Mistakes. - Tempest

Martina couldn't believe it, she just couldn't for the life of her believe that she had been so sorely tricked. How come she didn't see it from the start? Listen to her gut feeling? Instead she got swept up in the idea of just a handsome man liking her that didn't work for her. The woman felt rotten, betrayed, but most of all used. She was a damn fool to believe anything that any man said nowadays.

She had planned on grabbing Frankie so that her and her assistant could go get some drinks - but for the life of her she couldn't find the reliable female and every now and then male. Instead Martina had gone to the tavern by herself, and upon entering the building she was recieved with uncertainty, amusement and most of all seriousness.

Upon making her way to the bar, Martina spotted the bartender and offered up a friendly smile. "Mike! It's been awhile!" The older gentleman standing behind the bar glanced over at Martina, doing a double-take and then letting out a alarmingly loud laugh. "Miss Martina, what will I be serving you today?" the bartender asked as he made his way over to the woman. "Give me some of your strongest stuff," she quickly replied - plopping down on one of the worn out pedastals - ignoring the friendly and not-so-friendly looks she was recieving.

The bartender Mike nodded, and within minutes gave Martina her requested drink of choice. Upon recieving it, the older woman looked down at the glass - and a reminder of all that had happened flashed back through her mind - she took a swig of the alcoholic beverage, wincing slightly as she swallowed it all.

-- Four shots and too many beers later --


"Are yoooou kiddin' me? Didjoo' not see that dart CLEARLYYYY hit the middle?" A drunken Martina let out a hefty laugh as she continued her arguement with one of the scarier looking men in the tavern she had happened to be playing darts with. "You're out of your mind little girl, that dart did not hit the middle."

Martina snapped her attention back to the older man much taller and wider than she was, well ... snapping her attention in the sense of almost tripping over one of the tables. "Yoooooooooooou call me little girl one more time, and I'll stick a knife in your arm," Martina laughed as she said this - the idea of stabbing anyone seeming just completely amusing to her at the moment. The man shook his head at the smaller woman, "I could break you in half little girl, try me."

With the challenge presented to her, normally in her sober state the situation would have never rised - but Martina was the ballsy type with alcohol - of course who wasn't? It was surprising though that she hadn't upset any of the more dangerous looking men in the tavern just yet, that was of course until she had started to make her way back to the bar to try to grab a weapon of sorts - and the woman accidentally knocked over a beer into a man's lap that looked much larger and much more dangerous than the one she had been arguing with.

In response to this, the man with a now spilled beer growled "You're going to pay for that." Martina stared at the man before laughing, "Paaaay for what? Your clothes? I'm not your mooother, not responsible for clothing you." With those words the man stood up, and in turn knocked over the table he had been sitting at - which caused Martina to take a few steps back. "You don't know your place woman!"

With that, the man reached forward to grab Martina - but surprisingly even in her drunken stupor the older woman managed to dodge - laughing the whole time. "You can't caaaaaaaatch me, I'm the gingerbread woman - ha!" The man that had attempted to grab her, growled again and this time lunged forward to get ahold of her - and with that the whole tavern turned into a riot. Martina had managed to dodge a second time around, but it was only when she turned that her face connected with a rather large fist out of no where.

She did not register the pain though, instead Martina was simply knocked to the floor - rolling underneath one of the tables to dodge the several large feet that might have stepped on her. Tasting blood in her mouth, Martina spit on the floor with a slight confused frown. That was until the man she had been playing darts with earlier came into her view, "Found you little girl!"

Nikolai had gotten into the habit of coming to the tavern, later than most, and welcoming sleep with a round. Clad in a plain black t-shirt and oilstained jeans, he wandered into the usually-not-too-rowdy bar. With a look of surprise, he surveyed the chaos.

He ran a hand through his recently-trimmed hair (so it was shorter now, but still just as unruly) and wondered what the heck had started this mess. He cast a searching glance at the bartender, Mike, who pointed at a woman.

