Reckless And Impulsive [Private]

He had fallen asleep in the cold. He didn't mind it, really--the snow around him actually insulated him more than one would expect, and while he might wake up with a little bit of a sniffle, he would never really be too much worse for wear. He had not expected this day to go as it had for him, so when he finally fell down to rest he had assumed that it was all a dream--that he would wake up on exactly the same morning, in exactly the same place that this day had started--and yet he would not visit upon the strange green-haired woman and her dragon. It was certainty that guided him to sleep, for Dorian Nicola truly believed that the day previous had been a dream. He had other dreams that night, though few he would publicly describe--most of them were, for lack of a better term, embarrassing. Instead, no, he would dream dreams that no men would ever hear the details of, not feeling the warm tail wrapping around his body and pulling him against scaly flesh; nor could he feel the head resting on his lap. Eventually, however, he would awake--he would awake at the time that he would always awake, and look up at the sky above him. He was certain that he had fallen asleep on his back, so to wake up sitting up meant that maybe he really had dreamed. There was a kind of warmth against his back that pulsated in and out, and he turned his head to see that he was resting against a dragon. He clenched his teeth, closed an eye and tried his hardest not to make any sudden movements. He recognized the dragon as the one from the previous day, which meant that it was certain to be friendly--but that didn't stop him from feeling worry about the beast his back was against.

He felt weight on his lap and turned to look down, seeing a mop of brown hair spread out over the head of a sleeping woman. She looked peaceful as she rested, one of her hands gripping his pants. It seemed, after all, that the previous day was not a dream. Dorian let out a sigh and looked around to see where they were; it was some distance from where they had picked up this dragon. "What've you gotten yourself into, Nicola." He leaned his head back and received an almost sympathetic grunt from the dragon. "Um... We've got a dragon." He looked down at the source of the voice. The woman had awoken. "I've got a dude... Oh my god!" She rushed up to her feet and made a large show of things, stressing and babbling over the fact that she had apparently taken some guy on a trip because she felt like it, and because he was hot. He let out a long breath and held up a hand, using his other to wipe down his face, before getting to his feet and stretching outwards. As he stood up, she started coughing and fell back down--the dragon caught her, but Dorian could not help feeling sorry for her.

"So where exactly are we going?" He raised an eyebrow. Where did she think she was going? If she thought she was coming with him in the state she was in, she had another thing coming. He wasn't going to let her get killed like this. Another coughing fit later, and she spoke again, "I think I'm going to need a little medicine or something... The next town shouldn't be too far away, right? I have my own money, so... You don't have worry about paying for any of it." He let out a breath and placed his hands on his hips. "Well I had plans, but they've been a little... changed. I can't bring someone with me on the job I was going to, so I guess that I can... let it go. They won't miss me, I'm sure they have other people who can do what I do." He held out a hand, offering it to get her back to her feet. Whether or not she accepted, he would speak again after she got to her feet, "From what I can tell, we're pretty close to another town. Probably small, but I'm sure they'd have some kind of remedy for your cough," he folded his arms, "Arcadia is the place where all problems get fixed, after all." His words were somewhat tight and restrained when he spoke that sentence, and after he finished speaking he motioned for her to go with him. "C'mon. We should get you some medicine."

"Did me joining up really mess with your plans that badly? Sorry about that... I can probably help you with the job in secret, maybe? I'd rather not completely mess up what you were doing..." He raised an eyebrow and chuckled quietly, shaking his head and placing his hands on his hips, "That's not the best idea. Most people disagree with my line of work. I'd rather not suddenly have you dislike me, so I'm going to keep that a little bit... under wraps for now." He nodded sagely, hoping that she'd understand. He didn't really feel like revealing to this woman that he was the kind of person who killed mages for money. "You didn't exactly sound... sincere with what you just said about Arcadia... You got some bad history with the country or something?" He shook his head and looked out through the trees, trying to see if he could spot any incoming beings. "Bad history, not really. I love this country, but there are people who talk it up too much. They... try to make it seem like more than it is, and that was what I was mocking." He gave her a small smile that was meant to be somewhat reassuring as he reached down and started to gather his personal belongings. When he had finished that, he pulled his pack over his shoulder and made a quick mental note of directions. "I think... we should go this way," he pointed in a direction and started heading that way. If he recalled where he was correctly, then he should be right. Their travels carried them through trees, Dorian remaining slightly ahead of the woman and her dragon the entire time. He used animal trails and the like, trying to find the right places to be and to go, while hearing Reina coo'ing to the beast that they had taken with them.

