Things They Won't Talk About Later //Tundra and Verdana//

[Verdana]

As she loaded her plate, piling it high with whatever was in her reach, Shay observed her odd breakfast guest. He ate mostly meat, which made sense, considering his predatory bird smell. He also, she noted, ate very cautiously. This too made sense. However, Shay was not tacky enough to poison her intended victims. She was making a name for herself in the business, and as a result, every victim had to be handled with a certain flair. Poisoning was cowardly. It was overused, it was detached and cliched. It just lacked a certain... Sparkle, which was necessary to attract the attention of the unfortunately-very-necessary wealthy clientele. No, if she was going to kill Kuar, she wouldn't have poisoned him.

Poison was for amateurs and desperate people.

When the mound on her platter represented a small hill rather than a portion of food, Shay deemed the quantity satisfactory. She sat down, fished a cruel-looking knife out from somewhere about her person, and began to eat. Shaygrin was a very small person. She was short and skinny, and looked rather as if she survived on dust particles. She didn't. And she proved it as she proceeded to demolish everything on her plate, spearing and slicing with single-minded intensity. She didn't eat particularly messily, but there was a sense of duty about the process that brought to mind a chore being attended to. She resembled a feasting lioness, in the sense that interrupting her seemed like a phenomenally bad idea.

She had managed to put away almost a quarter of the plate by the time she overheard Kuar's comment.

She looked up, hostile and indignant, her mouth crammed full of lamb. The language took a moment to be crammed into her brain. It was a new one, which hurt slightly more. She winced, and then the meaning of the words was absorbed. She blinked. She swallowed with difficulty, glaring and making muffled noises of protest.
There is nothing 'nice' about me, she declared in the same language, waving her knife for emphasis.
I am a cold-blooded killer. I am merciless, cruel and sadistic. I'm sure that whatever this Demion individual said was perfectly reflective of my dangerous character. There is not a flicker of niceness in me. I'm only feeding you so that you won't bring attention to me when you leave. I don't care about your well-being at all, so don't be fooled.

Is that quite clear?

[Tundra]

Kuar looked at Shay his tail flicking slightly, it took him a second to realize he had spoken in his native tongue by her reply. Then again it also took him a few to realize she had spoken in the same language back to him. Though he could tell it wasn't natural to her by the accent that she added to some of the words, and cutting letters a bit short. None the less she had spoken it, which, actually bothered Kuar. His tail flicked again before he resumed eating. After he ate a few more pieces he said "Your nicer then you know Shaygrin.." He flicked his tail eating another piece of meat. He finished his plate with ease, actually having not eaten the day before due to being focused on killing Shay.

Now that he actually thought about it, this was an odd turnabout of roles for him. Really usually he never let anyone he was hired to kill survive, even if they saved him. Shay on the other hand, seemed to have something to offer him. More training, skills, that sort of deal. Not that he would stick around for long. At the same time he though about staying around shay awhile longer due to this Demion wanting them both dead. He also figured that on his own, he would fall victim to this man quite easily. In the end Kuar probably would leave, but not after actually learning something. Though he wasn't about to say this to Shay, she seemed quite pissed off already.

[Verdana]

If Kuar was surprised that Shay had effortlessly, if with an accent, spoken to him in another language, he didn't show it. He continued to eat, after a slight pause, but did not mention the anomaly. Shay thought that the matter was done, but apparently it wasn't. For, after a moment, Kuar spoke again. Shay looked up, her eyes heated. She opened her mouth to scathingly point out how little Kuar knew her, how ignorant and very stupid he was to even suggest it, but something happened. As she opened her mouth, her face went,if one would excuse the understatement, strange. Her eyes widened. All expression dropped off, leaving a blank, Shay-shaped mask. As her mouth slowly closed, so too did her eyes. Her back straightened. Her posture became regal, the lines of her face, while not changing, became unfathomably old and devoid of anything resembling personality.

The eyes opened. Blue, pupil-less pits sought out Kuar and captured him, blandly. They held him in place, grabbed him, and then inspected him thoroughly. Every detail of his bearing was assessed, every wrinkle, every scar and blemish. The being which was not Shay took Kuar in for a moment, as if inhaling the perfume of a very fine wine. It tipped its head very slightly.The side of its mouth twitched into what could have been considered, at a stretch, to be a smirk. The being took Shay's head, and gave it a very slight nod of approval.

The whole process took no more than a couple of seconds, and then Shay got her body back. She blinked. Her eyes returned to their usual state. Her posture reverted to its usual aggressive, defensive shape. She drew herself up, as if she had made some cutting reply, and nodded to herself with a humph. That would show him.

