"Right," Ka declared, plopping down beside Rose, who sat cross-legged, tickling Mezzen in her lap with the feather Zoe had given him the night before, "so after staring at this thing for over three hours, I've come to the conclusion that it says 'Uwargs'." She nodded perfunctorily at the stained map in her hands and looked over at Rose. The priestess continued to play with the boy and didn't return her glance.
"'Uwargs', eh?" Rose echoed flatly as Mezzen giggled and writhed in her lap. "I don't know whether to thank you for spending your time truing to read the smudged words on the map or knock myself over the head with something just so I can forget what you just said." She sighed heavily and finally shot Ka a dire look. "Give me that." She grumbled and snatched the wrinkled map from Ka's hands, gingerly crumpling it up in her fist and tossing it over her shoulder. Ka gasped and dove for the map.
"So maybe it's a silent 'U' or something!" The psion cried desperately, recovering the map just as it tumbled towards the water's edge.
Back on Zoe's bedroll, Dil and the mage chatted away quietly, making a tremendous effort to keep their voices low and their tempers cool. The warrior had snatched Zojikoe up as soon as he'd opened his eyes that morning and had eagerly begun his 'relationship training' – lest, Dil warned, Rose suddenly decide that Zoe's courting time was up and that she would go for females instead.
"…and chicks love attitude." Dil added, grinning. Zoe opened his mouth to comment, but Dil cut him off with a sweep of his hand. "Shut up. No, really…they do. They see it as a challenge, and that's a lot of fun for them. You know, helps 'em get their mind off of all that backstabbing, spin-doctoring and floor-licking they do in the chapels." Dil was so into it, it hurt to watch. Zoe made a face and wondered if agreeing to let Dil counsel him was a wise choice.
"I'd like to point out that your entire house hates you because you give them attitude. I'm sure your mother loved it. I'm sure your sisters loved it. I'm sure your old school masters loved it too." He glanced over at Rose and Mezzen. "I'm sorry, but I just don't think that being contrary, disagreeable and flippant is going to get Rose to jump me." He raised an eyebrow at Dil'andau.
"The opposite hasn't gotten you much either, has it?" Dil quipped, mimicking Zoe's expression. "Just try it, man! You've got nothing to lose and it can't get any worse than it is now." He nodded slowly, an ineffective tactic that would usually work on him to get him to agree to something, but that wasn't working at all with Zoe at that very moment. Zoe narrowed his eyes.
"Damn right it can…" He grumbled under his breath, imagining what it would be like if Rose snubbed him entirely, taking with her his adoptive son and only source of pride. Thing could be a lot worse than they were now. Rose could take offense and lose all the respect she has for him – if, that is, she has any to begin with. Which Zoe was more or less sure she did. She could trash talk him to Mezzen. And then go for his sister.
Zoe cringed internally.
So maybe he could spare a bit of attitude and see what it'll do. Maybe the problem was that he was being to soft and pliable, to lenient. Maybe he was too easy a catch for Rose and she would prefer a more enticing hunt…
"I'll see what I can–" Zojikoe started to agree, only to be cut off by Dil, who'd thought up yet another masterful piece of advice to add to his already abundant panoply of questionable snippets. Since the morning, Dil had suggested that he use bawdy comments, stare a lot, be contrary at every possible occasion, show off, be insolent, play hard to get, brag about stuff, and get insufferably possessive.
"Oh!" The warrior went on, his eyes shining with the false pride of a mentor teaching a student. "And if worse comes to worst, just rape her." He grinned widely and winked. "That always gets your point across." He was oblivious to the balking expression on Zojikoe's visage.
"I'm going to ignore that, Dil'andau." Zojikoe fumed, crossing his arms over his chest and frowning so deeply his eyebrows touched. "Just get away from me." He hissed and shot an arm out, pointing. "Get. I've heard enough to last me a lifetime." He watched Dil'andau get up and leave, willing the other night's death spell to spontaneously return to his memory. It didn't. The warrior moved towards the females and Zojikoe felt a sudden tightening in his middle. "And stay away from my sister!" He called out to Dil, the last word cracking along with his strained voice. Up ahead, Dil'andau cackled.