"I like this guy... he's so sweet and he kept us warm last night..." He smiled to himself, though she couldn't see it, "Someone so loyal and kind deserves a name, don't ya think? How about... Goro? Drake? Wilbert?" Dorian didn't really proffer names to her, instead making accepting grunts whenever she dropped a name he liked, but she eventually quieted for a few moments before speaking again, "What about Nero?" He turned and looked back, interest piqued already. He liked that name, and it suited the creature. He nodded in agreement, but apparently the excitement was a bit much and Reina launched into a coughing fit again. Dorian quickly stepped forward and attempted to catch the woman, putting his arms around her and holding her up from falling. He wondered if there was potentially something seriously wrong with her; this kind of coughing was almost unnatural. Trying to wrap his head around it, he simply made sure she was feeling a bit better and able to stand up properly. She recovered and spoke a bit to the dragon, so Dorian let go of her and turned around again, resuming a rather stoic façade. "How close are we?" He frowned, "I'm not sure... give me a second, and don't freak." Kneeling down and breathing out, Dorian set off at a run and jumped up slightly, hitting a tree at speed and suddenly moving upwards, as if his own gravity had changed. Instead, he was simply redirecting the kinetic energy to counteract gravity--running up the tree was really no problem. He maneuvered for a bit and managed to make his way to the top, looking out over the treeline and seeing that they were but an hours' walk away. He let out a relieved sigh and turned around to run back down the tree, using the same Arcana to stop himself from colliding with the ground at high speed. Returning to a normal walk and dismissing any amazed expression that she might've had, he simply gave her a smile and pointed in a direction, "Unless something decides to get in our way, I'm thinking probably just one more hour of walking. I'll talk about anything you can ask on the way, though there are some things I still can't explain."

Any questions she might have had, he would answer to the best of his ability. He would be pointedly quiet about his line of work, since he didn't quite know if she'd react favorably. He'd also occasionally slow down and scratch the dragon behind one of its ears; it seemed to react as a large kitten, which he actually quite liked. He was generally friendly and amicable for the remainder of the trip.

Reina was impatient; it didn't take a rocket scientist to recognize that, which is something that Dorian might have thought had he even understood the concept of a 'rocket scientist'. Instead, he simply realized that she was being quite impatient, since whenever he'd reached back to give the dragon a pet she would wrap her arm around his and continue to pull him along. He noticed a lot of her worries would be coming from the fact that she seemed ill--something that worried him a lot. He wouldn't be dragging her along anywhere if she was as sick as she seemed to be. Every time she opened her mouth, she devolved into a coughing fit. Dorian, while having been in the world for quite some time, really didn't get that it was because of the cold air. Eventually, they reached the town and Dorian immediately noticed that people were pointing out the dragon and the girl it was being trailed behind. Fingers were pointed and voices rang out; Dorian could tell that these were very irritated and unsympathetic voices. "H-He's f-fine! H-He won't h-hurt an-nyone! He's practically... a b-big cat!" She struggled to speak amongst her coughing, and Dorian felt himself getting more and more annoyed with the townspeople. There was a woman who was obviously in a great deal of pain, and they were worried about the dragon pup?! He was almost ready to bellow his frustrations at them when a child tottled along and started playing with the dragon's tail. It didn't take long for the dragon to start playing with the kid, and for more kids to traipse in and being to play as well. He couldn't hide the huge smile on his face that grew when he saw this, and stretched out to look around. There were several horrified expressions as parents began to rush over, and Dorian held out an arm politely, "Do you really think it possible that someone like her would be carrying around a ferocious beast?" He proffered a smile and pointed, "Loo--""Dorian..." He turned suddenly and dove forward, catching Reina before she landed on the snow. Her breathing was raspy, her cheeks flushed. She likely had a fever, and he didn't want to dally too long. Standing up straight and hoisting Reina into a fireman's carry to make life easier for both of them, he motioned to the kids with an apologetic expression, "C'mon kiddos. We're probably gonna be around for a bit, so make some room eh? No need to suffocate... and I have someone who really needs some bedrest."

