RP:KhittiBrand Together Again

Summary: After the rescue from Raiez's cave, Brand returns home with Khitti. There's fire. And fighting. And Khitti's a little messed up in the head. And Brand's still a jerk. A drunk jerk. A 'drerk', if you will.

Frostmaw Tavern

Thankfully for Brand, Khitti wasn't dead. No, she was far from it. But, likewise, she still was in treacherous waters. That explosion of dark energy that had erupted from Ayras had completely enveloped the younger of the two redheads and then...just disappeared. It was as if she absorbed it all. She didn't seem to be injured at all on the outside, but she still writhed in Brand's arms as he carried her to the tavern. The vampiress cried out like she was in pain, muttering in her catatonic state, the words shifting between Common, Drow and even her native tongue of Dhavislavvian. The bits and pieces that were Common could be fitted together to insinuate that she felt like she was on fire, though it was clear that she wasn't. Perhaps she was dreaming about that encounter with Raiez during the mages' escape? Miserable sounding howls continued to erupt from the von Schreier woman, a hand moving to grip Brand's shirt as she begged him to make it stop.

Brand left a spattered trail of blood behind him in the snow. That was the first problem. The second problem was that a pack of wolves appeared to have taken notice in the time it had taken Brand to dismount them both from their transport to Frostmaw. The third problem was that Khitti was dead weight, in terms of actually fending the things off if they closed in any further. Not too much further to the inn, at least. Maybe he should’ve just stayed at the fort, nearer to where they’d parted from the others, but Khitti was a spectacle and it seemed an invasion of her privacy to have so many others nearby, more than likely hovering about and whispering about her in the halls. The tavern was far more accustomed to strange boarders and screams in the night, and so it was here that he was headed. It was too late to change his mind now -- best to just press on.

As if a sort of defense mechanism by Khitti's newly acquired magic, Brand is almost entirely engulfed in shadow. While, it would likely be assumed that it was protecting Khitti, so too did it help Brand because of such close proximity. The blood trail would remain, of course, but the ethereal magic was enough to unnerve the wolves and scare them off for the time being. They'd likely be back though, perhaps to attack some other innocent bystander in spite because their meal got away. Khitti continued to cry in pain, clinging to Brand. "Vhy do you do zhis to me, Lydia...?" A pause as she cringes. "If I must die, zhen let me be alone...I cannot be to be vithout zhem anymore...Zhe sight of him brings me more pain zhe--" Another scream interrupts the pleading with her dead sister, that of whom she's quite convinced is the injured, blonde male that currently had her in his arms. It was as if she were in a fever dream, and yet her body was as chill as usual.

Well. Maybe Khitti wasn’t as helpless to defend as he’d thought, even in this state. And… Lydia. Her again? Were those shadows hers, too? Suddenly Brand suspected there was very little the spirit of Khitti’s sister -hadn’t- meddled in. Soon enough, Brand arrived at the tavern, past the curious onlookers and straight to the room they’d kept on long-term rent. Khitti was dropped upon the bed and it was only now that Brand turned to get a proper gander at his injury. It could have been worse -- but still, a sizeable amount of skin had been scraped off the outside of his right forearm, leaving blood to dribble and collect at his elbow before falling to the ground the whole way here. A glance was given to Khitti, and then to the drawer in which they’d stored basic medical and herbal supplies… but ultimately Brand positioned himself seated on the bed, cradling Khitti in a halfway upright position and offering his arm to her with a brief, “Drink.” No sense in wasting the blood, he reasoned. And who could say how long it’d been since she’d fed last?

Once released onto the bed, the shadows melted from Brand, but still remained around Khitti. They grew stronger as the elementalist brought his arm close for her to feed. She still writhed somewhat like someone possessed by a demon, but the scent of blood roused her a bit. There was a ferality in her gaze as those emerald eyes snapped open and fixated on his arm. It was reminiscent of that first time he'd saved her. There was no hesitation in taking up his offered appendage, though she was quite tender with it. Was it truly her Brand? Not some dream? No. Not -her- Brand, but it was him regardless. Yes, she remembered the taste of his blood from that day in Kelay. The fact that it was real only drove her blood craze further. She'd drink and drink and drink until... Until the bed burst into flames. This wasn't your every day fire. The shadows that had licked at Khitti's frame exploded into a great inferno of shadowfire, engulfing anything and everything that it saw fit. The heat of it was much like anything Brand could conjure up, though it more likely matched that of his temper, or some mixture of the two. Despite the heat, all within it did not burn, instead a thin sheet of frost began to spread out from beneath Khitti. All of that magic from the elf had gone into a quite unprepared vessel, and now it seemed, the vessel was letting off some steam to balance things out. Unfortunately for Khitti, though, it was much worse than it could have been thanks to that small snack that Brand had provided for her, her screams filling the air as the magic leaked out of her.

