Fion woke up on the morning of Intas 12 with a splitting headache. For a moment she wondered why. After that moment she remembered.

Fion buried her head under her pillow.

"Oh Gods." She whimpered. "I can't believe I did that! Poor Stu!"

She sat up, pillow clutched to her chest.

"I tried to pick a fight with pirates?" She asked herself. "Why on Vita would I do something so incredibly, obviously..."

She nursed her aching head for a while.

"So very, very stupid... OH DEAR GODS, DEMKAIH!"

-------

Fion turned up at Demkaih's door adequately dressed, she'd checked her buttons and all before running out the door. She was, however, very red in the face from running the whole way and her heart was beating a hundred miles a minute.

"Dem! Are you home?" She called, knocking on the front door. "There's some people... Ugh... I need to warn you about something!"

If they'd layed so much as one finger on him, those pirate women were dead. She didn't like people threatening her friends... or her special friends or...

Damnit, Dem was hers and they couldn't have him!

Demkaih heard the sound faintly from downstairs. He was still in his bedding, not quite sleeping, but enjoying laying there quietly. Listening carefully he realised it was Fion's voice. Jumping up, he looked at his wrap briefly, contemplating how long it would take to get dressed and how long she would bash on the door. In a bold move, he grabbed the sheet from the bed and wrapped it around his waist instead. Holding it together at the side, he took the stairs two at a time and quickly unlocked and opened the door. He was shocked to see her so flustered.

"What is the matter my poppy? Is everything okay?" He looked over her shoulder and ushered her inside, shutting and locking the door. Putting a hand on her shoulder he looked into her eyes, awaiting a response.

Fion didn't quite realise what she was seeing for a moment because she was hung over and just a little upset.

"Oh Gods, Dem, I stopped by the B&B last night because I'd had a shit night and my friend runs it and... Oh sod that! There were these three women there, all of them were packing guns and one of them was a golly and they were looking for you! They said they were going to go down to the licencing office and hassle them about your business if I didn't tell them where you were but of course I didn't and they said they were trying to find someone and I was so... so..." Fion looked down and realised something. She turned incredibly red. "W... Why are you in a sheet?"

Oh Gods, he'd pulled her in off the street in nothing but a sheet. There was just a sheet between him and... Not that she was seeing anything more than she'd see when he was in the wrap... Gods fricking damn...

"Guh." She said eloquently, kind of wanting to die or wake up or something. "I am terribly sorry if I woke you."

Demkaih tried to listen her babbling, somewhere in that speech he was sure she was warning him about something, but she spoke so fast he had to re-run it through his head. Three women looking for him? Well...that was new! He followed her line of sight and looked back up at her bright red face, realizing he may have got 'dressed' a little to hastily.



The dark man chuckled and squeezed her shoulder, then moved to the side and pushed on the small of her back.

"It is alright, I was merely resting. Please, have a seat over there in the back corner. I will go dress and bring us breakfast." Turning away, he made his way a little more carefully up the stairs. Dropping the makeshift clothing, he grabbed his jodhpurs instead of the wrap and threw on a shirt his sister had sent through. It was made of a blue, light material and styled like an open front sleeveless tunic or vest. Belting his daggers over the top, he grabbed two flat breads from his little stack and filled them with bacon and scrambled eggs from his small cooking stove, again thankful the previous owners had built the stove upstairs. Wrapping the mix tightly in the flat bread, he proceeded downstairs to find Fion. Sitting beside her, he handed over one of the wraps and smiled gently.

"Alright, my poppy, tell me what has you so worked up. Three women looking for me does not seem to be as terrifying as you think."

((What Fion is thinking right now: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=naQSB1Ozyds give it at least 30 seconds for the chorus))



She wanted to do something drastic to him.



Fion sat there for a moment, the first knuckle of her right hand between her teeth. A torrent of emotions flooded through her, she felt a little chastised, a little dismissed, a little repentant because she had just barged in and as for the rest of it she was feeling very...

She tried not to think about pie.



Fion's face reddened and the residual liquor stoked the fire of her crankiness.

"Yes it is!" She said loudly, eyebrows drawing together, teeth clenching, chest puffing up, "They're pirates! Brigands! One of them is a galdori, they could screw your business into the ground for fun! They're looking for some old bastard aquaintance of theirs and they think they can find him by harassing you."

Fion poked him in the chest.

"They're bad news! They have guns up to their eyeballs and Gods know no matter how good you are with those daggers they would have you at a distance!" Fion was clutching the lapels of his shirt now and she wasn't sure where that wrap had gone but her legs seemed to be straddling his. "I don't want you risking your neck like you did with that tsuter Dom Leon and for the Gods' sakes Dem I am not made of stone! You drive me crazy!"

