The Wolf and the Woman

[TemptressFate]

Lorelei flinched slightly as she felt him gently pull the fabric from her hands. Once she heard his footfalls across the room she backed up just slightly cringing as she heard the slight growls,whimpers, and popping of bones. She didn't know what was happening so that increased her heart rate and her fear. She was worried about what was about to happen.

Once she heard his voice she let out a squeak of surprise. "But.. Wha...I don't..." She mumbled in shock. "You are a man...?" The slender heeled was trying very hard not to panic or faint. She knew that as a healer she needed to help anyone no matter what species. Besides he hadn't been harmful to her infant he had been rather sweet. "I can make you some more tea to help if you would like..." Her voice was quiet and timid worrying what could happen if she made him angry.

[Shade]

Shade blinked at her frightened expression, a mild frustration building at the back of his mind as he let out a low sigh. Still he had expected it as he slowly slipped into his pants with grunt and growls. Deeming himself at least semi-decent he slowly climbed to his feet and loosed a tight chuckle.

"Sorry for scarin' ya again." Shade said with a hum, eyes traveling over to peer down at the bewildered woman. Slowly he limped to stand in front of her, gently taking her hand in his own and giving it a firm shake. "I'm Shade and I'm a shifter from Marn. I was on my way here when I twisted my ankle in a rabbits hole. I changed into my wolf form to get here and... well you probably heard transforming isn't exactly comfortable. It's a pleasure to speak with you, m'lady."

With that he purred his voice, a bad habit that never seemed to leave. He chuckled again though this time it was heartier.

"As for tea, why don't I help you out? I'd rather you not get burned or fall into anything again." He mused politely. "I can hop still after all and I'm afraid I'm going to have to protest to my 'princess' nickname. As you can hear, I'm not quite the right gender. I am quite pretty though."

[TemptressFate]

Lorelei nodded slightly as he recounted his tale. "Rather unfortunate way to get hurt. How did you manage to walk into it?" She asked softly. She jumped slightly as she felt his hand touch hers before returning some of the pressure to shake his hand back. "It's nice to meet you as well, I'm Lorelei I guess you gathered that I help heal others here."

Her pale cheeks flushed red when she heard the smooth tone to his voice. No man had really used any time like that well maybe one would but not once they had seen her face. Her sightless eyes widened slightly as she realized he was looking at her without her cloak and she tilted her head down alightly.

"I don't mind making it for you Sir I'm sure you need to rest." She replied. "Oh my I am very sorry about that. But your fur was just so silky it was just natural to think it was a females. But I'll have to take your word on you being pretty."

She moved around her table quickly though and fetched the herbs she had been using. "If you mix a few leaves of each in the hot water over the fire it should make a stronger tea to help at least bring down some of the swelling and pain. Although you don't need to be on it much at all."

[Shade]

"I could describe myself if you'd like." Shade suggested though he grunted a bit when he shuffled towards the stove and peered at the nearby leaves. He could recognize a few from his mother's book and hummed triumphantly. He gently picked them up and eyed the kettle with a hum before glancing back at her with a wide grin. "Or you could feel for yourself. I warn you, I am not wearing a shirt."

Despite his teasing he watched her like a hawk, unsure how to deal with the woman. She was blind, and scarred but she didn't seem like a bad woman either. In fact, she took him being a Shifter quite well compared to some encounters he'd had. No broom swinging (though that could be because she's blind), no screaming, no wailing about monsters or being filthy. Nope, just gaped at him for a moment then offered him tea. He snorted at the thought. He needed more meetings to happen like this.

"So, do you live here by yourself?" He asked her offhand as he turned his eyes back to the heating kettle. "I didn't really smell much past your herbs when I came in so I couldn't really tell. Shame if so, you're quite the nice woman. It would be nice if somebody actually went about and help you for once, eh?"

[TemptressFate]

"How about you describe first then I can feel later if I like what I hear." she commented trying to tease the man back slightly. Her pale cheeks were painted red as she spoke but she was proud of herself for being able to flirt back slightly. She listened to his movements around the small room before motioning over to a small glass jar or atleast the general direction of where it should be. "There is honey in the car over that way if you want to sweeten the tea a little bit once it is finished.

She ducked her head slightly in embarrassment at his last words. "No it's just myself... While the towns folk appreciate what I can do they tend to avoid me if they don't have problems." She said with a slight shrug. "The kids call me a monster and men don't want a woman who has flaws. The woman are more friendly though." Lorelei was rather used to being alone but it didn't mean she was happy about it. "While help would be nice I've learned to make it pretty well on my own."