Who was in the process of being punched in the face. Nikolai might have washed his hands of any potential relationship between them, but he still had feelings for her. His eyes turned a fiery gold color and smoke started pouring out of his nostrils.

In a flash, he had closed the distance between himself and the man who had punched Martina. Without preamble, he proceeded to incapacitate the individual efficiently, without sparing the man any pain.

Nikolai turned when he heard somebody address Martina as "little girl". With an expression that would have stopped a bear dead in its tracks, he bent to pick Martina up and sling her over his shoulder. Unfortunately, the man in question was not a bear (in this case, an animal with much more sense), nor was the man exactly sober. He lumbered forward, pulling a knife out of a pocket.

Nikolai leveled a look at him and coughed up a significant fireball. The man seemed surprised enough to stop long enough for Nikolai to say, "She wronged me before she wronged you." His voice was harsh and gravelly, due to the fact that the fire had burnt his throat on the way up. "I'll make sure she gets what's coming to her."

The man didn't seem to want to argue with him and Nikolai realized that he was beginning to Shift. With extreme effort, he forced himself to relax (a trick he'd learned since meeting Soren) and the horns receded a little. He turned to walk out of the tavern, pausing only to take somebody's drink and down it in one gulp. He coughed up another fireball at the entrance due to the interaction between the flammable liquid and his smoking throat.

This raised a cheer from the fellow he'd confronted, and that cheer was picked up by several others. Mike gave him a worried glance and Nikolai merely said, "Put the next round on my tab. I'll be by to settle later."

With that, he left the tavern.

Martina was just about to swoop a destined to fail punch at the man accusing her of being a little girl again, when out of no where she was picked up by the most unexpected of people. Hearing him talk about her wronging him, Martina let out a harsh laugh and banged her fists against Nikolai's back. "Yoou put me down, ya'here? Horrrrrrrrible man, I didn't doooo anything."

Nikolai then precedded to carry her out of the bar, but that didn't mean that Martina quit with wiggling in his hold. "You meeeen are liars. All of you! Dirty, cheeeeeating no good for ANYTHINNNNNNG liars! Using womeeeeen for your own means." Martina stopped for a second as she suddenly felt her jaw start to ache. "Owieeee. Did I run into something?" she said with less of a slur but more so with an innocent sort of tone - as if she wasn't the one who just started a bar fight.

A few moments passed then though, as Martina's anger was confused with her aching face - and instead of continuing on with attempting to punch Nikolai in the back - she instead laid her palms flat against the man's lower back - her plan being rudely interrupted as she burped. "You were supposedddd ta' put me d-d-d-down already, you know thaaaat? I'm the headmistress! You'reeee supposed to listen to meeee, I'm going to fire youuu and all men everyyy where!"

Nikolai ignored the woman and didn't stop until they had made the short trek to Emilio's apartment. The other man had made a trip to see his mother and stepfather for a couple weeks, so Nikolai had no qualms about bringing a highly inebriated Martina here.

He fished around in a pocket for the key and unlocked the door with relative ease. Since he was so used to manual labor, hauling a small woman over one shoulder was easy-peasy, even if she made pains to squirm and make it difficult to keep her from getting away. He let them into the apartment and closed the door behind him, locking it with a firm click.

The man flipped on the kitchen lights and finally set Martina down... on the counter. He leaned close and cupped her chin with a calloused hand, turning her face so he could see the bruise developing on her jaw. His lips thinned into a hard line and he reached behind her to get a glass from the cabinet. Without a word, he went to fill it with water.

All the while, his mind was quite busy. Above all the hurt and confusion, he was angry. Angry at Martina for putting herself in harm's way, angry at Soren for not protecting what he'd rightfully won. Angry at himself for having lost her to begin with. Her words carried force, even if she was drunk. He didn't want to lose his job, but he had been unable to allow her to wander freely around the town. With his luck, he'd read the paper the next morning only to find that her body had been found at the docks.

