A Time to Reflect

[Cheyenne Fordyce]

"Goddammit, sonofafreekingbeech!!! Ow! Ow! Ow!" Cursed Chey hopping around the sitting room of her house holding her foot in her hands, she flopped back onto the couch and the cloak next to her shifted as she did, causing her to forget about her toe and run her fingers over the material of the cloak with a sigh. "You have no idea what you've done do you?" She sat back against the couch, her fingers running through her long blonde hair as she looked out the window to the setting sun. The rest of the magic tournament was going on tonight and there was a new place open tonight she wanted to check out, but with all that had happened on the beach last night, she was wary to return there. She shook her head as she looked back down at the cloak, it seemed to warm beneath her fingers which caused Chey to blink repeatedly. "To protect me, protect me from what exactly?" She thought fondly on the night of the Talon tournament and the time they'd spent in the Annex alone together, talking once again into the early hours of the morning before he had escorted her home once again leaving once she was safe in the doors, he'd asked her a question that had made her heart fall to her feet in those quiet confines of the Annex but Chey of course had played it off and now the echoing whisper of last night brought a shiver to her.

-----The night before-----

She'd been quite amazed that there was a place that allowed magics to be cast so freely as if it were common and she had sat on the sands watching the magic tournament in earnest and wonderment. There was only one woman though and that perked Cheyenne's interest as she watched the woman and came to the realization that the woman was quite pregnant and fighting. Chey wondered quietly if there were those ward things here on the beach too, she hoped for the woman's sake there were. He'd arrived shortly after she had, they had not agreed to meet tonight, though Chey had silently hoped that they would cross ways during the course of the night and was pleasantly surprised when he sat himself down next to her and they watched the tournament together for awhile. The talked and danced around certain conversational moments, or moreso Chey danced around it. Neither had mentioned his pertinent question of the night before as they watched the fights together.

They sat there together on the sand, to any that would be watching it looked like nothing more than two aquaintances chatting and watching the fights, no one could see the energies pulsating between the two of them and their soft innuendos to one another. She'd been watching the fight with the woman in it when she heard the growl from Artemus. "What's the matter Artemus?"

"The man that kidnapped Alais is here."

She nodded thinking that it would best for her to remain silent and watch the fights and that is exactly what she did when she felt him squeeze her shoulder gently.

"Be right back....."

She nodded to him with a smile and watched him go for a few minutes and then turned back to watch the fight with the woman in it with a growing curiousity. Her fight had ended with her loss and Cheyenne was slightly disappointed, she'd been cheering for her silently but what she knew of magic, she knew that the woman no matter how strong she let on to be was rather weak right now with being so far along in her pregnancy. She let her gaze follow the woman, her eyes showing a glint as she caught sight of Artemus moving towards the man the woman had just stepped out of the ring with and she blinked, head canted as she watched their exchange with a hidden worry. Her jaw was set in a somewhat stern expression as she watched him approach her again.

"Hey Chey.....something wrong?" There was a worried tone in his voice as he spoke to her.

"Yes!" She stomped her foot into the sands much like a child as she looked at him.

He cringed visibly as she spoke. "What may I ask is wrong?"

"You! You! What were you going to do? He's a ::bleeping:: dangerous ::bleeping:: thingie and and ::bleeping:: Christ Artemus! I am not ready to lose you yet! ::bleep!::." Chey was flailing quite wildly all over the place as she spoke and pointed and flailed more in front of him and she was so throwing a tantrum she was caught off guard when he leaned in and kissed her to stop her agitated flailing, the kiss, though shortlived caused her knees to weaken. Blinking and swatting at him for all of a second, she huffed before re-collecting herself. "That isn't gonna get you in good graces!"

"It won't will it?" Holding her closer. "How about this?" Leaning in he kissed her again.

Chey had had little time to react or oppose him as she felt his lips press against her more forcibly this time, her knees wobbled and her legs turned to jello as she leaned heavily against his body, and this as well was shortlived as the starking realization that he had kissed her not once, but twice in front of everyone on the accursed beach, she started to flail again. "Stoppit!" She gave in and placed both hands flat against his chest, quite breathless as she looked into his eyes.

[Cheyenne Fordyce]

An hour or so later that night...

She'd been sitting as quiet as she could, and it was a valiant effort from the Rogue as trouble stirred heavily around her, the pregnant woman and her now not flaming husband disappeared and things settled down for a few minutes until that Vampire typa guy decided to spout off and Cheyenne had to let out some steam...

"You and your brother are fools, and I only think you as self-delusional and crazy as everyone else. I just have less care for your "feelings"."

"You're an asshole. Why don't you just shut the hell up and do us all a bleeping favor."

"Why don't you test me, girl."

"Test you? Don't know ya bleeping alphabet? Ya got ya ass kicked, go back home with ya tail between ya bleeping legs no one gives a bleep about you."

"Why don't you put your fight where your mouth is. I thought as much."

The Vampire had Cheyenne's temper flaring and she felt Artemus' slip away from her and she watched him head towards the bar and standing Chey glared at the Vampire with steely pale blue eyes. " And why the ::bleep:: do I wanna fight you for? You ain't worth my ::bleeping:: time." He had heard his approach more than anything and felt the impulse to look into the Vampire's eyes, felt something calling her, willing her to look into his eyes and slowly Chey found herself lifting her eyes to meet his. There was a flash much like a movement of electricity by Chey and his voice started her causing her to look to him instead of Vanion.