He calmly beckoned for Nero to follow and started to pick his way around town--clearly knowing where he was going--and took her to the nearest inn. He'd get a medical expert to check her out in the inn, but for now he wanted to get her into some warm blankets and near a hearth. Carrying her into the inn with Nero, he got a look from the innkeeper and gave a look in return. The innkeeper's face recoiled in recognition and he simply nodded. Dorian pulled a small bag from a pocket and tossed it onto the counter, the bag rattling with coins. "I'll being the dragon into the room for now, just to keep watch over her. I'd advise against sending people into the bedroom." The innkeeper nodded in understanding, and Dorian carried her up into the bedroom, placing her down on the bed and sighing softly, "I should get you out of those wet clothes... damnit all. Sorry." He frowned and started to peel her clothing off of her, trying his hardest to preserve her dignity. He brought over a thick robe and wrapped her up in it, before also tightly wrapping her in the blankets on the bed. He closed his eyes and attempted to get the image of that particularly attractive body out of his head for the sake of her dignity, before petting Nero on the head, "I'm gonna go get some food and some medicine. Look after her for me, pup." He gave the dragon a smile and stepped back out of the inn and into the streets. His first stop was the nearby general store, from which he would purchase some food to be warmed up and some warm drinks. His next stop was a pharmacy, where he would get some medical supplies to help her get over her cold a bit faster. He would call in a medical expert if necessary, but for now he just wanted to help her a little bit.

The pharmacy was a simple affair, but leaving it wasn't so easy. With the food, drink and medicine in his bag he would step out of the building to be met by a semicircle of muscle. "I had heard the rumors, but I didn't think it true. Takes a lot of nerve fer ya ta step back into his town, Magebreaker." He raised an eyebrow and flung his bag over his shoulder, before rubbing his temple and sighing softly. "I ain't workin' today. Just let me pass." They sneered a little bit, and the leadman was about to say something else when he had a bag thrown at him--once again, the bag rustled with coins. "I'm not here to make trouble, so please let me pass. I just want to deal with my business and then leave." The burly man frowned and stepped aside to protests from his mates. "Get outta here. You'll be out of town in a week or I'll force ya." Dorian bowed politely and hurried past, returning to the inn with an irritated expression. He stepped back into the inn room with a sigh and moved to the cooktop, beginning to prepare food to serve upon Reina's awakening. Nero curled up beside Reina's bed and watched the door, and--at least for a short time--the room fell into a soft calmness and normal quiet. Reina would awaken to the smell of a hot meal, the sound of hot drinks, and the sight of a hot male a kindly smile from Dorian, "Welcome back to the land of the livin'. Hope you like bacon and eggs."[/color]

"I fainted... didn't I? Good morning and yes, I do. Thank you." He turned slightly and smiled at her, plating up the food as it finished sizzling. To be fair, he was quite surprised that it worked--he was just cooking in the hopes that she'd wake up soon enough. For her to wake up at that exact time, well it was quite the benefit wasn't it? With a chuckle and a flourish, the last of the food landed on the plate and Dorian turned towards her, wandering over and sitting the plate down on the table, the ceramic clattering. "D-Did you change me?" He chuckled softly, "Well, yes--I had to get you out of your soaked clothing; it wouldn't do for you to be wrapped up in warm robes and then a cold layer between." He gave her a soft smile and sat down and picked up a fork. She merely began to eat, rather than taking some kind of ceremony about it; Dorian found this to be somewhat nice, to be honest. A simple thanks and the beginning of the meal. As if to mirror her action, he began to eat in silence as well.