Brand almost dropped her. Almost. He didn’t immediately realize Khitti was the source of those flames, though once he did he supposed it made some sort of sense. The question was… how? And how to douse flames that were both heat and frost at once? Wind magic was not his forte, or he might have sought to suck the air out of the room just long enough to put the flames to rest. Well, it might’ve not worked anyway. Brand settled, instead, for calling Khitti by name, quietly at first and then with more insistence the longer the flames burned. If she could be snapped out of her fugue state, maybe she could control this.

As he called out to her, Khitti's face contorted in confusion. Was it him? No. It couldn't have been. The blood was fake. This was just a dream. The fires would soon take her and she'd never despair again. The link that now bound them together again slowly opened and the memories, both hers and Ayras' would make its way through. Not all at once, however, just a flash here and there, but soon too would the dreams begin to fill the void. Much like him, she too dreamt of a strange world with fast-moving metal boxes, smaller flat boxes with moving pictures on them, and an endless supply of electricity. She had dreamt of him, a different him, but Brand nevertheless, and Dominic too. Regret and guilt spilled over into it; some for her decision to go up against Raiez, more for likely ruining her relationship with Dominic and her friendship with Brand with her silly emotions. The despair continued, turning everything black, and then soon to ash, the flames outside of her body growing stronger. There had been so many failed attempts at happiness in those dreams of hers, though they'd be much more suited at being called nightmares. Brand was always out of reach. Dominic pushed away with her stupid mistakes. It was all too much for her to bear and now she'd never see either of them ever again.

“Khitti! Khitti! Gorram frakkin’...” Mumbled curses trailed out of Brand’s mouth as he shook her. He wasn’t much focused on the images passing through their link; it was something to consider later, perhaps. “Godsdamn it, pull yourself together!” His free hand slapped lightly upon one of her cheeks. Did Lydia do this, too? It didn’t seem like her -- she wouldn’t want to hurt Khitti, he was positive -- but he wasn’t sure what else to think. And he definitely wasn’t as practiced with using their link as Dominic, but what else could he do? [You ain’t dreamin’, peach. You -are- lightin’ the whole damn place on fire, though. Might wanna do somethin’ about that.]

Wait...Brand? Fire? The fire was real? This wasn't a dream? Brand was here? Brand. Was. Here. That meant Dominic, too. They rescued her? She didn't die? The fire. What fire? Raiez's fire? No. -Her- fire. Khitti twitched and squirmed like one waking from a fitful dream until finally she actually did wake up. The vampiress sits bolt upright with a loud gasp, the shadowflames fading and the ice melting away into nothingness. Like a deer in headlights, she'd stare at Brand. She'd stare for quite some time, allowing a silence to linger between the two of them. Soon the waterworks would start, but not quite yet. The shock of it all hadn't wore off.

Normally, Brand wasn’t much of one for shying away from eye contact, but at this time he was dodging it to survey any damage sustained by the room. It didn’t… look like there’d been anything. “I’ve seen a lot of things in my time on this forsaken earth, lass,” Brand began, slowly and with a strange calm, now that Khitti appeared conscious again. “But this -- this, for me, is a new one.” He seemed more intrigued than alarmed. “How’d you do that? Also… hey.” He cracked a fleeting, exaggerated smile. “Welcome back to the world outside that damned cave.”

That smile. She'd seen something close to it in her dream. That Brand that seemed to care for her, yet was always a few steps away from her. It drew a faint smile to her lips, but the expression was fleeting when she remembered their conversations in the cave. The smile faded, as did the shock, and then the anger flared up. This Brand...this Brand that she also loved, almost as much as she did Dominic, was an idiot. A deep, irritated frown replaces whatever instant happiness had formed, the vampiress soon wailing on him, both hands slapping anywhere she could reach. "You idiot! You stupid, foolish, arrogant man! How zhe hell could you?! Putting you and Dominic's lives in danger?! Vhat zhe hell vere you zhinking?!" She'd keep smacking him until she tired, ignoring the tears that started to well up in her eyes. "You should've never come back for me. Never!"

Brand glowered. “Puttin’ life in danger? You’re one to talk.” Having had enough of her bashing on him, he finally caught her hands in his and pinned them together, daring her with his glare to try and pull away, to see what would happen if she used her vampiric strength to get away and started batting at him again. She’d been through a lot, but he was still without much in the way of patience. “-You- didn’t listen when you were told to get the frak out. -You- had to go on some suicidal crusade against Raiez you knew you didn’t stand a chance in all seven hells of succeeding in. -You-,” he hissed, nostrils flaring, “are the reason we had to go back into danger in the first place.”

