The Long Game

I glare at him. "Watch it, or next time I'll make you a woman in rubber and a dog collar."

i say "hey at least id have boobs" smiling i ask "what happends if a dratsie has aquaphobia?".

I look back, nonplussed by his odd and pointless comment as we descend the stairs. "I don't think we can be scared of it. It'd be like a fish being afraid of water."

"well ok it cant happend but lets say it did happend i mean what would happend" i say as i walk beside her.

I shrug. "I guess you wouldn't eat much fish, is all."
The pastry shop is well lit, bright and fairly cheerful. While Ignacy nearly drools over the sugary confections, I take a look over the pot-pies, labeled with their filling; ostrich-egg quiche, chicken, dove,duck tuna, beef,pork, long-pig, manticore, kraken, Roc, oliphant. I choose a duck pie, the package warming my hands as the old lady with three eyes hands it to me. I glance over at Ignacy. "Ready to go?"

i point my finger upwards in a theatrical way and shout "back to the boring!".

As we walk, Tom crawls back up onto my shoulder, his little legs prickling through the fabric of my shirt. He makes a funny little electric sigh. I glance at him. He;s staring at my food. "Are you hungry?" I ask. Can he even eat, I wonder.

tom looks at liv in and in a bored way says "sure gal you got some cutlery on you?" i stop for a moment with a whole donut halfway in my mouth and get a bullet out of my coat and throw it to liv.

I look from him to the bullet...then hand it up to the little creature. Its silvery skin absorbs the slug with an odd little noise.
"So," I say, to fill the silence, "Who programmed you with the cockney accent? Do you remember?"

tom drolls on "the engineer obviously unless you think the viking who recently moved into his workshop has the brains to move a soul into an inanimate construct".

That gets my attention. "A soul?! You mean you're....you're a being in there? A living soul? I thought you were...programmed, or something."

tom asks "whats the difference? artificial intelligence and emotions are just as real as natural ones".

I shake my head. "Don't change the subject. You're...how...why did you choose to be in there?" I pause, realizing that it might seem like prying. "If you don't mind my asking." I add.

tom says "i was doing time share with my bodies when the engineer disappeared" he adds as an afterthought "damn good money too".

I blink. "And you got stranded. So...who's in your body? Your original one?"

tom answers "oh we never met them personally but i imagine theyd be partygoers who didnt want to deal with the hangovers so to speak".

I wrinkle my nose. "People really will do anything in this place to have a good time, won't they?"

tom says "pretty much" and looks at me and says "I know what youre up too".

I start to ask another question, when a great roar rends the air. I jump, turning sharply. Two great, gold dragons, each as long as a building, are growling, their tails knocking people and beings and cars this way and that. One of them raises its head, and trumpets again. I gulp. "Oh sweet lady and bright lord...." and all the time, they're coming closer.

i draw my sword yelling "dont worry my fair maiden! il protect you!" in a knightly manner

I grab his arm, pulling him into a side-street. "You fool, get out of the way!"
The dragons, their wings furled tight, roar and screech. And to my shock, there are words in that yammering. Old words, spoken in a mix of latin, hebrew and old English.
"Where is he?! Give him back!!!"
"Hatchling!!!"
"Return him or die!"
My eyes widen. "Dia Danu. It's...oh I can't believe this."
I stand, stepping out, and raise my voice, calling my power into my voice, calling the need to pay attention, the need to listen.
"Kin of Tiamat, I greet you! I have met your hatchling. He came here of his own free will, striking out on his own. He is living safe in a place called the Fortress, up on the hill."

i go close to liv and say "these are dragons liv you cant reason with dragons i mean they are dragons!" then i smile and say "please sic me on them!".

I hold up a hand. "Don't you dare." I hiss between my teeth.
Both dragons pause, turning to look down, to listen.
"Who are you?" the brighter-colored one hisses.
"A friend." I say, "A daughter of the river. I gave your son food and shelter, until he found a place of his own. He is at the Fortress. Safe."
For a long moment, the two dragons look at each other. Then they move as one, turning away. I gulp as their scaly bodies move down the street, honestly glad to still be alive.
"Wow."

i sheathe my sword and mutter "i never get to have any fun" i almost choke on a whole donut and say "lets get back to the boring stakeout".

