A beaker sailed across the table and shattered against the stone wall and gloved fist slammed down on the wooden table making more beakers and test tubes tremble in terror. Dark curls fell over his face, his teeth bared like fangs, gritting his teeth in anger and frustration.
Anger was obvious. An ingenious plot to take over the world foiled by some wholesome street urchin just because he had "morals." What homeless person had morals these days? They had nothing, fought for what they needed and even harder for what they wanted, even if it meant lying, cheating, and stealing. He could remember a time when he himself had had to do just that just to survive each day when Desdane had decided he needed to learn how to fend for himself the hard way. So why? Why would some tan, scrawny, under clothed PEASANT think it's so wrong if a well meaning, be it dark, sorcerer such as himself took over a country or two? That spoiled little shit had to go and not only ruin his plan that'd he'd painstakingly worked on for months but he had to go and DESTROY his home while he recaptured the Thirdac. That look on Rena's face when she saw the damage to her kitchen had made him even more furious with Aladdin than ever.
That's where the frustration came in. That face that she'd made, so heartbroken, and over a damn kitchen no less, seemed to have burned itself into his brain. Not only that but when he'd seen her in the crowd in the marketplace, nearly trampled by those mindless buffoons he'd been so enraged he'd nearly had his makeshift beast swoop down and kill someone. His frustration had worsened still when she was so late returning to the Citadel. True, with the Thirdac and that cretin Aladdin running around breaking things he couldn't very well go inside his own house but still, that key was set to alarm him when used; he would have known if she'd returned sooner. The hell if he was worried about some stupid slave's wellbeing, but he also didn't want his PROPERTY damaged without his consent.
He sighed and ran his gloved hand through this damp hair, eyeing a nearby flame, the red and oranges of the little heat bringing the image if her standing there in that dress, a surprised look on her face making his insides started to churn awkwardly. That was the most frustrating part of all. The images of her, running through his mind, like a wheel of torment. Her eyes always expressive, her face smiling or turned into a thin line when she was angry, her voice calling his name, her body…she was making it hard to concentrate.
His insides churned again at that thought but he brushed it off to simple hunger. He hadn't eaten since the Thirdac had gotten loose the day before and here the sun was already rising. He pushed away from his table and pulled off his left glove, using it to undo the knot in his apron and tossing it onto the work stool as he headed out the door.
The citadel halls for the most part had been cleared of debris where the Thirdac had been scampering around and he'd set his own lab up to rights but the main rooms of the castle were still a mess. He passed mamluks picking up broken pieces of stone and wood and could hear a great commotion coming from the main hall. Turning the corner he could see several mamluks, Rena, and even Xerxes, attempting to raise a piece of column from where it'd broken and crashed into the hall floor. By the looks of it, the genie he'd stolen to get Aladdin had probably attempted to crush the Thirdac with the column piece but must have missed. The grunts of the mamluks and the commands of "Pull! Pull!" from Rena was barely getting the block off the ground.
"Rena!" He yelled to his sweaty slave girl. "I'm hungry, where is my breakfast?"
Rena gave him a quick look, still tugging. "Sorry Mozenrath I'm a little busy right now. I'll make it as soon as we've put this back in the column wall."
He put his hands on his hips. "But I'm hungry now."
Rena gave a command and the all stopped pulling, the column piece setting on the ground with a loud, deep THUD despite it short distance traveled. Her face was pouring down sweat, her hair was a mess, her hands were red and blistered as she mimicked his stance and faced off against him. "Well I'm sorry his highness is so hungry but in case you didn't know I'm just trying to clean this place up just as YOU ordered me too. I have been up all night making repairs and scrubbing up the mess YOUR monster made so excuse me if I haven't had any time whatsoever to make you food! So unless you want to get off your high horse and HELP ME for once, stay out of my way and make breakfast yourself!"
With newfound energy from her growing anger at her master Rena grabbed the rope, barked a command and they all started heaving the rock up again, it moving just a breath higher than before.
For a moment, Mozenrath stood there, stunned at not only how he'd been talked to but that, damn it, she was right. Grumbling to himself he raised his hand and the column piece began to glow, levitating and wedging itself into the column where magic sealed it in place to look as if it had never been cut. When complete he turned his smug expression to his slave, expecting gratitude but all he got was a glare. "Well aren't you going to say 'thank you'?"
"Thank you?" She yelled. "If you could have done that to begin with I would have been done cleaning and been in bed hours ago!" She marched past him, obviously furious and headed to her newly cleaned kitchen. "Go sit down, I'll make your damn meal!"
