Duci was furious.

There were so many things she did that eve that she had been told not to do. She hadn't even fought back. She felt like a coward.

She had never felt so humiliated in her entire life. He wasn't abusive, no, he could still hurt her without having to lift a finger. That is what made her furious. The way he could crawl under skin without any problems.

Thinking back, it was him who had spurred her dreams of the dark, and subsequently they had only intensified. She wished to never sleep again if that was all she would dream of.

These were the things she had been trained for, and as much as she tried to follow protocol, her silly emotions got in the way. She wanted to badly not to feel, even for a second. She felt his joy in the whole situation, his pleasure and satisfaction. She was an example, a toy, a servant.

She couldn't possibly despise him anymore than she already did.

Takes place very early in the wee hours of Sunday the 14th of June; taken and adapted from LiveRP]

Careless, sleepless ambulation directed Duci toward the establishment so late this eve, or early in the day, depends on one's outlook. Some things never seemed to fade. Umber regarded the inn for a moment before she tempted fate, ascending the old oaken wood gingerly. Fingertips trailed the short length of the railing before drifting into empty space and falling back to her side as she traversed the expanse of the porch. At the door, she halted, frozen in a moment's thought. "Young ones?" Anubis asked, convex hedge of ebony inched towards the musky framework which loomed above them, drawing a sleek gradient of kohl along with it. The second shot was denuded in a second, the feathery sensation of intoxication filtering through his veins::

Natolii blew a kiss back to Tass. "My offspring, the twins."

"Oh' And how old are they?" The shotglass was sent careening across the moist plain of mahogany which separated them, maw laced with residual alcohol gazing up at Natolii in expectation.

"They are of age." She smiled at him, "Damien is more like me, Thugh Angel takes after Marcus."

A shake of her head, as if it would shake away those thoughts, before fingers curled around the door knob and remaining family of five applied pressure to the door. It swung open to illuminate her in the doorway, golden curls framing a tired face. She quickly moved out of the doorway to avoid being trampled by the one entering and those departing. Umber surveyed the few that occupied the inn with mild disinterest as slow footfalls bring her nearer the bar, purple gown a stark contrast to seemingly pale skin in the dim lighting of the inn.

Aqualine visage was drawn into a pensive attitude, although a rapid perusal of the sparse population obliged a fiendish grin: Three delectable femmes and no male protector in sight. He was very much the fox in the henhouse.

Natolii didn't need to be a mind reader to see the wheels turning with Anubis.

"Grown into men, then. I would like very much if they would visit me and Dawn." The amber receptacle which was idly clutched within forefinger and thumb silently wafted upwards, the bitter liquid coursing across the serpentine plane of his tongue. The remnant were jostled against translucent walls as the bottle was set against the bartop, a ghost of a smile flashed at Natolii. "If they are men, you'll have no issues with me allowing them to pick and choose their pleasure from my property, no."

"Damien, no problem at all. Angelica is another story."

Her insomnia induced a subdued state of mind, she felt listless and unfamiliar in her own skin. A ghost of herself. She didn't feel delectable at any rate. Fingertips soothed imaginary wrinkles in her gown as she swept through the break and behind the bar in search of something strong but ambrosial and capable of bringing sleep to the sleepless.

"Perhaps one of the greatest misconceptions about me is that I am misogynist." Another draught of wine cascaded through the scarce rent in his lips, intoxication beginning to emerge upon aqualine contours. "I merely follow my own impulses when I collar. I have no issue with Angelica doing the same..." and beatific features abruptly became earnest. "Unless she were to wish to be a slave. That, I will not allow."

"Not at all, dear one. With her, she is fighting her nature. She prefers to hide in the wilderness." She had to wonder at that, "Travanix thought to collar her at one time."

"...What?" Within a second, his demeanor was entirely altered. The jovial aristocrat melted away instantly, mandible growing taut as the bottle was sent careening into the bartop.

She paused in her search for the perfect liquor to bestow inebriation at the sound of the Egyptian's sonant tones. Suddenly, she was acutely aware of his presence. Her extended arm lowered back to her side. She refrained from turning, even moving, though umber tried to catch his figure in her peripheral. He was mad, gauging from the sound of the bottle making contact with the wooden surface of the bar.

"He thought to make the attempt. Do you honestly think I would not be there protecting my children" Aside from the fact that other members of the house aided in stopped him." There was no rancor in her words.

"When did this happen?" A vigorous gush of air coursed through coppery nostrils as the bottle was sent gliding across the planate slab of hardwood before them, the Egyptian Master casting his gaze towards the gyrating tongues of sienna which were held prisoner in the hearth. A moment was allowed to die in silence before he turned to regard his neice. "No. I know you would....it's the lack of respect for us. I've let him act like a fool and play "Master" for a year, and this is how I am repaid?"

"It has been well over that year, closer to 2." She murmured darkly, "But I haven't forgotten. Nor has she."

"In what you call Egypt, Natolii, I once killed a vampire five hundred years after he first offended me."

"There will come a time to dance on graves." She smiled a bit, "In the meantime, perhaps find a toy would be worth the aggravation."

Muscles contracted as she cringed, shoulders curling inward. Her mission to discover a quick fix for insomnia was all together abandoned. She was wide awake, her mind running wild. Sleep seemed impossible at this point, but she lingered. A game plan needed to be devised. Palms came to rest flat along the back bar to support her weight as she leaned against it thoughtfully.

"Very well..." A maelstrom of aggression was allowed to sink into the turmoil of his soul, ivory ramparts gnashing against each other in frustration. Nimble digits contorted into a fist at his hip, the urge to strike the closest surface subsumed within his will as mesmeric irises drifted towards Duci. A forefinger contorted into the stale air, summoning her as he did the other night.

She stretched a bit before smiling again, "I shall see you again, dear one." She was off a mood now. Celibacy is overrated for the demoness.