Carefully she shifted slightly and fiddled with the stem of a herb she had been using earlier. It was one of her few nervous habits that tended to pop up whenever she was around others. "Do you need anything more to eat?" She asked after a moment wondering if the bowl of stew had been enough to fill him.

[Shade]

"They call you a monster?" Shade blinked and frowned heavily at the 'monster' comment. He huffed in disgust at the thought of such manners, his nose wrinkled and his brow tightened as he growled lowly under his breath. "Well aren't they the little.... at any rate. If they don't know how to treat a lady then they shouldn't have one at all."

He snorted firmly at that, turning to glare at the door and demand any of the little bastards go through. She was a monster was she? Well then, he'd show them what a real monster looked like. He ground his teeth for a moment before huffing out a sharp breath then turning back to look at her.

"Don't get me wrong, I'm not a saint myself but at least I treat a person on how they act." He scoffed. Shade glanced down at the kettle and blinked, realizing it was steaming already while he mentally chewed out the miscreants. He blew through his lips like a horse would before turning and pouring the hot water into a nearby (and appearing to be clean) cup. "Would you like any? Thanks about the honey. At any rate, stupid kids really need to learn some manners."

"Calling a lovely thing like yourself a monster? Pah!" He stated with a wave of his empty hand. "I tell you, if you are a monster than so are the stars. Both are just as pretty and harmless. Well, I'm not sure if you're harmless but as far as I can see you certainly don't have any baby corpses or butcher knives ready for me either. Wait, don't tell me. You are actually a giant man-eating fox who can look like a human. I should have known you were too pretty to be true."

With that he clicked his tongue and set the kettle back on the stove, blowing on the surface to cool it.

"As for food, the stew is enough for me thank you." He said with a low chuckle. "Though I don't have money at the moment. I was only meant to swing through and go back to the city. I'll have to repay you another time I'm afraid."

[TemptressFate]

Lorelei had to chuckle slightly at his response realizing that as a shifter he had to be judged more often than what was fair. "It's okay they are young and are just learning how to respect others and how not to be so brutally honest. I haven't seen my reflection in many years but from what I can feel I'm sure that it is pretty monstrous compared to the delicate features I used to have." She couldn't help but internally smile at his words, it had been quite some time since anyone had defended her or even called her pretty. "I'm sure that as nice as your voice sounds you must have a handsome appearance to accompany it." She flashed him a slight smile with her words.

The redhead wasn't used to anyone being this friendly and was enjoying it more that she thought she ever could. Kinda sad if you thought about how the young woman should have had many opportunities to flirt and have fun had she not been delt the cards she had been. But atleast she could say she had helped more people than she would have if things had gone as planned.

[Shade]

Shade blinked when she brought how he'd must be handsome and let out a loud barking laugh. Putting his cup down he slowly limped around the table until he stood right in front of her. Being sure to chuckle so she knew exactly where he was, he gently took her hands in his and paused when he noticed the stem.

"Here." He grinned as he gently took the now twisted stem out of her hand before taking her hands and putting them on his face. "I'm a bit of a big fellow mind you but I'm at least friendly. Tanned, green eyes, and my hair is black. Rest of it I guess I'd be flaunting but what can I say, I'm a bit of a narcissist."

His grin widened as he lowered his head a bit more so she could easily reach his the back of his head.

"Though I guess I looked pretty mean when I'm a wolf. Careful around my neck mind you, the collar can prick ya if you pull on it." He warned. He doubted it would hurt her much if her fingers got caught but there wasn't telling how clean the damn spikes were after so long of wearing it. He grinned. "Think of it like pettin' a big dog I guess."

[TemptressFate]

Lorelei blushed as she felt his hands touch hers, the warmth and softness of them surprising her as they touched her colder slightly calloused ones. Very carefully she felt out the contours of his face. "You have strong features." She commented softly as she traced her fingers along his jaw then through his hair, carefully so as nit to tug on them. Her fingers then danced down and brushed over the collar. "That's why I thought that you were a dog, although I was confused about the spikes. Doesn't seem quite fair." she then moved on to lightly touch his shoulders and down his arms letting her fingers trace their contours.

Her cheeks held the deep red color as she let her sense of touch draw a picture aided buy his words in her mind. "You are beautiful in a handsome way." She said softly, turning her sightless eyes up at his face before starting to withdraw her hands, not wanting to overstep any lines although she did pause slightly as she accidently brushed his torso, causing her cheeks to flush even deeper red. "Well Princess, "She grinned slightly at that "I have to admit that at least it seems like you have at least a little something to flaunt. Better than most dogs could claim."