"I'm going for my halberd!" He retorted and pointed at where Ka sat with a confused look, Dil's weapon in her lap and a seriously mangled map in her hands. "And it seems your sister comes with it, so shut up, leave me be, and think about what I told you!" He looked over his shoulder and winked slyly at Zoe before taking a seat with Ka.
And so Zoe thought (about killing Dil'andau first, but then about what the maggot had said earlier). He sighed and rested a long hand on his upraised knee, then pried his gaze from where his sister and her boy-toy sat entwined and staring at what appeared to be their map (though Dil was most obviously not looking at the map, nor probably, Zoe guessed, even seeing the map). He looked instead to where Rose sat with Mezzen, the boy laying on his back and the priestess hovering above him, holding the 'Uwaa' bird feather over his face and letting it flutter down to his nose. He could watch her lips move and read them though he could only hear the murmur of her voice; she was telling the boy stories about how all drow were orphans adopted by Lloth, much like Mezzen was adopted by her. The boy giggled and listened, understanding the moral of the tale or not, Zoe couldn't tell. It didn't matter.
There was no way in hell he was going to lose Rose's favor – imagined or not.
"Okay!" The mage cried, bouncing to his feet suddenly and wiping off his hands. "Give me the map, Ka. We're heading out before we all get too lazy and spend the day loitering around here like homeless cave junkies." He held out his hand expectantly.
"We are homeless, champ." Ka called out to him in reply, disentangling herself from Dil and getting to her feet. Her brother opened his mouth to retort, but she strode up to him and smacked the map into his hand with a smile. "And that includes you. Remember…" She teased, rocking back on her heels as the other group members got to their feet behind her, "…you snuck out to follow me, and mother dear won't find that charming should you decide to show your face back home…" She watched as her brother's gaze shifted to the side, momentary realization flickering across his eyes and causing him a small stab of pain. Ka smiled lightly and, as a gesture of understanding, patted his arm; indignant, her brother swatted it away and whirled around, starting off down the tunnel ahead of them.
"Wow…" Ka cooed, blinking at her sibling's back, "…someone's moody." She shook her head as Dil'andau came up beside her and started them off along the way. The warrior was grinning.
"Yeah. No sex'll do that to a guy.." He mused, nodding to himself. Ka looked over at him and tried to figure out what on earth he was talking about, then let it go and sighed heavily. Alarmed, Dil looked over at her, eyebrows arched. "Shit! Whatd'I say?" He stuttered nervously. Ka shoved him ahead.
"Just keep walking." She grumbled idly. Mumbling something unpleasant, Rose jogged swiftly by with Mezzen and Slayer hot on her heels.
"Zoe!" The priestess called to the mage as she hurried to catch up with him at the lead of the group. "Zoe, wait!" She growled when he didn't stop to wait for her and picked up the pace until she fell into step at his side. Roughly, she shoved his arm and turned a glare up at him. "What's the matter with you?! You in a hurry to get nowhere?" She exhaled loudly and narrowed her eyes. Zoe smirked maliciously.
"Just wanted to see if you could run in those robes." He smiled, proud of his 'mean' comeback. If he was going to try Dil'andau's attitude strategy, then now was as good a time as any. Rose raised an eyebrow and tugged on his thick sleeve.
"You've got robes on too, Zojikoe." She replied dryly, and Zoe looked sorely displeased for a moment or two. "Now why'd you not wait for me?" She asked again. The mage shrugged.
"Felt like it." He answered simply and looked over at her with an expression so cocky he almost felt like kicking himself in the teeth for using. "Got a problem with that, matron?" He added insolently. It hurt him the minute he said it and he quickly realized that he would never forgive himself for saying it either. He wanted to wipe the smirk off his face and take back what he'd just said (especially the tone…), but if there was the slightest chance that his new attitude would give his and Rose's relationship the extra notch it needed, than it was more than worth the present pain.
"What?" Rose snapped, blinking only once. Her lips had never been so tightly pursed. Zojikoe fought with everything he had not to break down and excuse himself. Instead, he came out with the first thing that popped into his mind.
"Don't like attitude, do you?" He asked; it was half a reproach and half a serious question. He couldn't really decide which he wanted it to be. Rose made a face.
