genessia | 1st fire = it don't come easy, the road of the gypsy

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1st fire = it don't come easy, the road of the gypsy

[ACTION;Genessia City]

[He's an idiosyncratic sight, the man stalking through the city streets looking like something out of a strangely futuristic fairy tale: the high leather boots, gleaming mail armor bearing a coat of arms depicting a full moon branded by the figure of a dragon, short sword at his hip, and gauntlets he wears give him the look of some kind of medieval soldier or knight.

The look of him is too sleek, however: the mail he wears is a snug fit, shimmering in the light but seemingly little more than fabric, covering him from neck to waist with his arms left bare. The boots and gauntlets are heavy leather, but make no sound as he moves--and carry a strange pattern, something like scales but not.

And despite the fact that he was visibly on his guard, scanning his surroundings at regular intervals, every sense on high alert...he's visibly comfortable with his surroundings. He navigates the streets with ease, minding street lights, hugging buildings to make faster turns around corners--he's clearly seen a modern type of city before. He's lived on streets like these, he's walked a world very similar to this one.

It's been a while--decades--but Neil Blair still remembers his way around a city. It's not Nocturne, it's not the five realms, and it's not New York. But it's still a mostly known quantity.

He's going to feel a lot better once he has a lay of the land--and finds a place to gather some spell ingredients.]

[VIDEO;public]

[The moment the feed comes to life, the moment of transition is brief--a handsome face with dark coloring frowning in confusion at the smart phone in his hand before he confirms he's life and refocuses on the camera. His expression is...well, angry is the nicest way to describe it.]

Uh--hey. I'm--

[The words are on his lips. Black Fire of Nocturne, the title he uses at court, but this isn't the five realms. This is...another world, and nobody knows him here.

The anger in his face dies for just a second, replaced by something like hope before his features turn guarded.]

--I'm...Neil. New here--uh, I was just curious about what people do for work around here? Y'know, what and where. These temporary bunks are okay but I wanna get a job and get out of here...so recommendations on housing would also be good. I know there's a few places to go, what's your input?

Thanks in advance.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[The look she gets is an incredibly blank one.]

...what's a--a face book?

[ The look he gets in return is, for her, remarkably patient. ]

Facebook is the collective delusion that anyone cares if your feelings are hurt.

[Neil mulls that over for a second, then nods with understanding.]

Okay--yeah, back when I still lived in the world I came from, that was just called school.

[ That startles a laugh from Regina, the warm, rich chuckle not as rusty as it might have been years ago, it's still unexpected. He's less annoying in this version. ]

More or less. Just add computers and spread it over millions of people.

[The laugh gets a smile out of him--it's a good laugh, pretty as she is. He wants to hear it again right away, and he knows he shouldn't--knows this is a flaw, a weakness--but he can't wipe that bright, delighted smile off his face.]

That sounds...terrifying.

[Given that he's still grinning, there's not a lot of conviction behind that.]

So--this Enchanted Forest, I'm assuming it's not part of the world I came from, but you seem like you know it. The world I came from, I mean.

It's terrifying but the schadenfreude is delicious.

[ Abruptly, Regina decides she doesn't want to have this conversation over the network. There's too much here that could get personal.

She tilts her head and studies him for a long beat and then lifts Maleficent out of her hair. She can leave her with Evie and Jack. ]

Where are you right now?

Right now? [He surveys his room, gesturing around vaguely.] My bunk--the room I got assigned when I climbed outta that pod thing I woke up in. Just sorta wrapped a preliminary circuit of the city...the main one, I mean. Not one of the offshoot things.

[He pauses for a second, assessing the question a moment longer--ohhhhhh...]

I'll--leave my door open.

[So she can find him. That's understood...is that understood? It's probably understood...]

[ Ah, there's the babble she remembers. What else will she have to put up with in pursuit of remotely familiar adult male company?

She rolls her eyes. Mildly, it's true, but unmistakably. ]

I'm a sorceress not a telepath. Room number?

[He rolls his eyes a little in return, but does so with a smile--clearly at himself, he's well aware of his inability to not be an idiot where women are concerned.

