Baker, Baker, Where Are Your Buns?

[Talia Idris]

Talia sighed. She really just wanted to go for a quiet walk in the park, relax a bit on her own. Now she was going to have to drag around some sort of body guard?

She shook her head. "I will be just find on my own, thank you." She tried to politely refuse. "You, good sir, need some sleep and you do not seem in any danger of getting fat. As for Shade...he looks like he is perfectly comfortable on the floor there and I would hate to interrupt his rest." She resisted the urge to stick her tongue out at Shade's sprawled figure. What had he done or said to get Drayel to do such a thing to him?

"Anyways," she continued as she straightened her cloak and headed to the door, "I am just going for a walk in the park near the university. Its day time, not early morning like before, I'm make sure to stick to the main roads if you must know."

[Drayel]

Drayel blinked before sighing, his lip twitching slightly as he glanced down at the dog on the floor. Shade pouted up at Talia earning a stern kick in the ass from Drayel, making a loud yelp escape from the large man. Taking no heed of the complaint Drayel cleared his throat.

"If you are to leave then, a favor?" Drayel asked turning a little pink. "Before you go could you get the supplies I need for a bed down here? If I'm to sleep here I'd rather use the setup you used last night. With Shade as a bloody snuggle buddy we should be able to at least grab a couple hours sleep."

[Talia Idris]

Talia smiled to herself as she breathed in the fresh air, well as fresh as you can get in a city. It had only taken her a few moments to get a bed set up by the fire for Drayel and apparently Shade as well. Snuggle buddies? Well they did know each other since they were kids, so maybe he was joking or something. Shade seemed a little too interested in the ladies to be into men, although you never knew these days.

"Goodness, what am I thinking about. I'm on a break from all that crazy stuff and here I am thinking about those blasted men." She shook her head as if she could shake the thoughts of them from her mind.

As insane and at times frustrating as the past couple days had been, Talia was willing to admit she was enjoying it to a certain extent. Spending several days alone wasn't her idea of fun and so having some company had helped to lighten her mood. When they weren't trying to destroying her kitchen that is.

Sitting on a bench she looked up at the sky through the branches above her. She toyed with the pendant around her neck for a moment thinking about days long past before tucking the ruby safely under her dress once more. Sighing she closed her eyes for a few minutes and just listened to the sounds of life around her. It would still was a while before she was expected back at the bakery so she was just going to enjoy the few moments she had.

[Drayel]

Drayel slept sound on the makeshift bed, leaving Shade to guard the kitchen while he caught some shut eye. The bed wasn't the most comfortable but being as tired as he was, it didn't take much for him to finally doze off. Shade however simply rolled his eyes and sat at the kitchen table, keeping watch with no small amusements while Drayel dreamed of something or another.

While he dreamed, Shade resumed to carving a small hunk of wood he'd found while chopping up the wood from last night. He made sure to keep the shaving is a small pile on the table, neat as he could make it anyway. He didn't want to tick off Talia more then he already had after all.

"To think, I'm guarding and your sleeping. It seems almost backwards then usual." Shade mused to the snoring guardsman. "Maybe I'll scold you for sleeping on the job. Wouldn't that be a first?"

Drayel snorted in his sleep and let a low series of grumbles go.

"Even in your sleep, ya gotta snap back with that grumpy attitude." Shade chuckled as he glanced at his carving. So far it was taking the shape of some sort of animal, most likely a sheep by the looks. Seeing the creature he paused then frowned, speaking almost distantly to himself. "The farm though, what to do with it? Are you really going to let it rot? Hope not. That was your parents pride if I remember right and your Mother... damn she made the best stew."

Shade sighed as he stared at the half-finished creation in his hands.

"Who knows, maybe you'll get a family and raise 'em there. You'd probably make a good father." A dull groan came from the man. Shade laughed and continued his carving with a grin. "Yeah, got me there. I guess you'd have to learn to have patience first. And get a woman. Both in either order."

[Talia Idris]

Talia opened her eyes and shivered. Not because of the cold so much as to her thoughts that had wandered. It was time to return to work or else Drayel would probably decided to send out a search party, or perhaps just Shade, to drag her back and make sure she was okay.

Stretching her arms as she stood she slowly made her way back to the bakery. Standing in front of the back kitchen door she eyed it almost suspiciously. The last several times she had walked through this door it had been to rather undesirable sights. Sighing she brought her key out of her purse and proceeded to open the door.

Looking in things seemed to be fairly normal. Drayel was sleeping still and Shade was working with a bit of something and a knife. Closing the door quietly behind her she locked it once more and offered a smile to Shade. Quietly walking around Drayel she whispered. "See? I told you boys I would be alright. I'll be right back down."