He leaned against the opposite counter, holding out the water for her to take. Still silent, he waited for her to say anything else. Mentally, he winced at her bruise and wondered if Emilio had anything for something like that.

Martina landed on the kitchen counter with a small "ooomph!" and strangely enough remained silent as Nikolai turned her face to look at whatever seemed to be aching. He then leaned in closer, as it seemed - and Martina took a deep breath - her mind growing dizzy at the male scent.

Seconds passed, and Nikolai held out water toward her - the woman in response slipping off the counter and falling forward to Nikolai - catching her face in his chest and slipping one of her hands up his arm to grab a hold of the glass. Taking a long gulp of it, Martina went back to burying her face in the man's chest - hers arm having already wrapped around his body. "I think... I'm going to fire you... and then... I'll c-c-court you... and make you fall in love with me. Then... you'll have sex with me... and then... I'll hire you. Doesn't that sound good? That way no one will say anything..." she trailed off, seeming confused by her own words - and with that confusion decided to take another but now slower drink of water. Bringing her attention back to Nikolai, she laughed for a moment - despite there nothing being said or done. "Caroline... Caroline, she told me to say no more fiery kisses... but what if I liked fiery kisses? I don't know... I was tricked." With those words, Martina let out a long sigh - "He tricked me! How could I be so stupid?!"

Nikolai watched her fall forward, moving his arms to steady the woman as she drank and leaned against him. It felt nice, but he knew better than to get his hopes up. The most he could offer her honorably at this point in time was a bed to sleep in and a promise that he wouldn't take advantage of her.

All at once, she said something entirely unexpected and entirely frustrating. Nikolai looked down at her, one eye twitching, "Wha...? Ms. Kandless, you seem to be too drunk for sense. What's with the extra steps? Wouldn't it seem suspicious if you fired me, only to rehire me after sex? Not that I'd mind, mind you. It might make people think highly of my prowess in bed sports." Suddenly, he shook himself and that notion out of his head. "But that is moot point. You made your choice and that was Soren. I will not stand in the way of your happiness." At the mention of Caroline, he became even more confused. "What does she have to do with any of this?" Of course, Martina's liking fiery kisses only meant that she liked dragons, not that she liked him specifically. Had Caroline suggested that Martina break up with Soren?

The last part infuriated him beyond compare. He seemed to have come to a recognizable conclusion and his eyes went back to amber fire. His horns, which had been receding since they'd left the tavern, began to grow again and he recognized that he was getting too excitable for his own good. With a calming breath, he asked through his teeth, "Where is he? I'll tear out his heart and burn it while it still beats." It didn't matter what, exactly, Soren had done. All that mattered was that it had bothered Martina enough for her to go out and get rip-roaringly drunk. His hands gripped her shoulders tightly and smoke streamed from his mouth and nostrils, making his eyes water as he looked down at her.

Nikolai talked for what seemed like forever, but that forever ended quickly as Nikolai spoke that man's name and Martina quickly slapped the dragon after he said he would tear out Soren's heart. The slap though, of course lacked in any sort of force and acted more like a tap compared to anything else. "He used me," she admitted in her drunken now slightly frustrated stupor "Something about getting at you, of course I left after that - how could I fall for that?"

Only then did she notice Nikolai's horns, the sight surprising her - but not alarming her. "I can't have you growing those right now," with those words Martina reached up and grabbed ahold of the horns growing out of Nikolai's skull - closing her eyes tightly as she reached for her power just for a few seconds - letting out a small cough as she did so. After having the little bit of water, Martina did feel herself sobering up just a small bit - enough to speak better at least. The woman though still couldn't shake the dizzy feeling seeming to bounce back and forth in her head though, the action of her using her power seeming to only multiply it.

