Ny’raxi lets out a sigh as she touches down just outside of her cave. She transforms back to her human form, trudging slowly through the tunnel. She curses herself internally, snorting out a huff of smoke as she thinks to herself. Why did she do that? They were just being nice, weren’t they?
It doesn’t matter, she reminds herself with a snarl and a shake of her head. The thoughts don’t cease, though. They claw at her as strongly as ever. The deeper she gets in the tunnel, the less visible the light of the outside gets until eventually it blinks out behind her. Her thoughts writhe as she tries to wrestle them wordlessly.
She screams. She screams as loud as she can, but no one is around to hear.
Or, she thought no one was around to hear.
“Roxi?” the gentle rumble of the voice behind her causes her to freeze. She doesn’t turn to look at the Tiefling. Her breath is caught in her throat as she stands there, mind running slowly.
“Why are you here?” she sneers, unable to keep the venom out of her voice. In the darkness of the cave, Panacea flinches at her friend’s harsh tone. Ny’raxi flinches too, shame welling in the pit of her stomach at letting that emotion slip through. She wasn’t mad at Panacea after all.
“I’m worried about you.” Panacea says, shuffling slowly towards the other woman. “We’re worried about you.”
“Worried? About me?” Ny’raxi scoffs gently. She does it again, but doesn’t say anything more. Panacea watches the woman in the near darkness of the cave. Ny’raxi’s form is difficult to see with only the dim glow of Panacea’s previous spell to illuminate her, but she isn’t moving.
“Is that so hard to fathom?”
Ny’raxi doesn’t answer, shifting her head to look at Panacea. Her eyes land on the gently glowing Tiefling, her chest tightening at the sight of her. Ny’raxi jerks her eyes away then, a growl rising in the back of her throat.
Panacea takes one step forward, appearing in front of Ny’raxi in one fluid motion. “Is it?” she presses, staring the woman in the eye. Ny’raxi narrows her eyes at the woman, meeting her gaze directly. She doesn’t answer the question.
The two women stare at each other for a long time, Panacea’s challenging glare turning soft. Ny’raxi’s eyes don’t change in intensity once, glaring at the woman intensely through the silence.
“Why did you run away?” Panacea asks softly, taking a step towards Ny’raxi.
Ny’raxi steps back a step, maintaining their distance carefully. Panacea doesn’t move anymore though, respectfully maintaining her distance. “I shouldn’t have gone. It was a mistake.”
“Why?”
“It just was.” Ny’raxi exhales a small burst of flame from her mouth, her tail flicking behind her in agitation. Panacea nods, her eyes watching the tail as it moves. She purses her lips in thought as she thinks about what to say.
“I don’t want to press you on this Roxi, but it kinda sounds like you’re going through something.” Panacea says quietly, her voice barely a whisper. In the small tunnel, they can both hear her clearly.
“You should go back to your partners, Panacea. Go back to your picnic.” Ny’raxi’s voice is strained as she speaks, emotion threatening to overtake her. Panacea shakes her head gently, looking up and into her friend’s eyes.
“They’ll be fine alone for a while. Besides, they’re worried about you too.”
“Why?” Ny’raxi asks, her voice strained.
“Because we like you, Roxi. You’re our friend, and-” Panacea pauses, thinking over her words for a moment. She shakes her head gently and closes the distance between herself and the dragon with a single step. She places a placating hand on the woman's shoulder and continues, “You’re our friend, Roxi. Does there have to be more to it?”
Roxi let’s her shoulders drop, tension drifting away as she sighs. Smoke trails out of her mouth, the fiery emotions she’d been feeling extinguished. She doesn’t move and Panacea takes a much smaller step forward to embrace her in a hug. Roxi leans into the hug, but she doesn’t lift her arms up to embrace Panacea at all.
After a few seconds, Panacea pulls back slightly and looks at the small Dragon woman in her arms. “Roxi?” she asks softly.
“I’m sorry.” Roxi sighs, discomfort crawling through her at the word.
“It’s okay. You don’t have anything to be sorry about.”
Roxi turns her eyes to Panacea suddenly, her eyes sharp. “I do. I’ve been nothing but awful to you and your friends. Your partners. And here you are, trying to cheer me up.”
Panacea tilts her head in thought. “Sorry, I don’t think I follow.” she admits.
