A/N: Okay I promised a quicker update so here it is! And as per request, there is Beka/Rosto interaction in this one :D Enjoy!
Chapter Three: Pasties and Bandaged Hands
Beka awoke the next morning with a sore, bandaged hand. The kennel healer had been able to stop the bleeding, but the bandage was still necessary to protect the wound. It was also there, she soon found out, to be a hindrance. It was after much fumbling around and many curses later that Beka was finally dressed and ready to eat breakfast.
Taking Achoo along- Pounce decided to stay in her rooms where it was warm- Beka hurried across the way to the Dancing Dove.
The short journey proved to be too long. By the time she stepped inside the Dove, she was chilled to the bone.
When she stepped into the dining room they now used for their breakfasts, she welcomed the warmth from the hearth that instantly began to warm her cold body. Achoo bounded into the room to greet each person, not seeming shaken by the weather at all. Beka's body still shook.
"Cold?" It was Rosto. He watched her as she shrugged off her thin coat, his eyes resting on the garment. "You wouldn't be if you wore that jacket I gave you."
"I'm perfectly fine," she replied. "It's really not so bad out there." Her traitorous body chose that moment to shiver.
Rosto grinned, his eyes alight with amusement. Beka silently cursed him for looking so comfortable in just a shirt and breeches as if it were a beautiful midsummer day.
"Beka, you'd better sit down before Ersken here eats all your food," said Kora, taking some food from Ersken's plate, who protested. "Oh, quiet, you," she told him sternly, "and make room for Beka to sit." Then she gave him a swift kiss on the cheek to quiet him further.
Beka was moving toward Ersken when Aniki announced, "There's no need to move, Ersken, I've made room for Beka right here."
Seeing the space she indicated, Beka was of a mind to glare at the tall Scanran mot as she patted the now empty space between her and Rosto. Aniki's eyes glinted with mischievous humor.
She must thrive on other people's discomfort, Beka thought as she returned Aniki's look with a glare.
Sensing her hesitation, Aniki added seemingly innocent, "Come on, Beka, Rosto doesn't bite."
Rosto, who had been petting Achoo, looked over and grinned wickedly. "Not unless you're good, love."
Rolling her eyes, Beka moved toward the space. "The only bite you need concern yourself with is the bite of my baton," she muttered.
"And don't forget Achoo, here," remarked Phelan, calling the dog over to him. "She may seem friendly now, but with the right commands, she'll dig into you and never let go." Achoo went to him all friendly licks and wagging tails. Phelan fed her sausage from his plate which she devoured greedily. She used to look to Beka every time she was offered food, but the breakfasts were so routine that Achoo knew no longer to ask. She ate whatever her friends offered.
After Achoo had cleaned off the remains of Phelan's plate, the dog passed Ersken- who had cleaned his own plate without assistance- to Kora. In a friendly way, Achoo nudged and sniffed Fuzzball who meowed at him. From Aniki's lap, Laddybuck padded over to Achoo and swatted at the dog's wagging tail.
They all laughed as Achoo whirled around. Gingerly, Laddybuck moved to avoid detection, then swatted at her tail again, moving again when Achoo turned.
Aniki chuckled, "There you are, Laddybuck. Get her chasin' her own tail!" To the others she said, "It seems he's picked up a few things." She laughed.
"You mean like your pleasure in turnin' a cove in circles?" Kora asked with a smile.
"Well I can't let him go on thinkin' he's in control can I?" Aniki grinned.
Beka laughed along with the rest of them before holding up one of the pasties she was eating. "What is this? I've never had one of these afore; it smells wonderful."
"It's a buttermilk pasty," replied Phelan. "I bought 'em this morning from a new stall set up in the market. The mot that runs it says she came from Port Caynn."
"Buttermilk? I've never had one either," said Rosto from beside Beka. It made her uncomfortable to hear his voice so near.
As he leaned over to take a pasty off her plate, their knees brushed and Beka flinched at the contact. Pausing, his arm outstretched over the plate she held, he grinned, his face just inches from her own. Silently, a million curses ran through her head. He was so close that she could smell him- and though far different, he smelled even more wonderful than the mouth-watering pasties.
Mad at herself for noticing this, she quickly took her plate out of his reach. Unfortunately, though he pulled back his hand, his face remained just as intimately close. Beka hoped everyone else was still preoccupied with Achoo and the cats' antics as Rosto said, "Cooper, didn't your ma ever teach you how to share?"
His voice was low and his smile bright. She could feel his warm breath on her cheek.
Trying to repress a shiver that was not due to the weather, Beka gave him a hard look. "And didn't yours ever teach you about manners and personal space?"
Rosto chuckled but pulled back.
Grabbing a pasty off of her plate, she held one out for him to take. "Here," she said, turning back to reach for the basket full of pasties, "since you obviously aren't of a mind to ask politely like a normal-"
Suddenly an audible gasp escaped her throat and she jerked back, staring at Rosto open-mouthed. His strong hand was wrapped around hers, her now-empty fingers still held close to his mouth. "You're right," he said with a grin worthy of a Rogue, "they are good."