Khitti struggled a little against him, but she didn't dare use her vampiric strength. She knew better than that. She listened to him though, took her emotional and mental beating for doing what she'd thought had been the best idea then in the cave. The tears flowed freely now as she kept her attention fixed on her own hands. "...Why...?" She shook her head almost immediately, as if to shoo away that single word. She'd likely just get more of his yelling. "...I'm sorry..." she said weakly. "I didn't zhink you'd actually come back. I didn't vant you to. I just...-can't-...do zhis." The vampiress would leave it at that. She wasn't going to bother explaining. Wasn't going to bother bringing up those stupid feelings again. Best to bury them deep down until they were snuffed out like her fire a few moments ago.

Brand didn’t let her go and didn’t drop eye contact all through her words, only releasing her when he was satisfied she was done acting out. Then, he retaliated -- a single open-palmed blow to her cheek, certainly not as powerful as it could have been but enough to get his point across. “That,” Brand fumed, “is from both of us. Cuz of -course- we’d come back for you. How could you think we wouldn’t?” He didn’t wait for an answer before pulling her in for… a hug? From Brand? Wow.

Khitti cringed a little when he hit her; she did kinda deserve it, though, so she'd take the slap and say nothing of it. But then he...hugged her? The shock from that was actually worse than whatever amount of pain came from that hit to the face. "B-Brand...? Vhat...are you doing?" This was weird. Super weird. Maybe she was wrong? This wasn't the real Brand. No way. Nope. Couldn't be. Brand doesn't -hug- people. "You're...scaring me a little." She fought off the urge to hug him back. Why ruin a good thing with something that'd potentially irritate him?

The contact was brief, and concluded with Brand rising off of the bed and busying himself with finding the necessary tools to dress the wound on his arm. “Thought for sure you’d be dead, kiwi,” was all he said, eyes on his task. His shirt, tattered and bloodied on the sleeve of the injured arm, was dragged over his head and discarded in a corner for the time being. “Glad to be proven wrong. What -was- that fire, though?”

Khitti would watch him until he started to remove his shirt, then averted her gaze. "...I don't know..." She'd not look at him again, instead curling up into fetal position underneath the covers as she stared off across the room. "Brand...? Amarrah's gone..." A pause. "I zhink." Another pause, more uncertainty in her voice. "I don't know." There was a lot of things she didn't know right now, apparently. She'd let things fall into silence again, at least until he said something, if he decided to. The vampiress would grab one of the spare pillows next to her head, pulling it down in front of her to hug tightly.

Brand half-pivoted at the hips, just enough to regard her quizzically. “She’s gone? I thought you said she was… tied to you or somethin’. How’s that possible?” The last item he needed was gathered and he made his way back to the bed, perched next to Khitti on the edge of it with legs outstretched as he began his work. “Good frakkin’ riddance, though. Seemed unwaveringly nasty. That fire’s not anything to do with her, then?”

Khitti didn't think it was a 'good riddance' sort of situation though. Amarrah, despite her recent faults and likely some sort of madness, had been her sister. Brand wouldn't understand though, so she kept it to herself. She's quiet for a little while, thinking things over, remembering what happened in the cave. "...I zhink it's mine..." The elf. The gods damned elf. First she took Amarrah...and now this? What was happening? Did this...make her an actual mage now? Was she...normal in a sense? "...Properly...-mine-. Like, you vith yours."

Brand cocked a brow, but didn’t speak until he was wrapping the final bandage around his arm. “Hold this here while I pin it in place, yeah?” Another lengthy pause, while the last of it was completed. “So… you can’t control it? But it’s yours. You’re pretty sure?”

The vampiress sat up after a bit of hesitation and did as she was bade to do. "I don't know if I -can- control it. I don't know vhat I'm supposed to do. Amarrah is zhe one zhat taught me zhe little bit zhat I could do, but now? I don't know." She eyes the bandage on his arm, reaching out to touch it. "I could've taken care of zhat..." Khitti frowns a bit, retracting her hand rather quickly. Going back to the former topic of her magic, she adds, "I'm scared." And rightly so, of course. Who knows what else might've happened? Or, rather, what might happened when the elf woman actually wakes up.

