Decisions and Choices (Pantera)

[Cindra Rourke]

She couldn’t deny it, Pantera was right when he said you could only divert wrath by getting them first. Twice she had to do so, once with Portia, which went off exceedingly well, and once with her father, which didn’t pan out as she had hoped. With Luan she managed to avoid feeling his full fury, but she had been stung nonetheless. What didn’t help her thoughts was his reiterating the facts of the existence they faced in their position. Being the heir had its disadvantages.

His words hit close to home and they rankled her. Her father had never taken to Mychal and when he got wind of their friendship taking a decidedly different turn… their fights became explosive, Rourke tempers flaring; him asserting his rights as her father and head of the family, her trying to assert her own wishes without getting herself hexed. Then after Mychal’s mysterious death, at the audience she had nearly forgotten, she capitulated like the good little daughter she was. She hadn’t exactly been in the right frame of mind at the time to fight him.

The corners of her mouth twitched upward at his disbelief. She would likely stay out of his business for the most part, it wasn’t like she was included in all of Portia’s dealings, but he did understand her pretty well… she would find it hard to completely keep away. At least he didn’t seem that upset about it, which she took as a good sign.

Cindra didn’t ask where the case had gone, it was entirely Pantera’s business from the moment she freed him of the bond. If he had wanted her to know he would have informed her and she preferred it that way. Neither did she say anything when he grabbed the firewhiskey. A light chuckle escaped her at the thought of what her father might make of them, sitting like that, drinking in his study. The image alone of his throbbing temples would have made her smile but it was Pantera’s hand resting on her shoulder that did so. She didn’t look up quite yet, in case he would take it as an over exaggerated reaction.

Lifting her right hand, she lightly placed in over his, her fingers lightly wrapping themselves over his and she turned to meet his gaze, her smile tempered now. “Yes,” she replied, getting up as she lowered her hand and reached for her cloak. “This way.” Feeling a little relieved that the anger she ignited earlier seemed to have subsided, Cindra led him to the door of the study. “Pip will clean up and reset the wards.” Briefly she wondered if he'd touch on that subject again. His distain for their forced labor crystal clear.

Back through the stone hallway, she led him back to the main foyer and through a door to the rear of the manor. It was only around three in the morning and they had several hours still until dawn. Down a cobblestone path, she showed him the way through walls of hedges until they separated to reveal a small lake that marked the far border of Rourke land. Turning to him, she caught his gaze a moment before walking to her right to one of the benches lining the mirror like water.

“May I ask why you asked about the lake?” she asked, taking a seat and closing her eyes a moment as she tilted her head up and drew a long breath, the salty air having a calming effect on her. The night had certainly been eventful so far.

[Pantera Tsua]

Pantera watched the smile on her face after putting his hand on her shoulder; half surprised she hadn’t chosen to stubbornly argue his point about being the heir to families like theirs. At least it didn’t seem to just be him then, he could only imagine what turmoil had sprung from her own years under her father’s rule, he suspected she was still under it now, to some degree but she had enough things going for herself to balance it out. The male noted the warmth of her fingers and watched her rise, letting a flippant smile move across his lips as she replied to his question.

The Mention of the house-elf caused a scowl to twitch across the male’s brow and he tipped his head slightly, pretending to turn his attention elsewhere. There was no point commenting on it, seeing as she knew all there was to know about that particular issue, the male had never bothered to delve and further into it then that. It wasn’t especially important; despite the fact the very notion of it irritated him every time it came up.

Things looked surprisingly different through human eyes and Pantera paused every now and then to look at something, all the senses he clung to forced him to pause after they’d entered the realms of the outside and a chill raced up his spine. Though it wasn’t on the same level as it could’ve been, Pantera enjoyed the crisp scent of the morning and began walking again; letting his eyes drift from the silver tainted grass and moist shrubbery to Cindra’s back. The grass was freezing under his bare feet, and the male’s jeans soaked up enough water to colour the fabric a darker heavier pitch of black.

Pantera had his shirt balled in a hand, and shivered at the cold but it felt good against the heat still flitting around the area’s that still whispered pain, the male had found, they best way to deal with temperamental scars was relax them every now and then and the freezing cold was a good way to do that, of course that was rather dangerous as is, but the panther could handle it, more often then not.