The Egyptian's curling finger was not missed in the reflection of the looking glass. She sighed in resignation, drawing a deep breath in preparation, then exhaling loudly. She leveled, regaining her customary poise, and gradually pivoted in place to face Anubis. Umber were guarded as they studied him warily, plush tiers parting to allow speech for the first time since she arrived. "Good evening, Anubis."

The nearly denuded bottle was roughly cast before that umber gaze, the shallow residue lapping against cylindrical walls of amber-tinted glass. "Another bottle of lotus wine, little one. It would be in your best interests to obey." An ember of rage silently festered beneath the contemptuous facade, threatening to break the surface. This would do for tonight, but later...someone would have to be made to pay a terrible price for insulting his chosen family.

She moved to the patron side and like an imp, she dared to kiss a light kiss on that dusky cheek, "Be well, Anubis."

She could not claim wishes to be at the other end of his rage. No response could qualify, none that she dared to utter. Turning away from him, she lifted her left arm and extended fingertips to latch around the neck of a bottle of lotus wine. Tonight she was thankful that despite seemingly unseeing eyes, her subconscious still functioned. Drawing the bottle upward then back toward her person, she twisted back around to deposit it on the bar before the Egyptian. Silence resumed and she simply leaned back against the back bar, regarding his person.

Lawns of pleasant sleep beckoned. A sleepy smile as she threw her head up and pulled on her jacket. A sidelong smile to Duci and Anubis. "Night", as she got up

An inclination of the sunshine haired lady to the cowgirl. "Safe travels," she returned.

Natolii arched a brow as she looked over at Duci. The slight had been noticed.

Madison Rye nodded in turn, for the sentiment. Mosey for the door and out it.

Russet colored hues picked up Natolii in her peripheral, not sure how to react to the woman. Anubis was hard enough to keep her wits about her.

Another slight given and noted. Given the way the woman jumped to her uncle's command, she had a feeling of her status too.

It was a convergence of terrible conditions for Duci; the proverbial white knight was not present to ride to her aid, and the night's events had drawn the Egyptian into a mood that was unwilling to tolerate any insult. A refined palm shot towards the beaded hem of his kilt, nimble fingers dangling towards an ivory collar as their cousins violently grasped the creamy knoll of Duci's shoulder, roughly aiming to pivot her around.

All things came to fall exactly into place, the lamb caught by the wolf. Maybe she had just been in the wrong place at the wrong time, or maybe it was something due to happen regardless. She should have stayed sleepless at home. His sudden movement startled her, and before she had time to process what was about to happen, it had already occurred. In the wolf's grasp she was confined, pivoting around as his action demanded. "No!" was the only thing she could manage to wail as terrified as she was.

Plaintive wail lapped against the shell of his ear in feminine dulcets, only succeeding in inciting a more confident grin as the ivory collar was opened with a deft flick of the wrist. As he noted Natolii upon the summit of the doorstep, a paternal expression washed over his visage....rather perverse, in the context of the present. Ivory band swung across her slender neck, the sibiliance of a clicking mechanism drawing a gleam of victory to piercing irises. "Come, beast."

There was a wistful look in those Tourquoise eyes at the move. a long to return to herself and her roots. Yes, a toy is called for now.

Terror registered in her eyes that of which widened in sudden realization as she heard the click of the collar. Now that was unkind, she wasn't a beast. Wasn't that what he was" She was rooted to the spot, unsure of how to proceed. It was shock; he couldn't blame her for that, could he? That wasn't here nor there, anymore, was it' She was his property now, but that didn't mean she'd go willingly. He'd have to drag her.

Duci didn't realize her dire shame about her situation until she was paraded around the Arena by Anubis. It had been a dangerous idea on his behalf to begin with, but she had a lurking feeling that Anubis was not only a good fighter, but usually found himself at the top of the food chain.

Unable to look her friends in the eyes, she kneeled beside her Master (she scorns this name for Anubis, and it prompts the taste of bile at the back of her mouth).

However, that was only the calm before the storm.

She couldn't recall how it began, maybe it was her sticking up for Alper, that sudden lashing of words, or maybe it was something else....but she distinctly recalled all Hell breaking loose.

Making a mad dash for it worked to her disadvantage, but her friends did try to break the chains. It was a brief taste of almost freedom, the entire fight. Encouraging words were exchanged, and in the end...Duci thinks everyone left with a few bruises. She knew her neck was sore.

And she knew a heavy punishment would follow.

It was empowering to be amongst her friends again, their presence was soothing. She could only hope that next time, she would be able to enjoy their company without the bonds of servitude.

Ah, freedom....A sweet memory.

Maybe closing her eyes would help her forget this whole ordeal. Perhaps the darkness was a better alternative. And so a fitful sleep followed, littered with screams from her nightmares that she wouldn't remember in the morning. Only that they were full of black, sharp teeth, and her friends; and the eyes.

Oblong panel of oak emitted a ferrous squeal as it slapped against the crumbling facade of the Inn, the silvery luminescence which bled from the circular deity above casting a limned border across broad shoulders as he stepped in.

Inlaid planks squealed a libretto of torment as trademark militant gait wended a path through the clutter of tables and chairs, prismatic irises assessing the crowd as they oscillated with a disinterested languor against almond sockets.

Bronzed fingers drifted beyond the knoll of his back with an uncaring languor, converging upon a mound of almonds in tandem as piercing irises locked upon the door. "You." this to Lizzie, mellifluous baritones baring the vaguest vestige of a threat as emotive basins of sable drifted towards her person, the supple underbellies of nimble fingers idly drifting through a pyramidal mound of almonds.

And Lizzie was cut off, her jaw snapping shut before her gaze turned on Anubis. A raised brow. "Me?" Pointing to herself.

Dolly raised her own eyebrows when she saw the creepy dude point, fortunately at someone else.

