RP:Aftermath of Girls Night Out, Gambit
Aftermath of [Girls Night Out gambit]
Jolly Roger
Lita had barely and by some miracle made it back to the island. She should have grabbed a snack along the way probably, except the memory of Mahri's face when she'd bitten the last unwitting person was still a thing that lived in her brain. So, back to the island. Where at least she could possibly make it to the Kraken. But even that seemed a million miles away. The JR was closer. Usually empty at this time of night and Leo always kept a bottle or two of bloodwine on hand, just in case... She leaves a smear of blood on the front door as she enters. It's fine, it's not hers. She sheds her cloak and then her dress, leaving the clothes in a wet mess across the floor as she stumbles behind the bar. Everything hurts. Everything burns. The marks from Khitti's shadow-magics have left burns across her skin, searing into her skin, melting through muscle and bone. Beneath it, she can feel it trying to slowly heal. She sinks to her knees, doubling over as she cries out in agony. One of her fingers is broken, her hands covered in dirt and mud up to her wrists and she slams her palm against the floor out of anger. She grits her teeth, trying to force all of the pain to channel into her anger instead, to keep it focused. She'd been so close. So very close. There are tears on her cheeks, suddenly warm and feeding her frustration and she rolls onto her side with a grunted complaint as she reached for a dusty bottle of blood wine. She uncorks it with her teeth and tips it for a long swallow. She coughs a complaint, spitting the liquid all over the floor and her hand as she tries to cover her mouth. She really does hate the stuff.
It’s been a couple days since Mahri felt well enough to almost kick Lita out of the Villa and do what she needed to. A couple of days where she’d been able to let the wolf run and heal fully. On this particular evening, the lycan decided to stop by the Jolly Roger, check if maybe Rug had been around since she hadn’t heard from him in a while, and to see how the workers were coming along with renovations. There might be a war going on, but there was still business to do. The smear of blood on the door had Mahri stopping momentarily. The scent from it didn’t belong to Lita, but she didn’t recognize it either. Cautiously, she eases the door open and steps inside the small space she created. Lita’s scent is there, fresh, and mingled with something else. She’d missed the spit-take apparently. Not seeing anyone right away, the wolf walks slowly towards the couch, keeping her eyes moving incase there was an intruder. When no one tried to stab her, Mahri turned towards the bar, Lita’s scent and something else getting stronger until she looked behind it to find her lover looking worse than she’d ever seen. “Lita!” Fear laced her voice as she dropped to her knees next to the vampire, the rejected blood wine wetting her soft leathers. “What happened? You need to feed.” A question and a statement given as she reaches for the bottle to toss it away. What was that man’s name… Cal? Carl? She can’t remember at the moment. “I’ll get you someone.”
Lita would have argued if she had the energy for it. Certainly would have protested Mahri taking that bottle of blood wine. "Don't." She manages, choking out the word with some effort as she reaches for Mahri's wrist. She'd have no intention of letting anyone see her in such a state, never mind that she was in her underwear and huddled behind Leo's bar. "Mahri, I- you-" she can't keep anything straight in her head long enough to get a thought out coherently. She groans a complaint, gritting her teeth again as she rolls a bit, pressing her forehead against the cool floor.
Mahri absolutely hates feeling helpless, especially when someone she loves is in obvious pain and needing something that will help. “Don’t what? Don’t drag some poor sod in here for you to feed on because it’ll help you heal?” Mahri cursed under her breath, just a few choice words. “Where do I find that friend of yours? No, not so you can feed on him, but so he can help you. Gods know you can’t use my blood.”
Lita muffles a few choice words against the floor. She doesn't want to admit that Mahri is right. She'd much rather believe that she can keep those darker parts of herself locked up for a little longer, maybe keep Mahri safe from them for a little longer. People never seemed to stick around long after seeing those darker parts. But she knows Mahri is, in fact, right. She needs the help. "Soulskin." she says finally, pulling herself to her knees and reaching one hand up to the edge of the bar to try and pull herself to her feet. The place was still empty, right? "He might be there."
