her back to him. Closing her eyes she settled in to sleep.

Sleeping with her back to him made Drayel sigh in relief. He hadn't missed the fun poking he got, nor did he admit he was relieved to hear her joking. True, he was male and males liked naked females but he knew damn well that flings never ended well. No, he rather keep this appropriate. Well, as appropriate as he could.

Their hands were stuck together so naturally when she rolled over, his arm went with it. He blushed heavily, naked chest against her back as he tried to think up riddles and rhymes while ignoring the female in front of him. Dammit, this was going to be a long night.

He forced himself to relax, to slow his breathing and growl out a bit on occasion as he hoped to give off the assumption he was sleeping. He didn't want her awake and nervous that he was waiting for her to sleep to violate her. No, he pretended to sleep while mentally picturing sheep, numbers, riddles, maps, battle strategies, the old man, the old crone, and there he must have actually fell asleep because the next thing he remembered it was morning.

As per usual, he woke before the crack of dawn. His lips twitched, his lulled eyes refusing to open once more as his arms hugged something warm to him. He grunted as he snuggled deeper into... hair? He paused, frowning into the mop with an almost puzzled look on his face. Shifting his body slightly, he felt himself spooning a somebody. He stiffened.

Please don't let the old crone have drugged me. Drayel mentally chanted as he slowly cracked open an eye to peer almost frighteningly at his bedmate. What he saw made him huff in relief and flop back onto his pillow. Oh. No, this one has her teeth.

Why was he in bed with a woman? He didn't drink, did he? No, no hangover. Then why- A squeeze of hands and a mumble from the woman beside him reminded him of yesterday's events. Then, the woman beside him was.... Talia?

"Talia?" He murmured giving her hand a squeeze. "Come on now, it's time to wake up. Up and at 'em ya lazy baker woman."

It only felt like a couple moments since that she had crawled into bed and fallen asleep in just a few seconds. A voice beckoned her out of her slumber but she was not willing to follow. "Shhh...just a couple more minutes." She mumbled as she rolled over and nuzzled into the neck of her bedmate....wait...someone was in bed with her?! In her groggy efforts to sit up suddenly and figure out what was going on she ended up hitting her head into the chin of the person beside her.

She was definitely awake now. Looking down it didn't take too long before she remembered the day before. "Sorry Drayel." She said sheepishly before remembering what he had said at the end when he was trying to wake her. "You surprised me. Anyways, I have a right to sleep in! You kept me up until all hours last night. I was ready to go to bed so much earlier." She stretched her arms out trying to get rid of some of the kinks that seemed to be insisting on residing on her body. She stopped when she saw Drayel staring at her and looking down she quickly dropt her arms and blushed ....she had forgotten that she had chopped the dress off and in stretching had given Drayel an interesting view from his position on the bed. She straightened the sleeves of the dress so they were no longer falling off her shoulders and offered Dray what she hoped came across as an apologetic grin.

"Ah..." Drayel cleared his throat as he glanced away, trying to keep his face calm as he inwardly blanched. Already he forgot his throbbing chin at that glorious eye full. He got a view of... lady chest. He'd seen quite a lot in his time as a guard (mostly drunks trying to run or passing by open windows that women repeatedly 'accidently' forget to close just when his patrol is going through and their dressing 'oh so happen at that time'. Still, he felt awkward. He kept his face turned away. "I apologize for keeping you awake but... chm..."

Drayel couldn't think past 'boobs' and he facepalmed himself.

"Let's just get out of this damned bed."

Talia debated teasing him about the whole ordeal but thought better of it, one might think that she was trying to encourage the man into doing something....inappropriate. Instead she blinked the remaining sleep away from her eyes and scooted off the bed after Drayel.

Another awkward bathroom trip for the both of them was then followed by Talia insisting on taking some time to get ready for the day. Unlike some girls she didn't have a multi-hour ritual to get ready in the morning but she would like to be at least presentable for the day!

Talia ground her teeth as she bent over the sink to wash her face in cold water...she was starting to regret this dress as well as cutting it short last night, although if it had been long chances are she would have started kicking Drayel in her sleep and that would have made for an interesting night. She quickly rinsed her mouth quickly with water and found a brush that she too rinsed before using...just in case the last user of it wasn't too clean. With several quick brushes she deemed her hair manageable, slipped into her shoes and turned around offering Drayel a sweet smile.

"Good morning Drayel!" She knew they had already been up for a bit now but now that she had done at least part of her regular routine she finally felt like it was a semi-normal morning. "Shall we simply wait here until your wolf friend arrives?" Of course there were no chairs in the room...only the bed. Maybe they'd be able to find a card set in one of the drawers and play something. Talia really wasn't in the mood to do more running around today and hoped that Drayel was in agreement with her.

"It would probably be best if we didn't move around much." Drayel agreed as he glanced around with a frown. "Perhaps we can rope up that cake from last night and munch on it though, I suppose we have to save a share of it for Shade."

He trailed off as he gave her a sidways glance and smirked, his stubbled chin and wild hair returning as if it the brothel never happened. Feeling more like himself he settled into normal routine. Well, as normal as he could get. He felt his lip twitch a little as he set the schedule in his mind.

"Breakfast, retrieve cake, daily exercise (you won't have to participate in that one mind you.) We'll see if there is a round of cards or something we can rope together in an attempt to have a semi-normal day for the both of us, no dough monsters included." Drayel said itching his chin. "Sound alright with you?"

"Of course, we may have to pay somebody to get a dress for you." Drayel added with a dry smile. "I doubt a young lady like yourself would be approved of running around in such a skimpy thing. I wouldn't want your reputation ruined any more then it is."