“The tricks? I’ve been messing with you three for the better part of the year.”
Panacea has a thoughtful look on her face as she thinks, casting her memory back. “The pranks?” Roxi nods her head solemnly, looking down and away. “I always just thought they were cute.”
Roxi balks at the comment, looking up at the taller woman. Her face would probably be turning a different color at the idea of her ‘pranks’ being ‘cute’, but she rubs her arm guiltily. “Cute? I’ve done nothing to bully you three in the hopes that you’d stop coming to my cave.”
Panacea quirks her brow at the thought, “Is that what they were supposed to convey?”
Roxi droops, nodding her head.
“If anything, they only made us come by more, you know. The duke doesn’t have anyone else he can send to talk to you after all.” she teases. The Tiefling woman grabs the smaller woman's chin gently, tilting her head up and asking seriously, "Do you really want us to stop coming by?"
"No." She responds quietly. "Maybe at first I did, but, definitely not now."
"Well I can say for certain that we don't want to stop coming by. I'd definitely love to help with some of the pranks too. I still need to get back at August for his spider prank last week…"
The two remain where they are, neither wanting to break away from the tender moment. Eventually, Panacea speaks up again. “So, you don’t have to answer, but can I ask why you ran off?”
Roxi sighs, pulling away from the taller woman. “Because I’ve done this before,” Roxi gestures between the two of them, “I got scared at the prospect of doing it again. Sometimes it goes well, I guess. Most of the time it doesn’t. Most people are scared of me and I’m fine with that,” Roxi puffs out her chest, sharp and intense eyes turning towards Panacea, “I’m the Scourge of the Gods damned valley and I don’t care what they think.”
She lets her chest deflate slowly, her eyes softening as she glances away. “But I care what you think, and I hate the idea of anyone having that power over me again. I live out in the wild to get away from people after all.”
“But… you’re not over people at all, are you?”
Roxi laughs bitterly, only shaking her head in response.
“Sorry, I was just… I don’t know. I was thinking about your collection.”
“Pathetic isn’t it? Big bad evil sentimental idiot.” Roxi’s tail flicks only once.
“I’m pretty sure that entire sentence was a lie.” Panacea presses, folding her arms. “I mean, for starters you’re barely taller than Kriket.”
“In this form maybe.”
“I mean… I’ve seen other dragons before you know, and-”
“Don’t finish that sentence if you value your tongue.” Roxi threatens. She stands on the tips of her claws, pointing an accusatory claw under Panaceas jaw and at her throat.
“I don’t believe you’d do anything like that.”
“What, am I not evil enough for you?” Roxi sneers, pulling away from Panaceas throat and settling back on the full flats of her feet.
“Well, that too I guess. Mostly I was thinking that you wouldn’t do it because there are so many other good uses for it.” Panacea sticks her tongue out teasingly, “Like kissing.”
Roxi can only sputter in response, her tail swishing wildly from side to side. She takes a single step back, glad that it’s probably too dark to see the full extent of her blush. She takes a deep breath, exhaling a small cloud of smoke and stomping her foot down with a growl. “I am plenty evil.” Roxi growls, pointedly not mentioning the second reason.
Panacea raises an eyebrow and puts her hands on her hip, looking down at the smaller woman. “Rox’ you steal from the rich. I mean, maybe you’re not exactly giving to the poor, but you’re hardly evil. Law breaking maybe. A bit of a public nuisance I guess? Not really evil, though…”
“You’re incorrigible.”
“I’ve been told it’s one of my finer qualities,” Panacea bows cockily. “Well then, miss ‘totally a Villain’, can we get back to the picnic?”
“Fine, yes, whatever.” Roxi turns around, tail flicking animatedly behind her.
Panacea smiles, walking beside her. Her glow is finally starting to dissipate, the spell’s effects fading. Roxi grumbles to herself under her breath, still blushing.
“So…”
Roxi sighs, “What is it Panacea?”
“Long walk.” She says, looking away innocently. Roxi stares at her, nodding to herself slowly. Gears turn gently in her head as she tries to figure out what the bard could be thinking up.
“It is.” Roxi narrows her eyes at Panacea, her tone full of caution.
