Bo had been glad of the distraction. The truck's intervention meant she could swiftly avoid talking about the subject of Tamsin already having a discussion to her about her alignment. They had been walking for a while, and had diverted from the road into some sort of forest. Trees were littered across the land, but were spread evenly and allowed both the Valkyrie and Succubus to navigate with ease. It had reminded Bo of the time her and the blonde went looking for the Kitsune who had kidnapped Kenzi. Or like their trip to Brazenwood.
Brazenwood. Bo never did get to ask what Tamsin what that kiss was about, and she probably never would be able to. The Succubus had contemplated in the past on what could have possessed the Valkyrie to do such a thing. Inside, she hoped that it was because the other woman was so relieved she had passed her test without harm. She wanted to believe that it was Tamsin's automatic reaction upon her victory, that it was the blonde's way of showing affection. But truthfully she had put it down to the contraption that her grandfather had to use. She understood that Tamsin was forced like a puppet to offer comfort after her victory. There was not much point in thinking about it too much, since she would never get her answer.
Each step that the Succubus took, she felt weaker. Last night she was supposed to feed to not only recover from her mood lately but to replenish her energy. She couldn't even remember the last time she had a decent meal. These days, a feed off of a lesser Fae satisfied her for a couple of days. A feed off of a human less than that. Even then, she would find herself giving the human back some of their chi because she'd gone too far. Bo still didn't go near Dyson sexually. The tension was too much for either of them to handle, and although she had not seen Lauren in months and they were technically still on a 'break', the Succubus didn't want to give the human any reason to push her away again. Lauren was the only one that she could come home to and let herself go, to forget about the outside world. But now the doctor had left her, without any sign of returning. The others promised they would find signs of her, or that she would come around eventually. But Bo doubted she would return.
Bo's head became light, and she had no choice to stop and lean on one of the trees. Her hand raised itself up to support her weight as it gripped the bark. The blonde hadn't noticed her accomplice's actions and continued to walk onwards. The brunette watched her. Neither of them didn't really know what to expect from the journey, other than finding some amulet for the Morrigan. Yet, the blonde looked so confident in the way she carried herself. It was a trait, Bo decided, that she must have carried throughout all of her lifecycles. Taking a deep breath, Bo pushed herself off of the tree and slowly followed the Valkyrie.
Tamsin turned her head to the side, expecting the Succubus to be walking either next to her or a few steps behind. When she saw the brunette was neither of those things, she turned around completely and saw Bo trailing behind her. "Not used to walking?" She smirked and turned forward again. "You'd better keep up. We should be almost there."
Bo mimicked her words silently as the blonde turned her back to her. But Bo couldn't keep up with the blonde's strides, she felt too weak. "I uh…" She stopped again, suddenly becoming breathless. Bo leant over, and rested her hands on her thighs. "I just need five minutes."
The Valkyrie rolled her eyes and stopped. "You're serious?" She snapped, irritated by the Succubus' lack of stamina. "We could literally be a half hour to an hour away and you want to stop now?" She took a step forward to the Succubus, so she didn't have to raise her voice between the distance. "Pull it together, Succubus."
Bo shook her head. "I can't." The stress of seeing Tamsin again, the irritation from the Morrigan and being forced into working with the Valkyrie without Tamsin's knowledge of her must have affected her chi. Bo had already been lacking in that department anyway, and all those factors mixed with their walking definitely didn't help sustain her chi levels. It must have helped deplete them. "Please. Just five minutes."
The blonde sighed and unfolded her arms. She had expected more from the Succubus. The Morrigan had told her that the woman in front of was a force to be reckoned with, that she had witnessed her strength first hand. But looking at the brunette now, she was tired by just walking? Is this really someone the Morrigan actually wanted to be affiliated with? When Bo stayed leant over, hands on her thighs, Tamsin raised an eyebrow. "What is wrong with you?"
Bo shook her head and raised her hand, to signal that she was fine. "N-Nothing." Bo looked up and smiled. "I just, yknow." She paused, and pushed herself up, causing herself to lose her balance. Bo was forced to lean on a tree yet again, something that Tamsin narrowed her eyes at.
"What kind of Succubus doesn't feed regularly?" Tamsin always did have a knack for figuring things out. It was one of the reasons behind her becoming a mercenary, nine times out of ten she was ordered as a hit woman to find and kill.
Bo frowned and allowed herself to slide down to the floor, the tree supporting her back as she sat against it. "One with a conscience, I guess." She turned her head to look at the blonde and smiled. "I'll be fine after I just give myself a couple of minutes rest." The brunette closed her eyes.