Yet again she climbed up the stairs to her room merely to replace her cloak. Although she was soon distracted by her flowerpots. It was harder to keep plants alive during the winter although somehow she was always successful at pulling it off. Talia attributed mainly to the amount of care she put into the plants on a daily basis. It felt good to get her hands in a little bit of earth, even if only for a bit.

[Drayel]

"It's just Miss Idris." Shade grunted when the woman went back upstairs, returning again to his carving. Drayel cracked open an eye and glanced at the stairs before groggily staring at the thing in Shade's hand. He blinked for a second before frowning in confusion.

"Is that a sheep?"

"Yep." Shade answered holding it up for the guard to see. Drayel frowned harder as he rolled over to get a better look, clapping his hands once in a 'toss it' motion. Shade threw it to him, watching with small amusements when the half asleep man caught it with ease and stared quizzically at the thing in his hand.

"Why a sheep?"

"Felt like it I guess." Shade answered with a roll of his eyes. "What, are you an artist now as well with that guardsman status you carry so happily? I could swear I see that imaginative glint in those eyes of yours. I must say I'm quite amused."

"I think you just wanted to maul a sheep and so made this wood as a suffice." grunted Drayel tossing it back. "How long did I sleep? Anythin-"

"Would I have sat on my ass carving a stupid sheep if something actually happened? Get a cup of coffee, you're asking stupid questions." Shade snorted before shoving his boot against Drayel's side. Drayel let out a low moan in response, shuffling away from the offending thing as he glared at Shade. "That's revenge from earlier."

"Fair enough." Drayel mumbled nuzzling into his 'pillow' once more and yawning. "Wake me..up....when..........."

Shade rolled his eyes before pulling the blanket back up onto the re-sleeping guard. He let loose an amused chuckle as he sat back and waited for Talia to reappear, clicking his tongue with a shake of his head. "Idiot."

[Talia Idris]

Talia was humming a bit to herself as she trotted down the stairs. Looking over she noticed that Drayel was still sleeping. Poor fellow, he had been up for so long and gotten battered around his fair share, he deserved this rest. So as quietly as she could Talia tiptoed around the kitchen and set about preparing the dough for tomorrow.

Focusing on her work and being quiet Talia all but ignored Shade. Not on purpose but he simply wasn't doing much that required her attention and she didn't want to start talking and waking Drayel. It was mostly likely another long night and everyone needed as much rest as they could get.

[Drayel]

Drayel woke off and on every couple moments, grumbling in curses as he squirmed and sighed. He was tired true, but every passing footstep alerted his senses and each scraping of the knife made his back tense. He 'slept' for about an hour longer before he finally gave in and sat up, rubbing the back of his head with a groggy sigh.

"Whats to eat?" He grumbled eyes half open and words slurred with sleep. "'m hungry."

"You sound like a child." Shade mused reaching for a piece of leftover bread he'd been munching on. "Here, want this?"

"Mhmmm." Drayel did a 'gimmie' motion making Shade laugh as he tossed it. Catching it with ease Drayel shoved a good chunk in his mouth with a happy hum. "Mmmmmm. Good."

"Yeah yeah. Just eat and wake up. You remind me of a giant toddler." Shade snorted with a roll of his eyes. "On that note, is that drool I see you have on your cheek? Awww, such a cute tin can."

"Shuddup or I'll shove my fist down your throat and pull out your innards." Drayel growled, his furious aura rolling off in unchecked waves. Sensing it quickly Shade chuckled and raised his hands in surrender, keeping his eyes down as the grumpy 'toddler' continued to munch and glare. "Idiot."

[Talia Idris]

"I an running a bakery not a butcher shop." Talia interjected with a grin as she wiped her hands on her apron. "If you insist on pulling out innards then you can go down the street."

Talia had just finished the dough and proceeded to cover the balls of bread-to-be. She had tried to go about her work as quiet as she could but it is kind of hard to throw around heavy blobs of dough and not make lots of noise.

Slipping out of her apron Talia rested her hands on her hips as she contemplated her next move. She decided to continue on her normal routine, perhaps just with a change of location.

"I'm going to brew you both a pot of coffee for the night. Although if either of you want to share a cup of tea with me you are welcome too that as well." With that said Talia went about producing the tea and coffee as the men talked.

She also grabbed a plate of leftover ginger and molasses cookies that she had whipped up that afternoon and setting them on table she sat down on the chair across from Shade. She wasn't planning on being up much longer so she didn't think Drayel would mind if she sat in the only other available chair.

[Drayel]

Drayel watched as the two of them sat at the table, munching on cookies and drinking coffee. Drayel himself made no moves to get up, just sat eating his own bread. He wanted to go back to sleep, finding it even harder to stay awake now that he was sitting up. Why? That made no sense.

He sighed and let his itchy eyes close, trying to relieve them of irritation just for a moment. Yet, he must have gone back to sleep sitting up because the next thing he knew, Shade had his arm supporting Drayel's back and was shaking him gently.

