Interlude – Dra’kin
Dra’kin leaned back on the lavender scented down pillow, the better to enjoy the view as his lover, Shuk continued stretching her body into positions that looked impossible for her. Born of human and orc she favored her human half more but still dense thick muscles covered her lithe frame, the skin a polished white jade rippling and flexing as the woman moved slowly and smoothly through a series of stretches and slow motion maneuvers.
Shuk paused, body frozen in place and she glanced through the strands of her brown hair, glinting with green highlights. “Love, best tell your familiar to stop staring at me or you’re going to need to get another one.” The wicked looking dagger in left hand spun around her fingers sending sparkles of red light through the air in counterpoint to her threat.
Dra’kin, eyes rolling, exerted his will upon the hovering eye in the corner of the room sending it zooming down to disappear into his carefully folded clothing. “You know it’s just attracted by the motion Shukie.”
“Don’t care dear, I don’t like things staring at me when I work out.”
“So I should close my eyes?”
Body folded down her head turned to look at him from roughly around her knee, the position showing off her curves to excellent advantage. A slow smile spread, her elongated canines gradually showing, “Not if it has that reaction that I see it has. Or is that your knee under the sheet.” she said with smirk. She unfolded with a sinuous snap and somehow ended up on the bed standing over him. “Now then… Let’s see if we can’t find another way to pass the time…”
Sometime later, the warlock was dozing and only partially registered the sound of someone clearing their throat. Â The impact of the floor as he was violently shoved sideways out of the bed though woke him up quite effectively. Â Naked he rolled sideways, hellfire blooming on his hands to end in a crouch in the corner of the room. The flickering red glow highlighted the innocent face of Keri, one of Shuk’s lieutenants, one of a pair, twin halfings. On the far side of the bed, Shuk slowly rose from a crouch, a long jagged edge blade in one hand, the red flecked bade of Ravager in the other.
Keri whistled appreciatively as she glanced between them, “I see that what they say about the size of a warlock’s staff is true.”
Dra’kin stood, letting the flames flicker and die, “I don’t use a staff.”
“Exactly. You don’t have anything to compensate for obviously.”
“Keri, I thought we talked about this?”
The halfling pasted a contrite look on her face. “I know ‘mom’ but you had that new lock and warding put on your door and you know I can’t resist a challenge.”
Shuk sighed, “Obviously I was grossly overcharged, I should have been warned someone was trying to bypass the protections at the very least.”
Kery grinned, “Oh you got your money’s worth cutie. I wouldn’t worry about it. There aren’t many, alright, any as good as me at getting past wards don’t want me to.”
“What are you doing here Keri? Anything wrong?”
“Your boytoy asked me to get some information for him, I have it.”
Dra’kin spoke, his voice muffled briefly by the tunic he was pulling over his head, “I said bring it by this evening at the tavern.” He sat on the edge of the bed to pull on his boots.
“Hate to break it to you hottie but it’s evening now. You must of really been working overtime. Did you do that thing I told you about, where you put your…” Keri dropped to the floor as a throwing spike whiffed through the air where her head had been moments before.
“That’s enough Keri.” Shuk said calmly replacing the spike in the strap on her forearm with another from a box on the dresser by the bed.
“You never complained when I did…” Keri’s voice trailed off as the golden green eyes of her boss caught her’s. Shuk had her scary face on, eyes and face calm and showing no emotion what so ever. The same face she wore as she persuaded someone slow to pay their loan that prompt payment left everyone happy. The same face she wore as she took a lead weighted club to someone who thought they could refuse to pay their loans. And the little rogue was sure it was the same face she’d worn as she gutted the man who’d held her job at one time and thought he and his seconds could take advantage of the young half orc female newly joined to the night guild.
Dra’kin stepped over and kissed the most deadly woman in town on the neck, “See you later Shuk, I need to catch up with friends.” He ran a hand down her jaw in a caress and with a thought his familiar settled down on his shoulder, the dangling wires from the mechanical construct that Biminey had constructed for him wrapping around his neck like some odd necklace or collar.
“Later cutie, I’ll see you later then.” Keri said with a suggestive waggle of her eyebrows.
As the door closed on Dra’kin, the corner’s of Shuk’s mouth twitched and she couldn’t help but smile, the cheerfulness of the haling infectious. It was one of the reasons they’d shared a bed for awhile when Shuk was feeling the pressure of her step up from apprentice to leader of the guild. She shook her head as Keri bounced up on the bed. “So what did you find out about the ship?”
Keri grimaced, “Not much. Gonna need Meri on this one. I can take care of the wards but the watchers are good, you’ll need spookie to get in there see what’s going on.”
“Okay, make arrangements with Tork on the docks to give you a distraction if you need it to get her on board. I want to know if they’re hauling the gold that rumor has it. And if she can find out their home port or a chart book, that might be useful for something.”
“I hear your man is heading upstream after the ones taking the gold shipments?
“He’s not my man love, just a distraction.”
Keri rolled her eyes, “Riiiight. So since you’re not stopping him I can guess you’re not behind those thefts.”
Shuk frowned, “Was that ever a question?”
“You never know with you hon. You keep them close to that bountiful chest of yours sometimes.”
“Not this time. Personally I think it’s the buyers out east. They get the cargo and the payment. None of our concern at the very least. Okay get with your sister and work out a time to visit the ship. Yes I know she’s already working nights for that friend of Drak’s, work something out.”
Keri saluted her boss, a satire of the watch’s salute ending with her hand cupping her own breast and shaking it, “At your command!”
“Whatever. I also need you to have Pip pay a visit to the rug merchant and remind him he’s past due. Nothing painful, just a threat of painful is fine. I might want to take payment in goods later once he’s really worried. I also need you to have…”
For the next hour talk was of business, the business of shadows and night before the two of them headed toward the tavern where their friends were talking…
