* 42 * 7/17/12

Bishop was looking out his window, watching the elf just outside make a complete fool of herself. He grinned at the knowledge that she probably had no idea he could see her. Maybe she had forgotten that one couldn't get inside the inn from the Keep without passing by his window.

She now was walking toward the courtyard, and he wondered if she was going outside the premises. That would certainly surprise him; he'd never heard of her leaving the Keep's walls entirely without at least a few group members by her side. What was she doing?

Bored and curious, Bishop rose to his feet and began following her. There was no particular reason to be stealthy, but he chose to be anyway, passing by the guards with ease and catching up to her in no time. Whatever she was doing, she was certainly in no rush to do it.

The patrols on duty gave her a look as she passed, surprised to see her outside by herself. They greeted her, but didn't stop her.

When she had left both the courtyard and the fields, Bishop snuck up on her, covering her mouth with a hand and turning up her head, which made her neck vulnerable.

Lily tried to shriek, but was almost entirely muffled.

"Bam, you're dead," he said with emphasis. "Do you always wander around unguarded, you idiot?" Bishop released her and she faced him.

"Bishop!" she said, relieved. "No, this is really a first. I couldn't stand to be inside anymore."

Bishop smirked. "Now you know how I feel."

The elf gathered her wits and resumed her walking, as if he wasn't there, or as if she had a greater purpose to attend to.

"Where are you going? Was that not enough demonstration that you can easily be killed out here?"

"I don't know where I'm going. Want to join me?" she asked, twirling around to look at him.

"Uh," he let out, taken by surprise. Without responding, he simply fell in stride with her, and they began walking down the path out of their property.

They marched on in silence for several minutes.

"I miss coming out into the woods like this," Lily revealed after they were many hundreds of meters away from the Keep.

"Wouldn't quite call this the woods; there are far too few wild animals and trees here. A real forest would be over in that direction." He gestured with his head.

Lily stopped. "Then let's go there!" She turned to face where he'd just indicated and redirected her walking.

Bishop looked hesitant. "Don't recommend it. What, think you're gonna handle a bear that's aching for meat with your fists alone?"

"Isn't the best way to deal with bears to act very human, and purposefully do things like wave your hands in the air to look bigger and show them you're not afraid?"

Bishop almost stopped in his tracks, but instead, he merely slowed. "Yes," he confirmed, eyebrows raised. He was surprised, and not covering it up very well.

Lily laughed. "I love nature more than you give me credit for. I sit in that fortress because everyone expects me to, and the food is nice."

"Don't have to. Could tell everyone to shove it and you're going to go live in big girl territory so you can remain on your toes."

"That might actually work if I used it on the right people," Lily mused.

Bishop guffawed. She looked like she was actually considering it. At this thought, he laughed. "I wouldn't advise you to live in the woods, ladyship."

"Didn't you ask me to run away with you and do just that for a year or two?"

Damn it. Bishop cleared his throat, but didn't answer her question.

"You don't even have a knife with you," he continued.

"Come now, how would you know that?" Lily said with a teasing smile.

"You've got no place to put it." He grinned and eyed her blouse appreciatively; he wouldn't call it revealing, but it certainly wasn't as conservative as her wizard robes.

Suddenly, Lily reached up and drew her hair out of its band, shaking her head and letting her wavy, auburn hair fall down to her navel in front and back.

"I could put it in my hair," she said, smirking foxily at him. Bishop's lips fell open to some extent, and he stood there, completely distracted. In his stupor, she found the chance to unsheathe the skinning knife that was once again on the front of his armor and take it for her own.

"Now who's vulnerable?" she teased with a grin.

Bishop wanted to make a comeback, but she had indeed been able to outwit him. To his amusement, though, she kept the dagger in her hand. He had never witnessed her fight with one before. Did she even know how to use it?

"You're going to hurt yourself with that thing, ladyship."

Lily looked dejected and offended by his comment. He rolled his eyes, but quickly had to refocus, for she tried to slice up at his neck with her new-found weapon. Speedy and now attuned to her movements, however, the ranger was able to intercept her arm and grab hold of her wrist securely in his left hand, his right lightly grabbing her throat.

Bishop laughed victoriously. "Can't get away with the same trick twice, elf." He spun around to her left side while still holding her right wrist, locking it over her left shoulder and far above his head and moving his other hand to the front of her waist.

"Once again, you'd be able to be taken into the night and fed to whatever's out there," he taunted, now standing behind her. He could smell her hair from his position, but allowed himself to do so only sparingly.

"You certainly like to teach me through demonstration," she coquetted with her eyes agleam.

"Pfft. Think I'm gonna let you get a hold of me just because you're a woman?"

Bishop held her there while she didn't answer him. He slid his hand up from her waist to her stomach, touching her slowly and displaying just how much control he had over her in this position. Once there, he curled his fingers just a bit into her skin.

Using the same hand that had her captured, Bishop pulled Lily's arm upward and behind her tightly enough so that her air was marginally cut off.

Just then, Lily elbowed him in his solar plexus. He hadn't taken hold of her left arm, as he'd seen her as no threat, certainly not taking her for the type to elbow him in the solar plexus. Having had the wind knocked out of him, and much to his chagrin, Bishop's grip automatically loosened from her wrist as he stumbled backward just a hair, and with this, her air supply was fully returned. She faced him again, but this time she looked expectant.

He straightened, both his posture and his face. "All right, I'll take you into the woods." He rolled his eyes.

Lily literally jumped into the air. "Hah! That's what I wanted to hear!" she shouted gleefully, pumping her fist in the air. "Do you have any potions, just in case?"

He didn't even have to check. "Enough."

"Then let's go!"