Growling interrupted their meal, and Dorian looked over to see that the dragon was looking particularly hungrily at the food on the table. He blinked a couple of times and sighed, realizing at that moment that he had no idea as to the kinds of food dragons ate. Especially young ones. Did they share a diet with their adult counterparts? He had no clue. This problem would start to take over his thoughts until they were wonderfully interrupted by Reina's voice. He blinked a few times and watched the exchange go on between girl and dragon. She tossed him a piece of bacon and finished off her own meal, and it took Dorian another few moments to realize that he had been so busy watching that something had stolen away with the rest of his bacon. In most circumstances he would probably have gotten mad, but instead simply chuckled and nodded, finishing his eggs and taking the plate up to wash. Not long after he felt arms thrown around him and a face nuzzling into him. "Thank you for taking care of me. I feel some better, but I still need that medicine... Would you mind taking a walk with me?" He was happy that she was not looking at his face, because he was suddenly somewhat red. Taking a moment to get his bearings, he turned around after she had removed her arms, and gave her a good smile, "Sure, I can do that." Gives me a chance to get outta the house, after all." The house being an inn, of course. Dorian the Magebreaker was really not a ladykiller.

Petting Nero on the head with a clearly teasing threat of, "Watch your dinner," Dorian grabbed his bag and slung it over his shoulder. They'd probably need to take another night, so he'd bring her to the front desk and do so--apparently, not one person had decided to take that room. Holding Reina by the arm, he would take her (and Nero if he came along) into the town, in order to find a medicine for her. As they wandered, he would begin to ask her questions--they weren't the most probing of questions, but just small things here or there. Small things about her, about her life, about anything in general, really. He wanted to get to know his travelling companion after all.

Honestly, he had no expectations that she was going to answer any of his questions, let alone answer all of them. He sort of didn't know where to go to from there, especially because she didn't seem to be trying to ask him any questions in return. Eventually they stopped (he had figured she'd finally stop answering if he asked something personal like a boyfriend question, but did not expect her to respond with a bap to the back of his head), and she seemed to get a little downtrodden by the fact that men didn't seem to like her. "So where is this medicine place?" He tapped his chin and looked around, hoping that he hadn't gotten too distracted by their conversation and somehow managed to get the pair of them lost.

Noticing a few familiar landmarks, he maneuvered the two (well, three) of them to where they were supposed to get to, and motioned for her to wait outside with Nero--just in case. He stepped into the store and looked around, trying to work out exactly what medicine she needed, "Ugh, this is not my forte..." He would grumble to himself, continuing to read tiny labels and trying to work out what they needed for the situation, before giving up and poking his head out the door, "So what is it you need exactly?" He was so good at this.

"Hm, yes, okay." He turned back into the building, still not entirely convinced that he'd easily find her medicine--he really didn't enjoy hunting for these kinds of things, but he wasn't qualified to look after Nero, and Nero wasn't coming into the building by any stretch to the word. Far as he knew, people didn't really take kindly to dragons--even younglings like that one. After a few more minutes of searching, he found a 'cold medicine that can be put into tea', and purchased it, taking it out to Reina, "We'll deal with this when we get back to the inn tonight... is everything okay with Nero?" He blinked and tilted his head to the side as she explained the situation, nodding--"I guess that even a youngling like this beast needs its proper food requirements, doesn't it?" A soft sigh and a smile, and Dorian would give her a nod, "Would you like to take him out to some new hunting grounds? I could probably help find one. If nothing else, I could probably just buy a cow. Alive, if he'd prefer the hunt. I have a bit of money on me. They paid me half as an.. 'attractor', after all." They wouldn't care too much. They probably found another.

"Guess you could call it that," he smiled softly, taking a moment to look out the window over the street, "My line of work generally doesn't let me take on companions of any sort--to be fair, it's often something of a turn-away." He chuckled dryly, shaking his head, "Though I suppose I should be honest on that, eh?" He looked over at her, frowning slightly, "But, my line of work can really push people away. Not all of them... approve of it. I'd understand if you told me where to shove myself." He smiled weakly at her, shaking his head, "I'm known amongst the people of the, uh... less-reputable places as 'Magebreaker'. It's my job to be brought into places where mages are running amok... and deal with them." He sighed and looked back out the window, not sure how she was going to react. It was, as he had thought, entirely possible that she was going to look at him in horror, take Nero and leave--or even sic the dragon onto him. It was the moment of truth, but if they were going to travel together, he would need to be entirely honest with her.