Kal's tower- Now Gypsy's Tower

[Red Gypsy]

Deviant Cannon

By the time they'd finished, they somehow made it into the bedroom where Gypsy collapsed to the bed gasping for air. Somewhere in the middle of everything, her demonic half had receded to 'curl up' quite content. That left Gypsy back in full charge of herself for the rest of the marathon. She had no idea how long they'd gone at it but she was now in need of a hot bath to relax sore muscles she'd forgotten could get sore.

She turned over on her back to breathe better and shook her head slightly, barely able to believe that he'd helped her suppress her demon in only a short period of time. The only time her demonic half behaved like that was when she was around Lareth.

She gave a shiver as cool air moved over her sweaty skin and debated moving to run the bath now. But reconsidered it when she realized her legs wouldn't hold her.

"Damnit Kael... You just had to push the limit, didn't you..." she gasped out softly, her voice slightly hoarse by now.  

[TheHelmsman13]

Deviant Cannon

Kael Kinrath

All that's needed is a drop of....blood

Race: Demon. Mood: Bored/looking for something or someone fun. I am with: Myself, naturally My theme at the moment: Sail

As before, Kael had recovered from the lustful escapades before Gypsy. This time, however, he did not disappear into the illusion of Death, but sat at the foot of the bed, smoking from his silver pipe. He didn't answer the seemingly rhetorical comment, but smiled that devilishly handsome smile of his and blew a ring of smoke at Gypsy.

While he'd recovered from their particularly rough activities, Kael still sported several bite marks and bruises, specifically one nasty bruise that had his right eye swelled slightly shut. He remembered now what he'd liked so much about this particularly beautiful and alluring Hybrid, and why he had never forgotten her in the over half a millenia he'd been 'dead'.

"I didn't break you, did I?" He said with a mischievous tone. Kael, aside from the cuts, bite, and bruises, was no worse for wear and almost seemed ready for another go. However, he knew that there were things that both of them needed to attend to and thus he stood, a few joints popping with the motion.

He moved to the bathroom and began the water for a bath. Coming back to the bed, Kael looked down at Gypsy before picking her up and taking her to the tub. He knew full well that her legs were as jelly after such a rampage of lust and decided to at least be a helper after-lust partner. He set her down in the water and sat down next to the tub.

"I see that you are yourself once more. What ever came over you?" Kael asked with a wry grin and more than enough sarcasm.

Red Gypsy

 

[Red Gypsy]

Deviant Cannon

Edited

Gypsy was grateful for the 'ride' to the tub and gave a heavy sigh as she relaxed into the water, finally looking over the damage she'd done to him. She had to wince a bit, "I think I should be asking if I broke you," she said softly and gestured to his eye as just one example, "I don't even remember hitting you there," she added with another wince.

As for his sarcastic question, she just gave him a bit of a glare as she reached for the bathing oils she had imported from Sebastet's island. The blasted stuff cleaned better than soap.

"You know exactly what came over me, Kael. While you were gone, my demonic half was awakened. Yes, I have one now. Only it's made me seem a bit... a bit like a fractured personality, I guess. Main personality is the one you remember so well, the usual me. The other... is a demon of ancient lineage, unpolluted by years and years of mixed breeding and dates back to the origin of the species. Turns out my father was a demon who bound himself willingly to a sorceress, my mother. They were both killed, I got sold into slavery in Kemet... The rest is history by now," she gave a shrug over it as she started washing herself up, hissing when the water and oil stung in a few marks she didn't remember getting.

"Point is, when you walked in here and flooded me with your full aura, you let the b***h out of the box. Happens when I encounter a powerful demonic aura, or go too long between my regular vampiric feedings. She goes apeshit and tries to get into the pants of every male in the vicinity. Thankfully, it's only happened..." she thought up the count, "six... maybe seven times in the last eight months. At least, I think that's the count. Lareth could say for sure," she finished explaining that to him in her usual matter of fact manner then ducked under the water to wet her hair so she could wash it.

When she came up, she went on to another point, "Lareth is still trying to figure out a way to solve the problem without marrying me off. Seems he can't find anyone powerful enough to take my demon on. Or that I won't try to kill because he wants me to wear a dress... Anyway, I read something somewhere about the possibility of fusing both of my halves together, but the whole thing read very complicated so I gave up on it," she added that bit because it showed him that she truly had little control over her demonic half.