Then, just because he feels a need to cover stupidity with bravado, he measures out a small space between his fingers--and between them, a bright little tongue of dense flame appears, shooting off bright sparks at its edges. Releasing it from between his fingers, he watches it fly forward, then streak through the air. It leaves a trail of pale orange light that spells out his room number in midair for several moments before the trail fades and the flame winks out.]

Yes. You're very clever.

[ Though dry, her tone lacks the sarcasm of her previous remark, and the roll of her eyes has been replaced by approval that while slight isn't grudging. Magic is both gift and craft and he has honed his. Dedication deserves appreciation. It shows how much she has grown that she can give it without envy. ]

Ten minutes. We're going for drinks. Be ready.

[ She doesn't wait for a response before she disconnects. She needs to take Maleficent to Evie and still have a few minutes to clean up. ]

We are?

[Then the feed is dead, and Neil's...well, shit.

Suddenly very glad he ducked into a couple shops during his surveillance, Neil uses the ten minutes to his best advantage. Efficiency is something that's par for the course, so ten minutes later he's just leaning in the open doorway of his room. The woven armor has been traded for a pair of black jeans and a matching t-shirt, but the boots and gauntlets remain--he's leaving his sword in the room, so he's leaning heavily on his magic should trouble crop up.

And experience has taught him that trouble always crops up.]

After depositing Maleficent in her currently-makeshift terrarium with Evie and Jack, telling them only she was going out for awhile and didn't want a lizard chaperone, Regina returned to her room to touch up her appearance. Nothing special, just a black leather jacket over a black and cream patterned top, black jeans and black ankle boots. She gave her hair a once over with a brush, darkened her eye makeup and refreshed her lipstick, then left her locked room in a cyclone of purple smoke.

She arrived the same way, deposited at the dragon mage's door, so close to him that her chest brushed his folded arms as she stepped back to right herself. "What are you a door guard?" she snapped, cheeks flushing quickly at her error of judgment.

Her appearance catches him off guard--not something he's used to, and therefore interesting. His arms unfold, one hand drifting out to help her balance if she needs it. She steps back and recovers, however, so the hand immediately drops.

"Sometimes." he replied honestly, grinning as he shrugged and planted his hands on his hips--faltering only a moment when one hand tried to habitually rest on the pommel of a sword that wasn't there. "New place, new people--every passer by is new information. Just tryin' to be productive while I was waiting."

As he spoke, his gaze took her in, head to foot--not to ogle (even if he was definitely looking, she was hot as hell), but more to appreciate the look of her: hard as nails, unabashedly feminine, regal as any dragon and all with a blush staining her cheeks.

"Ember's Breath, you're beautiful in person." he finally added. "I mean, you're beautiful on video, too, but face to face...damn."

The flush receded before it took hold, courtesy of a mother who'd insisted on deportment above all. A Queen didn't show weakness, or any emotion that didn't provide an immediate, direct advantage. Regina had never been as gifted at it as mother would've liked. She never been as gifted at anything as her mother would have liked.

Of course Mother had come to mind when she stood before a man she'd chosen for company for herself (and it was only that, company). How unbearably 'common' it all was. Which was why, to spite her dead mother and no other reason, her scrutiny (nothing to fault in his appearance, nothing at all, except the hair that needed a warrior's braid, maybe) softened into a smile of true pleasure.

"Thank you." It had been a long time since anyone had greeted her with a compliment to her beauty. Long enough that she'd almost forgotten this particular dance. Almost. "I choose to assume that's what you meant by the staring and stumble-tongue when I met you previously." A beat, and then, "He was rougher around the edges."

"Well, if that's on account of the foot in mouth syndrome? That's just me and exceptionally beautiful women." he replied with a self-deprecating smile and shrug. "They make me stupid."

That smile turned more genuine as he moved away from the door and towards her again, lifting an arm to offer it to her with the lackadaisical ease of a man still wholly accustomed to the practice of traditional chivalry.

"In all seriousness, maybe you met a younger version of me." he added at the same time. "I was an even bigger idiot before the last time the Great Dragon--dragon's version of 'his royal highness'--sent me to Isa, the ice kingdom. Closest I ever came to getting killed. Smartened me up some."

"If you're not stumbling over your tongue now--" Her eyes flashed over a particularly fierce head-tilt, lips pursing with what might be either annoyance of amusement. "Does that mean I'm only beautiful and not exceptionally beautiful?"