"Do not look Cheyenne.....he'll roll your mind..."

Her answer was quite blank as she blinked, looking into Artemus' eyes. "What?"

"A vampires gaze can hypnotize if you look into their eyes directly...."

She was a bit dazed from whatever hypnotic attempt Vanion had used on her as she blinked a bit, feeling fingers on her chin, guiding her to look up. Then Chey felt a hand clamp down over her eyes and Chey snapped and stepped back from the contact, shaking her head a bit. She couldn't see, the hand was still over her eyes and she felt the slightest of impacts and blinked beneath the hand. She could hear the two of them talking, feel her body being tugged back and forth between them, but the hand was relentless that covered her eyes. She was spun and was disoriented as she smelled him and loooked away.

"Enjoy the arms of your boyfriend. The sense of false protection. There are nastier creatures here than I am, and others far less kind."

She blinked and growled but something else had caught her attention as the Vampire walked away from her, Chey thought to herself it was damn good that he had he was beginning to agitate her nerves, she started flailing and squealing as a weird mist started to circle around Artemus but he seemed to pay it and her no mind as the mist and he interacted, flailing and babbling more he asked her to stay put and she huffed but did as she was asked, though after a few minutes of watching she resorted to findind a deserted rock and trying to figure out which rabbit hole she'd stumbled on when she saw his troubled look. Rising quickly she asked, "What's the matter?"

He smiled at her as he answered, "Nothing you need concern yourself with."

Chey was confused as she watched him, she had been trying to sort out her life, get it straight and figure out what to do with it and in a night he'd upset everything and now she had been trying to figure out what she was feeling with him, for him and without him and this just made it worse as she looked at him, searching for the right words..."If it concerns you, it does me as well, no?" She watched as he had crossed his arms and answered with a firm, "No" and her heart dropped and her anger flared. She thought she knew where she stood now as she moved to untie the cloak he had given her earlier in the night as she watched him, emotions careening and crashing in her like a huge tidal wave. She had seen him lean in but had paid him no mind until she felt his hot breath against her ear and heard his words. His words sent a different chill through her body as she looked at him, they spoke quiet words and then he left to take care of pressing matters and she sat on the rock again and was left to her thoughts.

He wanted to protect her, but protect her from what? She didn't even know the woman or why she'd been taken or what even in the hell was going on with that and what made him think that the people that took the other woman would harm her? She was tired, she hadn't slept and she decided she'd go home and she started off to find the exit and came to the abrupt realization that she'd stumbled on the place through a weird door and now she had no idea how to leave, there were no doors, no nothing and Chey was left rather confused and the people left on the Isle were either chagrined about it or paid her no mind and then he was there as she had silently wished he was to at least show her how to get the hell offa this weird beach thing that had only traumatized the poor Rogue and hand in hand they had left and a string of obscenities flew from Chey's lips as she swore up and down that the hole had not been there a second ago.

-----The next night-----

She quite literally fell through the glowing hole in the air, a string of obscenties announcing her presence if any had missed her stumbling as she stood and dusted off. "Goddammit sonofafreekinbeech. bleeping wierd. Bleeping hole almost swallowed me." Once Chey had calmed down she sat on the sand, she'd had nothing else much to do and found the beach to be beautiful, she watched the fights and watched the drama going on around her not really caring for much. She'd been thinking, couldn't stop thinking and trying to come up with a plausible explanation that would make sense to her of what the hell was going on inside her and outside her and all around her but nothing was making much sense as she buried her head in his cloak and inhaled his scent and sighed. She'd had a headache from no sleep in the last four days and the drinking she'd been doing lately wasn't helping much either when she felt arms slipping around her naked waist and a warm breath against her ear...immediately Chey panicked and started flailing but the grip was tight around her body as he held her closer to him and spoke gently to her. They chatted briefly over this and that and that and this and Cheyenne found that she was quite disturbed with the things on the beach but the beauty of the beach was enough to change her mind.

-----A few hours later-----

That damnable Smelly Drunken Ashtray had antagonized and pushed Chey again and she'd let him push her buttons, mebbe for another break from the emotions that Artemus had stirred inside her, mebbe from sheer curiousity of the magic fights, she knew nothing of the magics...er well she did but she knew she had little to no magical talent whatsoever and as she found herself inside the ring with him she came to that realization quite quickly and didn't know what to do, she pulled the cloak tighter around her body and felt a small bump and started to rummage in the pockets and started throwing things at the Smelly Drunken Ashtray.

She had faught her second magic fight thingie and though she had been using things from inside Artemus' cloak she ran towards him from the ring, she'd been thinking the whole time while fighting and watching and not sleeping and fighting and talking and had come to a decision, well not really it was more spur of the moment Chey let it off to herself as. If she'd actually admitted it to herself she probably would not have allowed it as he lifted her and twirled her in the sand, the moment seemed to perfect, to right and she looked deep into his gray eyes and uttered one, soft word to him. "Yes."