Mahri || No one had come in after Mahri, but she wasn’t going to let Lita get up in this condition, not by herself. Instead of finding the edge of the bar, Lita’ll find that Mahri has detoured that hand to bring it around her shoulders, her other arm snaking around the vampire’s waist to help her up, “Lean on me. We’ll get you to the couch. With the blood smeared on the door, I don’t think anyone’s going to come in right now.” She’ll help Lita to the couch, make sure she’s as comfortable as possible, even going so far as to cover her with the wolf’s own duster. “Stay here, don’t move. I’ll be right back.” And then she’s gone, but not before placing a quick kiss on cooler lips. “I meant what a said.” Whether about being right back or the words spoken only a few days ago, she’ll leave Lita to wonder, a distraction from the pain she was feeling. It might seem like ages before the door opens again and Mahri is coming in with Cal stomping behind her. “ … I swear that woman is going to be the death of me. Both of you.” He glares at the wolf before going directly to Lita on the couch, if she’d bothered to stay there.
Lita is not always good at following directions but she'll make an exception for Mahri just now. The couch is at least soft and comfortable and Mahri's duster is warm and smells like her. Sleep would be an easy thing here. Right back? What was she- Oh, right. Her brain is trying to keep up. Mahris is saying that she meant what she'd said and it takes her another second to catch up to that, too. That had been before Lita had stabbed Khitti. Even accidentally. How was she supposed to tell Mahri that? Sorry I stabbed your friend, it was an accident, hope she's alive. Mahri is gone before she can say anything out loud though, and she's left staring at the bloodied dagger on the floor. She's still there when Cal stomps into the pub on Mahri's heels and Lita practically sinks farther into the couch, as if trying to hide under Mah's duster. Screw both of them, leave her alone. Except they don't. Cal reaches for her wrist as he sits next to her on the couch and drags her against his chest. He's warm and soft and before she can protest, his wrist is against her lips. She shakes her head but he doesn't move it away, just leans up to whisper something to her in a foreign tongue. Her lips part against his wrist and she sinks her fangs into his skin. It takes Cal a minute to meet Mahri's gaze again, a disapproving look on his face. "You two are gonna get each other killed." He huffs. It takes another few moments before Lita reluctantly pushes Cal's wrist away, drawing a steadying breath before she turns to glance slowly at Mahri. "Maybe not." She says before reaching for the she-wolf to drag her close and kiss her properly. Whether it was a thank you or an apology or a little bit of both, Lita wasn't sure yet.
Mahri ’s close, practically sitting on Cal’s back when he’s whispering something strange to Lita and she starts drinking. Okay, not that close, but close enough that she narrows her eyes at him when even suggests she might do something that would get Lita killed, like he was blaming her for the vampire’s current condition. But, he’s helping and right now, that’s all that mattered. Once Lita’s done and already looking better, Mahri’s there to be dragged in for that kiss, just as enthusiastically returning it until Cal clears his throat and the wolf pulls away with a shaky breath. “The hell’d we get ourselves into,” she murmurs before standing fully and looking over at the man. “Thank you,” is all she’ll say to him for now.
Lita watches Mahri stand, shifting slightly against Cal to try and lean away some before he's giving her a once-over to slyly indicate that she's still mostly naked. Oh. Right. She tries for a half-hearted smile and shrugs into Mahri's duster. It's warm and dry. She turns the collar up and wraps it close to breathe in the wolf's scent for a moment. Cal wraps an arm around her waist and squeezes her a little. A glad-you're-not-dead-but-you're-still-an-idjit gesture. Lita can accept that. "Mahri..." she says gently, dark eyes drifting across the floor towards the dagger she'd dropped. Her brain is still trying to piece together the night's events. The Blackbird had been there. Val and Meri and... "Mah, I think- No, I know I did, but I didn't mean to, not exactly." She's not entirely surprised when Mahri gives her a look that says to just spit it out already. "I stabbed Khitti. Val poisoned the river. So many people could get hurt, people who aren't even fighting in this war."