Oh, she knew perfectly well she'd asked an unfair question. But if he was going to toss compliments around like confetti, who was she not to catch a handful? He couldn't be what and who she really needed, so she might as well appreciate what and who he was. Besides, it was drinks, and maybe sex if she could stand him that long. Not a lifetime commitment.

While he was still working on an answer to her question that wasn't going to get him in trouble, she took his arm. Mostly because it made the entire thing more awkward for a few moments. And he had it coming for being where she'd teleported to. He owed her.

"No! No, I mean--I was before." Neil replied as he started walking after she took his arm. "That's...that's what I meant. From before--when I--that's not to say that you're not now...I-I mean, I just--"

Neil cut himself off, heaving a sigh through his nose, sucking silently on his upper teeth for a moment as he sought to shut himself the hell up.

After a beat--and plenty of awkwardness thanks to that question--he offered a thin lipped, but good natured smile as he gestured vaguely with his free hand. "That? That counts. Absolutely counts."

As soon as he started babbling, laughter bubbled to the surface of her otherwise viscous emotions and emerged unbidden as a husky alto chuckle. It glimmered warm and effervescent in her eyes when she finally patted his forearm to let him off the hook, still smiling freely.

And because he'd been so sweet about it, Regina didn't shut down when she realized that she'd smiled more in the last hour than she could remember doing since Robin went to New York.

They walked along together in quicksilver quiet for a moment, while Regina basked in the glow of his admiration. Not long, because the silence stretched too soon like twilight. Cutting it before it grew too profound, she tipped a sidelong glance at him. "For what it's worth, dragon mage, you're pretty exceptional yourself."

Neil's smile turned a little shy at that, his head dipping just a little in hopes of hiding just how much the compliment warmed him. Touched with a splash of flippancy, he'd served the Night Dragon long enough to know sincere praise from even the sharpest of tongues--because he saw so little of it, and wanted it more than he'd ever admit to his king or his men.

"Not especially." he replied with a one-shouldered shrug, turning that smile on her again. "But regardless of where we are, the praise of a queen is a gift, especially a queen with the eyes of a dragon. Thank you."

There was a beat...then he realized how that might have sounded with a sheepish chuckle.

"It's a compliment." he explained. "The dragon shifters of the world I came from, they're kind of like...pargons. They embody power and virtue to be aspired to. It's like saying you have a spine of steel or a heart of gold--something rare and...precious. Not often seen."

A queen with the eyes of a dragon.

Considering the dragon-turned-lizard who shared her space now and shared her bed once, she probably should've taken it the way he feared. Yet, she felt her shoulders square and her chin lift at the words, well before his explanation. For every terrible thing that could be said about the Dragon, Regina knew her as a friend, a mother, a woman wronged, and she knew her as a broken heart who'd addicted herself to a sleeping potion, because their world wasn't made for a dragon's passions. It wasn't right what first Stefan and Briar Rose and then the Charmings had done to her, but she'd fought back from that.

Gone thoughtful-twilight again, Regina rubbed her fingertips along the corded muscle of his forearm. Her lips curved into a rare intimacy, not the practiced smile of a queen, but a truth in physical form. Instead of empty words of gratitude, Regina replied, "I knew a dragon shifter very well once. I always did admire her eyes."

The touch was briefly distracting, elegant fingers moving over skin, sparks he'd never felt even in the halo of dragon fire...but it was that warm and open smile that grabbed him right around the heart and squeezed. It made her face glow with a light he could feel on his face, a light that made him believe in the Sun Goddess of the dragons, believe in the Ember and the life he breathed into man and dragon.

And she knew one. A dragon shifter. She knew one.

"Not a shifter of the Five Realms, I'm guessing." he murmured, fighting the sudden urge he had to cover that hand mapping muscle and tendon from wrist to elbow, to press it close and keep it there--to hold onto this amazing thing he'd found in a beautiful fucking queen who knew.

His smile now was one of vaguely dazed amazement, open and joyful and honest. The kind of smile he'd been trained to carve out of his own face in the name of strength and cunning--the kind of smile that always meant the Night Dragon felt he still had one final lesson to learn before he'd ever be truly great.

"I just--I don't know any other humans that have met a shifter before." he explained. "There are others in the realms, I know, but I'm the only one in Nocturne--someone brought in from another world. Was she the one that taught you magic?"

