Sable

Sable chewed on her lip as she waited for Conor to show up. He would luckily take her to breakfast first, where she would somehow pack food without him noticing. They'd go to the training grounds after, and she would knock him unconscious, climb the wall and escape.

It sounded like a solid plan in her head, at least. She grabbed a bag out of the closet. Why there was one in there, she didn't know. Perhaps Lucca had eventually planned to take her venturing outside the castle? Sable dreaded what that would mean. She didn't want to kill demons- she wanted to go back to her normal life, and even wanted to go back to Alex.

Perhaps she would convince Alex to pack up and flee the state with her. As long as she kept her thoughts hidden, she wouldn't be like a beacon- right?

The knock on the door made her jump. She was as ready as she was going to get. She walked over tot he door and pulled it open, revealing a bedraggled Conor.

"Whoa, what happened to you?" Sable asked. She exited her bedroom and shut the door behind her.

"Oh, woke up late. Long story, actually," Conor replied and shrugged his shoulders, avoiding providing a proper answer. He gestured toward the bag slung over her shoulder. "What's that?"

"Oh, a bag," Sable stated obviously.

"What's it for?" Conor asked as they walked.

"Since we're headed to the kitchen, I figured we might as well pack stuff for lunch," Sable answered. She smiled up at him. "You know... Have a picnic."

"Right. You enjoy that," Conor said. He had an eyebrow quirked and one corner of his mouth lifted.

"I will," Sable said. She hummed and marched on. Part one to her plan was going well.

"I can't even sense your thoughts anymore," Conor pointed out. Sable glanced back at him over her shoulder.

"That's good; it's working then," Sable said. "I spoke to Inara again, and she taught me how to block out people like you."

"How kind," Conor feigned offense.

There was a moment of silence between them. Sable almost stayed quiet the rest of the way there. Almost.

"She said it would more than likely be the last time I ever spoke to her like that," Sable said quietly. "She said we were slowly becoming one entity. She was so tired..."

"Oh," Conor responded, equally as quiet. "I don't think you need to feel bad about it. She died; her separate spirit needs to rest."

"Yeah, but..." Sable sighed. "I can't imagine what it must have been like, stuck with me for all those years. And then to suddenly pass those powers onto me, and then disappear? And- and what if I have more questions that only she has the answers to? I"m not her; I'm completely new to this."

"You seem to be doing just fine to me," Conor noted.

"With guidance from Inara," Sable reminded him. "What am I going to do without her?"

"You'll be just fine," Conor tried again. "You're strong- and only getting stronger. If there's something you get stuck on, I have no doubt that you'll be able to figure it out. Have a little faith in yourself."

Sable paused at the doors to the kitchen. Conor stopped a couple of feet behind her. She looked back over her shoulder at him, hand hovering over the door handle.

"Thanks," she said.

"Of course," Conor nodded his head. "I'm not always an ass-hat."

"Just most of the time," Sable grinned.

They entered the kitchen and Sable set her bag down on the island counter. She felt a little too nervous to eat, fear twisting her stomach into fierce knots, but she knew it would be suspicious if she didn't eat. Or at least she thought it would be.

She went for something bland: a plain bowl of oatmeal, and two slices of toast. Conor raised an eyebrow at the simple meal. Sable shrugged as she ate, as if to ask what the look was for.

Conor shrugged back at her. She ate the rest of her meal in silence.

Conor broke the silence while she was washing the dishes she had dirtied. He said, "It's weird not to even be hearing the faint buzz of your thoughts. I know you must have felt vulnerable before, and this is a good way that you can protect yourself, but it feels so eerie. Now I feel like the vulnerable one."

Sable laughed, and the sound echoed around the room. She finished rinsing the dishes and set them off to dry before drying her own hands with a clean towel.

"Well, it's not like you have to worry about me planning an attack of some sort on you," Sable lied.

She didn't like that. Lying made a disgusting feeling from in the pit of her stomach, but it was necessary. She couldn't stay there any longer- it was driving her mad. She shook it off and turned to face him.

"True," Conor agreed. "At least I hope not. I know we're only just getting to know each other and that we've had quarrels, but it's not been enough cause for you to attack me- right?"

Sable laughed more. She stepped over to one of the cabinets and pulled open the doors. She grabbed three loaves of bread out, and then shut the cabinet again.

"Of course not," she assured him. "You're just paranoid. I suppose you ought to be, given the world you live in. Have you been betrayed before?"

"No," he answered. You're about to be, in a way, Sable thought. "Wow; that's a bit much for a picnic, don't you think?"

"I have a pretty big appetite sometimes," Sable said, acting offended. She brandished a loaf of bread at him. "You trying to call me fat?"

"No- no way," Conor said. He held his hands up defensively and shook his head.

Sable nodded at him and shoved the bread into her bag. She grabbed several cans of pre-cooked chicken out of a different cupboard and shoved them in with the bread. Conor watched in awe.

"I'm not sure if I should feel terrified, or impressed," Conor said. "Aren't you worried about smashing the bread?"