For some reason, entering the inn seemed dark and foreboding. She paused just outside the door, feeling like Guido and the door if the inn were scrutinizing her and her ivory collar. However, one cannot keep their master waiting too long. With a determined sigh she pushed her way inward, navy blue Marilyn Monroe-like halter dress flowing around her lower thighs as she moved. Russet gaze was low to the floor, carefully weaving a path towards her 'master'.

Dolly checked out the new occupant in the dress, mostly so she could try to guess her measurements. However, this time, she kept them to herself.

"Nevermind, slave meat." the slightly curling extremities of a cascade of obsidian tresses lapped against the broad knolls of his shoulders as he shook his head in open disdain, forefinger and ring finger converging against one another in order to contort towards his person. "Pet, a lotus wine."

Dolly blinked. "Slave meat?"

Daniel Brooks glanced toward Anubis, then shrugged over at Lizzie. "Been called worse."

"What the heck. I offer to shop and I get mean looks. But 'slave meat' is totally cool?" Dolly asked.

Lizzie's hands settled themselves on bony hips once more, her head pulling back with a "Oh No He Didn't" sort of expression. "Did you really just interrupt me to drop that lame ass excuse of an insult my way?" A roll of her eyes and "waste of my time" muttered a little louder than needed to herself.

Coffee bean irises rose to the Egyptian, a glint of defiance that was quickly extinguished with thoughts of punishment. "Yes, master," she replied quietly, sighing in defeat as long legs wove a path then for the bar and behind. Gaze returned to the floor, not just afraid to look at others, but mildly ashamed. Golden curls hadn't changed, still pristine in the manner they fell about her face, shrouding her face.

"It wasn't even a real insult. It's like calling someone a "butler veal". It doesn't make sense." Daniel commented.

Well, at least Lizzie got mad at that too. In a way, Dolly felt satisfied. And now she could go back to watching the pet and the master, totally creeped out. Slash curious as hell.

Dolly got a look from Lizzie. ?"Slave meat" is not okay. It's stupid. Just rub your boogers on someone if you want to go for the gold over that, okay?"

"Dude, this is creepy times ten million." Dolly commented. "It could be like, one of those sex things. S and S or whatever. Maybe she likes it." Dolly watches Duci intently, fascinated by the dynamic.

"What"!" naked pectorals reverberated with a phantom of a chortle, a wan smirk drawn across his lips as his gaze drifted towards Lizzie. "Do yourself a favor, and fawn over the half-men." lacquered panes wafted towards Aaron and Daniel in a dismissive manner as his attentions turned towards Duci, vermillion lips pursing as he assessed every fluctuation of her body.

And now Dolly looked away. Creepy times twenty million. She didn't want to risk eye contact.

"A half-man. Ow. My ego." Daniel remarks, trying his best to not laugh, attempting to look forlorn. "But he's right. I am half-man....half-amazing!" Puffs his chest out, giving a cheesy grin.

She would have spat at such a comment, and thrown poison barbed words back at Dolly in retort, if she could. This wasn't something she asked for, though Anubis might disagree with such a statement. A muscle twitched dangerously in her jaw as she moved behind the bar, fingertips adeptly moving for the requested wine. It took every ounce of effort left in her to not turn and shoot a venomous look to the girl. Fluid, controlled movements as she lifted a hand to grasp a chalice from the shelf.

Lizzie just stared at Anubis, but she couldn't quite find the words to express how he made her feel. It was way too late in the night for interpretive dance so she went the next best route. She doubled over, wrapping her arms around her waist as she let out a loud bark of laughter in his direction. This....continued on for a while interrupted by gasping breathes of air and a few words like "Seriously!?" "Is this real life!?" dropped in for good measure. "...I'll just assume that you are new here." Convex hedges of ebony arched towards the transverse web of rafters which loomed over them all, silvery trills lapping at the elliptical slopes of his gaze. Lizzie straightened back up and wiped at the tears that had formed in her eyes. "Oh my god, I don't even have to get buzzed around this place to have a good time. People are straight up wacky."

"I think he's into S and S." Sage nod from Dolly.

A brow raised a Danny. "I don't think I know that one." Then Lizzie looked to Aaron. The pinky finger of one hand was lifted. She pointed to it. Then to Anubis. That apparently said it all"

Aaron blinked at Lizzie, staring for a moment before bursting into laughter.

The chalice was set down and the bottle of lotus wine tipped over, emptying the sweet concoction quietly. Once full, the bottle was tilted back up, recapped, and stored again. Nimble finger coiled around the glass, lifting it carefully before she set back for Anubis. A defiant muscle continued to twitch dangerously, and she fights to bite back her snide remarks. The last thing she needed was more trouble tonight.

"Good girl...." Thumb and forefinger converged in crisp tandem across the gaunt stem of the chalice, toxins wafting into his nostrils as the placid surface of the amber elixir tilted towards desiccated lips in a single plane, toxic ambrosia crashing across the plane of his tongue. The hand which clutched a mound of almonds drifting downwards, the legumes placed before the apex of Duci's nose. "Eat, pet. Like the animal that you are now." And his gaze flickered upwards as he did so, a mocking smile emblazoning his mien as he regarded the other two males in the chamber. A thumb drew across the pinnacle of his neck.

Had she properly learned the ways of a slave, she'd have purred with such delight of her master complimenting her. Of course, any good that spilt from his lips could only be followed by harsh, degrading words meant to keep her where she was. Russet irises looked up to Anubis when he offered her an almond, like she was some filthy dog. "No thank you," coolly executed, though hastily added, "master." Her jaw was firmly set, lips pressed almost defiantly together. The second she uttered the words, Duci almost instantly regretted them, knowing it would easily puncture the almost perfectly calm evening. Later, or perhaps even now, she would pay for such defiance however little. It so happened almonds weren't a favored....nut, if you will. She was sure Anubis would care little of her defense.

Impish grin instantly retracted into a taut line, the sibilance of a gathering of legumes freefalling towards the squalid plain of flooring beneath crackling throughout the chamber of the Inn. A hand dove towards a morass of blonde tresses with the cruel velocity of a cobra on the strike, fragile strands wound across the circumference of flaxen digitalis as he forced her angelic visage downward. "Do not test me, little girl. If you are offered a kindness like that, you will take it."