I sit, staring at my cup of coffee as if fiddle with it. 'Damn this,' I think, the buzz of six large mugs of the stuff muting other thoughts. I watch my hands shake, wishing the tigress would come back over, at least for a few minutes distraction; I watch her tail twitch across the room as she speaks to a pretty young blonde, jotting her order. She laughs, points a thumb over her shoulder in my general direction, and with a swirl of skirt and apron disappears into the back.

I look down at my mug again... empty, damn it, when did that happen? My hands fidget and threaten to over turn the cup onto the floor; reluctantly, I withdraw them, focusing instead on the book that I found on my bed the other morning. I've been trying to read it since then, but every time I open it, the pages go blank. Sighing, I flip the page just in time to see an ampersand tumble between the pages into the binding before burrowing itself back into the book. "Doesn't even have a proper title," I grumble, closing the book and looking at the patterns pressed into the leather where the title ought to be.

"Of course it can't have a proper title." I jump at the voice, and turning to look, see the honey blonde peaking over my shoulder, smiling. "What kind of title can you give a secret?"

"Well..." I begin, only to be cut off. "Well nothing; Secrets get locked in books, then hide when you spread the leaves, like cockroaches," She makes a face at this, "You just need to know how to bait them out, Lambkin." She smirks and taps the page. "May I?"

I nod and she picks up the book, taking it by either cover and fanning the pages so that they fan out in a half circle and proceeds to ruffle them back and forth, watching the words and letters attempt to dance out of sight before they can be seen. I hear the spine crackle and reach across the table, ready to object to the rough treatment of the book when she sets it down of her own accord, smiles coquettishly, and giggles. I freeze, stunned by the bizarre behavior when she winks, sets her pinky finger on the book and gives a sharp clockwise twist. She pushes it across the table to me and I'm astounded to see 'The Greatest Pleasure' emblazoned on the cover. I smile wordlessly and casually flip the book to a random page... and blush so crimson that I feel as if I'm going to set fire to my seat. I slam the book closed and mutter a fragmented sentence, causing the book to take root and flower in to a small potted tree on the table.

Smiling an embarrassed grin, I turn to look at the girl again, taking in her slight build, made even more so by her tunic/vest combination, grey eyes and the light curl in her hair as it cascades in a ponytail to between her shoulder blades. "Sorry bout that..." She smiles impishly, "I didn't catch your name..."

"Lil' Lilly Lass, Last Lock'n'Latch Lifter; t'ant a thing I can't open an pillage with my master keys" She smiles broadly and lifts her right hand, a tattoo of lock with five keys radiating along the length of each finger plainly visable, "Though somethings may belong under the key; what they call you, Lambkin?"

"Right now, Lambkin's probably an apt enough name, given the circumstances."

"That so? What ya got to fear?"

"Enough not to get more people involved... Buy you a cup of coffee?"

"Make it Irish, an' ya got a deal."

I wave the waitress over and place the order, taking care of our existing tabs while I'm at it. We sit quite a moment, then, "Wanna have some fun?" I look up at this, and she's grinning again and reaches across the table for my hand. "Lets shake lil' Lambkin's chaperons and then I can show him just what else I can unlock." I sit back and pull my hand free as I feel myself start to blush again, even as the twin of her grin lights my face.

"What you have in mind?"

"Nothing just yet, but that's half the fun... Come on, act the man." Once again, she grasps my hand in hers and then leans in over the table to whisper in my ear, "I promise I'm not a man eater like some of the other bitches you'll get at the bars; just come along." She breaths lightly on the nape of my neck and withdraws, still holding my hand. I hear a chitter from one of my coat pockets where it's draped over the back of my chair, but ignore it. I nod my head in agreement and cast a couple of coins on the table before rising to follow Lilly towards the back exit, leaving my coat on the chair.

Once in the alley, the way becomes a perfect maze, particularly with the way she would stop to open doors before shepherding my through. In my own mind, I became lost following her through empty and crowded shops, up stairs and through windows. Every time I would pause to look around and take in my surroundings, she would grab my hand with her's and suddenly she was once again the center of my attention. "I know a great house, just a few more passages over... Nobody's actually lived there for ages, but its still furnished better then any brothel in the city. Take my word, I've robbed the top 10 list." The words buzz softly in my ear, but I seem to have trouble focusing on them, so I just nod my assent.