The Princess and the Blade

[Emora Deen]

Laurius went cross-eyed looking at the large palm pressed to his forehead. It was barely enough pressure to feel, much less push him away. Not a protest? Then, what?

He huffed, tightening his hold on the creature, so he didn’t slip away. His gaze drifted to the smoldering blade on the floor. It no longer looked ready to melt-down but it was still hot enough to singe the floor. He wouldn’t be getting his security deposit back.

If he didn’t fix whatever was going on with this creature, he might not ever be able to pick the blade up again, or worst, it would melt every stone he’d worked hard to cultivate.

He clenched his eyes shut and sighed, cheeks burning crimson. It wasn’t like he’d never been with a man before. He often preferred them. But… he had never been with someone who wasn’t human. And anyway, how did he get consent from something that didn’t understand a word he said?

Laurius appraised the Phage, thinking. Then, he sighed, shrugged and kissed the being as if he were kissing any other lover he’d invited into his bed. If the thing punched him, he’d at least know where he stood on the consent front.

[Soran Nightblade]

The phage snarled and bit his captor hard on the lip. Stunned by Laurius's actions, his hand slipped from Laurius's head to his neck again, squeezing with moderate success. A string of angry, alien words poured from his throat with more vitriol than his muscles could back up.

[Emora Deen]

Laurius growled at the pain, tasting blood as the phage wrapped his hand around Laurius’s throat and squeezed.

“Okay. I’m not your type. Understood. Let. Go,” he wheezed, tugging hard on the creatures horn and shoving forward as he did to try and pin him back to the floor.

[Soran Nightblade]

Laurius's roughness broke down the little composure the phage had managed to regain. He barely held on to the man's neck and fell to his back with a sharp cry, shivering. "S...stop," he gasped, on the verge of hyperventilating now. His silver eyes were traced with panic as he looked at the other Ivis, but he seemed unwilling to beg Havi for help.

Havi frowned at Tenara's body. If he focused, he could possess her unconscious form and attempt to guide the situation in person, but he didn't want to strain her body any more than she had already. He clenched his eyes. Perhaps just her voice.

*Forgive me, Yurivis,* he spoke into her mind as he pressed himself into her empty thoughts, sifting into the million waiting circuits of her nervous system. Tenara's lips moved. "Laurius, pick up the knife, then command him to be still."

[Emora Deen]

Laurius blinked down at the woman. She… was talking to him in her sleep? Maybe she was awake and just too tired to open her eyes?

Laurius calculated the distance and whether he could reach out and catch the blade before the creature over took him. He made the sideways leap for it, wrapped his hand around the scorching heat. He snarled as he whirled on the Phage. “Still!” His hand rattled, fighting the urge to release the still-hot weapon. “Now what?”

[Soran Nightblade]

The phage was about to scramble to his feet when Laurius commanded him. He didn't even understand the language, but a jolt of arousal struck him so off guard that he cried out in a voice normally reserved for his Yurivis. He fell instinctively still and alert to the relief that was sweeping through his overheated mind. He'd been too busy fighting to pay attention to the way his body burned and throbbed until now. He'd heard of what happened when a Bond was cut, but never seen or felt it himself. A sliver of comfort had slipped in through the agony and, ironically, made him more aware of it.

She was gone. His Yurivis had severed him. She had so many Ivis to choose from that she probably hadn't even needed to think about it. When he disappeared, she simply cut him out and moved on. He'd barely been gone a month. He rested still, relieved to be controlled even though he shouldn't be, mourning even though he didn't want to.

The scorching-hot blade in Laurius's hand cooled very slightly.

Havi worked to keep his control in Tenara's body. "Now help me, but do NOT put the knife down."

[Emora Deen]

Laurius frowned, glancing from the phage to the barely conscious woman, to the blade in his hand. He’d need a nice drink after all this.