She picked up her knife to resume eating, and then her eyes found a clock. It was not a fancy grandfather clock. It was an old, small, battered-looking thing which lived on the mantlepiece. It was always, despite Shay's best efforts, a few minutes off. This was probably due to her habit of smacking it whenever time was not abiding by her rules, which happened frequently. In any case, she got a look at the face, and froze. She leapt to her feet, scattering apples, and swore loudly.
I'm late, she breathed.
She ran out of the room, grabbing various essentials and stuffing them into a bag. She ran in and out of the dining room, looking increasingly more harried.

She was passing through on her way out, pulling on her coat, when she remembered Kuar.
She rounded on him.
What in the name of the knife am I supposed to do with you? she almost wailed.

[Tundra]

Kuar flicked his tail prepared for Shay's sharp remark on how he was wrong. But as soon as she went to make the remark, she stopped..and seemed to..change. Kuar didn't like the feel of this at all as Shay's posture changed, and she seemed to just..well..change. Kuar watched as her mouth slowly closed and her eyes followed, then suddenly her eyes opened again. Or, were they her eyes at all. The blue orbs seemed to stare Kuar down, examine him if you would call it that. Her eyes seemed to almost assess him, see his value, look into his being. He didn't like this at all and was about to react when Shay nodded and seemed to change back to her normal self.

Kuar stared at her for a bit, his tail flicking in thought. What the heck had just happened, was shay feeding him something. He too a look doubtfully at his food before setting it aside and returning his gaze to Shay. Who now appeared to be disgruntled over something completely unrelated to what had just happened. As she packed Kuar just..watched her, trying to gather if what happened was real or just some hallucinogen she had fed him. As she turned to him before leaving seeming to scream at him what she was going to do with him..Kuar sat for a bit, before saying "I'm sure as hell not staying here..I might..break something..." He flicked his tail again lifting himself to his feet. His mind still lingered on what had happened a few seconds ago, and he finally decided to ask.

"Shay...just a few seconds ago...what the heck was that?...Your..eyes..and posture..you know..never mind..." He flicked his tail walking past Shay visibly bothered by something, but its like hes not going to tell this woman. He walked a bit down the path before saying "I might as well tag with you..got nothing better to do..and, better if we did..who knows if he will come back to finish the job." Kuar flicked his tail again, still thinking on what had just happened a few seconds ago. He hated the feeling of something examining him, reminded him of the trappers that captured him so long ago. Sent chills down his spine, and made him angry. He remained quiet, not really caring what shay had to say as of right now. All he was focused on was keeping his mental shields up, so Shay couldn't happen to get a glimpse of his mindset right now.

[Verdana]

It was only when she stopped, trying to get her coat on without putting her gangly limbs through the wrong holes in the fabric, that Shay noticed her guest's posture. Or, rather, the change in his posture. He looked disconcerted. He looked rather unsettled. Shay didn't understand. He'd been so strong before, so unflappable. What had happened to change that? What had she done, and how could she do it again? She could certainly use the ability to frighten the demon to her advantage.

Then he spoke, and everything made sense. Shay didn't like it, but at least it made some sort of sense.

She blinked, and said absolutely nothing. Her mind was whirring. She hasn't registered a change, but she new what had happened. She cursed in her own mind. The Power was getting sneakier. Usually, she knew when it was taking hold, but this time... Nothing. Not a stitch. How many times had it done that? Never before with Kuar, apparently. This offered little consolation. If she couldn't feel it moving, how could she stop it taking over her body? There was nobody to stop it. It was terrifying. She knew how it felt to be locked in her own head, unable to get out, but what if she didn't know she was trapped?

How could she try to escape?

You stay out of my body! Shay raged mentally. The Power, of course, did not respond. It hardly ever responded directly to Shay. That seemed to be beside the point.

Shay returned her attention to Kuar. Her face had betrayed nothing. She let him trail off, and then carried on as if he hadn't mentioned the incident at all.

Well, you may as well come with me, she said reluctantly.
The guy has protection. You may be useful for holding my coat or something.
Then she took off down the corridor, boots clacking on the cobbles, and began to brief Kuar, heedless of whether he was listening or not.
The guy's name is Jonah. Came from somewhere in Europe, and ran up a lot of debt with a prominent casino owner. We don't have to kill him, we just have to get the money out of him. If that involves killing him, fine. The money's the object. He's hired some goons, but it's nothing too serious.

Do you think you can stay out of my way?

[Tundra]

Kuar flicked his tail listening to what Shay had to say. Its not like he wasn't used to being told to stay out of the way, his master actually had done it quite often. His mind was still stuck on what had happened back in her house. He flicked his tail again as they walked, his arms hidden under his cloak. No one could actually see the fact that he had wings, let alone a tail that doubled as a weapon. He flicked his tail again while saying "Staying out of the way is something I'm used to. Conis always was forcing me to stay out of the way on missions..while he was training me" He sighed and continued walking finally able to get his mind off the recent..events.

