Thief Antics

The door opened before the Warden Commander who was carrying Maghai over her shoulder and the door closed behind her. She strode across the room to a soft chair, seemingly not even noticing the girl under the towel on the couch, and dropped Maghai into said lounge chair then went over to the soft chair closest to Cestrah.

"Interesting wound, Cestrah." Nygozy pointed out with a slight smile, "You should let Jez heal that up. She might even be able to get it to close. I had one like that through my arm before." She pulled up her sleeve to show a wound on either side of her forearm, "Hurt like the dickens but the healer who was with us at that time was really good."

Nygozy tilted her head a bit, her hazel eyes reassuring, "My name is Nygozy. I am the Warden Commander. Nice to meet you."

Sinjan shook his head, "He was a complete moron but I bet she still loved him. Most children do no matter what, they want their parents' acceptance. It's sad." He yawned and went out the door, "I never had either kind of problem except that my mother ran away when I was little. Anyway, it's time to get back and tell Nygozy."

The fighter whistled a jaunty tune, out of tune as they walked, "Wardens don't have children do they? Nyggy said that no one knows if you can, or that you can't. I don't remember exactly to be honest. We were attacked by darkspawn just after she had said it. Is that true though? You and Drake could never ..." He sighed, "Heck, it is something I never thought about before but looking at what wrecks have children makes me wish more good people did."

With a startled jump, Cestrah heard Nygozy come in as she pulled the towel closer to herself. Upon hearing that this was indeed the Warden commander herself, Cestrah bowed her head. "I-it's an honor to meet you... I... Suppose I could get it healed... I should have thought of that earlier... I-If you don't mind me asking... How did you get an injury that bad? She then also took notice of Maghai. "W-what's wrong with Maghai? Is he alright?" she asked, her voice filled with concern.

Wound comparison always helped when it looked like someone was ashamed of theirs. The expression on the girl's face had said a lot and made her realize that this one needed to talk. The dwarf lifted her arm to show it to the girl, scars littered across the skin's landscape, "Well, that one was from a shriek. I was protecting a friend from it and got the attack instead. It saved my friend from death so it was no big deal to get it."

She looked back at Maghai and snorted, "He saw a beetle and jumped on top of me to escape it, screaming. My bodyguard knocked him out thinking he would hurt me. He is lucky that Kai knows he wouldn't hurt me on purpose."

Cestrah had a slightly pained face when Nygozy said how she recieved the wound. Her eyes wandered to the hero's scar covered body. "You... Must have endured a lot on your journey..." She then heard about Maghai's silliness. She surprised even herself by beginning to giggle. "I hope he'll be alright... I don't think I've even properly thanked him yet."

"There has been a lot in my life. Abuse, fighting, saving, being saved ... life is like that. It isn't easy a lot of the time but I do my best and keep a smile." She winked.

Maghai seemed younger than he was, curled up in a ball on the chair and Nygozy chuckled, "He will be fine. His head is a lot harder than one would think."

Jezarine went into her room and right to an old chest where she had things she kept since she was a child. The things in there were the only ones she had ever been able to keep as she could take very little when the wardens came and got her but they were all very nice.

"She needs clothes. Something nice." She said to Ianto, almost to herself, "I have just the stuff. How is the reading coming along?" Her eyes didn't stray from the trunk until she found the clothes then she got up and hopped onto the bed beside Ianto, looking up at him with a smile. This was just what she needed, something to get her mind off the last few days.

Then she heard Nygozy and listened while they talked. She leaned against Ianto with a smile, "Looks like Nyggy is pulling her out of her shell." For a few moments she was silent then she tilted her head back, "I ... I think I am going to try to learn mind healing to accentuate the physical healing skills I know. What do you think?"

Upon seeing Maghai curled up like he was, a warm smile came to Cestrah's face. She then thought about what the Warden had said. 'life is like that'... That was interesting to say... She glanced to the side a little, a bit of nervousness in her eyes. "I wonder how many people have lived a life like mine... Looking back, he was always so cruel to me. But I can't say I hate him. He may not hav been a very good father, but... I'm still worried about how he'll do on his own..." Her face wore a mask of normallity, but the worry swept over her and made her nervous about his future.

"My mother sold my 'services' for booze." Nygozy admitted, "I was very little when that started and I also had to steal to keep her in the alcohol. But my sister, well, I made sure she never had to be used like that."

