Fanfic Time: My Baby Now (2)

Since I started writing this fic, MisterCrowbar and we have been throwing our respective art at each other. Fic for drawings and vice versa.

...oOo...

Aldiirn didn't trust in the kindness of strangers. He barely knew what kindness was. It was something he was lucky to get and often came with pain. This Tiefling stranger had been kinder than anyone Aldiirn knew. Aldiirn had no idea what his motives were, but for the moment, he had food, and sleep. What the pain would be would have to be seen. And whether or not it was worth it.

What worried him was that the Tiefling did not complain. The closest he got to being angry was the disappointment when Vornalla called him a tief. There was no other warning and then he knocked them out.

Aldiirn had tried to be vigilant, watching the Tiefling for any hint that something was going to go bad, but he was so tired... The next thing he knew, he was being carried by the Tiefling. Cuddled as the steady pace rocked him to sleep.

The next thing he knew, the Tiefling was tucking him into a bedroll. Flute clutched tight in one fist. His expression was alien to Aldiirn.

"It's all right," the Tiefling cooed. "We're safe away. Just rest. We'll talk after a long rest."

Aldiirn fell back to sleep to the steady, metronomic mutter of, "My mind is my body, my body is mine to control. My mind is my body, my body is mine to control..." It actually helped lull him, since he knew the only other person in this room was stationary and not doing anything else.

BLAM!

Aldiirn startled awake. Flute held like a weapon. Before him, the bare, hairy legs of the Tiefling. Held in a stable, fighting stance. Guarding him? Tail low and still.

There was a Human woman on the other side of the door. She wore the remains of what had once been a very high-class dress. Carried a scimitar as if she'd never held a blade in her life. Her hair was scrawled into a single braid, and it looked like it was done badly and in a hurry.

Her makeup had run with tears. It was still doing so. Her gaze fell on Aldiirn.

"Oh no," she said. "Please, I don't want to kill anybody else..."

"Then don't," said the Tiefling.

"I didn't mean to disturb your family, sir, I needed a place of safety and I think there's Goblins after me. I'm a murderer, I killed half a dozen and I'm lost and frightened and please..."

"Marchess Bellarin, I presume?"

"How?"

"I'm with the Harpers. We're looking for you. In." He dropped his guard, but not the dagger in his hand. He guided her to a place by the old hearth, then checked outside their shelter. He shut the door and propped it shut with a length of wood.

His next act was to put his weird pants on.

Aldiirn stayed still. Stayed quiet.

"You're not being followed," said the Tiefling. "You're safe."

The Human woman had a gibbering breakdown where she sat. Settled down after what felt like too long. If Aldiirn so much as whimpered, the matriarchs would give him something real to cry about. She kept a tight grip on her scimitar.

"I suppose you're going to drag me back to that ass Whitekeep."

"Not so much," said the Tiefling. "The Harpers believe in the greater good. I've met the Viscount Spitebane, and he's very much his father's creature. If he's driven you this far to get away from him, he deserves to be deprived of your company. I much prefer people to have a choice. What would you choose?"

"I would rather eat broken glass and chase it with wyvern poison than even glimpse at anything at all related to Whitekeep for the rest of my life."

"Then I shall help you escape further. He's with the rest of my crew so... finding a different way up top should keep you clear of him."

"You go adventuring with your little one?"

Aldiirn quickly closed his eyes before the Tiefling could look.

"Ah. Nein. I picked them up along the way. Poor kinder needs a very long rest and a lot more than lembas. Deaf gods see me clear to making it happen, eh?"

He could hear the woman shuffling around with her things. "I could use a long rest too. If I may."

"Ja. Steer clear of the child, and all should be well. I get the feeling they're scared of the world right now."

"Well understood."

Aldiirn risked opening his eyes. Watched the Human woman set up a small bedroll and attempt to make herself comfortable. She propped her weapon in a corner. Inexperienced in battle. Which had to mean she was more dangerous with magic. He shivered, despite being comfortably warm in his bedroll. She could attack at any moment.

He had to watch her. Had to be on guard. Couldn't slip for a moment.

She was going to attack the instant he showed weakness.

The Tiefling settled back down on his mat, next to nude once more. Resumed mumbling, My mind is my body, my body is mine to control, over and over again.

