A Feeling of Warmth (Orion)

by **Basha'ir** on August 14th, 2012, 4:22 pm

Orion clutched at her hand and Basha’ir raised one eye brow quizzically. His assertion made her smile again. Yes, indeed, she knew he was a mess inside. But she made no barb, no jest at his expense, for she did know, how torn up he was, in his heart, his mind, his soul. Poor man, yes it was all very true. But she thought he was underestimating the power of a goddess when he dismissed her gnosis so contemptuously. Still, he was right. She did not know all there was to know about him, only his needs, and his desires.

His touch on her cheek was not surprising. Most men she met would want the same thing from her as he did. But she did sense that perhaps here, there was something more? Something…deeper. He wanted to know her, not just as a warm body ready to stand on her head to satify his every wish, but as a real person. He was…curious, almost as much as he was filled with physical desire. And she too now wanted to tell him everything he wished to know, to satisfy that need. As she had said about him a moment before, she too could not help herself. Where his mind turned, where his body chemistry urged him on, Basha’ir reflected every shaded nuance of his muddled needs.

And his words nailed that point right on the head, though it seemed Orion might not realize the whole truth here. Should she tell him, what many men and women knew, about her mark? For more than the enhanced allure that Nikali bestowed upon those she chose, far more, was the effect it had on the marked one’s own psyche. Basha’ir literally lived to serve, in a way very, very few slaves or companions or partners ever could. And she did so with exceptional skill, with the ability to sense what was wanted, or needed, before even the one she touched might know it themselves. This was why Theodoric kept her hidden, and why every master who had owned her since first she was marked had lost her to another, often in brutal, horrible ways. This was why men who knew of her gift wanted her so badly. Not for herself, but for themselves. She was the ultimate ego-stroke, a creature who existed to fulfill them, and who reflected their own needs so perfectly. No resentment, no grudges, no unwillingness, just pure happiness in serving. What more could a person want?

And yet, Orion did not appear to know this.

Yet still, she could feel in his touch, that he wanted her, for her sake alone. Well, that and a little help from Nikali. Why did she find that…moving?

Should she tell him the whole truth? She felt that, no, he didn’t really wish that. Not really.

Basha’ir looked into his bright blue eyes and smiled gently. She nodded. “Yes, that would be foolish indeed.” This was her role, her life, to go along with what others needed, if they were in contact with her.

“So,” she said, her eyes going once more to her soaking foot. “This will take a while. Would you care for some refreshment while you wait? I don’t have any pomegranate juice, but I can send the servant to buy some, if there’s any to be had. Otherwise, I’m afraid it will have to be wine, though we do have cinnamon.”

OOCFor the sake of making Basha’ir look good, pretend that pomegranate juice is his favorite non-alcoholic drink, though he hasn’t had any in years , and that he likes cinnamon in his wine

by **Orion Michaels** on August 14th, 2012, 4:56 pm

Orion, Day of Summer 52, 512 AV

He studied her reaction to his small outburst, hoping for some sort of reaction, something that expressed her thoughts, but it appeared the woman had no tells, no giveaways. Orion shook his head again. "Basha'ir, I must offer you another apology. I was sent to treat you, and now we speak of feelings? I must look a fool. Don't you worry, I don't understand me, either." Though it's not the first time a pretty woman messed me up when I met her. A sly smirk appeared on Orion's face, as a mixture of joy and sadness sat heavy on his heart. "Now let us try and keep it professional. I don't mean to break your heart, but I'm afraid I'll have to spurn any further advances from you." He gave her a quick wink. He was slowly trying to recover himself, recenter himself, and present the Orion he showed to the world. Basha'ir had already seen a side of him none had seen since his first and truthfully only love. It hurt to show it. If I could only forget..

It seemed like every step the physician would take, she would say or do something to drag him back two. He gave her an unbelieving look as she suggested drinks. Had she known he was thirsty? "How did you....for real?" The mark? "Two of my favorites..." It couldn't be, could it? Could he hide nothing from her? Maybe he was discounting it's power a little too much, but how far did it extend? He released her hand slowly as a grin overtook his face. She really was something.

