Closed [Rearing Stallion] A Dish Best Served Cold (Shiress)

[Orion Michaels]

Orion, 40th Day of Winter, 512 AV WarningIt seems this is a smexy thread. Read at your own risk. Another day, another miza. Twenty four, to be exact. And what else was there to do but waste it away at the Rearing Stallion. Nearly every day, after a long days work the good doctor Orion Michaels would make his way to the same tavern, sit in the same spot, and do the same things: drink and scope out women. This day wouldn't be any different, at least he didn't plan on it to be. Things never quite worked out that way, though. There he sat, a mug of ale before him, a wall behind him, his eyes scanning the crowd for something entertaining, but it didn't seem though there was going to be anything tonight. Off to his right were a couple of labors, laughing, joking, drinking, and having a wonderful time. The loudest of them was a rather rotund man, likely in his mid 40s. Orion had seen him around before, but even so, he was easily identifiable. Taking note of his leathery, weathered hands could help him assume that he was a manual laborer, and wrinkles that covered his face, the dark spots under his eyes, they showed a man who'd known only work. It was always strange to Orion that he'd pay so much attention to a gentleman in this establishment, but the energy with which his eyes burned despite all that life had thrown at him was intriguing to the young man. Still, he wasn't there to chat with a group of rowdy men. He was there for another night where he could just forget everything, and preferably in the arms of another stranger. It was all habit at this point. Go to the Stallion, find someone who didn't know the despicable man he was, bring them home and lose himself in lust and passion. As much as he could find, at least. So it was much to his surprise to see a familiar figure in the busy tavern. Auburn hair, deep green eyes, but more noticeable were the many bruises. Oh gods. It's her. I left one of those marks, for sure. He slowly turned in his chair to avoid looking at the woman. He didn't wish to speak to a patient, especially not one that was the cause of a rather stressful situation.

[Shiress]

Shiress finished her meal and pushed her plate to the center of the table. Her failed plans to meet a friend for dinner and drinks had her in a rather bad mood, not to mention the 2nd mug of ale she sat nursing. She was no where near sloshed, but she had just enough ale in her to give her that false sense of confidence and bit of a bad attitude one gets under it's effects.

She sipped ale from her mug as she glanced around the now crowded tavern. The room was full of dirty faces, half grown beards and fat bellies and that was just her view of the women, the men were even worse. "This is far too close to Elijah Jordan's kept company." She thought to herself as she placed a nearly empty mug back to the table. Elijah Jordan, of course, being the man that had enslaved Shiress for 28 season's before a, not so well planned out, escape and long trek through The Bronze Woods. "I need clean air." she hissed as she slid her chair back and slowly stood, favoring her leg slightly. Her leg didn't hurt, oddly enough, thanks to the ale no doubt, but it was tight and slightly immobile so she stood and stretched it for a moment before making for the crowd.

She scooted, stepped and slid her way through the mass of people as she made her way to the door. Just before stepping outside she gave one last glance over her shoulder that made her stop and move away from the door and back into the tavern. A man sitting alone at a table caught her eye. "Is that..no, that's not.." She gave an annoyed glance to a rather large man and stepped around him to get a better view."Dr. Orion Michaels." She whispered to herself.

Dr. Michaels was the very man who had saved Shiress' life a mere 17 days earlier. If it weren't for Richard and Dr. Michaels, she wouldn't even be around to yell curses at a painful leg. She had seen Dr. Michaels darting about his office at the Soothing Water's, but it had always been Min that tended to her when she was there. She hadn't even said two words to the man, in a conscious state anyway. If you'd have met Shiress out on the street any other day, she'd have glorified his medical abilities, but today, with nearly two mugs of ale in, She decided that this was the day to take care of that bone she needed to pick with the good Dr. Orion Michaels.

She glared at him as she thought of what she had been told of his bedside manner, or lack thereof, that he had shown her as she lay near death on his table. Not to mention the blow to the head he gave her with his dagger end. With that thought, she moved her hand to the side of her head, rubbing what little was left of a huge knot. As her hand lowered a sinister smirk spread across her face. She stepped back to her table and drained her mug. Plunging her hand in her bag, she pulled out a small mint leaf and placed it in her mouth, she replaced the smirk with a more pleasant -this is gonna be good- smile and limped her way toward Dr. Michaels.