Flicking his tail he paused asking "Where is this man located? And I know you have a plan, but you mind telling me so I DON'T screw you up?" He looked at Shay with a sort of look that said 'I really don't want to piss you off...' He continued walking wondering of Shay would accept an offer to fly her there. Would cut down on their walking time, and definitely make it a little easier to deal with the whole situation.

[Verdana]

Shay tore off down the street. The cloud cover was lighter that morning, and the sun peeked shyly onto the grim city below it. She listened with half an ear to Kuar, enough to know what he was saying and where, more or less, he was. The latter was very important to her, as she didn't quite trust him yet. In fact, she didn't trust him at all. She absorbed what he was saying absently. The name of his master... That rang a bell. Conis. Conis? She'd known a Conis. The name was very familiar, but she couldn't put a finger on when she had come across it. Another world? Quite possibly. It wasn't a recent name, that was for sure. She filed it away under 'Things that will probably be useful' in her mind.

Shay stopped dead when Kuar asked his question. She went very still. Then she turned to face Kuar, and casually parted her coat. Beneath it, she was wearing a pair of man's breeches, strategically stuffed with a stocking in the correct place; and a masculine shirt and waistcoat. What chest she had had been tightly bound, leaving that area completely flat. In the dawn light, a hint of stubble could be seen on her face. In short, she looked like an effeminate and rather scrawny young man. However, with her intense eyebrows and her jaw held at just the right angle, she could almost pull it off.

Except for one small thing.

Shay reached into her pocket and drew out a gleaming knife. She held it for a moment, looking merciless. Then she pointed the knife at her neck.

Slash!

Clumps of hair fell into her waiting hand as she cropped off her locks, leaving a shoulder-length, untidy mop which she tied in a debonair fashion. The black locks, slightly wavy and smelling of her, she handed to Kuar without a word. She did so with no regret. Hair grew back, it was necessary, and it had just been getting in her way anyway. She did not let it fall to the ground. That way, anyone could track her by her scent. She reached into her pocket, replaced her knife, and drew out a hat, which she placed on her head, looking every inch a young traveller.
I'm going to his favourite bar. He knows me already as Morgan, a Private in the Queen's army. I'll buy him a few drinks, get him off-guard...

She paused, and smiled grimly.

Then I'll take him aside and get the money, no matter what I have to resort to to do so.

[Tundra]

Kuar gave a nod of realization at her plan. It was an easy one, but Kuar found he could see right though her disguise. Then again he KNEW she was female, that changed what he was able to see. If he was a drunken man, he probably would still see another male drinking with and having a great time. Kuar instinctively stepped back as she drew her dagger again, remembering back on the rooftop how close she had been to cutting his neck. Though when she cut her hair, Kuar stared at her questionably, even more as she set the lock of hair into his hand. It didn't quit register with him why she had handed it to him until his own heightened sense of smell caught hers.

He tilted his head slightly closing his hand around it and saying "What you want me to do with this? Burn it? I don't get why you didn't just dispose of it yourself." He flicked his tail again following Shay further down the road as they walked. He was curious though, what would actually happen. Shay was indeed one of those people Kuar didn't expect to let people live after completing assigned tasks. But this wasn't his concern. He flicked his tail again shoving her hair down into one of his cloaks inside pockets. He probably would forget about it, but what the heck he could burn it in a fire later. He didn't feel like wasting his energy to burn the hair on the spot. Flicking his tail again he said "Shay..maybe you should off set your color and shirt a bit..your..a bit to proper to be a guy..." Kuar reached out not really thinking and made it to where he color was up rather then folded correctly. It was then that he realized he had done so and backed off. He didn't really feel like ending up in a gutter somewhere, it had been a typical reaction. Flicking his tail again he quickly said "Sorry...didn't really mean to do that..." He turned away and started walking towards the bar. He thought to himself why he had just, so quickly helped Shay out on this mission. Maybe it put him in a better position he didn't know, but really it was a mistake if anyone asked him.

[Verdana]

Shay and the Power

As soon as she had made her speech, Shay turned around and continued to walk at a brisk clip. She kept her hips still and swung her arms. Walking like a man was very different to walking like a woman. Fortunately, she had grown up around men, and so had never really learned to swing her hips. When it suited her, she could be terribly feminine. She could sashay and flutter her eyelashes with the best of them. However, usually, she walked with little fuss. With the right tilt of her head, and gestures in the right places to distract from her more feminine features, she passed rather fairly as a male. She wouldn't hold up under close scrutiny, but in a bar full of men already drunk in the morning, she'd do just fine.