She watches the scenes play themselves out with as much interest as one might express in staring at a blank wall. Those coming. Those going. The exchange of embraces, touches, and words. Even the play between slave and master. None of this concerns her. None of this moves her. She only watches from her chair.

Muscles tightened instinctively and she tried to duck, wincing as the cobra's strike had yet to be evaded. Such abuse to golden curls was highly despised, though she had an idea that he knew that. She fell to one knee from his force, bowing into acquiescence. Now staring at wooden floorboards again, she squeezed her eyes shut. Counting backwards from ten, she took another deep breath. "Yes, master," dully responded, shoulders sagging in defeat again.

A wrist tilted at an angle as he maneuvered her head at will, the supple cusp of her ear tilted towards vermillion lips diverged to allow audible venom to breeze through. "Let us go, b***h...and by the by...the next time that I am challenged, that is what your name will be."

Another wince as he tugged at her head, twisting and contorting so he could spit some more venom in her ear. Russet irises rounded, widening considerably. She had an inkling that that wouldn't be all, either. Goosebumps trailed along sun-kissed skin before she nodded, half in shock. Lower lip quavered, russet gaze falling back to the floorboards. She was ready to go 'home'. "Yes, master," murmuring of once dulcet tones, now flat and dull.

The coffee bubbled to heat, poured into a mug, and she sipped it, black and unsweetened, looking around at the inn's patrons as they went to and fro. A troubled glance to the apparent 'master and servant' before she averted her eyes. One week in the city, and Harper had already learnt to mind her own business in some places.

Gaze sharpening, Wolf wraps an arm around a leg bent into an accute angle, leaning into it as a scowl twists his lips. Not a particularly intent one, perhaps, attention centering finally upon one target. Anubis and his female. Shoulders twisting, he scrapes them against the chair's back to work the itch out of healing gouges absently.

Ahni's lavender eyes start to flick towards the master and his slave, but she stops herself in time and stares intently at Kajiya, fingers twining....(s) "Oh, forget these bloody gloves. Should've gotten fingerless ones, like Sivanna's..." she again drops his hand, but only to pull the tan gloves off. Quickly his hand is back in her, fingers twining properly through his.

"Smart idea, keeping your opinions to yourself..." Ripples drew along the caramel visage of the Egyptian's mein as a smile crept upwards, Duci steered towards the door. "It's ironic...a single word of protest...and you would have been auctioned two weeks from now.? And with that, out.

Duci followed behind him, a look of shock registering on her angelic visage when she looked sharply up at him before they disappeared through the door. He was cruel, to get her hopes up like that. Such a twist of fate.

Sandles sounding against the gravel signaled Lily Karos" arrival. Dark hair brushed at her darkened shoulders with each glance over the streets. This time, was like the other times. She was without a guard. White fabric shifted about her frame as her feet carried her up the steps and into the Inn. She wasted no time moving for the bar and to the man standing behind it. Dark eyes narrowed upon Marek.

A lift of a brow over at Lily from Marek. "Take a picture lass, it'll last longer."

The ten year old was not a very patient child. She huffed at the man's manners before letting words curl out in a hiss," Lotus wine." She was still after that wine. Perhaps tonight she might actually get it.

"You have any money short stuff" Or going to use monopoly money?" A tilt of his head over the bar at her as Marek lifted his own tankard for a drink.

"How dare you. Of course I have money." Lily's lips curled in a sneer very much like her mothers. Her fingers disposed a gold upon the bar top without a care as she hissed under her breath.

"Be nice kid, or I'll have to put you over my knee." A nod over the bar at Lily, taking the gold coin, but not moving much from his lean behind the bar to get a drink for her.

"I would like to see you try....Male." The man's neck was looked over before she muttered, "Black." She had a color for every collar personality. Black was possibly the lowest on her lips. She lifted her chin proudly before speaking again, "Lotus wine. Now."

An oblong wedge of shadow draped across a moist, cobbled foyer, gushing like blood from a newborn wound to the symphony of squealing hinges as a door secreted in the rear of the Inn carefully tilted open. The tepid, antimony hue of the twilight outlined a masculine figure which appeared to hoist the inert frame of a woman across the knoll of his shoulder, the translucent, violet-tinted expanse of her wings partly veiling a very earnest visage.

"Get it yourself, short stuff.." A flip of the coin in his hand and then a toss of it back at her as he adjusted his lean against the back bar. "I don't work here, shorty...learn to do things for yourself skinny britches."

"I will not be spoken to like that you barbarian." Not even the slightest of a clue that her father was here. She did not move from her spot. She pursed her lips before saying again," Lotus wine now." She was a very demanding shorty, but then again it came with being a Karos.

"No." A smirk over the bar and down at the Lily.:

Lily kept her eyes firmly locked on the man behind the bar, "You are the most vile little vermin I have ever met. If you do not work here then why are you behind the bar." Any moment now she'd be aware, but for now she was too determined to get her way. This man was not making it easy.

She lingered on the porch briefly after her Master took the liberty of entering the establishment. Duci, however, was thankful for a moment's breathing time to collect herself. One last heaving of her slender ribcage before she pressed her fingers to the smooth, aged oak of the door and twisted the knob. It opened, and she slid in deftly. Angelic visage was bowed, golden tresses falling all around her face childishly almost as silent footfalls brought her following in her Master's wake.

"I can keep an eye on things best from this spot, squirt. Why don't you run along and go play dolls with your friends" It's a bit late for you to be out by yourself." Marek commented.