[Orion Michaels]

Orion "Of course she would come directly over," he muttered, shaking his head in annoyance. Hopefully it was just to thank him, or something like that. Orion hadn't spoken with the woman at all, and to be honest, he was pretty surprised that she was up and walking. Maybe the blood all made the injury look worse than it was. Still, judging by her gait, and the difficulty she had moving, she had a ways to go. At the same time, she was healing quickly, so he supposed that was good. The concoction Min created must have done the job. He took another deep drink from his mug, ignoring the approaching woman, as he wasn't really interested in dealing with praise or what be. The woman was too injured yet for any sort of the fun Orion had in mind for the evening. Friction wasn't a good thing on freshly burned skin, after all. Maybe if he paid her no mind, she'd just go away. He could never get that lucky. Any hope that she was heading to someone other then him was quickly dashed as he made the mistake of glancing over and catching her eyes. There was no doubt where she was headed, and there was no realistic escape for the doctor. So there he would sit, quietly. There was nothing for him to say, after all. "Gonna chase all the others away," he said under his breath, sighing softly as the auburn haired woman neared.

[Shiress]

A lesson learned would soon come that would teach Shiress to consume ale a bit slower or just steer clear of it all together, but for now she was dead set on the doctor and at least having her say about the barbaric way she was treated by him. Shiress would never admit to anyone, even herself, that this little tiff she was heading into had more to do with her than Orion Michaels himself or anything he may have done or failed to do.

Shiress glared at Orion as she made her way to his table, her anger fueled by rumors and a new fondness for ale. She lost sight of anyone else in the tavern as her eyes locked on the doctor. She made her way through a final mass of patrons. A large muscular man sat telling a grand story as Shiress passed by his table. His massive arm flung out in gesture and struck Shiress in the middle of her thigh sending her barreling to the floor.

Before Shiress even realized what had happened the man was to his feet, placing his huge arms around Shiress and pulled her from the floor as if she was no more than a feather and sat her in a chair. "Im terribly sorry ma'am, I just didn't see you coming." he said as he leaned down in front of her. Shiress cleared hair from her eyes, attempting to seem unaffected by the accident. "I-Im fine." She said "Really, Im OK."

The man motioned toward the bar and soon came a waitress with a mug of ale. "Least let me buy you a drink." He said as he lowered the ale into her hands. Shiress accepted with a smile as she glanced over to Orion. She hoped dearly he'd been oblivious to the commotion and so it seemed he had been. He sat tilted in his chair looking in the opposite direction of Shiress as he fingered the rim of his glass.

Shiress sat quietly in the chair a few moments. The commotion had long been settled, but her anger had not, in fact, it had intensified. Her eyes filled with tears several times as she sat stewing in self pity thanks to the tole the ale was taking on her. She didn't even know the man, but she felt hatred for Orion Michaels. He saved her life -She hated him- They have never even spoken to one another -She hated him- The stories she has heard are only rumors -She hated him- He saved her life -She hated him- He saved her life -She despised him-

She pulled the last bit of ale from the mug and slid her eyes toward the doctor and stood, swaying slightly, then taking a step. She stopped short, holding up her finger. She pulled her pack around to her waist and pulled out another mint leaf and placed it in her mouth. She slid up to the doctors back and slowly leaned over and placed her mouth close to his ear. "Remember me?" She whispered in a low, drawn out, deviously rich tone


OOCI'll leave it up to you whether Orion saw the fall or not

[Orion Michaels]

Orion As much as he tried to ignore the woman, her staggering, but rapid approach was impossible to avoid. Trying to stare into his drink, Orion continued pushing her from his mind, but when suddenly she wasn’t coming anymore, he impulsively looked over to see the woman tumble to the ground. A rather burly man had swung his arm out in excitement over something him and his colleagues were speaking on, sending the tipsy, recovering woman to the tavern floor. Relief washed over Orion as the man rushed to his feet to pick up Shiress and bring her to his table in some sort of apology. One less thing Orion had to worry about, at least for the moment. She would spend the rest of the evening joking around with that man who had offered her his heartfelt apologies. Sufficiently sure that she would be preoccupied, Orion allowed his mind to wander back to his actual purpose for his being at The Rearing Stallion. Companionship. A night full of empty passion. It was killing him inside to live like this, but it had become all he was. Some might call him disgusting, or maybe a lot would. It was only for those moments of pure lust that he truly felt alive again. Piercing blue eyes stalked the room for his prey, but that left him mostly unaware of what was going on over where the large man had struck Shiress. There weren’t many of interest to him over there, so her approach went unnoticed. He flinched as the sweet scent of mint touched his nose, wisps of hot breath teasing his ear. How frustrating. She’d gotten up behind him without him paying any mind. What was she doing? Women didn’t whisper in his ear like this unless they wanted something, and it was almost exclusively after Orion had done some work building them up first. An . . . unexpected surprise. “If you’re going to jump me, can we at least get back to your room? The knights frown on public fun.” Predatory eyes turned to the brown haired woman’s face, this being the first time he actually took in her features. “Not bad, Miss Shiress. You have men just running into you trying to get at you, hmm? Lucky, lucky.” He smirked, blue eyes drinking in her deep green ones. “What can I do for you? Or are you here to do something for me?”