Brand merely shrugged in response to Khitti offering help after the fact. “No big deal.” It was. He’d have a new scar for sure, and a large one at that. “I’ll teach you. Same as before. Can’t be -that- different from all the other magicks, can it? Different outcome, same basic principles.” He perched his head on his hand and his elbow on his leg, staring at Khitti contemplatively. “If I could figure out how to shift my own magic to somethin’ like that... might be easier to work it out backwards…” Thoughts and theories raced in his head until a more pressing realization found him. “If Amarrah’s gone, what’re the chances she’ll come back to hurt you like she said she would?”

Khitti wasn't so sure of his assurances that his arm would be fine, that it was no big deal. She -was- sure of the guilt that continued to set it even now that she was out of the cave and it was starting to show on her face. He got hurt because of her. Both him, and Dominic, could've been killed. Because of her. She still didn't look at him, instead resuming her position beneath the covers and clinging to the pillow. "...She's not coming back..." was said, somewhat muffled by the pillow, tears brimming her eyes again, the talk of her newly acquired magical skills going ignored for now.

“And you’re sure about that? If there’s even a chance she’d hurt you, I…” Brand hesitated, noting her demeanor. He rose off the bed instead of finishing his thought and set to pacing. “Just got you outta one danger. Can’t have us trippin’ into the next one unprepared.”

"She's in zhe elf. She's not coming back. Ever." Khitti was a little more stern now, her voice cracking despite trying to attempt a commanding tone. "Just drop it." She was starting to get a little agitated, it would seem. "I never should've brought it up. And zhere's always going to be danger vith me. I've said it before. Zhis is vhy you should not have come back for me. I'm a danger to you, to Dominic, to Pilar. Everyone. If it's not some sort of evil happening to find me, zhen it's something of my own doing." Okay, it's maybe a little more than agitated now. The more she talked, the more her emotional level continued to rise. "You're going to die, Brand. You're going to leave me and it's going to be my own fault. And, I've got to live vith zhat for eternity because I'm zhis damnable immortal zhing. Lydia vas vrong."

“Danger’s nothin’ I’m not used to, peach. I’d be runnin’ towards it no matter if it was for you or not,” Brand shot back, his own temper rising in response. She was always so… infuriatingly fatalistic. “The hell are you on about? ‘Lydia was wrong’? What does that mean?”

Khitti shook her head and sighed. "She said zhat you needed me. Zhat Dominic needed me. Zhat I needed to hang on for both of you. Sh-she looked like you for a little bit...in my dream. But zhen zhere vere so many times it vasn't her. Zhat it -vas- you. And Dominic vas a damn cat sometimes and zhen he vas a vampire and I even zhought..." Nope. Not gonna say it. Not going down that rabbit hole of awful. She cuts off her quickly paced train of thought. "Just nevermind." A beat. "You need to go get your arm looked at if you're not going to let me heal it." She was clearly trying to change the subject.

Brand lingered mid-pace, peering down at his arm. “...Fine. Do your worst.” He plopped back down on the bed and presented his arm to her once again, still fidgeting with agitation. “I… think I had the same dream. The cat one, anyway.” He wasn’t looking at his arm or at her, instead studying the dresser with a fervor it didn’t at all deserve.

Wait...he was actually going to let her take care of him? Sheesh. It'd be nice if he was going to make up his mind on things. "You voke me up and took me running on zhe beach." Khitti smiled a little at the thought as she carefully unwrapped his bandage to inspect his wound. "But zhen I muddled zhings up as usual." Fangs chomp down on her right palm, enough to have a decent blood flow. "But, you still stuck vith me. You took me home. You made me breakfast. Eggs...and something called a smoothie. It vas really good." The vampiress chuckles softly to herself, "And zhen Dominic snuck up behind you and ate your eggs vhen you veren't looking." Very, very gently, she runs her hand along the gash, her left hand gingerly holding his wrist to keep him still. "You took care of me. I zhink you genuinely did. I zhought you might even..." She grew somber again as she spread a layer of her blood over his wound, letting it's healing properties take effect. "But. It vasn't you. I almost zhought Lithrydel vasn't real because of it. I zhought I vas just crazy and zhat vas reality. I vas sick and needed a lot of medicine to fix zhings. But...it vasn't real. None of it. I sort of vish I vas, zhough." Khitti finishes her work on his arm, cleaning the blood off with the bandage once it was fully healed. "It'll still be a little tender, I zhink, but good as new."

“Hmm. No, different dream. Kid -was- a cat, though. Odd.” Brand didn’t elaborate on his own dream. He instead looked as if he’d collided from a brick wall of exhaustion from out of nowhere. The fingers of his opposite hand ran over the wound, then he stood again. “So, lass, I’m… grabbin’ a drink and some food from the bar. Back in a flash. Can I getcha anything?” Look at Brand, being all nice. Weird. Surely not something that would last, once Khitti stopped being so… delicate.