"Am I just a game to the lot of you?" Martina suddenly exclaimed as she pulled her hands away from Nikolai. "I get involved with what the world thinks are mythological creatures and I'm made out to be a pawn aren't I?" Martina shook her head - which proved to be quite the mistake as her body spun with her head. "I should go be a teacher in a human school... leave the task of this school up to someone more qualified."

Nikolai had barely felt the slap, but he realized that physical violence was probably not something he should mention to Martina. She was afraid that Soren's potential death would be something she would have to answer for.

Martina's display of sudden responsibility sobered him more than her use of her power. He made to push her hands away just as she pulled them back (so the movement was sort of useless) and made the rest of the change back to his normal appearance without aid of her power. "I can't have you getting sick right now."

He watched her with unconcealed confusion mixed with anger on his face. "I do not think you've ever said a sillier thing, Ms. Kandless," he replied. "Chess allusions do not apply to dragons, nor do they apply to you. This is not a game and you are not so insignificant as a pawn."

Somehow, her accusations hurt more than he cared to admit and he masked his sadness with another layer of anger. "Maybe it's right that you're worried about dating one of your employees if a matter completely unrelated to your job is going to chase you away from it!" He frowned down at her and added, "You love this job. I'll warrant that you love the job more than you hate us mythological creatures. Despite what you think, you are the most qualified person for the position I have seen yet."

He folded his arms over his chest. "Soren may have treated you most atrociously, but he doesn't understand the full extent of what he had."

Nikolai pinched the bridge of his nose. "This is not a conversation we should be having here and now. You are too drunk and I am too angry." With a resigned sigh, he added, "I can give you a place to stay to sleep off the alcohol you've consumed. Finish your water."

Martina nodded quietly the whole Nikolai spoke, having already forgotten what she had said before and instead moving on to the next best thing. At Nikolai's last words, Martina followed the somewhat command and took her water - drinking up the last bit. Slowly setting the glass on the counter - she turned her attention back to Nikolai.

"And you do?" she asked him, laying her palms flat against - letting her hands travel up toward his neck and then finally having her fingers tangle in his hair. She didn't understand why she liked touching the man, or why he had such an impact on her even with all the alcohol. Was it those eyes? That hair? His body? That face? Or was it ... just him?

"Kiss me, Nikolai." The woman then said, seeming to stare at Nikolai with an unusual amount of intensity. Martina's natural dark green eyes had lightened for the time being, taking on an unusual bright shade of green. It seemed strange for such a small woman to hold such an amount of presence, literally giving the meaning to big things coming in small packages.

Nikolai stared at her, his expression brooding and enigmatic. Was it just the alcohol talking? He refused to believe that Martina could wish to play mind games with him, but her behavior was entirely confusing to him.

Another moment passed and he seemed to make up his mind. Gently, he pulled her in closer and kissed her. The kiss was passionate, but he continued to hold himself back. She smelled like alcohol and... whatever alluring, unnameable scent she normally carried.

He finally pulled away and frowned down at her. "Martina.... do you really want this?" The last thing he needed was for her to pull another shift in personalities and reject him again.

He wasn't drunk enough for this. The shot he'd taken in the bar had burnt up so he'd managed to have none of the alcohol enter his system. With a smooth motion, he reached into another cabinet, pulled out a bottle of tequila, opened it, and downed about a quarter of it. That much wouldn't get him to the point she'd reached, but it might make him more ready to face whatever she sprung on him next.

They kissed, and Martina felt herself collide with that fire again. And as that fire drew itself into her body more, Martina felt herself suddenly get even more dizzy. Then Nikolai pulled away and asked her something, she frowned curiously - only seeing his lips move but barely hearing anything he said correctly. Another second passed, and the woman's entire world started to spin - her equilibrium being completely thrown.

The next thing she knew, Martina found the sink in a strange sort of rush and then went on to empty her dinner and lunch into it. The alcohol had finally kicked her in the ass, and she was finally paying for it. It wasn't the greatest feeling, at least - but during the whole time Martina slowly felt her world straightening up.