"No." She said just as sharply as before. Her eyes studied Zoe's closely, trying to see what was going on with him. Did he not sleep well? Was it the drawings in his spell books?
"Uh – good!" Zojikoe replied promptly, nodding once. He decided that if attitude was good, then her not liking it was good too. He rolled his eyes and wondered how long it would take for this strategy to start working – if, that is, Dil hadn't talked him into something utterly pointless. But then again…it had worked with his sister…but she was a a strange one and Rose was nothing like her at heart…right?
"Whatever happened to good old gifts and compliments?" Zoe mourned under his breath. Beside him, Rose was still alert.
"What was that?" She asked at the sound of his voice. When he looked over at her and shook his head, she frowned. "Is this about the drawings in your spell books, Zojikoe?" She asked sternly. "Because Mezzen didn't have any clue what he was doing when he went in your things…" She started then trailed off when the corner of Zoe's mouth curled.
"No…" The mage answered dreamily. He was still angry at having lost the high-level spell his school master had specially given him (and the impressive host of other, less important ones) , but he couldn't hate Mezzen for it either. The drawings had been made in an innocent mindset, and the Gods knew that the things were unbelievably amusing to look at…
Realizing that he was zoning out, Zoe cleared his throat. Attitude was getting him nowhere…it was time to try something new. "You know, I was top ranked in my class back at Sorcere." He tried, puffing out his chest to add to the statement.
"I bet all the other people looked up to you!" Mezzen chimed in, startling both Rose and Zoe in their mental calculations. The boy was riding on Slayer again, and the cat's eyes drooped sleepily as it plodded on. Zojikoe swallowed thickly.
"Oh yeah! You bet they did, Mezzen!" He glanced over at Rose, who's mouth was now a small 'o' of confusion. "I had the best marks, and the best books and the best components…and I was the fastest learner too." He fished around for more things to brag about (whether truthful or not).
"They looked up at you because you're tall, champ." Rose drawled, unimpressed by the display. Something was obviously going on here. She looked suspiciously over her shoulder at Dil'andau and Ka, who trudged along a dozen paces behind them; the pair was engaged in a heated conversation about steamed crab legs. Surely they couldn't have gotten to Zoe…
Zojikoe peered over at Rose out of the corner of his eye; he never imagined how much it would hurt to be called champ by Rose. It hurt. He silently cursed Dil'andau for his self-destructive advice. With a final burst of willpower, he spoke again. "Well at least they don't look down at me because I ran away from my house!" He retorted. It made little sense to him, why saying things like that would made someone want to be nice to you, but he did it anyway – out of faith.
"Zoe!" Rose cried, shocked and appalled. She gawked up at him for a while, expecting him to excuse himself or say something to patch his comment up with, but he did neither. In fact, he didn't even look at her. In a huff, she tore the map from his hands and stalked off up ahead, her cat and its rider in tow.
In the middle now, Zojikoe watched Rose's retreating back. Mezzen looked back at him and cocked his head, visibly confused by his behavior. But of course he would be…I mean, acting the way he was was like having two Dil'andaus in the group. Zoe shuddered.
"If I wasn't her brother, Ka'd be all over me by now." The mage grumbled to himself, staring ahead like a zombie. Maybe it was his imagination, but he had the distinct feeling that Rose wasn't liking him any more than she did before. In fact, he was pretty sure she liked him less. But…that was good, right? Right? Any time now there should be a magnetic reaction of sorts that'd pull the priestess right back into his arms…shouldn't there? Wasn't that the theory?
Staring at Rose's retreating back, Zoe wondered.
***
The day went on for what seemed like weeks to Zoe. When they stopped for a midday meal, Dil'andau had taken Zoe aside and scolded him for letting himself hang back when Rose got irritated with him. He coached him to keep getting in her face, and Zoe did – until he tried to show off by casting a particularly showy illusion that sent Mezzen into another of his hyperventilation fits and got Rose so angry she screamed at him and nearly passed herself out doing it. It was at this point that Zojikoe decided to never listen to Dil's advice again.
Ever.