She jumped slightly at the loud sound that chose this moment to announce its entrance. "Oh!" she squeaked in surprise. The storm seemed to have snuck up on the small town and the woman unable to see the flash of lightning was taken by surprise by the loud noise and gripped his arms in shock. Rain shortly followed cooling the air slightly, a brief pause in the sweltering hot sun.

[Shade]

"Huh, I didn't smell it coming earlier." Shade mused as the thunder and rain immediately began to beat at the house. He grinned however at the slightly jumpy woman and gave her a playful snort. "Don't worry. The big bad wolf will protect you from the mean storm. As for those compliments before we were interrupted, thank you. You're quite the looker yourself."

He grinned widely when he simply stood with her gripping his arms, making no movements to shake her off or really anything save chuckle. Instead he hummed and looked towards the doors where he had been let in. "Guess I won't be making it back to Marn as fast as they'd like me to either. Hate to bother, would you mind if I stayed a while until the weather clears then? Nothing smells worse than wet wolf I'm afraid."

[TemptressFate]

Lorelei chuckled slightly and shrugged "Mother nature has a mind of her own." She said letting her body relax slightly "Well Im glad that the Big Bad Wolf is willing to protect the poor defenseless woman from the nasty storm." She laughed and shook her head "You are a smooth talker." She commented before hesitantly letting her hands start to fall off his skin almost reluctantly.

"I'm sure that I could house you until you are able to travel back to Marn. You need to keep off that ankle anyways. It will just make it worse if you walk long stretches on it until it heals." She smiled slightly "It isn't much but it's dry and warm."

[Shade]

"Well, I have to do what the lady doctor says after all." Shade agreed as he gave his eyes a bit of a roll before slowly turning and heading back for his cup. "Though I have to admit, not many doctors I know of are blind. You learned about the herbs before your lost of sight then or somehow afterwards?"

He wasn't really sure if her blindness was a sensitive subject or not so he decided to dance around it like a bloody gentleman. At least, sort of. Instead he hummed pleasantly over his tea and took a warm swig, grimacing when the herby taste touched his tongue. Right, he also forgot to add honey.

[TemptressFate]

"I lost my sight when I was a young girl." Lorelei responded "My parents didn't take well to having a disabled child so they sent me here to live with my human aunt. She spent her days healing the townsfolk and I had to tag along and picked it up as well. I have learned the smell and feel of the herbs so I can distinguish them from each other." She paused then and bit her lip slightly as she pondered telling the man in front of her the other little secret she held. "I also have slight healing magic. Only simple things like small cuts or bruises but it could be expanded if I trained with it but you know how everyone feels about it. The towns folk infact don't know that I have the ability."

She hoped that the shifter would keep her secret and that she wouldn't have to deal with being frowned upon even more so. It made day to day activities a little hard when no one would do business with you. Even now she delt mostly with the few travelers who had no other choice than to see her or trading her herbal remedies when she could.

[Shade]

"You use magic?" Shade paused as he stared intently at the blind woman, all smiles gone as his brow furrowed. Automatically he cursed his luck, idly itching his collar as he tried to think. "Healing magic... could be roped up to be just really good medicine abilities though. As long as I don't actually see it then I can't say what it is either way."

He glanced up at the woman and sighed, leaning back against the counter as he stared dully at his cup. He glared sharply at it for a moment before sighing again. What sort of magic user actually says they use it in front of a stranger? What would have happened if he was a guard? Even now it was going to be tricky to keep her secret kept, especially if asked with the right questions with this stupid collar.

"Listen here, and listen good." He growled. He hated the threat his tone took but he didn't bother to change it. She needed to know he wasn't kidding. "I've misheard you and you don't use magic. People can say you have a magic touch, or the way you work blind is a miracle but you do not use magic. Correct?"

Oh things above let her catch on.

[TemptressFate]

Lorelei listened to him and chuckled softly. He was a good man and this test had just proved that. "Oh come now I was just kidding. A test of character you could say." She half lied. "Do not worry, I'm just a simple maker of herbal remedies and such no one has ever seen a magical action pass from me, well unless you count wondering through a crowd without tripping over something." A wink was added here before she stood and carefully made her way to pour her self a small bowl of soup. This had been a small test of character and she didn't let on that his tone bothered her, a trait the blind woman had to learn. She did pick up on his not so hidden meaning behind his words and filed it away for future reference.

"Are you sure that you don't want any more?" She asked as she moved back to the table her expression once again returning to that of a quiet woman. Carefully she settled herself back into the seat and began to eat slowly so as not to make a mess. It was very embarrassing to eat in front of someone else and due to her disability make a mess.