Then another thought occurred to him...the way she smiled talking about her...crap, maybe he's misread this entire situation.

"Are--was she one of your mates?"

Although they moved with purpose toward the nearest bar, his dizzy amazement reminded her so strongly of Robin the morning after he'd spent the night with her that she stuttered in her steps. Her gaze shuttered quickly, but perhaps not quickly enough to hide her shock.

His explanation gave her back her balance, but not enough of it to hide the tremble of loss in her fingers and breath. "I... am a sorceress by blood," she began, words halting and less polished than was usual for her. "I went to Mal when mentor wouldn't teach me what I wanted to know."

With each word, she'd regained steadiness enough to smirk at the direction of his imagination, but not enough to turn the curve of her mouth razor sharp. "And yes, she and I were lovers. But we weren't mates."

Her tongue wet first her top lip and then the bottom, both gone dry with sudden emotion. It was a bad habit, but one her mother had never been able to break her of. Her one true tell. "My mate... Is not a concern."

Neil was fairly good at reading people--had to be in the court of the Night Dragon--but he didn't really need to read her with a remark like that.

He let out a heavy breath at that, then without thinking he reached up to cover the hand mapping his forearm with his free one--not to keep her there, but to press it in quiet comfort.

"Mated dragons in the Five Realms don't survive the loss of a partner. I've heard it can be worse for humans--shifters say that a human mated to a dragon can lose their soul. It's like a walking death, and they don't last much past that. For you to have survived losing your mate...and to thrive, with so much light still in you? That's--it's incredible. I hope you know that."

Giving her hand one last, warm squeeze, he let his free one fall away.

"And that's all that needs to be said about it on my end--unless you feel like talkin' about it. If not? Then where's the best place to grab that drink? I mean, I'm assuming you've been here long enough to have found at least one good watering hole."

For a good thirty seconds, Regina considered letting off some steam, but the truth didn't leave room for it. "I didn't lose him. I sent him away. His wife's life depended on it, and his son deserved his mother."

Why she told him even that much, she didn't know. The hand on hers, maybe. Or because it was easier than talking about her 'light' and her 'thriving'. But there'd been a connection from the first time she'd laid eyes on him, on the dragon fire.

"It's not a happy ending, but it was the right thing to do. And now, the right thing to do is have a few drinks." She turned a sidelong gaze up at him. "No hope speeches."

Edited 2018-08-22 05:08 (UTC)

Oh...oh, that was worse. That, Neil couldn't even get his head around. Maybe he'd lived among the dragons too long, but he couldn't imagine enduring that kind of separation.

Still, he could offer that much.

"No hope speeches." he replied honestly, quietly, mouth opening to say more--to marvel at that strength, to tell her what he really thought: that she had to be incredibly generous to put herself through that...

But after a moment, he shut his mouth and just smiled.

"Just--you're awesome." he summarized, holding that sidelong gaze of hers for a second with a very small, very happy smile before he turned to regard what looked like a restaurant a few doors down.

"So what's your pleasure? Nice glass of wine? Or something stronger? If I remember correctly, places like that one down there probably have a small bar and a good wine cellar--or good bourbon." He hesitated, absently snapping the fingers of his free hand as he fished for a memory.

"Or, uh...what was it called...they got something similar in the Five Realms, but they put these herbs from Lora in it instead of a worm. Comes from...Mexico, I think?..."

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switching to prose style, pretty please?

How can I say no when you look at me in that tone of voice?<3

Re: What are you doing to me here? Unfair!

Re: I have no idea what you're talking about. >.> <.<

Re: Call and raise. >.> <.<

Re: I see your raise, and raise you again. :P

Re: I see your raise, and raise you again. Stakes are getting hiiiiigh. :P

Re: time to DOUBLE DOWN, MUTHALOVAS!!!

Back to you, TRIPLE SLAM.

DOUBLE DOWN AGAIN. I AM ON A ROLLLLLLLL

Re: DOUBLE DOWN A DIFFERENT DIRECTION. FEEL THE BURN.

TIME TO DOUBLE DOWN, AND RAISE.

Re: AND LO, A NEW MANEUVER.

Re: AND LO, A NEW MANEUVER.