Tamsin sighed out of frustration and turned around. She really didn't have the patience for this. It was a race for her, to get the answers from the Morrigan. If she didn't find out who her mark was soon, then the Wanderer would find her first and she didn't want to think about what would happen. She didn't even know whether the amulet was going to be in Alfheim. One of the Elven leaders could easily send them on another trip and then what? Would the Succubus fall at every tree? She groaned. At this rate, the Wanderer would be waiting at Alfheim for her. Then, she turned and walked towards the Succubus. She knelt in front of the brunette, who still had her eyes closed.
"You need to feed off of me."
The blonde's comment made Bo's eyes snap open. She hadn't expected the Valkyrie to be so close, and hadn't heard her approach her. "What?" Bo shook her head, and pushed her back as close to the tree as possible in an attempt to open the distance between her and Tamsin.
Rolling her eyes yet again, Tamsin growled. "Look, do you think I want you to suck my energy?" Tamsin shook her head. "I need to get this over and done with, and there's no way I'm stopping every five minutes so you can 'catch your breath'." She scowled at the other woman. Though she didn't harbour any hatred for the other woman, she wouldn't allow her to get in her way of what she needed. Being fed off of by a Succubus wasn't exactly on her to do list for the day, but it was the most logical way of getting the brunette up and running like normal, and Tamsin was all about logic. Plus, allowing the Succubus to feed may get her to trust Tamsin. Something that could help in her convincing her to be dark. "So," Tamsin's gaze softened, something that hardly ever happened. "Feed off of me."
Her inner Succubus growled and moaned at the opportunity to feed off of the Valkyrie's chi, and Bo could feel it bubbling in her stomach, dying to drain the blonde. But her mind and her heart told her not to. Feeding had never been an intimate thing for her, to be shared only with people she cared about. It was insensitive, a primal ritual to keep her running. Even when Dyson offered his services for whenever she needed to feed, despite all her emotions with the wolf, the feed was always a necessity. Something that after every feed with him made her feel refreshed but regretful that she had to do it to someone she cared so much about. The past few months she had become accustomed to making the primal act exactly what it was. Something to pick up people she hardly knew, and use them for their pathetic chi. But to take Tamsin's chi now, although it would recharge her to her full potential, would feel wrong to her. Tamsin may not know her, or care about her. But Bo still cared for her like the friend she was. She just wasn't capable of using her.
"I can't." Bo looked down and whispered, her inner Succubus screaming internally.
Tamsin looked away, hiding her frustration from the Succubus. Whatever mid-life crisis the brunette was going through, she needed to end it now. Tamsin knew that feeding off of her was the only way the two of them could get through the journey as quick as possible. So why couldn't the Succubus see it the same way? She had never seen a Succubus decline a meal, especially one as hungry and weak as Bo was right now. Tamsin took a deep breath and looked back up. She laid her hands on the woodland floor beneath her and slid them forwards, either side of Bo's legs. She allowed her body to lean forward with the movement of her hands, inching closer to the brunette.
Bo's head lifted, watching the blonde's movements and not doing anything to resist. She watched the blonde tilt her head to the side and stop inches in front of her face. "Tamsin, what are you doing?" the brunette whispered, her voice shaking. Tamsin smirked, and without saying anything she closed her eyes and the distance between the two. She hoped that by her actions, the Succubus would have to give in and feed.
Bo frowned as their lips met, desperately trying to pull away and resist the Valkyrie. But it only took a second for her frown to disappear. Bo closed her eyes and deepened the kiss, lifting her hand up to cup the blonde's cheek. The Valkyrie almost jumped at Bo's small sign of affection, she had not expected for her to react in such a way. She couldn't remember the last time she had interacted with a Succubus, but she was pretty sure she had expected Bo to be doing something other than caressing her cheek. Bo leant forward towards Tamsin, wanting to now be closer to her. Her teeth nipped the other woman's bottom lip, forcing the blonde to part her lips and furrow her brow. Tamsin had been expecting the encounter to be over by now, for the Succubus to have claimed her energy already. But Bo actually appeared to be enjoying dragging the process out.
Bo wanted to savour every second of this, it had felt so long since she last fed, so long since she had last seen the Valkyrie that she needed to take her time. As the blonde's lips parted, Bo allowed her tongue to trace the other woman's bottom lip, as if to apologise for her biting. Tamsin almost jumped again. This was not what she had in mind when she offered for the Succubus to feed, but decided to play along. Tamsin met the brunette's tongue with her own, forcing the Succubus to gasp and causing the blonde to smirk into the kiss. Tamsin's hands remained on the floor, pushing herself forward into Bo whilst the two of them battled for dominance over the kiss.