Leaning over slightly to her, he spoke quietly. "Can it be both? I happen to love pomegranate juice, but I find cinnamon wine more refreshing. However, your servant, I feel like she's been boring a hole in the back of my head since I've arrived. Send her away?" He nodded in approval of her choices. Incredible. "I've been craving both for some time. A lot of ale at the bars, but I've rarely spent much time enjoying the finer things. You have my thanks." He wanted to reach out and touch her again. Orion didn't feel the effects in the same intense way she did, but he felt connected nonetheless. I mustn't. He turned his focus to her feet, needing a break from her pain filled green eyes. He didn't need a mark to see that.

by **Basha'ir** on August 14th, 2012, 10:06 pm

She could not help but smile at his little joke, knowing he was trying to shove aside needs and wants in preference for professionalism. The look on his face was classic though, as he heard her offer him the two drinks he preferred above all others, when he was in the mood he was in right now anyway. He probably hadn’t even been consciously thinking about them, but she knew what lay at the dim corners of his mind, regardless. At least he took it well, grinning at her apparent powers of reading his mind. That wasn’t quite how it worked, the gnosis. But he must have assumed that was it.

When Orion agreed with her suggestion, and amplified on a second reason to ask the servant to go fetch some pomegranate juice, an absolutely brilliant smile lit up Basha’ir’s face, like the sun. Here was a desire she could easily fulfill, and she turned to the older woman without hesitation, and bade her to go find what she could, no matter whether it was proper for her to be left alone with this young man or not. That wasn’t what was uppermost in Basha’ir’s list of priorities at the moment. Even Theodoric’s semi-threatening words of earlier were easily pushed to the back of her mind. He was her owner, her master, and normally his desires came first. But he had made a mistake, and sent her a male doctor, one who could hardly help but be at least a small bit taken with her. And Orion was more than a small bit taken. He was well and truly bitten. And with the obvious need to have some sort of touching contact with her, well, Theodoric wasn’t thinking very clearly, it seemed. But Basha’ir could not worry about that now. Here was Orion, right beside her. Here he was, with at least one thirst that could be sated. She would move mountains to see that it was so. But in fact, it turned out the only thing she’d need to move was one stubborn old lady.

The servant shook her head grimly, frowning at them both, but especially at Basha’ir. Her arms were across her thin chest, and she scowled.

“No! Our master gave explicit orders. I was…” She had so obviously been going to say keep an eye on you two. And she as obviously halted in mid-sentence, in order not to offend the doctor, who might actually be someone important. Her narrowed eyes went to the slave then, as she finished with, “to stay and make sure everything necessary was provided. For the healer.” Emphasis in her not being there to serve Basha’ir’s needs. No way.

Basha’ir was, however, not willing, or even able, to see this request let go. Without even thinking about her foot, or Orion’s instructions, she stood right up and pointed a regal looking arm at the woman.

“You shall do as I say or my master will hear about it! You heard this good man.” Her hand dropped to gesture gracefully towards Orion. “He asks for pomegranate juice. He thirsts for it. And he shall have it!” Her tone was imperious, and as she spoke her own throat seemed parched and in need of such sweet refreshment as well. She gave the servant woman a look such as an empress might give the lowest minion. “You do not want me to tell my master that you have upset me.”

If she had tipped her hand that she was not quite portraying herself as Theodoric’s ward, she didn’t seem to have noticed it. And if the servant had been instructed to help keep up the pretense, she too seemed to have forgotten Theodoric’s instructions in the heat of the moment.

“And you had best remember your place in this household, girl, and I don’t think you’d want your master to hear about you entertaining men in private in his own home! I know how you are! He told me to be watchful, and that I will be.” She glared at Basha’ir for another moment, then looked at the doctor, her face a bit abashed but also quite firm. “My apologies, sir. Those were Master Theodoric’s orders.”

Basha’ir had her lips pursed together in vexation, and she huffed.

“Fine, then. I will go myself!” She flung at the woman, daring her with a look to object.

Of course, it seemed the elderly servant was just as likely to throw herself bodily at the young slave and tie her up and sit on her, as she was to just stand idly back and let her traipse out the door.

by **Orion Michaels** on August 14th, 2012, 10:56 pm

Orion, Day of Summer 30, 512 AV

Just when everything seemed to be going along fine, the events which unfolded next left Orion dazed and confused. This beautiful woman; the one whose fingers Orion would seem to be wrapping himself around, was responding with such want that his request be fulfilled. So aggressive. He couldn't help but note it. She had been so reserved before, so in control, and now, it was so very different. Were her emotion's alway so volitile, he pondered? It was a simple glass of juice he had requested. Did she want to be alone with him that much? In truth, it was very much the other way around.