Reddish brows furrowed as Brand offered to get her anything, to which she responded with a somewhat distant "No." and allowed him to do as he pleased. Even -she- knew that wouldn't last long. She'd chalk it up to the blood loss. Once he left, she'd go to the wardrobe that the inn had put in the room, and look through her clothes. None of them interested her anymore. Didn't inspire any sort of want to make a new outfit. Everything felt drab to her. Finally she'd take off her boots, having forgotten about them after the fire incident, and changed into that black dress she'd gotten from Kreekitaka. Now that Brand was gone, she paced a little, the quiet, enclosed space starting to get to her again. She pondered fleeing, but he'd just likely come find her anyway.

When Brand returned, it was with four glasses of whiskey precariously cradled by one hand and a couple of plates balanced on the other -- assorted fruits, cheeses, and nuts. He stopped just short of the bed with a simple, “Oh. You changed,” and seemed to have forgotten whatever it was he’d been meaning to say when he entered. Clearing his head with a shake, he swept over to one of the end tables to set everything down. “Some’a this is for you, case you change your mind. Otherwise…” He stretched himself out with his back to the headboard, tipped one of the glasses to Khitti in a ‘cheers’ motion, then took a sizeable glug.

You changed. That was a bit of an understatement, wasn't it? Khitti eyed the glasses of whiskey, but said nothing of it. He likely needed it after such an ordeal. Plus, now that she was back, he'd have to put up with her again. Best to leave him with his alcohol. Khitti nods in acknowledgement of his words, saying nothing. The food is considered for a moment, and she -almost- looks like she might take some, but instead, she pivots on bare heels, allowing her feet to take her close to the fireplace. Not too close, however. It'd been some time since she'd seen one, felt the warmth of the flames, and she let it be her focus now as she sat down, drew her legs up under her chin, and wrapped her arms around her knees.

Four glasses might have been a tad overboard. But here he was, having already had the first one to cope with the silence and working quickly through the second. “Eh,” he mumbled at length, “I should let you talk to the kid, yeah? He’s better at this sorta thing than me. Plus… y’know.” Brand gestured vaguely and took another sip. He’d only barely touched the food.

"Do as you vish, Brand. I am not your keeper." Restless, she stands again with a sigh, shuffling over to the food again. A few blueberries are grabbed up and popped into her mouth, giving her time to choose between the cheeses. "Hrm." A decent-sized chunk of colby-jack is snatched up and once the fruit was eaten, the cheese would follow suit. "Do you always drink zhat much?" is asked off-handedly as cashews are chosen from the nuts.

Brand was being selfish, but he didn’t want to hand over the floor to Dominic just yet. The kid would have his time soon enough. And she likely wouldn’t be so distant with him, either. Bah. “S’good,” he murmured, dodging her question, picking up another glass and offering it to Khitti. “Was never given the chance much, back in Catal. The Daggers usually wanted sober operatives. Same with the ship.” Slaves, really. ‘Operatives’ was sugarcoating it. But then, it -needed- a lot of sugar to be swallowed.

Khitti nodded a bit in response to his explanation of the past. "I see." She wasn't going to pry, she knew he wasn't going to open up. The offered drink was studied, but ultimately rejected the whiskey. "No point in me drinking it. It doesn't affect me." Though she so desperately wished it would. "At least not one glass, anyway. Takes a bit of poison to veaken my body and even still zhen a whole lot of alcohol on top of it. Or, so I've been told." The vampiress shrugs, then finally sits on the bed. "I'm sorry. About all zhe silence. I'm just...trying to process zhings still, I guess...and..." There's a long pause. "I guess I don't really know how to talk to you anymore." Another moment of thought. "It's probably just me, zhough. After everything. I'm just...not myself. But...I don't vant you to go yet either." She glances at the last two glasses of whiskey, "Just don't drink so much, okay? If you do decide to leave." Weird. Hadn't she said something like that in his dream?

“Taste’s good enough reason,” Brand countered, knocking back more straight whiskey. Surely it was harsh? If it was, he didn't show it, though. “And… s’a lot to process, peach. It always is.” He almost asked, almost, about her not being able to talk to him -- but ultimately he had a feeling he knew the answer to that already. Brand replaced the question on his lips with another swig. He'd… not at all prepared himself for her actually being alive, and now every thought for how he might engage her seemed inadequate at best.