Eventually, it was Bo who broke off, and moved her head away slightly. Both women's lips were still close, but Bo's eyes now opened halfway, her hues a bright glowing blue. Tamsin's eyes snapped open as the Succubus broke off, watching the other woman's eyes transition in front of her. A stream of blue bridged the gap between both their lips as Bo finally drew from Tamsin's energy. Her inner succubus roared loudly as it took over her, the stream flowing inside her mouth and into her cells.
Tamsin stared at Bo's eyes, her brow furrowing as she could feel the brunette taking her energy. The energy escaping her didn't faze her, she knew that she would be able to sustain the brunette without hindering herself. What concerned her was the change of colour in the Succubus' eyes. The last time she had met a Succubus and remembered was hundreds of years ago, and she had totally forgotten that Succubi's eyes changed colour when they feed.
Eyes both brown and blue.
Tamsin blinked, and pushed Bo away. She gasped for air, the Wanderer's words echoing in her mind.
Bo's eyes returned to her natural colour, and a smirk crept upon her lips. The brunette had forgotten just how good the blonde's chi tasted, and how great it made her feel. She could feel the energy coursing through her veins, filling her with adrenaline. She stuck to what she said to the Valkyrie when they had been looking for Kenzi: Tamsin's chi was the best she'd ever had.
The blonde rose to her feet and stepped away from Bo, to which the brunette followed suit and stood up herself. Bo frowned whilst she caught her breath, recovering from her excitement from the feed. "Why'd you stop?"
The Valkyrie narrowed her gaze at Bo. "Why?" Because the change in the Succubus reminded her of her contract with the Wanderer, because she had to organise her mind and think about the possibility of the woman in front of her being her mark. "Because you were gonna freakin' suck me dry, that's why!"
Bo smiled, recalling the first time she fed off of the blonde. Tamsin had said something along those lines then, as well. Bo let out a laugh. "I told you." She shrugged and sighed. "But, you were the one who wanted me to feed. Well, now I have." Bo paused. "Thank you."
The blonde's mind was still spinning, just glad that the feed was over. "Whatever." She turned her back to the Succubus, attempting to regain control of her senses. "Can we please get back to the mission?" Getting back to something she was ordered to do would help clear her mind, help her stay focused. She turned her back to the brunette and started to walk off.
The Succubus' smile faded, as she frowned. She knew that feeding was impersonal. But she had hoped that Tamsin would have acted differently, rather than trying to get back to work. "Yeah, sure." She nodded, and followed the blonde, matching her strides.
As Tamsin walked, she tried to focus on the tasks the Morrigan had assigned her to. But her mind drifted to the contract she had taken out that was older than the Morrigan herself. To assume that Bo was her mark because of her changing eyes was too hasty. There were thousands of Succubi that existed, that all had the same trait. It had just taken her aback, that was all. There were other traits to define her mark, and unless Bo matched up to each and every one of those then she wouldn't make the same assumption again. She had to be sure, bringing the wrong mark in could result in an even worse scenario that she was in now.
Like Tamsin had suggested, it was another hour of walking before they got to a small settlement. Like the majority of their journey it was in silence, with both women allowing their minds to wander. Unlike the car journey and the first half of their trek there had been the odd small chat. Mostly Bo instigating them, asking the blonde numerous questions about the Fae. It was strange, the place they had got to, Bo thought. She was so used to the city, to traffic cluttering the roads and the roaring sound of people rushing from place to place. This land was almost untouched, cabins nested between trees, their roofs covered with moss that had accumulated over the years. The homes were positioned in what seemed to be a large circle, and in its centre was a campfire that crackled every now and then with pots and pans neatly stacked around it. Clothes lines linked each cabin, some with shirts on and some with underwear. Smoke rose from a couple of cabins, and the smell of a freshly cooked meal filled the air. If Bo could put her finger on it, she would say it was some sort of stew. Too busy drinking in the picture surrounding her, Bo hadn't even noticed that there were a few Fae walking about. Two heading straight for them.
It was something that Tamsin had took notice of. "This is your cue, Succubus." Tamsin nodded towards the two females walking towards them. "Convince them to allow me entrance."