He looked at the mamluks surrounding him, even they looked pissed off. Fuming as well he turned and marched off after her, grumbling all the way. The young sorcerer followed the sounds of banging pots and pans to the kitchen, spotting her back turned to him as she slapped various ingredients into a pot of water and slammed a lid down on it. She caught a glimpse of him in the corner of her eye, making a face when he slid onto the stool in the kitchen but otherwise said nothing.
Unbelievable! Seriously, why hadn't he done that little trick earlier and saved everyone hours of work? He was so selfish! Bringing in a magic eating monster then letting it run loose in the Citadel for some second hand help to chase after and collar the beast just because he couldn't do it himself?! She was honestly surprised he hadn't made HER go chasing off after that thing.
She glared at the covered pot, hoping the heat of her gaze would make it boil twice as fast so she could get him out of her kitchen. When that didn't work she marched off into the direction of the food storage and came back with an armful of ingredients and started working on the flat bread to go with it, making up the dough and rolling it out, noticing how Mozenrath took extra care to stay out of her way. In that, she paused. If he was going to sit there on his high horse and just watch her idly, he had another thing coming. Stopping she looked at him, holding out the rolling pin to him. "You do this."
He raised a perfectly arched black eyebrow at her. "What?"
"Roll this out flat for me." The brunette repeated, shaking the pin at him.
"I don't cook, that's YOUR job." He insisted flatly, narrowing his eyes at her almost threateningly.
She sighed and shook the pin at him some more. "Look, cooking is a lot like potion making. You put the ingredients together and something new comes out. It's fairly easy, unlike say, trying to move a giant piece of marble back into place without magic. So why don't you try it?"
"I. Don't. Cook." He repeated, now clearly angry, arms crossed over his chest.
"I'm not asking you to cook, I'm asking you to help me roll this piece of wood covered in flour over this blob of dough to flatten it out so I can get it cooked faster for YOUR meal." She thrust the rolling pin at him until the tip of it was less than an inch from his nose. "As much as you may think it possible, there will be times when I won't be around to cook for you, so I suggest you learn how to do this before that day comes and you're left starving again. Now stop complaining, get off that stool and come roll this dough!"
They glared at each other through narrowed gazes for longer than a minute. Her determination won out in the end and he rose, keeping his gaze locked with hers as he begrudgingly came around the table and snatched the pin from her hand, holding it awkwardly. Holding back a sigh she put her hands over his, readjusting his grip and adding some flour to the pin before putting it to the dough and pushing it over the top of it, guiding him. The young man said nothing, just continued glaring down at the lump of unassuming flour/water mixture and continued to roll it flat several times after she took her hands away. As much as he hated to admit it, she'd been right, this step was fairly easy. And when it was flat enough she handed him a knife and told him how she wanted the dough cut so she could cook it.
Then she turned around to take care of her pot, now boiling, removing the lid. For the fleetest of moments Mozenrath panicked, suddenly left alone with little to no knowledge of what to do except some limited instructions and a knife. His hands hovered over the flattened out dough and he stared down at it, her words running over and over in his head. It was like back when he first started learning potion making with Desdane. Every time he'd screwed up something Desdane had beaten him black and blue and not let him eat anything for the day. When Rena came back to check on him and noticed he still hadn't moved save for a few cuts like he thought she wanted she gave him a curious look and asked what was wrong.
"I don't want to do this. This is stupid." He threw the knife down and turned to leave. "If you're not going to do your job then I might as well get rid of you."
He felt a tug at his arm and he looked irritably down at her. Although she too looked angry, her voice remained soft spoken and simple. "You're just nervous because you've never done this before. Come back here and actually look at your work."
She tugged him, albeit with more resistance than should have been necessary, and pointed to her cut dough. It looked terrible, even to his untrained eye but she gave him a soft smile. "For a first time, you did great. Just like spell casting and potions, these things take practice."
Mozenrath gave her a long look. She smiled back, not upset at him in the least. He could tell she was still plenty angry by the way she still moved about the space with a determined step, but she never pointedly directed at him other than that first comment. She showed him out she put the pan on the fire and prepped it for the dough pieces. She even had him do the last one himself. When it burnt around the edges she didn't complain but instead broke it in half and handed a piece of it to him, taking a bite of the other. "Taste it. It's yours."