She looked at the bowl of dirty water and sighed, "We had nowhere to go and no matter how well I did she called me down. Last I saw her she called me a whore who became a warden on sex, which I didn't, yet my sister said that once I became a paragon she was using my name for popularity, and booze." She shrugged, "I learned long ago not to care. You try to make them appreciate you and it doesn't work. They just hate and hurt and hurt you more."

With wide eyes, she listened to Nygozy's past. They were so similar... Despite coming from entirely different lifestyles and cultures, they shared some of the same misfortunes. Slowly the gong girl did as expected from a child. She cried. All the pressures from today, all the realizations, all the people. She was an entirely new person from when she woke up, hungry and lonely in an alleyway. The tears streamed down her face as she tried to stop them with no success. Here she was talking to the hero of Fereldan who'd faced amazing odds and come out alive to kill the arch demon, and she was crying like a pathetic child. After showing weakness like this, Cestrah knew her chances if being brought with them were probably shot.nshe tried to cover her face with the towel in shame of her childishness.

Ianto hastily looked down at his book as Jez pushed the door open, hoping to give the impression that he'd been reading this whole time, rather than listening to her talk to the young girl in the other room. Then, he looked up, as if he'd only just noticed her come in, and watched her dig through a chest for a few moments in silence.

He could almost see the 'eureka' cry through her mind as she finally stood up with what she'd been looking for - a set of clothes, it seemed, as Jez had said. "They're nice," he said offhand, looking at the clothes, then started, and said, "ah, and it's nice. The book, that is. Nice." He smiled at her sheepishly as she sat on the bed next to him, not actually really feeling that bad that he hadn't begun reading the book yet. There would be time for reading it, later - he liked to make sure that Jez and the girl were safe, first. Jez would understand.

He heard Nygozy's voice, too, and turned his head to look back at the door, but then jumped a little and looked back as he felt Jez's head rest on his shoulder. He stared at her for a moment, his face reddening, and didn't move. "Yeah," he said finally. Realizing that that could really be answering either of her questions, he elaborated. "I mean, it's good that Ny is feeling better, and I also think it's a good idea that you should learn the mind-healing magic. That is, it can never hurt to learn more, right?" Which, actually, went against everything he'd ever learned as a Templar, but healing was healing, magic or not, and the more someone knew about healing, the better (and, honestly, Ianto didn't care about limiting magic or not; a model Templar, he was not).

Come to think of it, though, he had no idea what she meant when she said 'mind healing.' He didn't want to ask, though, because maybe he should have known. "Er, how would you go about learning it?" He asked, and maybe he'd be able to guess what it was by her description. More than wondering, though, he was still concentrating on relaxing next to Jezm, because sitting so close had made him tense, and he was only just now loosening up.

There they were. The tears which needed to be released. Clear and concise movement took precidence as the dwarf went from chair to couch, sliding in between the arm of the couch and Cestrah's back before craddling the human in her arms, settling her head on her shoulder and rubbed her back. Nygozy pressed her cheek to the top of Cestrah's head while making soothing sounds.

Time would seep away as tears spilled relentlessly onto leather while the hero held the youth like a little child. It was only natural for her. Taking care of her team took the same skills it did of a mother, one much like a wild animal which would protect it's young and family with a fierceness beyond compare but also be a soft, soothing body to comfort.

"It's ok. We all need to cry." She finally said as she glanced over Cestrah's shoulder to notice one blue eye trained on her, watching with an expression undeterminable then her bodyguard disappeared once more into the shadows, "I cry when I feel the need too."

Walking by Sinjan's side, Calliara felt the familiar painful sadness when speaking about 'children'

''I wish I could have children. Creators know how many times Duncan and I tried, and I can tell you we really tried... I am not sure if it's possible or not, but I prefer not to think about it because it hurts me. There are just a few things in this world that I would like more than that. I love children, and that's why I can't stand seeing one of them hurt''

She wished she could shrug, but the arrow was still there and she was trying to restrain movements with that arm til Jez would check it.

''I don't know if it's fair though, having a children being a Warden. The child would loose one or both parents for sure, and maybe sooner that he or she deserves... But how I wish I could...'' Calli muttered

"They're nice, ah, and it's nice. The book, that is. Nice."

"Nice is your word for today?" She teased playfully, "You sound distracted."