Blink. The Human woman was curled up on the bedroll that was too small for her. The Tiefling was still mumbling.

Blink. She rolled over, but did little more. The Tiefling was still chanting.

Blink. Stillness. Snoring. Mumbling.

Blink. The Tiefling was awake, half-dressed, and shaving in a small mirror he propped up on the old hearth's mantle.

"Just the whiskers, you stupid Teufel," the Tiefling muttered. "You have a mouth to feed and a maiden to rescue. Don't be dumb. Just the whiskers." He'd tied his curls back into a simple ponytail.

Blink. The Tiefling was dressed, and had a long, thin blade against her scimitar.

Betrayal!

He knew it!

Aldiirn scrambled from his bedroll, using his flute to deflect her blade as she lunged. "DON'T!" He knew he didn't stand a chance, but he could at least delay the inevitable. He took a deep breath, and urgently played to Charm this person.

"You're all right," cooed the woman. "It's all right. We were sparring. He was teaching me."

"Look. Swords down. Kinder. Hey."

Aldiirn dared open his eyes. Empty adult hands, held in a posture of peace. But... he'd failed. He'd felt it failing. They should be attacking, right now. He braced for the impact of a fist... and yelped at the gentle touch of a kerchief.

"There, now. Sshhh..." cooed the Tiefling. Drying Aldiirn's tears. "Nobody's hurting anyone, here. I was teaching the lady how to use her sword properly. That's all. We're all safe, ja?"

The woman was keeping her distance, very carefully looking harmless. "We're overdue for introductions, aren't we? My name's Cordelia. To be precise, I am the Marchess Cordelia Maripose Heartsalve Bellarin, fourth of the name."

"I have given my name as Kochis Shaydden," said the Tiefling. "My allies call me Kosh."

They both waited. Patient.

"...'m... Aldiirn," he managed, voice barely a squeak.

"Aldiirn," said Kosh. "Pleased to meet you. If you want to freshen up, there's a privy through that little nook, and running water to wash yourself in. I also have a comb if you'd like me to see to your hair."

Aldiirn realised that he really needed the privy. When he came back, his flute had been placed in plain sight on his bedroll. Kosh was seated on his mat with the comb and some ties. There were three ration packs lying on the woman's bedroll, and the woman was standing far from them in a corner. He sat for Kosh. Braced for the usual cursing and pulling and ripping hair from his scalp.

No such pain came. Kosh carefully worked on each hank of silvery-pale hair, from end to scalp until the comb ran all the way through without catching. It started to feel... nice. Relaxing. Even as Kosh started to style it. Braiding and weaving sections together. Aldiirn almost nodded off again, but kept himself awake by watching the woman for trouble.

"There. Done," Kosh offered his mirror. "What do you think?"

Elves encoded meaning into their hair. Somehow, this devil had put meaning into Aldiirn's locks. The braids, twists, and loops said, lucky find, and, valued child, and, treasure.

Did he really know what he'd done?

"When we get up top, I'll make sure it's all legal. If you still wish to stay with me." He offered his hand.

A deal with a devil? Or wandering the Underdark until something ate him? Or, for that matter, eking out his existence in the fringes of Drow society? All things considered, there wasn't much choice. He put his hand, and his trust, into a Tiefling's custody.

"Sehr gut. Shall we resume our lesson? You can join in, too."

Nobody had taught him to fight, before. They just... expected him to. Kosh taught him how to stand, how to work a dagger properly, how to use any object as either shield or weapon.

He liked the parts where he got the woman to attack him and he fended her off in short order. Showing Aldiirn how it was done was less entertaining but essential for learning. Kosh walked them all through how to breathe, of all things, and something called the First Kata.

"Of course, naughty children in my Master's Dojo were sent to sweep as punishment for misdemeanours," Kosh elaborated. "So I tend to sweep whenever I see a broom. For my sins." a tap to one of his slightly spiralled horns to indicate where his sins lay.

Oh. Oh! He understood what it was like to be barely tolerated. To have his welfare seen to as an obligation. To be lucky he was allowed to exist.

Aldiirn's new self-appointed guardian was a fellow kindred, and outcast, spirit.

All the same, following the extended lesson of Pointy End Goes In The Bad Guy, Aldiirn kept Kosh between himself and the woman. Women were scary, even if this one was relatively harmless.