Bo nodded firmly, watching the two stop once they were in front of them. One of the girls had long chocolate brown hair, tied up into a neat pony. Her eyes were a light green, complimented by a light shade of brown dusted on her eyelids. She was slim, but not so much that she looked ill. The other girl had red hair that cascaded below her shoulders and stopped at the centre of her back. Her skin was paler than the others, but it complimented her well. Each girl had a small point at the tip of their ears, and Bo noted that they must have been Elves. They were both adorned in what seemed to be leather armour cutting off as a sort of skirt, with boots and vambraces. Fur outlined the edges, supposedly to make the light armour feel more comfortable. Both women carried a hunting bow on their backs, and the Succubus could see a dagger that hung on both the ladies' belts. Bo decided that by their attire they mustn't have seen a city in their lives. Despite this, if Bo were given the chance to describe the girls in one word it would be: beautiful.
"State your business here." The brunette spoke, the redhead resting her hand on her dagger's hilt.
Bo smiled, offering her hand. "I'm Bo. This is Tamsin." She nodded towards the blonde, who was now staring at her in disbelief. "We just need to speak to the leader of this settlement."
Tamsin could have throttled the brunette there and then. Did she really expect these elves to shake her hand and welcome her into their home, just like that? She groaned internally, but instead of aggravating the situation she looked towards the brunette Elf, and smiled, feigning conviction with the brunette's statement.
The two elves looked at each other. The brunette looked back at Bo, then looked to Tamsin. "She's Dark. " Her gaze returned to the Succubus. "You may pass, but she leaves. Now."
Bo dropped her hand, realising that neither elf was going to accept it. "Tamsin is my friend. She's not here on Dark business, she's here to help me." Bo reached out her hand, in an attempt to touch the redhead's arm. Before she could make contact, the redhead unsheathed her dagger slightly, allowing a portion of the blade to glint in the light that came between the trees. Bo was forced to retreat her hand again. She had hoped to send her charms through the elves, it would have been a much simpler way of doing this.
Tamsin blinked at the term Bo had used in discussion with the brunette. Friend? She knew that Bo had used the phrase to attempt to convince the two, however she had never heard anybody call her 'friend' before. Trying not to think anything of it, she dismissed the term. Bo didn't mean it, they had only just meant. It was purely for show.
"What is it that you dare befriend a Dark for help with, coming to our land?" the elf probed, cautious of both of them.
"It's something I'd like to discuss with the leader, if I may. You can both stay with us if you'd like?" She offered, hoping that the two would settle if they accompanied them. "Honestly girls, we're really not here for trouble." Bo cursed silently to herself. Persuading people is something that is second nature for her. But without using her abilities she seemed to be awful at it.
The redhead slid her blade completely back into it's sheath. During Bo's pitch, she had been carefully examining the two Fae. Bo, to her seemed benign. Her instincts told her that what she was saying was the truth, in part. There was still something about their encounter that was off. When the redhead's examination turned to Tamsin, she knew why. She noticed the blades sheathed in the blonde's boots and she scowled. Growling slightly, she leant down to pull one of the blades from the woman opposite her, wanting to call her out on her intended treachery.
Bo saw her opportunity and leant over, placing her hand on the redhead's shoulder. Without a pause, she sent her charms through the girl. Ripples emitted from the brunette's fingers, and immediately she could feel the elf relax. "We ran into some bandits along the way. My friend protected me." She helped the redhead stand upright again. "You understand, don't you? Maybe, you two could escort us to your leader?"
Tamsin struggled to stay still and not say anything during the meeting. When the redhead made a move for her weapons, she was sure that it was going to turn ugly. But she smirked, knowing that the Succubus had succeeded in convincing the redhead to back off. She allowed the 'friend' comment to slip again from her mind.
The brunette elf stared on in confusion. "Melui?" She murmured to her partner, wanting to know what all that was about.
Melui, the redheaded elf smiled at Bo and nodded. Her gaze then turned towards the other elf. "I trust them, Elen."
Confused, the brunette sighed. "If Melui trusts you, then as do I." She paused. "But we will accompany you around this encampment."
Bo nodded, beaming. She was so proud of herself. Each time she managed to persuade someone with her charms, she always felt that way. It was like she was in control, like she had some sort of power over the other person. Oddly, it made her feel like she had achieved something.
"Follow me." Elen murmured, although telling the two she trusted them also, she still seemed to hold doubt both in her voice and the look on her face.
The Valkyrie was strangely proud of her partner. At the beginning of their encounter with the elves, she doubted her abilities to charm a human, let alone a Fae. But the Succubus had surprised her, she managed to gain entrance for the Valkyrie, without her having to cast doubt on anybody and cause a fight between them and the elves. She wondered, as they both followed the two elves, how else the Succubus would surprise her.
A/N: This one took me forever to write! I'm sorry if it's a little longer than the others :') Thank you again, you guys!