"It'll fluff back out," Sable told him. "I'm not worried about it at all. I'm surprised Lucca even has stuff like this in his kitchen though; I thought it would all be fresh stuff." She shoved a bread knife in with it all, after carefully wrapping it in several towels.

"He had all of it bought for you, I would assume," Conor shrugged. "You're right about him preferring to keep only fresh ingredients."

"Well, it'll have spoiled by the time training is over," Sable said. "So I'm glad there's all of this nonperishable stuff. Anyway."

She packed a couple boxes of crackers for good measure, zipped the bag up and slung it back over her shoulder, and then headed toward the door. Conor followed close behind her.

"Shall we go, then?" she asked.

"After you," Conor nodded.

Sable led the way to the training grounds. All the while she thought of the number of ways that everything could go wrong. She worried about whether or not she would really go through with it, but quickly shot that thought down. They stepped outside.

As soon as the doors were shut, Sable felt the finality of the plan. IT was now or never. She set her bag down in the center of the grounds and sucked in a deep breath, letting it out slowly after. She felt Conor's eyes on her the entire time.

"I know what you're planning," he said quietly. Sable jumped and spun around to face him. "I don't approve of it. I- there's a reason Lucca is keeping you here for now."

"How'd you figure it out?" Sable asked. "I thought you were clueless."

"Well, I thought it was odd for you to not want to go to Lucca yesterday," Conor explained. "And then stranger still to wake up to you suddenly being able to keep me out of your thoughts. Stranger still, you packed a very, very large meal for lunch... Not even you could eat that much to yourself."

Sable shrank back. Of course he'd have figured it out. She lifted her hands, holding them at the ready. Energy began to flow through them.

"I haven't told Lucca," Conor said. He looked up at her from the ground. "Or anyone. I don't think you're ready to go out on your own. But you have me, and somewhere out there, there's a familiar waiting to defend you to the death. Though he can't die."

Sable froze. Her eyes widened, and she stared at him. What was he saying? Conor sighed when she gave no reply.

"What I'm trying to say is that if your plan is to leave this place, you should at least bring the world's most powerful psychic with you," Conor said. He stared intently back at her. "And I did cheat a little bit; I had a dream about this last night. I was torn up about whether or not I should bring it to Lucca's attention. But I feel you'll be alright if you take me with you."

Sable allowed her hands to drop back to her sides, the energy dissipating. Was he being serious? Two strong energies were better than one... And if she really got into trouble, Akeem would make an appearance.

"So? What is your answer?" Conor urged. "I can't let you go on your own. It'll end in disaster, and Lucca will have my head."

"Okay," Sable agreed.

"Wait," she paused. "You're a vampire. You'll need to feed- and not on me. Please."

Conor held up his hands and then made his way over to one side of the hedges. He grabbed up a brown cloth bag from behind them, and Sable could hear the sound of bottles filled with liquid knocking against each other.

A sickening feeling began in her stomach once more. Had he-?

"Don't worry," Conor assured her after seeing the look on her face. "These were donated- from people who are very much still alive. I'll be set with this. I don't need to feed that often, unless I'm injured. Which I don't really see happening."

"Well... alright then," Sable said. "So you just had that prepared and ready to go?"

"I figured you wouldn't reject my proposal," Conor scratched the back of his neck.

Sable sighed and pursed her lips. After a moment of thought she said, "I suppose you can come with me. Just- don't slow me down. And the goal is to get me back home."

"Of course," Conor agreed. He walked over to her and handed her his bag, and then picked up hers and handed it to her as well. "You'll carry the luggage. You can climb onto my back. Are you dressed the way you want to be for this? You'll be stuck in those clothes a while."

"They're comfortable and practical," Sable muttered. She stuffed his bag into hers and then slung hers over her shoulders. She grunted at how heavy it was, not expecting the bottles to weigh that much.

"How long do I have to carry both of these for?" she asked.

"I'm going to launch us over the wall, and then through the trees for a short while," Conor replied. "We'll have scraped past most of the dangerous creatures that way. After that it'll be a long trek to the tower that will get us back to the realm you're from."

"Oh," Sable said. Suddenly she felt less sure of herself. At least Conor would be there with her, she reminded herself. She didn't think through that far.

Conor turned his back to her and then knelt on the ground. He held his arms out behind him.

"Climb on," he encouraged her.

"Okay," Sable said weakly.

She cautiously climbed onto his back, wrapping her arms around his shoulders. He hooked his arms under her legs and stood. Sable wrapped her legs around him too for good measure.

"Like a koala," he chuckled.

"So- so you're jumping over the wall?" Sable asked.

"Yes," Conor said. "Are you ready?"

"As I'll ever be," Sable mumbled.

"Here we go," Conor said. It happened quickly; almost too quickly for her to have time to think about it.

He ran over to the wall, and then bent down. Soon enough they had launched into the air and were soaring high over the wall, even high above the trees. Sable thought she might throw up as they flew.

She hoped the flight really wouldn't last that long.