"I'm uh...more of a tequila girl anyway. Zhere's zhis zhing vith strawberries and milk and..." Khitti shook her head. "It doesn't matter." She really wanted to lay down. She'd not been in a proper bed in ages. Maybe he was drunk enough that he'd be okay with it. After summoning up a ton of courage, she flops over onto the unoccupied side of the bed and curls up beneath the covers again. "Does he know I'm okay? Did you tell him?" After getting her head situated just right on the pillow, she peers up at him, studying him carefully. Was he okay with her being back? He likely just did it to appease Dominic, but... Khitti squashed those hopes pretty quickly. No point in keep those around.

Brand wasn’t nearly drunk enough for this. It sure was taking its sweet time kicking in. Curling his fingers around the third glass, Brand eyed her -- and her new burrow amongst the blankets -- sidelong. “ ‘Course he knows. He’s not totally fumblin’ around in the dark or nothin’. What kinda monster do you take me for?” A sigh. “He says he loves you, an’ that he missed you. And --” What? All seven hells are gonna freeze over before I do -that-, kid.

Khitti certainly didn't move any closer to Brand. It's not like she couldn't sense his weirdness about it. But, he did choose to be the dominant one, though of course she didn't know that. "And...vhat...?" She raised an eyebrow at him, but then ultimately shrugged at him and turned over the other way, her back to him now as she moves as close to the edge of the bed without actually falling off the side.

“And… y’know. Typical sappy stuff.” Great, Brand. Here you go frakking things up again. She won’t even look at you anymore. Brand swirled his drink in agitated silence before downing more of it. How many shots’ worth had he had by now? He realized his extremities felt at once both numb and tingly, and couldn’t remember how long they’d been that way. “I… missed you, y’know. -We- missed you. Both of us. Didn’t know what we were headin’ into, going back to that cave. Wasn’t sure you’d still be alive. Wasn’t sure you’d still be you.” A clock chimed faintly in the break that followed. Most people would be heading to bed about this hour -- most people who hadn’t spent weeks in a cave with no sense of time. Brand wasn’t tired, but he -was- considering heading back to the bar for more drinks assuming he made it through the fourth one. There was something comforting about his dulling senses. “Glad I didn’t have to lose anyone new today.”

She turned to eye him over her shoulder as he speaks. He...missed her? He...didn't want her to be dead? He...was glad he didn't lose her? Surely this was the alcohol talking. Brand didn't show his emotions or talk about his thoughts, especially not to her. There's a considerable amount of confusion on her face, but it's soon hidden as she looks back at the side of the room facing her. "I missed you too. Both of you. A lot. I really didn't zhink you vere coming back. And...I don't zhink I -am- me anymore. Not really. Everything...feels different. Everything feels dull. I don't know vhat to do or how to feel. I'm just kinda..." She thinks about it for a moment. "Going zhrough zhe motions or some such. I'm just doing zhe zhings I used to do because I zhink it might help. Like vearing zhis dress. Maybe. I don't really have an option, I guess."

“No, you can’t go back,” Brand agreed with a sigh, placing his glass back onto the end table for a moment. With a flick, that trademark flame was back in his palm, a faint orb just strong enough to not die out as he idly tossed it from one hand to the other and back. “I mean, me? That weirdness is jus’ another awful scribble in the pages of life. But you…” He didn’t want to say that she’d had it easy up to now, because that wasn’t true and he knew it, but… “When you’ve faced less, every li’l thing hits harder. An’ that’s not to say it’s not still hard or that you haven’t faced terrible things. Just…” The orb flared in his hands and then dimmed again. “You feel it more the first few times your life upends you.” He wasn’t sure if this was helping. The words tasted like cotton in his mouth.

"Mmmm" was about all he was going to get out of her in agreement right now. Khitti'd feel that fire though, sense the glow from the flame despite the fact that her back was turned. She turns back over to face him, but soon sat up on her knees closer to him. "How did you do zhat?" She wondered if she could actually touch it now, to see if it'd hurt her or not, but she decided it was a better idea not to risk it. The vampiress would eventually get restless again and flop over next to him, her back against the headboard, shoulder against shoulder. Lifting her hands, she stared at them, her nose scrunching up a little. What if that had been a fluke? What if she couldn't do it at all?

“Eh. The one rotten thing I’ve learned from tryin’ to teach you and the kid is that… I’m as bad at teaching as he is at learning.” A wry smile flew across his face, short-lived and soon replaced by a grimace. Well. He hadn’t meant to eat that particular slice of humble pie in front of anyone else, but it was done now. “With fire -- this sorta fire anyway, I dunno about yours -- you’ve gotta kinda… pour a lot of energy into the air just to even spark it. At least temporarily. You’re placin’ all your focus on a pinpoint and then once it’s lit you can easily expand or contract it without much more effort’n that.” He demonstrated with his already existing sphere, growing it and then shrinking it down to to a single flame that sat on the tip of an index finger.