He took it and bit off a piece. It tasted just as burnt as it was but there was a hint of satisfaction in that small piece of bread. Much like the first time he got a spell to work right, this bread was his accomplishment, and although it may not have been perfect, it was his. At that he looked at her and smiled. Rena's eyes widened in surprise, nearly dropping the lid in her hand. She'd never seen him smile, not like that. Sure a wicked grin here and there but this…it was almost too much. He caught her staring and the smile instantly vanished to a confused look. "What?"
"Nothing! I'm just glad you enjoyed your first cooking lesson." The brunette shook her head hastily.
Mozenrath shrugged, finishing off his piece of bread. "It's burnt. But I do see your point about it being similar to potion making."
"If you ever want to learn more, just let me know. I'll be more than happy to teach you, even if it does put me out of a job." She chuckled at her own joke, letting him sit down after that, turning to her pot which was trying to boil over from neglect and stir its contents. "OW!"
Rena yelped, wincing and gripping her arm where boiling hot water had splashed over her skin, making her drop her spoon to the ground with a wooden clatter. She let out a phrase in aggravation which seemed to catch his attention and look at her more closely. "What did you do?"
"It's nothing." She looked down at her arm, the skin bright red and agitated. Moving over to the nearby basin she kept full of water she laid her arm awkwardly in it, biting her inner cheek as it stung something fierce. As she stood there a shadow cast itself over her side, and a gloved hand reached out, pulling her arm from the water so he could examine it. When the rough leather touched burnt skin she sucked in a hiss of air through gritted teeth. "Let go, that hurts!"
Mozenrath held fast to her arm despite her complaints and attempts to remove him from her person. Transferring his grip on her arm from his right hand to his left he held her wrist tightly, letting his glove hover over the wound for a few seconds. Warmth started to spread over the brunette's arm, her honeyed gaze moving from his face to her wound and back again. The pain soon subsided and when he finally released her the reddened mark was completely gone. "It will still be tender, but it shouldn't leave a scar. Try not to be so careless next time."
Rena stared at him, dumbfounded as he went back to his stool at the counter and waited for his meal. "Why did you do that?"
He looked at her, giving her a confused look. "Because I don't need some injured woman doing a half-ass job cooking the rest of my meal. Doing simple stuff like that is easy enough, anyway. Easy, yet boring."
"Thank you." She said softly, looking down at her arm then back at him. His expression was blank but his dark eyes gave a slow blink, probably the closest thing to an honest 'you're welcome' she'd get. Without another word she turned back to her pot, stirring it more carefully this time.
~N~N~N~N~
It turns out the damage to the Citadel was far worse than Mozenrath had originally predicted. It seemed to be taking several weeks to get all the rubble cleaned up and the walls and ceilings replastered from where the Thirdac's claws had dug holes into the stone beneath. He made an irritated face looking up at his ceiling…it really had been a terrible idea to use a Thirdac. Seriously what HAD he been thinking?
Marching off toward his lab he nearly jumped out of his skin when a loud crash followed by a feminine scream echoed through the halls. With irritation he headed quickly in the direction of the cry, rolling his eyes confident in the face that he knew exactly what had happened. Rena was probably off somewhere getting into something and now she'd gotten herself into some sort of trouble again. "Honestly that woman is more trouble than she's worth!"
When a second scream came, this time it was his name at the top of her lungs that quickened pace turned into an all out run. The feel of magic hung heavy in the air, strong and uncontrolled and her screams were becoming more and more immediate the closer he seemed to get. Xerxes came flying out of nearby door and bolted for him the moment he spotted the dark youth. "Master help! Danger! Danger!"
"Where is Rena?" Mozenrath demanded as Xerxes flew in a tight circle around his head. "What has she done now?"
"Rena working. Ceiling fall down. Something break. Rena in danger!" Xerxes stopped whining when another cry for help erupted from the room he'd come from and he grabbed a mouthful of Mozenrath's sleeve. "Fafe Reena! Fafe Reena!"
"Let me go you stupid sea snake!" The young man swatted the eel away and marched himself down the hall and through the doorway into a large, windowless room. The space was a spare storage room Desdane had used for various odds and ends over the course of his years and Mozenrath had never bothered to go through, much less clean out. If it had been in its normal condition he would have recognized it as the same room he'd ordered Rena to clean and catalog for him for later use. As it was Rena was currently stuck cowering under a table as some sort of green shooting star bounced and ricocheted itself off of every corner of the room; anything it hit would suddenly start to glow and levitate towards the ceiling. "Rena!"