Panacea turns back with a catlike grin, a bounce in her step that wasn’t previously there. Roxi steps back a little at the intensity of the expression, her tail freezing it’s flicking. Panacea waggles her eyebrows suggestively, asking “Can I ride you?”
“Lucky”
“Oh, come off it, August. I’m sure you’ll get your turn.” Panacea says between bites of her sandwich, leaning against Roxi gently.
Roxi pushes her off, swallowing her own bite of sandwich. “He most certainly will not.” she fumes, blowing out a short stream of fire in Panacea’s direction. “I’m not a personal chauffeur.” she grumbles. She washes the sandwich down with a small swig of wine. A smile creeps its way onto her face despite the situation, this wine really is as good as she remembers.
“Like I said, lucky.” August sticks his tongue out at Panacea. Panacea rolls her eyes, shutting him up with a kiss. August melts a little under her touch, leaning against her as he continues to munch on his sandwich.
“Ugh, get a room.” Roxi grumbles, the smile not leaving her face.
“Only if you join us,” Kriket chirps teasingly, their voice sounding like Panacea’s now.
Roxi tilts her head to look at the cheeky bird-person, swishing her wine glass dangerously. Her eyes flick up and down, sizing them up predatorily. “Don’t make suggestions you’re not prepared to uphold,” she warns. Kriket chuckles nervously, taking a swig from their own wine glass. Roxi doesn’t allow her eyes to drift back to Panacea yet, knowing that if she does, the tiefling woman is more than willing to push the suggestion. Her tail swishes behind her lazily as she sips from the wine.
“By the way,” August is the one that saves her by speaking up, drawing the attention of everyone present, “I’m thinking that I’ve worn out the name August, right? Not sticking like I thought it might.”
“Moving onto September, are we?” Panacea says, poking his cheek.
“Please, he’s more original than that.” Roxi laughs, “he’s probably going to pick October.”
August just scratches the back of his head, his cheeks tinting red a bit. “Uh, actually…” Roxi redoubles her laughing, Panacea patting his hair while shaking her head in amusement.
“Whatever you say, ‘tober.” Panacea says, stressing the name as she says it.
“Well, if you’re gonna be mean about it, maybe I’ll go back to Thorn.” He grumps. Kriket sputters a bit, coughing from being halfway through a gulp of wine.
“Oh Goddesses, please no.” they say between coughs. October cringes, nodding his head in agreement.
“I’ll admit, probably not the best name I’ve picked up. Maybe without the ‘same name as a famous assassin’ conflict it could have been.”
Roxi grabs the bottle of wine, refilling each of their glasses as she comes down from laughing. She’s still giggling a bit as she pours the wine, trying to be careful not to spill the wine at all. Lifting up her glass in the gesture of a toast, the other three adventurers take notice and similarly raise their glasses. Realizing she’s got each of their attention, she raises the glass a bit higher, “To your new name then, I guess. To October!”
The other three cheer in response, Panacea downing the entire glass exactly like Roxi does. October tries to, but only gets about half of it down, Kriket opting to just sip at it due to still recovering from choking on their last glass.
Roxi looks between the three adventurers, a warm comfort flowing through her as she sways gently, enjoying their presence. She looks beside her at the chuckling Panacea and their eyes meet. Panacea winks at Roxi, causing the smaller woman’s cheeks to flush red. Not because she’s embarrassed, it’s definitely only because of the alcohol. Roxi’s breath hitches gently as she stares into Panacea’s eyes, dread clawing at her gut.
She’s done with running away though.
Roxi leans forward and kisses Panacea, the Tiefling looking at her with surprise. She doesn’t pull away though, instead leaning into the kiss.
After a few seconds, Roxi pulls back, muttering under her breath and moving her hands animatedly. Panacea’s brow crinkles and she begins to frown gently at the display. “Roxi?” she asks nervously. A small glow pulses out from Roxi and she stops swaying. Turning back to Panacea, she smiles gently. Roxi leans back towards Panacea, looking and feeling much more sober than she did seconds ago.
“Now, let’s try that sober, yeah?” Her voice is brusque, but Panacea doesn’t respond. At least not verbally. Instead, Panacea pushes her over onto her back on the picnic blanket.
“Can I go next?” October asks, his tone joking, but his intentions serious. Roxi smiles at him, but her attention is pulled back by Panacea before she can respond.
The kiss was even better sober.