"Yeah, I mean, it's good that Ny is feeling better, and I also think it's a good idea that you should learn the mind-healing magic. That is, it can never hurt to learn more, right? Er, how would you go about learning it?"

Jezarine touched the book on his lap as she attempted to come up with an exact answer to all that, "I saw a book in the library the other day. Before I was ... well ... anyway ... it mentioned about how to heal people who went through some kind of trauma: whether it be physical, subconscious, addictive or traumatic. I have to admit I thought of ..." She blushed, "Yours and Maghai's addictions as well as how wardens tend to have some form of inner pain. I didn't realize it would be something I may need for myself one day."

The healer looked up, "There are books and manuals. I can request them from King Theirin." She turned towards him but her hand slipped from the book and dropped onto his lap, over his crotch. Her cheeks went immediately red, the flower pattern brightening from the embarrassment as she gasped, "Oh I ... I'm sorry ... I didn't ... I wouldn't ... I mean I've dreamed of us but ... oh oh that's not something to say ... it's ... I ... what I mean is ..." She stuttered but as of yet hadn't thought of taking her hand away, forgetting where it was.

Cestrah was surprised by how gentle Nygozy was being. When one thinks of the Hero, they would think of a powerful, cold warrior facing darkspawn. Not only facing, but destroying. The stories all tell of great battles with Nygozy cutting through hundreds of darkspawn, and yet here she was, cradling a crying child's head while she seeped emotion. There was a part of Cestrah that was almost viewing Nygozy as a mother. Cestrah hadn't had a mother, so it was a great feeling. When Cestrah finally calmed down and stopped crying, she turned her head towards the commander. "P-please..." she muttered between post-crying shakes and sobs. "I want to come with you so badly... There's nothing for me in Denerim now..."

Nygozy brushed the hair out of the girl's eyes and gave her a tender smile, "Of course you can. You will have to accept rules, do your chores and learn but I don't think you will mind that, will you?"

She lay back, still holding Cestrah like a mother would her child, "You will even have your own room and if you like you can have it beside wherever we put Maghai. Away from anything beetle like."

As they went into the palace Sinjan calmly took note of the grounds, feeling almost sad that they would be leaving soon, "How about I kidnap some teens for you? I'm sure there are quite a few we can just pick up from the streets, in the woods or even at the docks who would love to have you as their mother."

He laughed as they got to Jezarine's room and walked in to see Nygozy holding Cestrah, "How about that one, Calli? I can get a collar and leash." He teased.

''Don't you think I have enough cubs with having to take care of all of you?'' Calliara teased back, grinning

"How about that one, Calli? I can get a collar and leash."

Calliara smiled, still with the arrow on her shoulder but she didn't care. They had to tell the girl that her father was dead, and it was a unpleasant task. Bad news had to be quick and honest.

''Cestrah, your father is dead. That wasn't what I planned, but it came out that way. He attacked us with bear traps and a crossbow, and when he realized he was going to be imprisoned and taking here to be judged, he killed himself. Sinjan can tell you. You don't have to believe us, but that's the truth...''

Upon hearing that she could go with the group, Cestrah quickly turned and hugged Nygozy, making sure her towel was still where it should be. "Thank you... Thank you so much..." She embraced the woman for some time before CalliaRa returned with a man Cestrah hadn't met yet.

When she heard the news, Cestrah went into shock. Her breathing quickened, she sat up into a sitting position on the couch, despite her immense pain, and she felt more tears welling in her eyes and soon rolling down her already tear soaked cheeks. "H-he's... Dead?" She asked before breaking into full blown crying fueled by shock and grief. She buried her face into the couch cushion, the towel sliding down most of her back as she was horrified over the death of her father. He was the only parent she had, and for years, the only person she knew.

When Cestrah started to cry again, Nygozy pulled her close into another hug and rubbed her hair, "I know, Cestrah. Losing one's family even though they were cruel is never easy."

She hoped the girl would not blame Calliara and Sinjan for this happening. It was difficult for most going through such trials in life and she hoped for the best with her. The girl was better off this way and in other ways Nygozy was relieved that they would not have to deal with an alcoholic parent who would be bent on either retribution or reimbursement of his lost income. It was less paperwork too.

Your soul will be going to some pits when you die for thinking things like that. She chided herself, partially in humour.