Once they were both clean, and she could walk on steady legs again, they got out of the tub and dried off then got dressed, "I'll go find Lareth. I need to tell him about the impending attack on part of the realm anyway. And the fact that one of his demons just got mated. Might just put him in a bad enough mood to deal with you coming back," she said with a smirk, unable to resist it.

Then she slid her sword into the sheath at her back and left him in the tower to go find Lareth.

((Exit))  

[Red Gypsy]

Haeo

The servants carried Gypsy up the wide stairs to her bedroom and carefully shifted her onto the bed then gave Ost respectful bows before they left the tower.

That left her laying on the bed, almost deathly pale and barely breathing against the soft natural tones of the nearly bare room. Everything about the tower showed that she simply existed in here now, that she'd allowed Hal the freedom to decorate the place to his hearts content. But there was very little of her here.

Only the wall that held her various weapons and the few items on top of the dresser spoke of her and who she was. The weapons were easily explained. The items on the dresser less so. Two pendants, one a bloodstone given to her by Kaljire, the other little more than a piece of hardened clay with a number on it in ancient Egyptian. A small painting of her that appeared well-worn and handled alot. The leathers in the closet that left the rest of the closet empty, no other clothing but for a robe or a silk chemise to wear under the leather.

Nothing more. Since the death of Kaljire, she'd simply existed here instead of really living. It was the same with both sides of her. Kaljire had awakened her demon but since he'd died she'd simply suppressed it. Her vampiric side was the dominant one since she understood it and had lived with it for so very long.

All of it showed that the beautiful hybrid need help from someone but simply wasn't getting it. Or she was hiding it...  

[Haeo]

Red Gypsy

Ost stood beside the bed in silence for several minutes after the servants had left. Being alone in a bedchamber with a beautiful woman who was vulnerable to boot might be the fantasy of certain men but Ost did not even notice. He was wholly focused on the task at hand. The spartan lack of a personal touch made the room seem out of focus and distant. It felt more like a guest room than a personal residence.

It was one more part of the disharmony that Ost was thinking of correcting. Now, with this problem in front of him the titan hybrid was forced to realize that he had never used both sides of his own ancestry in tandem for anything but battle. He had always lived with his mind in the primal ice of his titan heritage and his song magic flowing through his body to link him to his wards. This might not just be dangerous for Gypsy. Putting her harmony right could cost him his own.  

[Red Gypsy]

Haeo

There was one thing in the room right now that held the harmony that Ost was looking for. Unfortunately for him, she was currently laying on it. The sword at her back seemed to hold a life-spark of it's own, the dark green emerald glinting above her shoulder seeming to try to catch his eye.

That sword was the one thing about Gypsy that both sides of her could agree on. She had been training with a blade since she was still 'human' with no knowledge of her demonic half. It had come naturally to her thanks to her demonic heritage. Her demonic bloodline was ancient, a line of warrior Incubbi that had set up the rules for that particular group of demons that still held sway.

She'd forged that blade in the training fort shortly after marrying Kaljire, back when both sides of her were in harmony. It was the one thing that might help him if he could find the heart of the blade that allowed her to kill any being. How she'd managed to forge a god-killer by herself, not even Lareth knew. The blade held a life of it's own in a strange way and was, even now, trying to help him do what needed to be done.

After all, if Gypsy died... So would the blade...  

[Haeo]

Red Gypsy

Ost closed his eyes and began to hum, a low, soft and gentle sound completely at odds with his icy demeanor. The sound rippled through the room, touching everything and dancing with the rhythm of each object. Most only answered with harmony that carried strong echoes of Hal. There were some others, one that was powerful but old and faded. Then one caught his attention and resonated.

Steel and song, life and harmony and the absolute voice of death, ripples that sang of a strong path and long memory resonated stronger and stronger until they subsumed the entirety of the sound in the room. Amplified by the song magic that Ost used, the song of the sword stood out like a flare in a dark room.

He opened his eyes and then allowed the hum to slowly fall silent. His eyes followed the pattern of sound until the last remnant faded and his focus lay on the pommel of a sword that was sticking out from under her. The guardian had made his decision. He gently but firmly turned Gypsy onto her side and unbuckled the scabbard before turning her back onto her back. The blade was the key. It allowed the safety margin that he needed. With the harmony between the blade and Gypsy's own dual songs the risk to her was largely negated. The only risk that remained was to Ost himself. That was acceptable. He would not need total harmony to fulfill his duties as guardian so the potential loss of it would not be a catastrophe.