The elliptical panes of tempura which buttressed piercing sables were instantly afflicted by the toxic miasma of silvery trills which haunted the stale air like an addled shade, spawned from a thicket of iridescent embers which were lit by the very same drunks whose voices all seemed to fuse together into nonsense. This poison was drawn into his nostrils with a pensive breath as he paused, ruminating with a deep frown whether or not this really was the most prudent course of action to be taking. A moment was allowed to steel his resolve before trademark imperious gait delved into the crowd of itinerant revelers, a chair beside the hearth eyed from behind the curtain of Dawn's wings

"Why don't you make yourself of use and get me a chalice of Lotus wine." She retorted to Marek. Her fists balled tightly at her sides. Her aggravation was growing with every word he had spoken thus far. Her chin rose higher," Your lack of doing so thus far is rather irritating."

"Is it, little one" A pity.." A smirk perked his lips with a nod down at Lily. "Don't make me call your mother."

The very mention of her mother had her snarling again. She had her eyes narrowed well beyond slits at this point," She doesn't care about anyone but herself." She said with little thought. Lily was still angry at her mother for what was exchanged between her and her father.

"Kid...bugger off now...before someone decides to enslave you and make you clean the floors of their barn." A wave off motion with his hand.

Duci lifted her head, umber peeking from behind a layer of sunshine colored locks. Umber flickered to Maranya almost hopefully, but with a quick upward look to Anubis she immediately lowered her gaze back to the floor.

Duci is given a smile, and a quick mouthing of words "Be strong, dear one," from Maranya.

Lily simply smirked to Marek, "Be careful what you say fool. Or wish for." Her gaze snapped towards Maranya, the grin curled on her lips again. Sandled feet carried her towards the woman, assessing her carefully.

Maranya thoughtfully regarded Anubis' offspring as she approached. Still leaning against the backbar.

Luminous cascade of obsidian tresses lapped against the apex of his spinal cord as his head rapidly oscillated to the right, carmine lips instantly receding into a taut manifestation of anger as he noted the diminutive femme at the bar. Nimble fingers careened into the morass of flaxen tresses beside him, aiming for the temple before jutting towards Lily. "Grab her by the wrist, and take her to the back door. Stay in my sight, but do not let me into hers. Be rough if you must, pet." And with that, Dawn was settled into the velvet maw of the chair, a dancing silhouette broadcast from the hearth onto the cinema of his flawless visage.

Neo looks around a bit....something catches his eyes instantly. Ocean blues turn to ice. His face contorts with rage. ~The nerve of that bastard...!!~ His heart wants him to charge forth, but last time, it didn't work. He back up just the way he came, though he doesn't leave. He only removes himself from sight from most of the patrons, standing up against the wall. Hyperion appears in his right hand, and its glow is immediately stifled. ~Think...~

"Gotta love kids...that's why they made birth control." Marek mirks and takes a drink from his tankard before pushing from his lean behind the bar.

Duci had carefully learned how to not utter any noises at such sharp and painful actions. Wincing, however, had yet to be mastered. Umber looked fearful as she looked from Lily then back up to Anubis. Her lips parted, but quickly pursed as she closed her mouth quickly, refraining from asking the question intended. Instead, she merely nodded her head in acquiescense. "Yes, Master," she mumbled, lowering her gaze to the floor again as she moved with grace at a rapid speed for Lily.

Neo's heart pounds against his chest with incredible force. He has to get this right this time. He has to. He peeks out, seeing Duci moving for <Lily>. He's not aware of what Anubis's instructions to her are, so he's thinking of the best way to end her nightmare here, tonight. Trying to hatch a plan to sever the chains...

Trepidation found a faint voice in the tremulous fluctuations of a forearm as it forced a hand towards the gilded hilt which protruded against his abdomen, the metallic sibilance of a serrated dagger rousing from its slumber being drowned in the inchoate din. Thumb and forefinger collided in a crisp snap, the catalyst for a shattered hex as a weapon which had carved a path of blood in the Arena was bathed in the sienna luminescence of the hearth. As Dawn would come to, it would be callously cast into her lap.

And then, there were none. Duci blinked several times in confusion, though she turned to look at Neo. A soft smile for him, unaware of his intentions which she would advise strongly against. Sheepish look before she quickly bows her head and moves to return dutifully to Anubis' side.

"Mm." Maranya gave another nod to Marek, extending to Fleet. Something seen in peripheral vision is not given full focus, so as not to tip off that hand to the wrong eyes.

The coming to was a slow process indeed for Dawn. She begins slumped across the chair, sleeveless white silk dress rumpled where he carried her and rose to one shin. Her wings lie limp, clawed edged scraping the ground. Tension first comes to her bones, and the wings lift from the grimy floor, just slightly. Eyelids flutter open, and her posture straightens. She becomes more properly settled in the chair as her wings lift higher, mantling behind her in the space between her back and the wood of her seat. A well-manicured hand comes up to rest over her mouth politely as she yawns. Simultaneously, her other arm reaches for the sky. A blink, then another. The dagger slips carelessly from her lap and she reaches down, swiftly retrieving it. A quick perusal of the weapon and her head snaps up, red-gold gaze narrows as she looks for the owner of the weapon.

"You know what that is." Anubis" mellifluous baritones were measured, Spartan discipline employed in masking the current of fear which coursed through a frame which remained as still as the statuary of his beloved Valley. "You cannot kill me, but you can kill what this realm knows of me. And if you cannot accept that I atone for what I have done, and the trust I have shattered and now which to mend....then strike."

Hyperion disappears. There's no point holding the sun blade right now. This is a conundrum. Why is there no chain" Has she given in" Has he distorted her will to the point of being willing" Is there something else there" Neo grits his teeth, too angry to think, yet thinking is the only thing he can do now.

"Mm." Attention partially on the confrontation between the spouses across the room. "Terpenie oderzhayesh' verkh." Murmur, for a certain pair of ears.

Stockholm syndrome. In a way, Duci had come to admire him despite. Dark lashes flittered as she dared a look beneath the curtain of tumbling gold locks at Anubis and Dawn. It was brief, dropping her gaze back to the floor.