Cestrah couldn’t think… Nygozy’s words barely reached her. Just a strange distorted sound that at most, Cestrah recognized as her voice. She turned her head towards Calliara and saw the arrow coming out of her shoulder. This just made her feel even worse. After about a minute of silence, Cestrah muttered something, so quiet only Nygozy was even barely able to hear her. “I… I just want to… sleep right now… Is there… somewhere I can sleep?” She asked between sobs, clutching the couch tightly.

Ianto nodded absently, not really understanding the methodology of what she was saying, but at least grasping the reasoning behind it. Sometimes mental injuries were as bad as - or worse than - physical injuries, and usually kept warriors away from battle for longer than any normal wound. And Jez - he could understand why she would want to try and heal her own mind from the kidnapping (especially if those lowlifes were going to be joining with the Wardens).

Then, of course, most of Ianto's thoughts went south from there as Jez . .. moved. He nearly jumped out of his skin and started, and his hand shot down to grasp as her wrist as his eyes widened. Oh sweet Andraste! He could feel his face heat up like it hadn't in a long time, and he could only really stare at her. Whatever she was rambling, he wasn't actually paying attention, except to . . .

Oh sod it. Sod it to the black city.

He reached up his hand from where he'd been holding her wrist and moved it to her shoulder, pulled her forward, and kissed her. Well, Ianto, there goes all of your sense. He kissed her until he thought he would suffocate, and couldn't help but think, well, that was one way to shut the both of them up.

When he finally pulled back, his blush was gone except for a little, and he looked straight at her, even though he was so embarrassed he would have rather looked anywhere else. "Sorry," he said weakly, with a sheepish smile, and couldn't really think of anything else to say, because, what else was there to say?

What to do what do do? This was not supposed to happen and by the stars she'd accidentally felt him up as well as slipped.

His expression was that of shock and she had no clue what else as she too was shocked, confused and rather embarrassed. He must think that she was some kind of pervert or something just as bad. He grabbed her wrist and she went cold, fearing whatever would come next. What did one do in this kind of situation? And why the heck had she blabbed out that she'd had dreams of them? But now his hand was moving to her shoulder and he ... he pulled her to him and his lips touched hers.

Jezarine could hardly believe that he was kissing her so she didn't react at all at first but then her instincts took over and she kissed him back, her arms wrapping around him as the kiss deepened, lengthened to a point where she was sure they would drown in each other. Then he pulled back and she carefully watched his eyes.

"Sorry?" She repeated in a whisper, "No. No. Please don't be sorry. I mean I liked that and if you're sorry that means maybe you didn't really want to but I know I did and it was nice so nice I didn't want to stop but did you want to stop or did you not want to stop and if you did want to stop maybe I'm thinking wrong thinking maybe we have something here but I'm not really sure because I've never really had anything because most people don't get past my rambling but you've gotten past that because you ramble too and I think that is sweet even cute for a Templar and you're cute as much as sweet and I don't know what I'm rambling about and I should really shut up but I guess I want you to know I liked that and like you a lot but I'm scared to say it out loud oh why did I say that out loud you may not want me to think that but maybe you do or you don't I don't know but I know I like being close to you and that felt real real good but it's really..."

''I am sorry, Cestrah'' Calliara sighed with a tired, defeated voice that was not usual of her. ''It is not what I wanted, I assure you''

It had been enough for the poor girl, she decided, and Calliara took Sinjan's hand, looking at Nygozy, and asked tiredly

''Permission to go and seek healing, Commander?''

As she continued on, Ianto smiled. He smiled because that was probabl the best reaction he could have hoped for, and if he'd followed her correctly, then she - maybe she hadn't taken it badly at all.

"Jez," he said gently, watching her with a raised eyebrow, and as she finished speaking, he pulled her forward and kissed her again. This time, he paid more attention to what he was doing, and to how she reacted, and brought his other hand up to make sure she was comfortable, and safe. He didn't hold there for as long this time, and when he pulled back, he was still smiling, and he rested his forehead on hers. "Be quiet, for just a sec," he finished, his eyes crinkling at the edges slightly with his grin.

Alright. Well, yes. That had gone much better than he'd expected. He'd have been lying if he'd said that he hadn't given this any thought, but he'd been too worried about everything to dwell on it. It was scary, to know that he might like Jez so much, because he couldn't keep his mind from going there, and he wasn't sure if he was ready to let her go yet. But, maybe it was alright, to have this with Jez. He knew he was going to worry about it anyway, but he couldn't very well deny what he was feeling, either.