So, he drew the blade and laid it on Gypsy's chest in a funerary style. Then he sat on the floor and the temperature in the room began to drop. Black ice sparked with spots of brilliant blue began to spread out from where he sat to slowly cover the floor with a layer of thick ice, dense and frigid but beautiful as the night sky. When the ice reached the walls it stopped.

The room was silent, cold, and still. The only sound in the chamber was the breathing of the two people in it. Then Ost began to sing. But this time was different. His mouth stayed shut. The ice itself carried the voice and song. The magic slowly filled the room until every inch of the ice sang with hundreds of harmonized echoes of the same voice, calm and patient, balanced and understanding, hurt but unhindered, alone but not lonely. The song flowed and swayed, shimmered and danced. It passed through Ost and the sword and Gypsy over and over again.

Ost knew what he was doing, but he had no perception of what it would be like for Gypsy. He could only hope that the effect was what he needed and hold on. Maintaining this kind of total harmony was hard, very hard. He could feel the strain like faint cracks through his very blood. He would hold, but he could break.  

[Red Gypsy]

Haeo

The sword was the key, yes. Not only to Gypsy but to easing the strain on Ost as well, proving that the blade did, indeed, have a mind of it's own. It was an instrument of death but it still carried the same honor that moved through its bearer. It would not allow harm to come to Ost through the aid he was giving.

Inside Gypsy, the harmony of the song pulled both sides of her together into one being. Where clashes tried to rise, the sword's buffering effect soothed. Where conflicting harmonies tried to sound off, the sword reinforced the harmony Ost was singing.

On the bed, there were visible changes to the hybrid. Most were subtle shifts to her appearance that usually happened when her demonic half took over, but now were in perfect balance. Seductive and sensual, yes, but not overly so. The other changes were more obvious. Namely one of them. Her usually pale skin took on a gold-kissed hue, as if she now held a permanent golden pigment to her skin.

What seemed like hours only lasted mere moments as Ost gave Gypsy what she'd needed for so long, what both sides of her had wanted but been unable to achieve. That want and need aided him almost as much as the sword did.

So it wasn't long before the song was interrupted by a soft moan as Gypsy started to wake. In that moment, the sword returned to the half-titan the energy he'd used for this task and gave him a different harmony for his own song: that of gratitude.

The fusing of both sides of her had helped restore some of the energy the reaper had taken from Gypsy. She wasn't fully healed in that way, but she was more whole in this moment than she'd been in her entire life...  

[Haeo]

Red Gypsy

Ost heard the moan and the sword's own notes of gratitude. The returning flux of energy was a boon to him as fatigue had begun to rear its head. The strength helped him stay conscious as the last notes of the song faded to silence. Yet, while the sword had protected him from the worst that could happen, there were still some consequences.

The ice on the floor remained, but the cold diminished until the temperature in the room was normal once again. Ost stood up, slowly. He used the bed to steady himself as he tried to bring his eyes back into focus. They were less than cooperative. They were also a different color. They were no longer solid black. They instead resembled the night sky seen through a deep sapphire. Blue stars on a milky black.

Everything seemed to blur inconsistently and he found himself sitting with his back leaning against the bed while he practiced getting his eyes to focus again. At least his efforts seemed to have been a success. And, perhaps, the price paid was not only a loss. He smiled at the blurry world in front of him. That sword was alive, and it had a sense of humor.  

[Red Gypsy]

Haeo

Gypsy opened her eyes just in time to see Ost dropping to sit beside the bed and frowned a bit, wondering what was going on. How had she gotten from the throne room to her own room? Why was her sword laying on top of her? Why was Ost here?

She started to sit up but only made it as far as her elbows and had to put a hand to her head as the world spun for a moment. After that moment passed, she gave sitting up another shot and succeeded without mishap. She set her sword on the bed and turned to Ost, "What did I miss? Last thing I remember was telling Lareth about the fight..." she said softly, frowning a bit when she noted the slightly more sensual tone her voice now carried.

That sound lead to an internal assessment and she found that she didn't have 'halves' anymore. Somehow, they'd been fused together, making her feel... whole... instead of being torn apart. It was an interesting sensation for her and left her feeling dizzy again.