Dawn's gaze centers on her prey: her husband. At his words, a hand lifts toward her neck, her pristine, unblemished neck. The hand slowly lowers and she stares at him. "You did not do it. You are ..." A pause. "A fool." She moves a step closer, red gold gaze clouding as the tip of the dagger is lowered toward his chest. She draws it straight down his skin, lightly.

Then Maranya reaches in the black leather satchel at her side, and removes her cell. "Mm. He should not stress himself." Flipping it open, she texts a quick message, in Myrrian, to a certain recipient, then presses send.

Unfortunately, over the din of the inn, not even the Ring of Klytus can hear what Anya said. Of course, though, he's not dumb enough to launch himself into a situation he doesn't know jack squat about, which this precisely is. For now, he's just watching, trying desperately to figure something out. A buzz in Neo's pocket. It's a good thing he's on vibrate. He takes his phone out, and flips it open inside his jacket to restrict the light of its screen. Myrrian. He texts back. It is then quietly closed and returned to his pocket.

Frowning at the return text, Maranya ponders the implications. None of them palatable. Quick text back.

The phone is flipped open inside his jacket. Neo reads it, replies, and returns it to his pocket.

"Perhaps, but I do love you. And I am sorry." A precarious balance between emotion and dignity wavered in the baritone chords of his voice, the keen promise of pain whispered to his skin by the dagger in the form of a lingering pinch, fear beginning to silently accrue confidence within his still frame..a sensation that was truly alien to him.

Reading then sending another text.

The phone is discretely read just as before. Another reply sent, and the phone goes back into his pocket.

"Soothing." Setting cell and glass down, thinking about that last texting while she fixes a mug of chamomile tea, and sets that out for Fleet.

It hurt her to watch the manner in which Dawn marred her Master's flesh. He was otherwise occupied, so she bestowed upon herself the liberty of moving away for the bar. Moist, pink flesh ran along her lips. Her throat was parched and she desired some water to quench her thirst. Anubis didn't like damaged goods, did he" It was for the well-being of his investment. Umber cast back almost fearfully at her Master and his wife halfway to the bar. Her decision was resolute, and she turned back around to continue on her way almost rebelliously. A taste of pretend freedom. An impish grin for Anya as she slid up carefully to the bar. She'd make a mental note to return to Anubis with a lotus wine in hand.

Then back to the texting, frowning.

"You should be." Dawn turned the dagger in her hand, adjusting the grip, and raised it over his chest, point touching the flesh where his heart would be presumed to be, if anyone thought Anubis had a heart. She pressed forward, drawing a single drop of blood. "You married a fool, who loves you." She whispers, very, very softly.

Smile blooms for Duci on her approach. "Your ears must burn.? Low tones for her ears from Maranya.

Reading another text discretely, he replies with a very dejected frown. They were too late...

Without warning Dawn withdraws and turns, wings flaring. She takes several large steps toward her audience, turning the dagger's hilt in her hand as she moves. Once she closes in on Rekah, her hand extends and twists upward, aiming to drive the dagger deep into her gut.

Reading, then texting, hazels on Duci.

Just as swiftly she pulls back, careful to take the dagger with her. It wouldn't do to lose her husband's prized weapon, after all.

To keep their Cosmo Girl safe, she turns to fill a goblet of lotus wine for Duci to take back with her.

Takes place in the late/early hours of last night/this morning, the 17th of January. Adapted and edited from LiveRP for better flow. ]]

Obtuse, archaic panel of seasoned oak capitulated beneath the forceful exertion of an extended limb, the midwinter's trilling chill lapping at the tail of his sable mane as Anubis stepped in.

Polar, war wearied gaze cut its incision into the reflection behind the bar. Anubis. Nigel pivoted purposefully on his stool and stared with that same mask of indifference he always wore. Only ever moving to take a long drag.

"Hm. Well, I have a place in mind. If you would follow me..." Rix asks as he begins to head for the doors, holding them open once he reaches them. Sarah follows him, her smile given to him as she passes through the doors he holds open. "Sounds fair enough to me."

"You are a terrible duelist." The almond gradients which bracketed an oriental gaze appeared to collapse against one another in a scarcely perceptible descent as his attentions oscillated towards Rix as he exits, sacral raiment lapping across the sinuous slopes of cylindrical columns of flesh as Anubis strode towards the bar.

Duci was almost out of breath as she hurried to catch up to Anubis, following obediently in his wake. Nimble fingertips touched at the silken garb absently as umber fell to the ground demurely, obscured by golden spools of hair.

"'Ey poofter." Nigel called, accent thick and cockneyed now. He snatched a partially empty Badsider from the bar's countertop and winged it at the Slaver. "I owe ya one."

Pale white hair, braided with razor and sharp things, rattled faintly as her head moved a touch to follow the two males nearest. Would there be more violence" Real violence" A girl could dream at least. Fio's disappearance up into the Bed Eating upstairs marked, the drow was not-so-subtly mouthing the word poofter and looking as if her translation was coming up empty.

"Serve me, beast." Mellifluous baritones forged his imperative in a curt fashion as his mesmeric gaze affixed itself onto Luna, nimble phalanges contorting towards Duci's person in an unspoken directive towards her as he turned his attentions towards Nigel. "You lost with another person aiding you. How stupid are you?"

Standing now, expressions indiscernible. "She got in the way." Finely wrought features subtly shifted, gaze affixed, eyes slight and narrowed. "And ya got lucky. S'a different story outside o' the ring. I c'n tell ya that f' certain." Forearms crossed, set beneath his chest, unyielding.

As soon as Anubis eyes would connect with hers, Luna looked away. It was quite obvious he was a slaver and she would not in anyway supply him with ideas that she was entertaining thoughts about him. Looking back to Xonis, she smiled and bowed her head to him before taking a drink of her own water.

The drow was beginning to look all too pleased with the way insults were being bandied about. Though the expression became a strange still-birth with what she thought was distant music again. Not a lute..but close. She followed the male who left glass but took bottle then followed something else that took her fancy.