She let go to grasp her head with both hands.

"Damnit!" She near-shouted. "I'm going to kiss you now!"

And with one hand encouraging his jaw to loosen, she did.

Demkaih was speechless, her outburst caught him off guard. Pirates? Looking for him? What on Vita would they want with him? And an old bas...he clicked. That awful ticky man from yesterday morning, the thief. His jaw clenched and his face darkened. Of course, he should have ignored him that first day, he was so seedy, but seemed so desperate.



The dark man held his wrap in one hand away from this new angry Fion and supported his weight on the other arm. She was so different, no longer the sweet seamstress but a firecracker! He couldn't help but start noticing how close she was...

He tried not to think about pie.



Were they still talking about the pirates?



He dropped the wrap and reached up behind her neck, pressing into the kiss, closing his eyes and breathing deeply through his nose. She made it completely impossible to think of anything but pie. Running his hands down her back he rested them on either side of her hips, lost in her embrace. His body was reacting strongly to her closeness and passion, the tight jodhpurs relaying it clearly.

Fion had Dem's shirt front clutched in a death grip. She pressed her hips down, down, down and well finally, physical evidence that she could still inspire something in a sober person. Almost a goddamn decade, her nerves were fried. She wanted Dem, stupid, lovely, wonderful jerk so bad it was like her skin was on fire. There were ways around her cursedly effective reproductive system and it wasn't as though she'd completely forgotten how everything worked.

She let go of his shirt and pushed her hands up under it, clutching at his back. She wanted... She wanted...

"Upstaiirrssss." She hissed into his ear.

----


((and that is about all you're getting before a fade to black, Alisoina. ))

---

Demkaih opened his eyes for the second time that day. He stared at the ceiling for a moment, before turning to look at the woman beside him. She was beautiful in the dim lighting of the upstairs room, so peaceful in her sleep. They hadn't actually taken the final plunge, but the things she could do....his arms raised in goosebumps. To say he wasn't completely satisfied would be an enormous lie. Rolling on his side, he stroked her cheek lightly with the back of his hand, lazily contemplating finding his clothes, but happily content to lay under the sheet with her.

Fion hummed happily as Demkaih's hand stroked her cheek. She opened her eyes, gently raising one of her hands to clasp over his. She smiled softly back at him. She had really needed that. He was amazing, it made her blush just to think about it.

"Hello love," She said, rubbing at her eyes a little with her free hand.

Demkaih smiled back at her.

"I did not mean to wake you, my beautiful poppy." He raised himself up on his elbow, head propped in his hand.

"Now that we have that out of the way, what is this business with pirates?"

"Out of the way?" Fion said, mock-annoyed. "You didn't seem to be complaining at the time."

She sat up a little, letting the sheet slide down, smiling wickedly. She sobered fairly quickly.

"They were in the B&B, they said they were looking for you... Possibly for someone else as well." She reached out to touch the side of Dem's face, still feeling a little embarassed and sore in the head from her previous nights' actions. "I didn't tell them anything! But... then they started to threaten going to the permits office and messing things up for you. One of them was a golly so..."

Fion trailed off. She wasn't sure what to do about them.

Demkaih frowned. He hadn't meant it like that. Opening his mouth, he looked like he might say something. Instead, he closed it again.



The dark man looked down as the sheet moved and his smile returned, it was hard to leave the woman be when she was like this, but he was settled for now.



Demkaih reached up and held her hand, kissing it and smiling.

"I know you did not tell them anything, my wonderful woman. Do not worry, I have not made any enemies with pirates. If they are looking for me, I have a feeling they are looking for information. There was an old man here yesterday. A pirate I think. And he stole a bag of cloves from me." He held up his hand to stop her before she said anything.

"It is not important. Those who must steal have more need for these things than those who can pay. I am guessing these women know about his penchant for cloves, and they must know I saw him at the harbor when I first got my shipment." Laying back and putting his hands behind his head, he sighed.

"Thank Hulali for you Fion Smith." He really didn't like Anaxas. But he was committed.

Fion had been very about to say something. She quelled her fears for a moment and gave him his chance to speak.



Fion curled up under Dem's arm, one of her own across his chest. She hid a smile, tucking her head down.

I love you, I love you, I love you... She thought but didn't say. She found it difficult to express her feelings. Too long she'd considered expressing external attachment to be a sign of weakness. A hint that she wasn't able to control her own life or care for her own when so much hinged on her ability to do so.

"I'm so glad you walked by my door, Dem." Fion said, sighing happily into his warm skin.

She told herself that it was going to work this time.