The mage had spent the whole of the day alone; traveling alone, eating alone, talking alone (which he did, rambling about living life as a drider). Rose would have nothing to do with him and she ushered Mezzen away from 'his bitchiness' as soon as he came within reach with a question or two to ask. Alone and confused now, Zoe didn't know what to do about his situation. He had spouted enough insults at Rose since that morning to have her never want to see his face again, and had glorified himself more than the kid in his class that had always had higher marks than him (he remembered the rat-faced male of House Freth sourly). He considered, then, apologizing to Rose and asking for her forgiveness, but he doubted she'd buy into that. He considered telling her all about Dil'andau and what it was that he was doing and quickly put that notion away, positive that the priestess would think it a cheap excuse for a streak of ill-attended bad attitude caused by a bad day or unfavorable circumstances (such as colored-in spell books, stained maps, twisted sisters and relational discomfort). So what was he to do?
When in doubt, sulk.
And he did.
Late during the evening of that very day, when the group set up camp for the night, Zoe found a small outcropping of polished rock and sat there, his nose in a book. To the untrained eye, one would think him reading, but to anyone who took two seconds to observe, it was painfully clear that the mage was just sulking. You see, the book was upside down.
Further over, Mezzen helped Rose unroll her blankets. Once laid, he immediately jumped atop them and frowned up at Rose. "I wanna talk to Zoe." The boy said with a pout; his small fingers twitched around the huge bird feather that Rose has fastened to a leather lace and tied around his neck.
The priestess sighed. Mezzen had been asking to speak to Zoe for nearly the whole day, and she would have let him had she not been so afraid that Zoe would say something to the boy that'd hurt him. She didn't quite understand what Zojikoe's problem was, or why it happened so suddenly, but whatever it was it was making him unbearable.
"I know, Mezzen." Rose answered gently, pulling the boy into her lap. "But not right now, okay? Zoe's not in a very good mood today." She laid her cheek on the top of Mezzen's head and stared in Zojikoe's direction. The mage's face was hidden by a large book. A book that was upside down. Rose frowned. What happened? Was it something she said? Was it something she did? Maybe she should have ended the bath she and Zoe had with Mezzen when she saw that the mage was clearly uncomfortable…
Opposite Zojikoe and the same distance away, Ka and Dil'andau fought over the warrior's halberd. The little psion held the thing with both hands and tried her best to switch her grip on it rapidly as Dil tried to wrench and twist it from her grip. They were crying random inanities at each other as they did it, until Ka won out and pulled the weapon free of Dil's grip, then heaved it over her head and cried out in triumph. She bolted for the water a soon as Dil tried to get it back. The random inanities continued at that point, intermingled with giggles, as they continued their fight waist-deep in water.
Rose ignored their infantile glee and hummed softly to drown out their shouts. Zoe had said many, many stupidities that day and it reminded her of the shouts she heard from Dil'andau as she hummed. It was like the mage couldn't decide what he wanted to do; impress her or repel her. It didn't make any sense…rather like a schoolboy.
"Oh yeah?!" Came a loud cry from the water; it was Dil'andau. "What are you gonna do about it, loser?" There was a loud thump here, accompanied by the splash of water and a decidedly female giggle.
Rose narrowed her eyes at the shout and exhaled so hard that Mezzen's hair ruffled beneath her nose. Dil's attitude was the same as the one Zojikoe had given her that morning, and this was alarming. She looked over her shoulder at the two drow in the water and stared for a moment. Could Dil'andau have spoken to Zojikoe? If she wasn't mistaken, the two had congregated at lunch and early that morning… Could Dil have said something about her to Zoe that would have set the mage against her? It was to be expected, but…was Dil even that clever? She didn't think so. But this definitely had something to do with the rogue drow…
"Rose?" Mezzen piped up, craning around to look at the drowess. Rose turned around and smiled down at the boy. Mezzen smiled back. "Can I make more pictures? I have ideas in my head." He gave Rose an expectant look and started to climb off of her lap even before she answered.
"Oh…sure." Rose answered, aware that she should have said no, but that it was petty revenge for the awful day Zoe had dealt her. She got to her feet and moved over to where Zojikoe's pack lay. "Come here, I'll help you with Zoe's books." She waved the boy near and he hurried over.
Deftly, she rummaged around in Zoe's pack and pulled out two books that she set down on her lap. She flipped through them both and found the one with the most drawings in it and put the other one aside; no point ruining the book that had the most chance of surviving Mezzen's artistic inspirations, now was there?