[Shiress]

Shiress was on a mission and this mission was Dr. Orion Michaels. Giving the good doctor a dose of his own bitter medicine was a high priority on her to do list for the night. What better way to get back at him than play his own dirty game or so the game half the women in the city says he plays, including the Myrian woman that stood by his side the day Shiress was brought in. So, Shiress had plenty of fuel that was backed by knowledge to play his game and ultimately win it...or so she thought.

Shiress let her fingertip run across the length of the doctors back as she stepped out beside him "Or should the question be...Do I..remember you?" Her tone was slightly playful as a sly grin played about her lips. "So, I finally meet The Dr. Michaels. I hear I owe a great debt to you, Doctor." Her eyes still locked on his as her finger ran off his shoulder and she stepped around to his front being careful not to break her penetrating green eyed gaze. She smiled "Im not interrupting anything.. am I?" She asked but not giving him time to respond, she slid slowly into the chair next to the blue eyed doctor.

Shiress propped an elbow on the table and rested her chin on the outside of her hand. She let her eyes fall away from his, moving them slowly down the front of his shirt and with a pretentious blink brought them back and focused on the doctors blue eyes again and smiled. With a hint of a raised eyebrow she said "Well then, you are quite the devilishly handsome Orion Michaels I have heard about." She situated herself in a more proper position in her chair her movements slightly awkward as her leg began to ache despite the numbing effect of the ale . " The rumors just simply cant be true." She said in a mundane tone. Her eyes cut upward back to the doctors face "Can they?"

[Orion Michaels]

Orion By the gods, she was trying to seduce him. This clumsy, injured, woman wanted to lay with Doctor Orion Michaels. Not that he could truly take advantage of her in this situation, could he? Half the fun was the hunt itself, so to have this emerald eyed woman drooling all over him with no effort, well, was it a sign of his own attractiveness or one of her desperation. Orion watched each of her moves with piqued curiosity. She'd done something like this a time or two, it seemed. A little playful banter to break the ice, a soft touch to show interest without outright saying it, sitting close to him without asking. A good mix of verbals and non verbals to try and butter the doctor up, have him let down his defenses. The majority of the patrons in the Rearing Stallion would have eaten it up. She was easy on the eyes, had a sweet voice, and appeared friendly enough. It seemed Shiress wasn't all that adverse to throwing back a few mugs, either. She just happened to have picked Orion, though, and he was a might bit more observant than most of the drinkers here. Add in that he'd barely made his way through his first drink, and well, she was walking into the lion's den. Something was off. Maybe it was just him, and he was half impressed with her attempt. He couldn't shake it though. She wanted something, and if Orion was going to be giving anything tonight, well, there was really only one item on the menu. "This isn't the first time we've met, Shiress. But I'm sure you know this." He looked from her, back to his mug, listening as she spoke. "No, not a thing. Is there something you're looking to start?" His tone was disinterested, lining on bored. A small yawn was tossed in for good measure. He would try and make her lay all her cards on the table before he gave anything back. "You've got the handsome part right, but you must explain these rumors to me." Shiress received a half glance from the blue eyed doctor as he feigned interest. There were only a few things Orion held a reputation for. Doctoring, massaging, and petching. She knew about the first, and the other two could often go hand in hand, so he wasn't truly asking anything. "I'm afraid I have no idea what you're talking about." His eyes danced with some amusement as he attempted to toy with her and find out just what game she was trying to play.

[Shiress]

Shiress wished nothing more than to just start screaming profanities at the doctor. Maybe land a slap or two to avenge the huge knot she sported for days, not to mention the headaches that came with it. Then her injured leg should not go unavenged, I mean really, there had to have been other methods he could have utilized to close her wound other than branding her again. If the the doctor had given her a warmer welcome maybe her tongue would have let loose and she'd have had her say then leave and indulge in a good night sleep knowing her just dues were given him, but, be that as it may, his welcome was far from warm. His uninterested attitude with a tinge of annoyance made Shiress' blood boil. She knew she had to step up her game if she wanted it to end in her favor and her favor would be leaving the blue eyed cutie to doctor his own bloody nose.