The young doctor's heart nearly climbed out of his throat. Master? When the old woman had said it the first time, it was natural. Of course they refered to him as Master Fat Man. He forced a smile at the woman's lie that it was for his own sake that she mustn't leave. My master. There it was. The way she said it, it sent a chill down his spine. It wasn't right. The man was sick, forcing his ward to call him such a thing, or was it something even more horrifying.

The realization that she was standing hit him, almost sucking the breath from him. He grabbed her arm to keep her weight off the injured foot. Orion held a different motive, of course. He wished that her magically mind reading powers were turned on, or however they worked. If his coming suspicions were true, then he couldn't possibly say them aloud. Would it be worse if he were wrong? "Basha'ir," he said, coolly. "I need you to stay off that foot. I wouldn't want you to injure it further and cause your...master..to be upset at me." He lingered on a certain word in his speech. Master. Master. Master. He didn't want his fear to be true. "The juice can wait. Wine for now. We'll have time for the other on a different occasion." He doubted it. He would probably never see her again. That was his worry. With a master. A master. "..A master..?" Suddenly Orion was the one who needed steadying. He allowed himself to fall back onto the bench, exhaling a deep breath. You're not living if you don't experience every petching emotion there is in one day, huh? What could he do? What was he supposed to do. He closed his eyes and leaned his head back. "Please. That wine."

by **Basha'ir** on August 15th, 2012, 12:12 am

His touch on her arm immediately redirected her focus, onto him. She gave him her full attention. And she felt his negative desire, his desire that his conclusion, about her state of being, was wrong. Sadly she looked at him, knowing that, once more, she would fail in this. Despite wishing to be somehow mistaken, Orion was right, of course. She was a slave. A very bad slave, she thought, in that she was unable to make anyone happy. Orion’s desire for her body was waning, and in its place was…some growing desire to protect her? Her lips parted slightly, and Basha’ir could only stare at him for a moment, so confused by the maelstrom within this unhappy man. Then Orion was sitting back, like one wearied by a great tribulation, and she nodded, still stunned by all his internal conflicts. She turned to the servant, the confrontation of a moment before forgotten in the light of the healer’s anxiety, the juice abandoned.

“Bring the doctor some wine, please,” she asked in the same quiet, melodious tone of a few minutes earlier. She herself, sank down onto the bench beside Orion, trying to reposition her foot in the water as she had been told, looking at him with a great solicitude. Basha’ir moved her hand a few inches to place it lightly on his.

“Yes, I am a slave,” she confessed, breaking her master’s secrecy, here in a city where slavery was not tolerated. “In more ways than one, I am bound to serve.” Her fingers moved lightly over the back of his hand. “Bound to serve any whose skin I touch, Orion. It is the mark. I know what you want, and I also know what you need, even when the two are at war with each other.” Her words were very soft, spoken so the servant who was in the adjacent room now would not overhear them.

“I know this must seem very confusing to you. I know you are confused. When I touch you, I know.” She shook her head sadly.

“And that which you want, I want it too. Because of the mark…”

This last was barely a whisper.

by **Orion Michaels** on August 15th, 2012, 1:57 am

Orion, Day of Summer 30, 512 AV

Slave. A slave? The word reverberated inside his very being. He never really thought it true, especially here in Syliras. They were so vigilant about it. Everyone had a use, but not to one individual. No one truely owned anything. So for someone to claim possession of another person like that? It was a difficult thing to for the young doctor to comprehend.

He looked at her, his feelings of lust supressed for the moment. A woman bound to serve. Whose desires would be his own with a simple touch? If he could remove himself from all feelings, all wants and wishes, all sense of right, could that be a perfect situation, he wondered? A submissive partner, willing to serve fully? Orion shook his head and watched her place her hand on his. He sighed slightly, relaxing at her touch, knowing full well she was now aware of what was going on inside him. "I bet most men would just...have their way with you at this point, huh?" He closed his eyes. "You're the perfect partner. Giving and giving, wanting what the other wants. Making their desires your own?" He chuckled. "It..sounds awful." He didn't know if it was selfish, but he just wanted to free her of it. "I'm afraid I don't have the power of a god, though." He really didn't know where to go from here, so at least for the moment, it was back to work. He squeezed her hand gently, reassuringly, before moving back to the ground. "I think I can apply the salve now." He moved slowly, though. The salve, a clean bandage, and that was it.