"Or maybe you've just got awful students. You've not seen me trying to learn hand to hand combat. Pretty sure it vas a fluke vith zhe bow, to be honest." Khitti watched as the orb grew and shrank, tilting her head a bit as she studied it. She'd 'hrm' to herself, then focus on her own hands again, brows furrowed, a total look of concentration on her face. Well. It doesn't last long. The vampiress tries for what seems like forever, then finally lets out a growl. "Maybe it vasn't my magic. Maybe I'm just...normal...or something now. As normal as I'm going to get anyway."

Brand grunted dissent, vanishing his flame with a twitch of his finger. Twisting on the bed and crossing his legs so he could more properly face her, Brand took the palms of his hands to the backs of Khitti’s and maneuvered his fingers so they lined up with hers. From that stance, a few minor adjustments were made to the positioning of her digits -- a knuckle bent here, two fingers pressed closer together there -- and then, slowly, he pulled away again. There was an almost palpable resistance to the movement, as if she was her own force of gravity. “Your hands are only a conduit. Positioning can only do so much, and eventually isn’t even strictly necessary. If your focus is split, it’s not gonna work. Not intentionally, anyway. Not at first.” Not if you’re anything like me, was the unvoiced thought that followed. Scattered memory of his own combat drills surfaced and were promptly quashed. Brand reached for his drink again.

Khitti's eyes got a little bigger as he positioned her hands correctly, her line of sight shifting back and forth between them and his face a few times. She suddenly felt like she had in her dream, each time he got ever so close. She could almost feel that fire in her face, or hear her heart beating as loudly as a drum. But...that was no longer the case as she was very much dead. Er, undead. With a faint sigh, she tries again. And again. And even more still. Nothing happened though, and her failure prompted a frown. "...I zhink I'm just tired..." was muttered quietly in defeat. Khitti could only think of him, and Dominic, and wondered what might become of the three of them now that she was home.

“Mmmph,” replied Brand, the sound echoing in his glass as he downed the last of the third drink. His head was getting fuzzy, too. Maybe he should take a breather? Drink some water? Nah… “You’ve got this. Or you will, eventually.” The empty cup clattered onto the end table, and he picked up the fourth and started working on that one, too. “Jus’ might take some --” And he froze. He froze, and then slowly lowered the drink to be cupped in his lap. “The link, kiwi. I could -show- you what it feels like instead of just tellin’ you.”

"I don't know..." She didn't really have any other choice though, did she? Too bad he couldn't have thought of this when he was sober. She sighs, then nods, "Alright," a wave of her hand given as if to say 'get on with it'. Before he could, she'd take his glass from him, sip just a bit, made a face at the taste, then returned it to him. Yep, just as disgusting as she remembered.

This was a bad idea. On some level he knew it, too, conveyed in the hesitation before he moved his drink out of the way again. Eh, frak it. What was the worst that could happen? “Here, scoot forward a bit.” If she allowed it, he’d sit straddled around her, legs splayed outside of hers and his arms wrapped around her until he could place his hands into a similar position as before. He’d peer over her shoulder as they got settled into position, trying not to think too much about this proximity. It was simply the best way to get them looking at the same things from the same viewpoint, nothing more. Nothing more.

Definitely a bad idea. After a bit of her own hesitation, she did as she was told, moving so he could do what needed to be done. Khitti sat as rigid and as still as stone. To her, however, she felt like she were shaking, her anxiety setting in. Don't look at him. Don't do it. Just do as your told and get this over with. Everything's fine. Totally cool. This is totally normal. Right...? RIGHT? No. No, it wasn't fine. This was awkward and he was drunk and who knew what Dominic would say if he found out? Was he watching? Did he know now? He hadn't demanded to be the one on the outside. Probably didn't want to see her. He was likely still upset with her. Was his messages delivered by Brand even his own? No. Nope. Gotta stop thinking about that. Brand's literally just showing her how to use her magic. Or at least trying to. Nothing else was going on. There was nothing there between them anyway. Completely one-sided. A total pipe dream. Yep. Definitely. Totally.

Brand drew a long breath before allowing his thoughts to pervade the channel between them. He prolonged the process of forming and growing the flame as much as he could manage; hopefully she’d be able to see each step as separate from the next and assemble them on her own, once he’d finished. When the spark lit, he kept it as a tiny thing, no more than a pinprick of light in their hands. Only now did he rearrange her fingers to a more proper beginner’s stance, correcting each digit slowly and individually as his hands enveloped hers. [Feel how this changes the flow? It’s hard to catch if you dunno what to look for. But this feels easier than what you had before, yeah? An’ it’s brighter now even though I’m not puttin’ any more effort into it.] Mind wholly on your task, Brand. Too many other places it could wander right now, all of them bad.