"Apparently I missed alot..." she said to herself in soft wonder.

She looked back at Ost for a moment, "I hope you're here for coffee because I could sure use a cup right now. Give me a minute and I'll go make a pot of it," she said to him then silently hoped her legs would get her down the stairs safely instead of throwing her down them.  

[Haeo]

Red Gypsy

Ost was pulled from his contemplation of the great blur of life by a slightly softer voice than he had expected. Gypsy was alright it seemed. That was a good thing. She didn't know what had happened. That was somewhat less good.

He pushed himself up to his feet and turned to face her, his new eyes straining to keep her in focus. The color looked nice on her. In fact, she just looked good. Before she had been pretty but now she had more of the luster of health about her, in spite of her wobbly state. She was also in harmony, in fact... she was slightly more harmonious than Ost was. His own had not been broken but it had shifted a little. Time would tell how much that would affect his powers.

"Coffee, actually sounds good. But, I think that I should give you a hand... or a pair of cold feet." Terrible as it was, that was the first joke that Ost had ever told and he said it with a distracted smile. "I'll handle balance while you see where we're going?"  

[Red Gypsy]

Haeo

Gypsy frowned when he looked at her, noting the change to his eyes. But his attempt at a joke did make her crack a smile, "I'll do better than that. I can tell you how to navigate every inch of this tower by steps alone. You'd have to calculate the difference between my steps and yours but I have a feeling that won't be a problem for you. I think you've been hiding a very intelligent mind from the rest of us," she teased him a bit, raising one eyebrow to make her point.

Still, he did have a point. And she couldn't help but look at the aforementioned feet then winked at him, "Cute feet, however cold they might be. Just do me a big favor and don't ever get me mad at you. I have a feeling that my flames just won't quite mix well with your ice," she teased him again, unable to help herself.

Sometimes, she just couldn't stop with the teasing when she was in a good mood. And something between point A and point B had put her into a pretty good mood. She suspected that Ost had something to do with that but she wasn't going to ask him about it until after coffee.

So she gave him detailed directions to every point in the tower, though she did hesitate to mention the nursery. She still told him about the room as well as the fact that the door was now locked. That was the only dampening point to her good mood but it didn't hold her down long. She'd explain more about that situation another time.

Once the directions and the required number of steps were given, she watched his face as he worked out the calculations in his mind, grinning when she was proven right about how intelligent he was, "It figures. The little hybrid goes brawn while the big one gets brain and brawn. It's just not fair..." she teased him again, unable to resist it.  

[Haeo]

Red Gypsy

Ost felt very strange. He didn't have his usual control. Parts of the complex mess of feelings were light and happy and pleasant as a feather on the wind but others were heavy and hot like forge fire in summer. At least Gypsy was in a good mood. His smile flashed at each of her teasing remarks but the instability of his present state brought the smile down quickly. Though, with this quicksilver heart he could finally bring wit to bear, lame though it was.

"I don't know about my feet being fireproof... or cute, but I do think that... your new flooring might be." He said with a wry smirk. "It was supposed to melt but... I never made this kind of ice before. At least it isn't slippery... or cold." His bare feet told him that the floor was just as warm as the rest of the room now. Whether or not the starry motif would be to Gypsy's liking was the question.

He took note of the description of the tower of course and was able to easily adjust for the weakness of his vision. He could still see objects, they were just very blurry. He did notice the dip in her mood when mentioning the nursery. In fact, his mood dropped at that as well. Though, he couldn't completely comprehend why. He knew that part of it was his recent failures. The rest seemed to be something even more primal, deeper than he had ever felt inside himself. But, now was not the best time to dwell on it, he could figure out all this later. For now... coffee.

"Yeah, brains and brawn... lucky me that I'm half-blind and a bore to boot with a shoe size larger than most tables." He said with a hesitant chuckle. He was clearly unused to being able to express himself and trying to hide exactly how uncomfortable he was by heading off to make coffee. "Let's see if blind and brawn and bore don't gang up on brains before the coffee is done."  