Duci glanced up at Anubis, almost lovingly before she nodded her head almost with excitement. "As you please, Master." Umber fell back to the ground as she made for the bar nimbly. She was careful not to touch nor look at another soul as she slid behind the bar.

Suliss'urn settled on the trio marching through and past. And if she were unusually quiet after the earlier chaos; so be it. Some times even a drow needed...moments.

She was stretching, reaching for the highest shelf to retrieve a chalice for her Master. Fingers flicked at it, tugging toward the edge of the shelf until it teetered and tottered. "Mmph!" In triumph as it finally toppled over and into her grasp. Duci takes a moment and checks it for any dirt, satisfied with the cleanliness of it, she sets it on the backbar while she begins seeking out the much sought bottle of lotus wine.

She toys with the bottle between her hands. Back and forth it is passed across the bar, rolling and being rolled—it is exactly the things cats do when bored with pray they have toyed to death with. Like tossing the limp body of a mouse between claws. She made no move to vacate where she was, but nothing about her said she wished to be standing still much longer. Contrasts.

"Aha," Duci murmured, fingers hooking around the neck of the bottle and tugging it up toward her person. Pulling it open, she tipped it over, allowing the contents to pool into the chalice until near the brim. Satisfied, she put the stopper back in and returned it to its resting place. Gently taking up the chalice with both hands, she made to move back around the bar and for her Master with light footsteps.

"Remain in place, pet. I have to deal with a nuisance." Emaciated flews of gaunt flesh could not help but contort into a a wan, crescent manifestation of his approval as Duci risked her own well-being for his pleasure, verdant sandals shattering specks of debris which lay athwart their trajectory as they advanced towards the drow. A moment of rumination laced the corridors his mind as he retracted his militant gait, thumb and forefinger incarcerating the gaunt stem of the chalice in conjuction with his other limb lacing around Duci's willowy waist. Regardless, piercing basins of sable locked onto the drow. "I'm sorry....but I knew your kind to be slaves, not masters. Regardless of the nature of your charade, you owe me tribute."

"As you wish, Master," she murmured, glancing up with umber briefly to watch him move to take the chalice first, and then her by the waist. Eyes widened to the size of saucers briefly, lips forming a silent "O" of surprise, but she didn't utter a sound.

A sick feeling started to churn in her stomach and Luna swallowed quickly and then raised her glass to take a few sips, washing back the acid bile that had rose to the back of her throat. Setting the glass back down, her eyes swept between Xonis and Anubis, the slave girl managed to maintain a blank slate for the most part, her displeasure of Anubis' words only touching her eyes, and there a look of disdain showed.

He tipped the hat back some, lips spreading in an amused grin. "Oh yes, we do enslave our own kind, just as we do humans, elves, and anything else with a pair of legs and some thumbs." His feet slid from the table before he stood, hat being removed. "However, you're mistaken. I owe you no tribute nor am I putting on any charade. I'm not in the habit of offering anything to people I don't know."

Pointed ears were pretty; and surprisingly functional. Perhaps not as legendary as some prancing light elves may make of them, but they were sharp enough to hear the music worming its way from outside to inside. For most people, they would have rounded the bar to get to the commons. Suliss'urn, luckily, was not most people. Instead, the female clattered atop it like midnight poured over silk, across, and landed like cats feet on the otherside. Her bottle in tow, yes.

Ah, but the words from Xonis impeded Sergei's resolve. That same cruel smirk cut up his cheeks as he watched his second in morbid amusement.

And at random, Xonis" hat was tilted at a certain angle, more to the side than forward or back.

Belle took the napkin between two fingers and waved it like a white flag, taken with the way it unfolded and floated in the air. The commotion between the two males was enough of a distraction. The breeze of another moving past caught the napkin and sent it into flight. Soon after she was taken with it, drawn away like a child after a butterfly.

The placid facade of the toxic ambrosia before him appeared to tilt with a consensus towards scarcely rent lips, the supple underbellies of nimble phalanges coursing across the genteel slope of Duci's scalp as the wine cascaded across the lavender plane of his tongue, an acrid sensation racing throughout his frame before he regarded the drow once more. "I'm sorry. If you have not heard of me, I'll grant you a week to do so. Afterwards, I want my tribute."

A brow quirked curiously at the man before him, head canting curiously to the side. "Well. I suppose I'll see you in a week then, won't I?" Oh, Xonis" tone was cheerful and chipper as can be, the grin on his lips an ever wide and present thing.

Up a few steps, and crossed a seemingly endless porch at times. And finally through a familiar door. Blue grays took inventory as Reap made for the bar.

The door thunks shut just behind the cowboy. Inside, Ali catches sight of the incipient brawl and shakes his head.

The strike half-anticipated, and half-caught off guard, it struck, but that long appendage slid sideways, without a glance, and opened fire in Duci's direction uncaringly. The muzzle spat sparks, full auto, made less for accuracy than a rapid spray of bullets. It hissed loud when it fired. "Trtrtrtrtrt!" Aim most likely thrown off kilter by the Slaver's strike.

Gun shots" Yeah, he was staring at Nigel now. Brows rose beneath a black cowboy hat. The bar would wait as he nearly skid to a stop. "The hell?"

Well, what an unfortunate convergence of events. Under normal circumstance, a woman of Duci's type and training would have easily been able to avoid the gunshots...but long since she'd been domesticated and 'house-trained' for lack of a better term, she was more worried about the state of her Master than herself. It had taken half a moment for it to register, the tearing of machinery and flesh as the bullets managed to tear through muscle and flesh. It was in slow motion that she witnessed it, the way she stumbled back after the first bullet got her straight through the right thigh, the second a little higher up and a third and fourth managed to graze her side.

Enamel ramparts firmly pressed against their brethren as his lithe frame juked towards the opposing direction as contained explosions, the ridge of his knuckles directed at Nigel's jawline.