Shiress gave an innocent smile in the doctors direction. "Well, rumors are just that...rumors, aren't they." She leaned back in her chair and changed her tone. I merely wish to meet the man that saved my life. As Im sure you know, I didn't have a proper opportunity to do so when I was still under your care seeing as I was kno..." Her voice cut short as she deliberately changed her words "Seeing as I fell unconscious. She shifted in her chair attempting to contain her anger. "I hear your methods of care were...remarkable, Dr. Michaels."She gave a feeble smile and sighed. "Seems I have a lot to be thankful for." She leaned into the table trying to gather the doctors attention "So you see, I assure you, Im not looking to start anything.....not worth finishing" Her eyes slid sideways to meet the doctors, offering him her best attempt of a seductive expression. Surely, this would get the doctors attention

[Orion Michaels]

Cogs turned in the woman’s head as she processed his reaction and his words. The corners of Orion’s mouth turned up slightly in amusement, his eyes wandering over to her occasionally to judge her emotion and composure. “Shiress, some rumors are just that, yes.” He began to run his finger around the edge of his drink, turning his head slowly to face the seductress. “Other rumors are founded in fact. It all depends what you’ve heard.” His tongue emerged ever so slightly from his mouth, its tip running smoothly along his lips, leaving them shiny and wet. Tantalizing. “I suggest you don’t let rumors dictate your opinion of me, or anything really.” A hand found itself on the uninjured leg of the brunette woman, sliding slowly up and over to her inner thigh. “It’s best to dive in and find out yourself.” Just wished to meet him, huh? He found that difficult to believe. Why find him at the bar if she just wanted to thank him? “Well, here I am.” His free hand raised his mug for a small drink before he continued. “I’m just glad I could save you,” he said, giving a surprisingly gentle smile. “I thought we were going to lose you. I’m quite happy that you’re already up and walking around with ease.” She leaned in, and Orion moved just slightly forward in reaction. “I do wonder, though. Are you healthy enough to start anything with me,” he inquired, his hand squeezing her leg roughly, “forget even finishing.” He released his grip, sliding down the length of her thigh, bringing his hand back to rest beside his other on the mug. “I’m impressed, no, really, I am. If you really need me in order to start something, lead the way.” He turned away, once again displaying his disinterest in the whole situation. “Otherwise, leave me to my drink.” He tossed a quick wink her way before going about his business of examining the other patrons. Did this saucy drunken lady have any bite behind that bark?

[Shiress]

Shiress scanned the tavern for a chance to summon herself another ale as the doctor gave his matter of fact definition of a rumor. "It all depends what you’ve heard, huh?" She thought to herself as she watched Orion's tongue slip across his lips. "Rumors..Dictate..Opinion, Seriously? What about you knocking me over the head you piece of .." She quickly lost her train of thought as she felt his hand sliding up her thigh.

"Oh, Gods he's good." She whispered under her breath. As the doctors hand inched closer to her inner thigh her concocted seduction began to merge slowly with true desire. She held tightly to her chair as she fought against the growing temptation to slide her hand to Orion's and guide him further up her thigh.

As his grip tightened on her leg, hers loosened on the chair and she slowly began to slide her hand across her lap in search of the doctors, but just before her hand found his, he spewed an insulting, selfish fact and withdrew his hand. The doctor turned away from her displaying a lack interest yet again.

Shiress sat in a daze, surprised by her own feelings. Her motives for this visit to his table were still in place, but a bit less important than they were to begin with. She would never have dreamed that a sensual touch from that mans hand could summon such desire. She moved her eyes to Orion. Was it him or the fact that a man had never showed such attention to her...ever.

Her pondering thoughts were interrupted by Orion's voice. “Otherwise, leave me to my drink” was all she heard and that was enough to cause her green eyes to narrow and her anger to be refueled. "You vile, conceited man." She said as she glanced quickly around her immediate area.

Seeing that they had no ones attention she quietly slid her chair back and stood and stepped slowly toward Orion's back. She let her hands run across his shoulders and down his chest as she reached and pulled his ale from his hand. She lifted the mug to her lips, drained it and placed it back to the table as she leaned close to his ear, deliberately allowing her chest to push hard against his back. "What drink?" She whispered as she slid around to straddle him. Her deep green eyes locked on his blue as she lowered herself to his neck. Her opened lips moved slowly over his stubble as she allowed her warm breath to tease his skin. She slowly kissed his skin just below the jawline letting it slip between her teeth as she lifted back to his face. Her tongue slipped passed her lips and slid gently across his as she opened her eyes. "Now tell me, doctor. Are you still worried?"