[Red Gypsy]

Haeo

Gypsy actually relaxed in his arms as he got her down the stairs and into the kitchen, "I rather like the new decor, thank you very much," she told him slightly tartly but wrinkled her nose to take any sting out of the words then leaned over and gave him a kiss on his cheek, "And I don't think you're a bore at all," she added in a soft whisper then had him set her on the counter as she helped out by directing him on the things needed to make the coffee, using her smaller hands when needed. Somehow, the two of them worked together on the project perfectly and had two cups of coffee perfectly made and ready for drinking while another pot brewed merrily away.

So while he carried the cups, his steps being steadier than hers, they moved carefully into the living room to sit down to drink the stuff. Alright, he moved carefully. She moved like she was drunk thanks to the occasional dizzy spell on the way. But they made it without mishap and got seated comfortably.

Though her choices for seating probably surprised the half titan when there was a cushy seat perfect for him. She curled up in a chair across from him and sipped at her coffee, knowing that the stuff she had to drink not only brewed up perfectly every time, but it would also help them both with their current issues.

There was something... balancing, to a perfect cup of coffee, healing as well.

That first sip was perfect for her, inducing a pleased sound from her with the perfect flavor and soothing aroma. Thankfully for Ost, she waited until after they'd both had about half of their cups of coffee in companionable silence until she spoke up again.

"Tell me what happened Ost... I can guess, but I'd rather you just told me," she said softly, looking into her cup in the hope of making him feel more comfortable around her.

She rather liked that he'd loosened up with her and didn't want to spoil it. They were both so unique. If she thought her heart could have handled it she'd have considered him the perfect prospect for her. But she'd finally decided that it was safer to relegate him into a position that only Lareth had taught her to accept: that of a brother. But it was different with Ost than it was with Lareth. With Ost, they shared a common bond that no one else had or would have until Cynthia had children. And even then it wouldn't be quite the same.

She and Ost were hybrids; mostly living on the outskirts of their society, never quite fitting in anywhere. They were accepted among the demons, of course, but it was a strange acceptance that still managed to feel... wanting...

She hoped he understood that bond between them. She fully understood how fragile that bond was, that neither of them really knew what to do with a friend or even someone with a closer bond. But she could feel something inside of her that was almost desperate for that connection with him, needed it like she needed air to breathe but didn't know how to say it to him.  

[Haeo]

Red Gypsy

Ost found it easy to navigate with Gypsy's help and the layout of the tower's levels were practical and open. This proved invaluable after Gypsy kissed him on the cheek. He had never been kissed before. He couldn't remember the last time that he had even been held or hugged. And, up till now, he hadn't even noticed the lack. Now he could feel a deep song in his blood where only primal ice had been before. A song that held a longing so old and patient that it persisted even without any trace of hope. The song of a child unheld and motherless, a lament of a man standing alone against the wind simply because he knows of no other place to be.

Also, aside from all this introspective deep-thinking, there was the problem of the tingles and chills. They started with the little kiss and swept through him over and over again. They were very distracting. In fact, between the song and the shivers he ded not even notice that he was sitting down with a cup of coffee in his hands until Gypsy asked him a very important and direct question. Parts of it were also hard to answer.

Ost's nightlike eyes finally began to focus and he looked at her intently as she stared at her coffee. There was the long version and the short version and the rude version. Yeah, hard choice indeed. His voice no longer had that undefinable note of permafrost that it had been defined by for his entire life. It had far more shades of meaning now; worried, lost, grateful, confused, and weary and still more woven together. It was the long version.

"You passed out in the throne room and were carried here by servants at Hal's direction. I wasn't in the throne room at the time but met up with Hal on route to this tower. He mentioned the imbalance between your bloodlines as a major source of the problem so I... took a closer look." This was hard. Ost had never actually tried to explain how his bloodlines affected the way he viewed things. "I do not know my mother beyond the fact that she was a demon from a song magic line of some rank. I used that set of skills to 'hear' the songs of your body and spirit." He took a breath and sipped his coffee, needing both his hands to keep it steady. Thinking back on what he heard from her was bothering him more than experiencing it did. "The disharmony was getting worse. It was making your other injury far more serious as well."

He fell silent. There was no actual way to explain in words the kind of magic he used or how it worked. His eyes drifted down to his coffee as he tried to think of a way to answer the bulk of the question she had asked. He knew that the most important part was that she needed to know what he did to help and why he had changed. It would have helped if his magic were a learned thing but instead it was in his blood and bone. It was primal and instinctive and living, a thing of feeling and many different things that have no words. He growled softly in frustration, squeezing his eyes shut.