Gunshots still sent silk hissing. But for now it spoke in whisper, a wandering hush like a lost lullaby as the Priestess walked between pools of lamp light. From halo to dark and back again.::

Her head swiveled around at the sounds of gunfire from inside the inn, and she growled low in her throat. Stupid stupid people this night. She made her way to the door, instruments being tucked under the bench as she went. She knew her healing abilities would be needed this night if anything. Just lovely, her burka would be getting bloody, white as it was and she just bought it.

Ali did a little inventive swearing and spilled back out onto the porch again. Better to be out here with the man who fancies himself a wolf than in there with Nigel on another bloody rampage.

Nigel would tried to roll with that punch, but it still caught him, and rocked him backward. Grip on pistol was loosed, and it clattered to the ground. Both hands freed, he firmed his footing and, moving again in that blur of motion, countered back with a swinging hook to strike the Slaver's chin.

Blood. The smell of it to the drow was as sweet as a woman or man. It rolled through the window and not unlike someone else earlier, she opened her mouth to take the scent of it in. Blood, chaos. She hadn't anything to do with it but some how, some way, the drow looked as if she would preen herself—in bettwen the bullets, of course—"What do you play?" The shadows finally demanded of guitar-toting drunkard. I remember you... Her eyes narrowed.

That is, until she came within range. She saw the shots first, like tiny supernovas, but it was the sound that echoed after the dark swallowed the starburst of bullets that has her shirking the light.

Dulcimer pushed open the door, taking in the room within that little window she could see through in her garment. Her belled ankles making soft sounds as the fabric swished around her legs. She moved to assess the situation, looking for anyone that may be hurt.

Duci fell back roughly onto her rump, hands clasping down onto her thigh where she was wounded. She gasped, a little surprised at the spurting blood. It took her a moment to regain her senses. There wasn't much time to fret, so she nimbly began to tear at her dress, pulling two long strips to dress her wounds. A soldier's training came in handy.

Through the break in the bar (assuming) and right on over to Nigel and Anubis. Reap's eyes left the now wounded Duci and after a shove to Anubis' shoulder, hopefully to part the two, he turned and attempted a rather forceful right hook to Nigels jaw.

Dulcimer saw Duci down on the ground and started to make her way towards her through the crowd. She saw what she was doing and smiled to herself under her burka.

Reap's presence was noted, and he grinned wide at that when he stepped to join the fray. Nigel pivoted when the Cowboy thrust himself between the Englishman and the Slaver, and prepared himself for a follow up. What he wasn't expecting was the heavy hands of his friend to launch a haymaker. Anubis' early strikes, and the beating he'd gotten on Monday making it even worse, added to the fact that' Reap was powerful himself, he found himself on the floor. "Bloody 'ell."

Obsidian tresses were cast about in desultory paths as the strike sent his skull snapping towards the right, a glistening rivulet of carmines freefalling onto the wooden paneling. Duci's wound fell into the periphery of his gaze, undulated rage brimming through onyx irises as his gait wafted towards Duci. "I will f***king mummify you alive! Do you understand!"! I will crucify you, you f***king peasant! Your entire family will die because of tonight!" quipped as Duci was grasped within his arms.

Tears threatened at the corner of her eyes and not because of the wound but because now her Master would consider he damaged goods and toss her like garbage into the street. She sniffled, wiping at her nose with the back of her arm before tying the strips together. Umber glanced up at her Master upon his approach, and she looked both apologetic and guilty. "I...I am sorry, Master," she murmured, sounding childish.

Reap's trying to stay between the Egyptian and Englishman best he could. His back to Anubis, and could only hope the slaver would tend to Duci. Nigels G18 was shoved away with a boot, sliding past Nigel. Probably not out of reach, but it was a try. He stared down at Nigel, a look that said "what the #$%^&*"!"

The called insult sailing through open window to land to the Drow's ears upon porch made lash flutter girlishly; as if all a-flutter-with charmed speak right after a dinner and movie. curiosity.

A glance shot over his shoulder to Anubis and Duci. The slaver tended to the slave. This was a plus. Despite his dislike for Anubis, shooting one of his slaves was crossing lines. Attention back to Nigel, he reached down to help his friend up.

Pistol out of reach, the tide turned in the wrong direction, he rubbed at his jaw and got to his feet wobbily with Reap's help. That lilt of Brit wasn't so lilting anymore. "Like ta see ya try poofter. Seein' as 'ow most m' family's already dead. What else you got?"

The blonde was hoisted upon the sinuous knoll of his shoulder, pure fury animating the slightest contour of his countenance as he gazed at Nigel. "No. I will respect your heritage. I will strangle you until half-dead, at which point I will cut your stomach open, and burn your entrails before your f***king eyes. Then I will cut you into quarters. In short, I will do what the better people of your country would do to you for even talking to someone like me."

A curious brow at so many outside, shake of his head as up the steps he ventured and on inside Marek went. A drink was in need after the past few days he'd had.

Again he was looking over his shoulder to Anubis. "Anubis...Go take care of her." Get the hell out of here before Nigel dug his grave any further, he meant. "Please."

Duci was lifted in a manner more akin to a ragdoll, flopping over his shoulder with a pitiful sob that she tried to stifle with a fist in her mouth. And then they were through the door and out into the blackness of night.

Curious brow with the bar wench over the guy's shoulder, but hey, it's Rhydin. Onward to the bar he went.

She was not a wench! A beautiful, obedient slave, thank you!

"Anytime poofter." Nigel spat out a thick gob of blood, a molar skittering across the ground with it. "Ya know where I'm at. But I'll see you strapped and exposed for a false-god. Prostrate before ya subjects. With the whip in me hands." Fury sparked in those empty blue eyes, so much that it seemed the only emotion the Englishman was capable of.

A smirk at his lips, sliding behind the bar and away from Nigel and Reap. grabbing a tankard and filling from the nearest tapped' keg behind the bar. "Have fun with that wench!" Mutters. "Like a wheel...just keeps turning.? Smirks taking a drink.