He unscrewed the lid and lifted her foot from the water. "It may hurt at first, but it should sooth thereafter." He scooped a generous porition of the thick cloudly salve and began gently applying it to her injury. He wondered, was her master going to punish her for this? Would this come back down on him? Surely a man who held slaves also held power if was able to hide them in Syliras. This servant woman, would she be the problem? Do I tell the Knights? Or do I just take her from here myself? Could she resist? He whispered. "I don't think I can, but if I wished that you leave here with me, would you?" Orion gazed up at Basha'ir's face, his normally briliant eyes unusually clouded with doubt. "I wouldn't," he said, resigned, "take you in that case, though. Despite them being my desires, turned yours." His voice trailed off slightly. "If you wished it of your own accord, though..it would be a whole different story."

He gave her a sad smile. Orion was no saint. He had indeed taken advantage of woman, but only if they fell for whatever line he fed them. There was choice in the matter. One's own desires were their own, and was this impossible with the beauty he was touching? "If we touch, will I never know your truths?"

by **Basha'ir** on August 15th, 2012, 12:18 pm

If she wished it of her own accord…

That was the problem though, wasn’t it? Oh, certainly, Basha’ir had her own desires, her own needs. But they were always quickly overridden by those of whoever owned her, if he was touching her, which was quite a lot of the time. In between times though? Oh yes, she had many desires, all of them centering around being someone other than who she was. It didn’t matter though. She had been a slave all her life, and no man would ever consciously free her. No man that she had ever come in contact with before, at any rate. Until now…

Orion had bent to his work again, and she watched him, noting his sure movements, his gentle manner. She had probed his heart, and she had felt his misery and she knew he had some core of worth, and virtue, despite the many layers that life slaps on our essential selves over time. His whispered question was a very good one, and she had an answer, but it was complicated. His second question was even more insightful, and in response to it, she sighed, giving him a wistful look.

“I don’t know myself any better than you know yourself, Orion. I have needs, wants. But when we touch, no…then there will only ever be you.”

She paused, contemplating his suggestion, about leaving. Such a ridiculously dangerous idea this young man had. Theodoric would go to any length to get her back. He had already killed a man in order to possess her. He certainly wouldn’t hesitate to do so again. This novel wish to free her, though, to take her away only if she desired it herself, it made Basha’ir feel a type of warmth towards Orion that she knew, somehow, was far more original, far more real, than anything she had felt in a very, very long time. It was a warmth whose genesis lay truly within herself. And just as she knew Orion’s idea to be fraught with terrible risk, so too she knew this feeling within her to be one that could quite easily result in more bloodshed, more death. It was one that she could not consider, could not contemplate, could not allow to persist. For Orion’s sake.

With another sigh, this one inaudible, as he finished dressing her foot, bandaging up, she leaned forward and placed one hand on each side of his face, gently holding it as she looked into his bright blue eyes. Basha’ir concentrated and felt the res within her flowing into her hands and out through her fingertips, into the young man before her. She stared deeply into those eyes, summoning both her skill and her will, for this was incredibly difficult, to contravene the needs she could feel humming within him, to resist incorporating his desires into her own. It would take a huge effort to force her own desire to prevail over his, a monumental one, but she was determined. It was the only way, to cut him and his insane, sweet, impossible idea off, here, and now. She would do this, for him.

Softly, she spoke, in a voice more melodic, more sing song than before. It was a lulling sound, a soporific one almost, like a drowsy crooning.

“There is only one truth, Orion. Only one. You do not desire me. You do not wish to take me from here. You have come to do your job. You have done it. Now it is time to leave. You will think no more about me. You will not remember that I am a slave. Should we ever meet again, you will know only that you treated my burnt foot and nothing more. You will not think about me when you leave here.” Her fingers moved to trace down his cheek, as slowly she leaned back, feeling the lightheadedness that came with such effort. She felt the res ebb from her fingers, her hands, and she settled back on the bench.

With a neutral, polite smile, she said, “There, it looks as if you are done. You are very skilled, doctor. My guardian chose well. I hope he pays you well for your services.”

by **Chevalier** on August 30th, 2012, 4:25 pm

Basha’ir

LORE

Sewing a Head Scarf
Orion’s Favorite Refreshments
Standing Up For Yourself

EXPERIENCE

Skill	XP Earned
Sewing	1
Persuasion	3
Rhetoric	3
Observation	1
Intimidation	1
Hypnotism	1

Orion

LORE

Healing Minor Burns
Healing Oil Burns
Nikali Mark is Ranuri

EXPERIENCE

Skill	XP Earned
Rhetoric	2
Medicine	4
Seduction	2
Persuasion	1
Observation	1

Storyteller Notes

Secret :