On that note, if she didn't get there fast, she'd completely blow her routine. She quickened her pace.

Perhaps this was why Kuar's hand never met her collar. She heard his comment, felt him reach out, and stiffened in readiness to give him a good pummeling for taking liberties with her. However, as previously stated, he never made it there. He stopped. Perhaps he thought a bit about what might happen if he touched her. Shay considered a confrontation, but then dismissed the idea. She didn't have time to fight with him again. She was late as it was. After a momentary hesitation, she continued, trying to ignore the tingling in her neck. She reached up, and flipped the collar over, shaking it into a rumpled mess.

Happy? she grunted, and then added, The bar's coming up. Drop behind me. I'm going in, you're going to continue walking as if we're not together. You'll double back, but wait at least three minutes until coming in behind me. Go find a corner to sit in. Don't be seen. Can you handle that?

She didn't wait for an answer. The bar loomed, and she quickened her pace, slipping inside.

She was greeted to a roar of acknowledgements from the bar's early-morning patrons. They were rosy-cheeked and mostly unemployed, so the bar reeked of soil and less pleasant natural odours. The men turned, raising their rapidly-emptied tankards in approval. The men liked Morgan. He was good fun, always lost at cards and, best of all, never failed to buy a round of drinks for everyone.

Morgan didn't let them down that morning. He saluted them, and roared, his voice high and young, but not noticeably so,
A round for every man in the room!
Another great bellow went up at that, and while the men were hungrily watching the tavern-keeper, Shay was looking around. She couldn't see her target. That was odd. He never failed to be in the bar, cheating men out of money with his cards and sleight of hand. She frowned, puzzled, and stepped across the threshold.

Three shadows detached themselves from the wall. The bar went quiet. Shay tensed, but before she could spring, a man had her in a chokehold, and two more were pointing weapons at her head. She gasped, wriggling ferociously, but her hands were bound in a heartbeat. They were soon followed by her feet. A piece of cloth was shoved into her mouth and tied behind her head. Shay bit at it, but it was not coming off in a hurry. One of the men held a knife to her temple. The more she struggled, the harder he pressed it into the flesh. She kept trying, until she felt the first few drops of blood sliding down her face. Then she stopped quite abruptly.

She was turned, and came face to face with her target, a very fat, aging Scottish man whose face was marred with an unpleasant sneer.
Almost thought ye had me, didn't ye, lass?
Shay started. her eyes widened. They hadn't known. When she'd last been in the bar, they'd had no idea. She'd even skimmed their minds to check.
That could only mean one thing. Somebody had tipped them off, told them exactly what was going on.

Shay gulped.

By the time Kuar arrived, it would be too late.

[Tundra]

Kuar sighed shaking his head lightly at Shays comment, but he listened. She was underestimating him, but then again who wouldn't. When Kuar caught sight of the bar he had to stifle a laugh. Shay was already long inside and probably working her way to finishing the job. Kuar flicked his tail uneasily as he listened. It was to quiet, and the bar just, seemed different. One of then men who were sitting outside scrambled to their feet in a sudden realization that Kuar was there. Quickly he pushed his way inside and hollered out something along the lines of shut up, be careful where you step kind of deal, before finally saying "Looks like Kuar's back in town." You could see the barkeep visibly stiffen up at the name before reaching for a glass and filling it with some drink behind the bar and chugging it down.

Kuar heard it all, he was leaning in the doorway just looking at the crowed. He could indeed see Shay out of the corner of his eye, and he was definitely not impressed. He flicked his tail as he watched a few men reach for daggers instinctively but back off when he looked at them. He shrugged and started walking in walking past where shay was and wrapping his tail around one of them men before flinging it backwards causing them to fall to the ground. Kuar looked at shay for a few with a look of 'this? was your plan?' before looking at the Man in question and saying "Jonah, Jonah, Jonah, come now, were only here for the money. cough it up, and you wont have a new scar to add to your collection" He looked serious, his tail unwrapping around the mans leg and returning hidden under his cloak.

The barkeeper looked over and gulped, that was all he needed, another blasted fight by Kuar. In those events tables ended up broken, cups flying though the air into things. It was all a disaster whenever someone pissed Kuar off. Looking over at Jonah the barkeep hollered out "now you better listen, or your paying the expense" it was quite obvious his voice wavered slightly in worry for his bar. It kinda made Kuar laugh slightly before adding "And you mind unhanding her? I'd rather not have to do that myself, your likely to end up without hands" Kuar turned his head slightly shifting his weight. Shay was on his ground, or to say the truth Conis's turf, but since the man was dead it belonged to Kuar. Though he was not going to say anything to Shay about that, since she obviously didn't need his help.