"Mozenrath!" She called out, a hint of hopeful excitement in her voice.
"What the hell's going on here?!" He snapped back, swatting a floating teacup, two spoons and stuffed squirrel out of his way.
"A chunk of ceiling fell down while I was working and knocked over a vase or something. The next thing I know this thing is bouncing all over and…behind you!"
The young man ducked out of the way as the sparkling green blob of magic whizzed just past his left ear, bouncing about and knocking into the table Rena was hiding under which soon slowly started to float upward. "Must be something Desdane was working on," he muttered. "I don't recognize this magic."
"Well it's making it exceedingly hard to get anything done in here!" Rena quipped, bobbing and weaving her way towards him.
"We just need to find a way to contain it somehow." He said matter-of-factly, looking around for something like a box or anything with a lid to hold it in. He grabbed at a small cylinder and opened it without thinking and fire suddenly shot out the top. He hastily shut it again and swore to himself, tossing it back in the pile from whence it came. How did Desdane ever find anything in here?
As she moved towards him the green ball slammed into her shoulder, nearly knocking her to her knees; she let out a quick squeal as her whole body suddenly began to tingle with magic and levitate off the ground. "No, no, no…Help!"
She tried to turn, grab something, even flailed her arms and kick her legs to try to maneuver herself in some direction or other but all it did was end with her upside down and curling into a ball to try not to get hit by the ball of magic a second time. Mozenrath watched her slowly rise towards the high ceiling and the edges of his mouth twitched with amusement at how, despite being upside down, she tried to keep her hair out of her face and dress, tucked between her knees for modesty. Rena yelled at him in desperation. Xerxes swam his way through the air to help her, trying to pull her back down with a grip of her apron but eventually he too was hit by the green magic ball. Oddly enough, he ended up getting thrown sideways and glued to the wall, perhaps because he could already fly. "Get me down from here!"
"If I can contain it everything should come loose of its spell hold and fall. Help me find something to contain it!" He yelled back.
"I'm a little busy at the moment!" She snapped, throwing her hair back out of her face but to no avail and glaring daggers at him. From her bird's eye view she could see the whole room, spotting a blue and white china vase floating a few feet behind him. "What about that one behind you?"
He looked and shook his head. "No, not that one. I need something with a lid I can put a sealing spell on."
Gritting her teeth in frustration, growling a bit as her caramel eyes searched over the room, finally spotting a red box just below her, it' lid slightly ajar on a hinge. "What about that one?"
He followed her finger pointing, weaving through the slowly filling room of floating objects to jump and grab at the box. Mozenrath looked it over quickly both with and without magic. It'd be a tight squeeze but the spell would fit. Now he just needed to figure out how to get the green ball to bounce his way. "Now we need to get it to head this direction."
Rena, having finally bumped up against the ceiling, found that she could push off in various directions and have some maneuverability. She grabbed at a piece of wood and shifted into the line of sight for the ball, holding steady until it was right in front of her, swinging with all her might to knock it in his direction. With a hasty SNAP the lid slammed closed, Mozenrath's body jerking in various directions like the ball was trying to bounce out again while his glove glowed over the lid. He finally stilled and held the box aloft, looking up at the woman above him, smiling triumphantly.
She returned the grin before whatever spell that had been holding her up there loosed its grip. She screamed as her body, along with everything else stuck to the ceiling, began to plummet towards the ground, closing her eyes she braced her arms for the impending pain of the ground. Warm magic encircled her body and slowed her decent enough for strong arms to hook under her knees and around her shoulders until the magic let go, her caramel eyes staring up into dark black ones.
"What is it with you and falling on me? First the kitchen, now this? Luckily I was prepared this time." He chided, lowering her legs to the ground for her to stand.
Without another word she wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him, ecstatic to be once more grounded. "Thank you! That fall alone could have killed me!"
They stayed like that for a brief moment before sensible logic returned and he pushed her away from him, gripping her shoulders and clearing his throat. "Yes, well, you'd better clean up this mess before the end of the day. And next time watch what the hell you're doing!"
She looked at him, nodding briefly before his words completely sank in. "Wait a minute; it wasn't my fault the ceiling broke!"
"That's beside the point." He replied, hastily turning and heading out the door, Rena and Xerxes close behind him, arguing with him down the hall, blissfully ignorant to the newest pile of things in the center of the room, the innocent table sitting precariously at its top just as confused on it would get down.
