Enemies in the Midst

"About that, why the hell do you trust me so much?" Kira asked, calming herself somewhat. "What did I even do?"

She really had no idea. She hadn't interacted very much with Damien the entire time she'd been on this little trip of theirs. Maybe he didn't like Elliot either and saw that she didn't and thought that must mean she knows stuff? Well, it wouldn't surprise her. She was pretty much a genius after all.

"You have given me no reason not to. We seem to have the same interests in technology and I am sure you would protect me if I needed it, as I would you." He said seriously, simply going on his gut feeling. It was something he rarely did, he always liked to use his brain. But this time his gut was telling him to trust her, and he was going to. "I am sure it is hard to trust us, after what I had told you, but I guess you don't have to trust me when your the one tinkering with my body."

He smiled as he stroked her hair lovingly, looking up and seeing Leila and Elliot returning to the group, knowing they were finally ready. He was glad he would get to sleep in a real bed tonight, something he rarely had the chance to do.

"I hope this village is friendly, and that we don't have any near death experiences this time haha not that they don't make good stories. I just don't want too much excitement at one day." Rurei explained joseph glad they would be on the move soon since Leila was back.

Leila floated back with a smile on her face. "Ok, I guess we may as well head on in. I hope these people don't mind a Fairy and Dridder visiting their village..." She took a deep breath, quietly reminded herself that it doesn't matter if the people fear her or not, and floated towards the village.

Kira wanted to glare at Damien when he touched her hair, but it didn't seem condescending...she found herself confused again, and she didn't like it. She was really starting to regret coming on the trip. Then again, she met Leila and Damien. ARGH!!! DX

Kira grimaced and heaved her backpack back onto her back and stood up.

"Whatever, let's just go already."

She took the lead as she walked in the direction of the village with uncharacteristic enthusiasm.

"If they do mind they can bite me, your not like other fairies and if they treat you as much then we will have a problem." Elliot said seriously, he had a large hatred for racism, it was ugly, and not something he would ever condone even under the most extreme circumstances.

Damien nodded as he turned to walked with the group, wondering if he made Kira mad or something. He was usually not worried about these things, but she didn't seem like the kind of person that it was wide to upset.

Joseph and the group walked into the village as he held Rurei in her hand, looking to her with a small smile. "I guess we will have a nice soft bed tonight." He said smiling widely, looking into her eyes as the villagers looked to the group nervously. It wasn't everyday they had a heavily harmed party consisting of humans, nekos, tinies and a fairies.

Leila giggled quietly. "I wouldn't blame them if they do though. We Fairies have a reputation after all, and it's a rep that is well earned." She smiled at the villagers she passed and waved at some of the younger ones. "Once we find an Inn or something you and I can find out own place to rest outside of the village. How does that sound Elliot?"

(What time of day is it??)

(Dusk about 1-2 Hours before sundown.)

Kira, who was walking ahead of the group, didn't really give a crap what any of the people thought of her. She was a neko so she didn't think they'd be suspicious of her anyway. After walking for a short while, she suddenly decided to just lay down face-first on the ground.

"That sounds good to me Leila." He said smiling to her softly, ignoring any strange looks the ground got as he walked into a small Inn, wondering how many rooms were available for them. "6 rooms, I have 9 men, plus Joseph, Kira and Damien, so 12. 2 per room." He said not lumping Rurei in with that number, Joseph would share a room with one of the mercenaries and Rurei could stay with him no problem. "Damien and Kira can be together, the rest of you pair off."

Damien blinked as he stood over Kira, squatting down as he poked her curiously. "What are you doing? Trying to get raped or something?" Damien asked her with a confused expression, it was rather amusing....but confusing. "There are beds you know, over there, you need to be carried or something?"

"...If it wouldn't be too much to ask, yes," came Kira's muffled, honest reply. She turned her head sideways towards Damien.

"It's just....so tired...want to sleep..." Her expression was that of someone experiencing mild anguish.

Damien nodded with a small laugh, lifting her up bridal style as he started carrying her into the Inn, seeing Elliot and Leila as he looked to them.

"Oh Damien, uh, you two are in the 2nd one on the left in that hallway there." Elliot said, telling them that they were sharing as he me smiled, his other men taking off towards their rooms.

Damien nodded as he carried Kira into the bedroom, there only being a single, queen size bed as he carefully peeled back the covers without letting go of the neko, laying her on the right side of the bed as he smiled. "There you are Kira, a night you will actually be able to sleep through, as with me. Have good dreams, because Elliot won't be sleeping at all while you will be comfy in bed." Damien said with a smirk, hoping she could like that thought as he removed her boots for her, taking his off as well. "You want me to just sleep on the floor?"

Leila watched the group wander off to their rooms, then turned to Elliot with a smile. "So," she asked, "you ready to head on out?"

Kira shot up, tossing her backpack onto the floor on the opposite side of the bed, kicking off her boots, and actually even taking off her gloves and setting them on the nightstand next to the headboard. She then turned to Damien.

"For a guy, you're pretty good," Kira said with a smile. "Wouldja' like to come lie over here?"

She patted the nice space beside her on the bed with her bare, clean, though somewhat sweaty, hand.