Nikolai had enjoyed the kiss, but it seemed as though it had sent Martina over the edge into sickness. He dutifully held back her hair so that she wouldn't get vomit in it, but downed another quarter of the bottle of tequila while doing so. He prevented himself from finishing the alcohol (despite the fact that he was certain that it was a small enough bottle for him to manage in one go) and set the bottle down on the counter.

It wouldn't do to get smashed, especially since Martina was so far gone. With a weary sigh, he commented, "There goes the water. I'm afraid I'll have to insist that you drink another glass before bed to prevent dehydration." His tone was one that bore no protest. He was going to have his way in this matter.

"Are you okay?" His tone was borderline caring, despite the fact that he was attempting to keep some distance between them.

Martina finally finished puking after too long of a time, and turning on the sink carefully - the woman preceded to fill her hands up with water and swish the water around in her mouth - spitting out the rest of the horrible taste she had. Doing the action a second time around, it was then when she drank some of the water - as she straightened up though a sudden rush of vertigo overwhelmed her again.

"No," she let the word slide out of her mouth as if it were a shameful secret. Within the next few seconds, Martina's vision grew dark and she passed out - her body of course going horribly limp.

Nikolai managed to catch the petite woman before she hit the ground. He growled under his breath in frustration. The silly woman had definitely imbibed more than she had needed to. He shifted her in his arms so that he could carry her comfortably and wandered through the sitting room to the door to his bedroom.

He nudged the door open with a foot and inspected the mess. The room was practically a cave- he had boarded up the windows to deter spies and thieves. There was a camera that he switched off by pushing a button with an elbow and, of course, there was treasure. Most of it seemed to be situated on the bed, but there were necklaces hanging from the ceiling fan like glittering stalactites and a random coin littered the ground here and there.

He placed Martina on the edge of the bed and shoved as much of the treasure as he could to the side. Carefully, he managed to get the woman into the middle of the bed and relocate all of the immediately visible treasure to a chest he immediately hid under his bed. This wasn't all of his hoard, nor was it a sizable amount compared to the entirety of his holdings, but it was considerable in terms of human wealth. Most of the items were definitely antiques, and despite their precious metal composition, were worth more for their age and historic importance. Thinking ahead, he also locked the video camera in the trunk with his hoard. The last thing he needed her to assume was that he'd done something untoward with her and had filmed it.

Finally, once everything was situated, he stood next to the bed and admired Martina's sleeping form. He considered changing her into more comfortable clothing, but figured that she would probably freak out enough at waking up in his bed. He pushed a lock of her hair out of her face and smiled softly. He said a word that was untranslatable, but tender-sounding, and turned her so that she was on her side. He'd had comrades pass on because they'd gotten terribly drunk and had choked on their own vomit in their sleep. He pulled the sheets up around her and tucked her in.

That done, he left the room, making sure the door was slightly ajar so he could hear her if she needed anything. He made himself comfortable, curled up on the couch.

Martina awoke with a fairly drawn out groan, first bringing her hand up to the left side of her jaw - wincing at the tenderness as she lightly poked the skin. Another second passed and she groaned again as she brought her hand up to her head - what had she done? Rolling onto her back, the woman slowly opened her eyes to take in her surroundings - seeming surprised as she noticed a fair amount of treasure every which way in the room she was in.

Sitting up proved to be a mistake though, as her head started to thump some more - she laid back down instead and laid her arm over her eyes - attempting to remember the night before. She had remembered going to the tavern and then a fight starting up - it was when though that Nik had found her that her memory seemed to have disappeared.

The woman let out a long sigh, second time around attempting to sit up - Martina manage to put her feet on the floor. Looking around the room she was in again, the young frowned - the action making her face ache all the more. She had been punched... she remembered that much, it was still no excuse for the thumping migraine she had. How much alcohol had she really had?