“Help you,” he said, shifting closer to her. “You should have given me some warning. There are processes to go through, hypothesis, experiment, testing. Layers—“ he grunted as he hauled her up with one arm and leaned her against the vanity cabinets. She moved like dead weight. Like she wasn’t really awake or in any control of her body. Odd. Her head hung. He shook her gently, taking her chin in his fingers and forced her face up. Blood coated her lips and chin. He grimaced. “Don’t faint on me again, Princess. I need your help.” He reached up blindly for the counter, feeling until he got a rag and held it with the knife in his hand, smoothing it over her lips and chin as he kept her head tilted back. “What do I do with him?”

[Soran Nightblade]

Havi pondered his question longer than normal. He hadn't missed the way the other Ivis reacted to Laurius's command. He'd never heard of such a thing, and it made him wonder exactly how Laurius had crafted that weapon. During the few times others had used Havi's sword to control him, it had only felt forced, like his will was being twisted apart. The way this stranger reacted, you'd think that a Yurivis had commanded him. Even if the phage's body was recoiling from the loss of its Bond, a male's commands shouldn't have affected him in such a way.

So, what should Laurius do with him? Although he felt some empathy for the stranger, he had no fondness for him. But if the being was suffering, and Laurius was interested in helping him, then the thing that seemed most likely to work was...

"First, get me some charcoal, or ink," he said. "For a language-sharing ritual."

[Emora Deen]

Laurius nodded and was immediately away, out of the room. He returned a moment later with a bundle of materials, parchment, quills and ink, a bundle of charcoal sticks. He set them down next to Tenara, still holding the dagger tightly in his hand. “You can make it so I understand him? Who taught you such a thing?”

[Soran Nightblade]

Havi braced himself to expend the energy to move Tenara's body. He sat up slowly and opened her eyes to the materials Laurius brought. "It was in a journal on your client's ship," he said coldly. "A book I assume you sold him. Maybe you just didn't know how to read it."

He lowered carefully to the ground and began scrawling the letters and sigils needed for the language transfer. Meanwhile, the other Ivis lay still on the floor. His body had broken out in a sweat, and his breathing was stiff and labored. The withdrawal pains were nothing to sneeze at.

Havi sighed. There was no benefit in leaving the being to suffer. "Give him commands. Nothing that will betray his will. Small things," he told Laurius as he drew.

[Emora Deen]

Laurius frowned, feeling defensive. “I am not responsible for Arken’s poor judgement in taking you,” Laurius said. He turned his attention to the Ivis. “Ugh… Stand. Stretch.”

[Soran Nightblade]

The phage twitched as the same sense of purpose ran through his body like a caress. Even though he didn't understand, the knife compelled him to do as instructed. His breath changed, thicker but less pained. He stood slowly and arched his arms behind him, opening his chest. It left him far more vulnerable than he would have chosen, but the stretch actually served to relieve some of the awful tension of his severed Bond inside him. He tried to turn off the strange, imagined sensation that something warm and wet was licking across his chest.
He looked around for "Thvoros", panicking slightly. "Why can't I see you anymore?" he demanded.

"I'm concentrating," Havi muttered, in his language. "Pay attention to him." He shrugged a shoulder in Laurius's direction without looking away from his work. He wanted this over as quickly as possible."

[Emora Deen]

Laurius cocked his head at the foreign tongue spilling from Tenara’s lips like music. She knew its language. Because of the symbol she was drawing?

“You learn quickly,” Laurius admired. “I appreciate that—the adaptability.” He turned his attention back to the phage. “Tell me your name.”

[Soran Nightblade]

The phage swallowed back a burst of sensation and croaked out, "Ar shik, Artisuren". He lifted his eyes to meet Laurius's for the first time since obtaining this body. "Unath shik?"

[Emora Deen]

“What part of that was his name?” Laurius asked Tenara, kneeling next to her. He kept his eyes on the phage for a second before he got up and walked to him. “Stand still.” He told the being, looping around him slowly. He took in the creatures tall frame, the lean muscle, his stance. It was strange to see him solid. He looked much like Tenara’s phage. He traced his fingers down the being’s arm.

“Where is your phage?” He asked the princess. “Is he really in your dungeon?”