"Here you go." Rose said and handed the large tome over to Mezzen, who scooped it up into his arms and teetered back with the added weight. "I'll get you some pens…" She added and dove her hand back into the backpack, reaching down to the bottom of it in search of some kind of writing tool. Her fingers slid along two slender cylinders that could be pencils, but as she snatched the duo up, her knuckles ran across what felt like a blade. The short, sharp pain went away almost as soon as it came and she pulled her hand from the pack. Her knuckles were bleeding.
"Here." She said quickly, handing Mezzen the pens with her unwounded hand and keeping the other one well hidden from the boy's view. "Go and draw on my blankets, alright?" She said. "I'll be there soon. I just have to put Zoe's things away here first." She turned away from the boy and heard him scamper off, mumbling to himself about what he'd draw. She could have sworn she heard the word 'bird', though.
"Lloth!" She swore quietly and pressed her bloodied hand against her robes. Curious now, she opened up Zojikoe's pack once more and cautiously slipped her hand into it to retrieve what had cut her. She pulled out a delicately-shaped dagger with a hilt sporting a carved rose. She drew in a breath and her eyebrows arched.
"That's not fair! No! No! Stop it!!!" The scream startled everyone, but no one made a move. It had come from Dil'andau and thus didn't concern anyone but Ka.
Rose swallowed thickly and turned the beautiful blade around in her hands. Unless all of Dil's jokes about Zoe being gay were true (and Rose knew they weren't), than there was no way that this dagger was Zoe's. Confused, she looked over in the mage's direction. The upside down book was no longer in front of his face and he was staring back at her with the look of a trapped animal. She smiled and got to her feet, crossed the distance between them and sat down beside him.
"I–" Zoe stuttered, pointing to the dagger in Rose's hands. "I made that for you." He smiled weakly, as if in apology. "When I was in the illithid city." He added as an afterthought. He caught Rose's gaze and, feeling suddenly as if under inspection, blurted as much out as was possible. "I was losing my mind and then Mezzen showed up and reminded me of who I was and then he told me I had to keep my mind on something to stay sane and so I decided to make something for you once Mezzen reminded me of you and so I made that dagger. Like it? I thought it was pretty good actually…ha…yeah so I didn't give it to you because I didn't know how or when to do it and I didn't know whether you liked me like that or not and I didn't want to look like a stupid moron so I kept it to myself and then yesterday when I was cutting up the bird Dil'andau came over and gloated about having sex with my sister and I got pissed off at him and he made fun of me for not having slept with you yet and he said he could help me out with that and I agreed to take his advice and it was very stupid and now I'm pretty sure you hate me." He took a long breath, chest heaving, and looked around nervously. Rose took a moment to sort all that out and then cocked her head to the side.
"Dil'andau told you to be mean to me?" She asked, unsure if she understood well. "You asked Dil'andau for help on how to get me to sleep with you?" She pressed. Zoe swallowed and shifted, unsure whether the tone was uncertain or threatening.
"Yes." He squeaked. Well, this was it; he was either going to lose Rose here or know what he'd wanted to know for a good while. Rose shook her head at Zoe for a good while before slapping the back of his head.
"I can't believe you did that!" She choked, trying to keep her voice down. "Stupid, stupid males! Both of you!" She sighed and closed her eyes, then looked down at the dagger in her hands. Zoe smirked.
"I even put a rose there, see?" He said, ignoring the previous comment. He was quite happy he wasn't standing, as his knees wouldn't have held him. Rose shook her head a bit more and finally a smile crossed her face.
"I see." She said at last and looked up at Zoe. She put the blade down and kissed him soundly on the lips. "It's lovely, Zoe. Thank you." She finished once they had parted. Zoe cleared his throat, his eyes searched out Rose's.
"So…" He asked innocently, letting the question hang. He smiled hopefully. Rose laughed.
"Yes, yes." She assured him and he preened. "Just help me find a way to distract Mezzen…" She glanced over her shoulder at the boy, who was scribbling viciously in Zoe's book, his tongue sticking out of the corner of his mouth. Zoe's jaw dropped.
"Is that my book?" He peeped. Rose shifted.