Khitti held her own breath as he went through the steps through the link in their mind, watching every bit of it, putting it all together like puzzle pieces. Once he was finished, she'd soon set back to it. This time something different happened. This time...it actually worked. It started off as nothing more more than smoke, a cloud of shadows not unlike the one that had surrounded them on their way to the tavern. It sat like that for a moment or two and then the tiniest of flames lit. The redhead thought of Brand's fire and it grew. And then she thought Brand and it grew again. She thought of how much she's wanted to kiss him since she'd been awake. For coming back for her. For saving her. For waking her up from that nightmare. It'd begin to leak over into their link, as well as bits and pieces of her dreams with him. The more she dwelled on it, the larger the flame grew until... Until she remembered this was no longer a dream. Brand was not hers, nor would he ever be. And then she felt awful again, guilt setting in. Poor Dominic. And then...the flame went out. Immediately. And her mind was walled up. It'd not show anything more tonight. Not now. Not ever. It'd never be the time for it. Khitti'd sit there a moment, staring at their hands, where the flame had been, would mumble her thanks for his help before carefully moving around him to get off the bed. She'd go sleep in the armchair on the other side of the room tonight. It didn't matter to her, anything was better than that jar.

Brand was stunned -- no, he was downright paralyzed. His arms dropped limply to his sides as Khitti departed, a torrent of thoughts crashing up against the walls he’d imposed on his own side of the link, only the faintest hint of a twist in the gut escaping over to her side -- and that could have meant a number of things, couldn’t it? Right? Brand stared at her backside, then at his hands… they felt oddly empty now. He resolved this by breaking his trance and reaching for the fourth and final glass, draining half of it in one go and then clinging to it as if it could spare him from further thought. And yet… he looked to her again. He couldn’t just leave it like that, could he? No, this silence was going to suffocate them both. “...Khitti.”

She felt that bit of emotion that flittered over to her side of the link, but she tried to ignore it. She did question it though, but chalked it up to perhaps a bit of regret for drinking so much, despite adding more alcohol to his stomach. No point in wasting a glass, she knew that. But then as she got a few steps away from the bed, she stopped. He called her 'Khitti'. Not peach. Not kiwi. Brand, -the- Brand, called her by her actual name. It wasn't often that he did that, and it took every ounce of her strength not to cry. Khitti's hands balled up into fists, and she drew in an unneeded breath, then let it out slowly. The strength she had wasn't enough, though, as tears began to pool up in her eyes. She was so very tired now. The vampiress turned around regardless, keeping her line of sight on the floor beneath her bare feet, though she did eventually look at him. "Brand..." A pause, her voice shaky as she finally went to speak again. "...I missed you both so very much...but I don't know vhat to do. Zhis might as vell be a dream. It could be. I don't know vhat's real anymore...and I feel like I'm breaking. I couldn't even talk to dream you. I vas so tongue-tied. Everything vas in knots. It's...so much vorse now. I just...I don't..." She sniffled a little, lifting her arm to wipe at her eyes.

Brand looked positively miserable as he stared into that amber liquid. If he met her gaze right now, he was sure everything he’d fought so hard to compartmentalize would come bursting out, through the link and through every wall he’d established in his head. And then… she’d know. Dominic would know. And he’d have to admit he knew. He could only keep so many secrets from himself and already he’d let himself think too much. He shouldn’t have let it get to this point. He should have dragged that gorram idealistic child away and never let him fall for Khitti. That damned Lydia hadn’t helped, either. He’d let her dredge up too frakkin’ much. There was only pain down this road… and yet he kept plodding along it, unable to change course, too drawn in by her to stop it now -- no. No. He had to. It was his responsibility to protect her, to protect them all. Dominic could be with her, that was one thing, but it was essential that Brand maintain his distance. And… frell, but he was doing a rotten job of that of late, wasn’t he? Brand acquainted himself with the bottom of his drink, then rose, swaying, donning a new shirt and then gathering up the empty glasses and one of the plates of barely touched food. It looked as if he might proceed from the room without another word to Khitti, leaving her alone to her sadness and confusion, but… as he reached the door, his shoulders tensed and he froze with his back still to her. “Can’t argue with results,” Brand declared flatly. He dared to peer over his shoulder, to catch the barest glimpse of her in his peripheral. It was all he’d allow himself. “You feel what you gorram feel. No sense gettin’ mad at you for it anymore; I already said my piece. Feel whatever makes the magic work, sunshine.” And he departed for the bar.