Elliot nodded to her as he tried to smile, walking out of the Inn with her as he looked up to the setting sun. "Get some sleep okay? Don't worry to much about me....and please......don't look at me when I am like that." He said softly, quite ashamed of his condition as he walked back into the jungle with her.

"I would." Damien said with a small chuckle as he removed some of his clothing, setting his bag on one of the tables, his pants were still on but he took his shirt off as he laid in bed beside Kira, smiling to her. "For a guy? So I assume you have something against men then, however mild." He said smiling to her, showing he was not offended by it, to each their own. "May I ask why?"

"Hey," Leila said softly, "you don't have to look ashamed. It's not your fault and you don't have control over what happened. Since you asked though, I won't look. Though I'm still going to take care of you." She gently rubbed Elliot's back as they walked deeper into the forest. Suddenly she stopped, looked around, and nodded. "Ok, this should be far enough. We're far enough away from the village that no-one will bother us, but we're still within hearing distance just in case something goes wrong." She pulled out a jar, then gave Elliot an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry, this is the only thing I have that you won't be able to rip through. I'll be filling it with blankets and pillows though, that way you'll be comfortable."

"I think it's because my dad raised me by himself since my mom was eaten when I was just a kitten," Kira explained. She still wasn't sure why, but she felt she could be more open with this guy/cyborg. "And I think he instilled this dislike of guys in me through, like, a bunch of psychological bullshit that I won't understand until I'm his age, to protect me."

Elliot nodded to her softly, taking his clothing off so he would not rip it, setting it down as he sighed heavily. "Go ahead Leila, I am ready, this is necessary, I am not humiliated by this." He said looking into her eyes softly, touching his chest softly. "I am already feeling strange, it won't be long now......"

"I guess when your not a parent it is hard to understand." He said chuckling softly, smiling to her softly as he thought for a moment. "I am sorry about your mother. My parents were soldiers on my homeworld, my interest in magic and science made them angry. Slavery is legal on our world, and I was sold by my own parents......so I never had much of a childhood. Ironically I joined the Military myself when I came of age, it was my only way out of slavery, all slaves are offered their freedom at 14 if they choose to join, I was 7 when I was sold."

Kira let out a groan of disgust at the word 'slavery'.

"I hate it. Slavery, I mean. Just the entire fucking concept."

(forgive me and tell me if I post wrong! X< )

"I guess." Rurei laughed. "I'm use to sleeping outdoors in the night air, that small ting of fear that maybe you didn't pick the right spot to sleep and a predator was creeping up on you. I've also become a custom to sleeping in mouths or stomachs which may sound strange. Part of the reason I could sleep in Samantha's mouth across the river."

Leila nodded and quickly grew herself, and the jar, to giant size. She then quickly placed Elliot into the jar before shrinking back down to Human size and flying in to join him. Working as quickly as she could, the fairy placed some blankets and pillows on the bottom of the jar, always keeping one eye on Elliot, just in case he transformed. "Ok, I just need to shrink you, then we'll be safe and ready. How does that sound Elliot?"

"That sounds good to be Leila, thank you so much, for helping me tonight. It was right of me to tell someone. I am sorry I was not up front with you." Elliot said softly, sincerely sorry as he touched her face, looking into her eyes. "Sorry, you should get out of here Leila." He said sadly as he sat down, sighing softly, his body noticeable shaking, his mind afraid for the transformation, but his soul welcoming it. It was always like that, it was what was normal for his body now, it needed it, like caffeine.

"I do as well." He said clenching his fists, he liked Kira, but he couldn't go into the details of his life, but there always one thing he liked to brag about. "When I turned 17 the man who bought me retired from his role in Government, I hunted him down, and you can say the tables were turned......he got strapped to a nice lab table, and I showed him what pain is."

Joseph chuckled softly as he walked into the their room, laying down on the bed as he set Rurei on his chest, kissing her head softly. "Comfy....." He said happily, hugging her tightly as he sighed happily. "Are you comfy and warm?"

"That sucks, too," Kira spat, unimpressed with Damien's 'bragging'. She looked at him with her sharp, purple eyes and continued. "I can understand why you'd stoop to their level after having been put through that, sure, but if it doesn't solve the problem in the end then what's the point? Vengeance is just a distraction from productive things a person could be doing."

She gave it some thought, and considered that maybe he might know that already, and that she might've just unnecessarily delivered a figurative sucker-punch to his groin. She waited to see what his reaction would be before jumping to any conclusions. Her expression did soften considerably, however.

"I was obsessed with revenge, the things he did to me...they were unforgivable. However, afterward I felt very....unsatisfied. I can't explain it, I had been obsessed with revenge, with ending his life, as he had ended my childhood. But.....it wasn't guilt I felt, it was not sadness, just, an empty feeling, like I had wasted my time on scum." He said softly as he thought back on the events as he took a deep breath, angry he could not think of a better way to describe how he felt after he had tortured and killed his former owner.

"I guess I didn't believe he was worth my time to begin with." He said softly as he looked into Kira's purple eyes smiling softly to her as he thought for a moment, simply admiring her, not thinking if she would notice it or not. "I predicted you were quite intelligent, but I am quite pleased with your wisdom as well. It is beyond mine."