For a moment longer, Beka still stared. She was surprised she hadn't yelped when she had felt him take hold of her hand. His lips had brushed her fingertips lightly when he had eaten the pasty, and the memory of the feeling of his lips still had her fingers tingling, remembering their touch.
Then, regaining her composure, Beka took her hand from his and with the other, she thrust the basket of pasties onto his lap. "Here, have the whole basket if you like them so much," she told him crossly. "Since you obviously don't need a plate-"
She gasped again as he took hold of the hand that had dropped the basket in his lap, just as shocked as she had been before. Embarrassed and irritated to have emitted the same reaction as the first time, she asked him what he was doing. She had no pasty in that hand.
Then, seeing the hand he held and the way Rosto frowned at it, she tried to pull it back. Though his touch was gentle, it was just as unyielding. "What happened?" he asked, his grin completely gone as he fingered the bandage lightly.
Flustered by his touch, Beka could feel her face get even redder than before. Great gods she sincerely hoped the others weren't paying attention!
"It's nothing," she told him, still trying to free her hand to no avail. "A Rat just got in a lucky swing as I toppled him to the ground, that's all."
Rosto looked up and met her eyes. Feeling uncomfortable by the way he met her gaze directly, Beka looked down at her wrapped hand still locked in his, cursing the tightly wound bandage. She had known he would ask questions if he saw it, and had thus far done well to conceal the telltale bandage. She had been so flustered when he had eaten the pasty out of her hand, however, that she hadn't thought about it when she had tossed the basket of pasties into his lap with her healing hand. Now she regretted her moment of thoughtlessness.
"Did you recognize the Rat?" asked Ersken.
Beka sighed inwardly, realizing that everyone was quiet around her and Rosto, listening. She kept her gaze fastened on her hand with Rosto's strong fingers still grasped around it. "No," she replied. "He was new to Corus. Tunstall and I figured it out soon enough when he didn't seem to know where he was going. He took us in circles more than a couple of times. When we cornered him in a back alley, he looked for his escape but seemed confused not to find a grate in the street in which to disappear through."
"Ah," grinned Aniki, "a sewer Rat."
Beka nodded. "We hobbled him and found out later from the kennel dogs that he was a Port Caynn Rat. I had guessed as much though when he searched for an escape underground."
Ersken looked thoughtful. "I hobbled a Port Caynn Rat last night myself," he said. "Birch was the one who first figured out where he was from when he heard his speech."
For a long moment the room was silent aside from Achoo's eating. She ate the last pasty off Ersken's plate without him noticing.
Then Beka looked up at Rosto. His sharp eyes were dark and thoughtful. "Do you think they're leaving Port Caynn for some reason?" she asked him quietly.
His eyes seemed to come back to the present when he looked at her. Then he grinned, all traces of the hard lines on his face wiped away instantly. "If they are I'm certain it's just to brag that they've been hobbled by the famed Bloodhound of Corus."
Beka rolled her eyes. "Then they can all feel free to brag all they want to the other cracknobs sharing their cells."
Everyone laughed as Aniki changed the subject to a cove she had run into a night ago. Apparently he felt compelled to brag about his wall art in the cell he had finally been set free from but a week ago.
The others laughed, but Beka wasn't satisfied. There was something her friends weren't letting her and Ersken in on. Obviously, it was Rogue business, not meant for the ears of Dogs like them, but nonetheless it bothered her. She wondered what they knew…
Seeing the look in her eye, Rosto tugged on the hand he still held. "Don't worry about it, love," he told her with his usual grin, "just consider these Port Caynn Rats an easy catch for you and your Dog friends."
Bringing her hand up to his face, he leaned over and placed a gentle kiss on the bandage concealing the wound on her palm. "Besides," he said, eyes twinkling, "they should feel so lucky to be hobbled by you than meet the likes of me."
Finally able to free her hand from his, Beka gave him a look. "I know of one rusher I wish was such an easy catch," she told him.
Rosto raised his eyebrows. "I hope you're not talking about me," he said with a laugh.
Beka stood and gave him a look that clearly stated she was.
"Well, can't say as I blame you," he said, his mouth widening into a delighted grin, "I am quite a catch, or so I've heard. But for you, dear, you only need say the word and I'm yours."
With a frustrated sigh, Beka turned and, without a sound left the room, Achoo close on her heels.
Leaning back on one elbow, Rosto watched the door she had disappeared through, chuckling with wicked amusement.
"You know, one of these days she's going to take delight in hobbling you," Aniki told him, witnessing the whole thing.
"As I wouldn't mind being hobbled to such a mot for the rest of my days," Rosto grinned still watching the door.
Aniki laughed. "As if she would have you. She'd probably rather sharpen a dagger on her tongue before allowing herself to get involved with the likes of you."
Rosto just grinned in response. One day, he thought, one day…
A/N: Well there you are, a little more Beka/Rosto time :D I hope you liked it and again if you want links to any of the forums I'm moderator of, just send me a message!