"Oi, no sleeping." Shade snorted. "Up and at 'em. I'll eat all the cookies."

"Mmmph." Drayel grumbled cracking open an eye and frowning. "What...? What cookies?"

"Miss Idris baked us cookies. She told you that." Shade said pointing to the table. "You fell asleep sittin' up again though you knuckle head."

"Shuddup, idiot." Drayel snorted as he stretched and yawned, baring his teeth momentarily before they vanished again. "What time is it?"

"Sundown."

"I slept that long?"

"Well, it probably is tiring having a stick up your ass all day. I'd be exhausted too." Shade snorted before letting out a dramatic sigh and batting his eyes at the ceiling. "T'is a shame such a man can't learn to live a little. You would be quite good at picking -" A heavy thwack and a loud yelp as Drayel glared fiercely at the shifter. "picking up woman. Owww, you hit pretty hard ya know!"

"Remind me next time to hit you harder."

[Talia Idris]

After Drayel had fallen back to sleep Talia had simply drank her tea and munched on a couple cookies in silence. She was actually surprised that Shade had chosen to remain quiet, although maybe a mouth full of cookies and the fear of waking Drayel before he was ready kept him from making to much noise. Either way Talia did enjoy the company regardless of the lack of conversation. She could grow used to this....of course it would probably be ending soon if not tonight.

After her tea was finished she had gently set her cup in the sink and with a nod goodnight to Shade she crept up the stairs. Talia decided to keep the door to her room open. Her plain white nightgown was decent enough in case of sudden entry even though she found it a bit uncomfortable. This way though, she would be able to hear if anything happened downstairs.

She brushed her long hair and tied it in a low hanging pony tail over her left shoulder and washed her face in cold water to get rid of the days grime. Before hoping into bed she looked out the window, once again reminding herself that she really aught to get a lock on it, and then closed the curtain.

Crawling into bed she chuckled as she heard the mummer of voices down below followed by a thwack with was most assuredly some part of Drayel colliding with Shade for something he did or said.

"I'm surprised that Shade doesn't have a flat head with the many times he seems to get hit." Talia mused to herself staring towards the door with a smile on her face. "Although I guess he does deserve it most of the time. You'd think he'd learn after the first few dozen times!"

[Jackal]

The heavy breeze from the rooftops made short work of his clothing, freezing them easily as he shiver atop the roof tiles. Had the stupid dog below not been guarding it again he'd of walked on the ground and out of the window but anybody could hear that loud grouching growl that erupted from it's throat.

So, he crawled on the roof with his newest staff addition strapped to his back with torn up leather. He slowly lowered his head over the edge of the rooftop. He peered inside a window, locked tightly but he could still see inside. Squinting he chewed on his lip, aiming with his mind as let loose a quick snap of his fingers. A sharp flash of blue and the crackle of magic as the window lock unlocked.

Immediately however the dog barked loudly, alerting a tall man into coming outside with his sword drawn. Realizing it was a guard, the boy in the shadows shrank back into hiding, holding his breath to see what else would happen.

[Drayel]

When Shade barked Drayel was on his feet, knowing immediately by the intensity that something was amiss. Grabbing his sword he charged out the door, looking up to where Shade's nose pointed. Turning he saw something shift on the rooftops near a window.

He cursed not taking his crossbow with him, charging back into the bakery and thundering up the stairs. He hoped Talia wore nightclothes or this was going to get awkward. Inwardly his mother screeched at him not to look at her even for a moment while his Father demanded he plow down that door and rescue the damsel. Stopping at the room where he presumed the accused window was he smashed his shoulder into the door and facing the window with a snarl.

[Talia Idris]

Talia was just slipping into the sweet embrace of sleep when all of a sudden she was brought back into startle consciousness by a loud thud. Sitting up and drawing her legs up on either side of her, Talia stared somewhat confusedly at the man in her room who stood facing the window with a sword drawn.

Talia had put on a nightgown earlier that night but she still pulled her blanket up towards her chest and clutched it close. She wasn't used to having a man in her room, or anyone for that matter. Her cheeks started flushing until she realized why he was standing there and rapidly then began to pale.

Looking where Drayel was facing she really regretted not having a window that locked. The door to her tiny balcony was lockable at least....oh dear, her plants where out there! Biting her lower lip she hoped that whoever it was would at least have some respect for her little pots of flowers that she was trying to grow to welcome in the spring.

[Jackal]

A hand came from nowhere, grabbing him by his scruff and yanking him off the roof. He yowled in surprise as he was pulled down down and thrown hard on the floor. Yelling he scrambled back and tried to stand only to meet the cold steel of the guard's blade.

"Hold, or this steel pierces flesh." the man snarled digging the sharp point firmly into the boy's chest. "State your name!"

"Get off me!" the boy shouted as he tried to pull away. "Let me up!"

"You're... a boy?"