Mahri isn’t even paying attention to the dagger on the floor or if Cal was there or not. She was, quite frankly, in some mild shock as she sinks down on the couch near Lita while she tells her what had happened. Khitti had been stabbed, Val poisoned the river. Meri had been there. The river would clear itself since it was constantly moving, but not until people had used it. Innocent people, like Lita had said. She was not a fan of Macon’s but civilians should not be casualties in this war. Macon was a tyrant, he needed to be taken off the throne, but at what costs. “You did what you had to,” she says after a few long seconds. “I’m glad you’re okay.” She’d probably have to sneak out to the river to clean up the contamination. That was going to be a lot of work. She wasn’t exactly buddies with Valrae and not close to Khitti at all, but Meri…Meri she’d have to ask some questions of at some point.
Lita isn't entirely sure that's true at all. She didn't have to be there at all. But it was done now. She untangles herself from Cal, who stands to give the two a moment to chat, and wanders towards the bar for a drink instead. Well earned. Lita watches him go and then turns back towards Mahri. "I don't know if the Blackbird got away." Or in what state. She still hadn't learned his name. "He and Meri were goin' at it pretty good, so I didn't see much of them. It all happened so fast, but once Val dropped that vial into the water, I just ran." Not after pushing her off the bridge, but she highly doubted that would be near enough to kill the witch. "Grabbed a couple guards along the road to tell them about the river being poisoned. Hopefully they'll spread the word quick enough." Lita was not about to let Mahri try and clean up her mess. Again. She pauses for a long minute and then shifts her weight to straddle the woman's lap, leaning her elbows onto her shoulders. "I want to go to Vailkrin, talk to Kas, see where we are with..." she bites at her lower lip briefly. "Everything." She lifts a hand to Mahri's cheek. "Come with me. We'll get out of the cities for a few days, lay low. I know Vailkrin's not exactly neutral territory, but, I don't want to draw this war to the island, not yet, not if I can help it." She should tell Mahri she loves her. She does, doesn't she? But she didn't want it to be like this, with both of them nearly having died for a cause neither one of them was entirely sold on. "Please?"
Mahri rested her hands on Lita’s waist, sliding them down to her hips and rested her thumbs there in that crease above the thighs. It was almost as though she was reading Mahri’s mind, mentioning the guards as she did. How could she say no to the question of going to Vailkrin? She can’t, honestly. And it would give her a chance to sus out where Kasyr stood in this war thing; not entirely leaving it behind but given that Macon had practically made the announcement the two kingdoms were allies, it would help to know what aid Macon might expect from Vailkrin. Also, there was that ‘please’ tossed in. “OK. We’ll go see Kas.”
Lita squeezes Mahri into a hug and kisses her again. "Thank you." she murmurs before rolling sideways to nestle next to her on the couch, half squished between the she-wolf and the arm of the couch. It's warm and comfy and for a moment, at least, safe. The realization that Mahri isn't mad at her for stabbing Khitti (whatever her intention), or for trying to thwart Cenril's plans at the river, is slowly washing through her. Everything is exhausting but at least the pain is lessening. Brain fog lifting. "Tomorrow maybe, okay? A nap sounds nice." Not that she had any intention of moving, exactly. She glances down and a grin spread across her features that slowly blossoms into a little laugh. "I look good in your duster." She says softly, tugging at the front of it. She stretches bare legs across Mahri's lap and curls into her even further. "Thank you." She says as she leans up to kiss the woman's jaw.
Mahri will provide the warmth and safety that Lita needed any day of the week, just to know she’s safe and happy. “Tomorrow. Or tonight depending on how you feel,” she agrees. “Take a nap. You need it. I’ll be here when you wake up,” and, she had to agree, “It’s does look good on you, but it’s still mine.” She thought about running to the Villa quick to get a new dress for Lita, then thought better of it. They could get one before leaving Rynvale. Lita could wear the duster until then. Resting one hand over Lita’s legs and the other over her back to give stability to that curled position, the wolf smiles softly. So many kisses tonight. She wasn’t going to complain.