He dipped his head slightly when she looked at him and Pantera took a moment to inspect the lake as the female moved to sit down and returned his attention to her when she spoke. “It stops my scars from acting up, but it’s relaxing too… once you get over the initial cold.” He looked somewhat amused for a moment and let his dark eyes move back to the undisturbed glassy surface of the mirror. “It’s not the best thing to do at Hogwarts though… goddamn Mer-folk can keep their hands to themselves.” A swept away that amusement and the male chuckled as he entertained a couple of memories and lifted a hand to his lips in response.

”I’d say we’ve earned it.” Pantera mused, with a light smile and a hint of bitterness. “I’d still like to know what I owe. The information about the coin doesn’t quite seem enough.” Pantera mused, feeling the coin settled hotly in the shallow pocket of his jeans. The male stepped up to the edge of the water and let the smooth transition into a panther begin and end rather quickly. When it had finished the male’s front paws were in the water and a soothing chill rushed up his pads before the male waded in, cutting a ‘v’ shaped ripple through the water as he slipped in.

A tingling rushed through the females finger as an invitation wrote itself across the metal band on her finger.
”Coming in?”

[Cindra Rourke]

It was rather cool out, the warmth she had felt from the firewhiskey had earlier caused her to sweat some and the few remaining trails that ran down the length of her neck and spine felt the temperature change better than any other part of her. Her left hand still smarted, the redness slowly receding as she occasionally kneaded it with her right hand. When she sat, the stone bench might as well have been ice, the way it drove through her cloak and skirt. Even as she shivered, she smiled and let her dangling feet swing back and forth against the grass as goosebumps rose on her arms.

Her eyes opened and her head turned to look at him when he spoke. While she might feel the nip of autumn through her clothes, he surely had to feel it more, as he was only covered by a pair of jeans. The amusement on his face was a welcome sight, it felt as though he granted her a measure of forgiveness and they were returning back to the comfortable ease they had established earlier. So much of Pantera was feral, edgy, and tightly wound, the glimpses of playfulness Cindra enjoyed in the flashes of amusement he let appear caused her to smile warmly. Perhaps he was even endearing himself to her. A light chuckle escaped her at the thought and her head shook back and forth.

“You went pretty far then, if you ran into the Mer-folk,” she chuckled again, suddenly swinging her ankle-crossed legs straight out in front of her as she leaned back and gripped the edge of the bench, wincing slightly when her sore hand made contact. “It’s just as relaxing closer to shore.” Since returning to Hogwarts she hadn’t indulged in a swim like she use to, slipping out and abusing her prefect privileges. Laughing, she lowered her feet and began swinging them again.

We? A note of bitterness escaped him with his words, so all had clearly not been forgiven or forgotten. Cindra’s smile faded some and she sighed. Dwelling on what had been done would do little good, but he still had concerns so she couldn’t think ill of him for bringing it up. “Then swear not to reveal what I’ve shown you tonight to Portia. He can be persuasive, but I rather he not know. Couldn’t that and the coin be enough?” A breeze blew a strand of hair in her eyes and she sat up to tuck it behind an ear as he transformed beside her. “You needn’t pay me now, Pantera. Wait until you know what it's worth… I'm in no hurry,” she waved it off, probably not taking it as seriously as he thought she should, but lifting the curse hadn’t been that difficult. “It’s not like we won’t see each other.” Her grin was nearly worthy of the panther at the water’s edge.

If it weren’t for the ripple of the water, she’d not be able to tell where he was.

Coming in?

After laughing first, Cindra quirked an eyebrow and shot up from the bench, dashing to the nearest hedge behind her before she could talk herself out of it. Hot baths normally appealed to her when it came to methods of relaxation, but she had too many fond memories of swimming on nights like these, keeping only her head above water to remain warm as the air felt like blades of ice on wet skin, lips blue and teeth chattering. Hell, there was enough food, drink, and fireplaces in the manor to rid them of the cold later if they wanted.

Whipping her cloak off as she disappeared behind the hedge, she flung it over the shrub and proceeded to remove her shirt, skirt, boots, and hose, all of which joined the cloak. When she was down to her under things, she shivered violently, crossing her arms and rubbing her upper arms as she cursed under her breath. She was crazy. Certifiably crazy. And yet she was still grinning when she quickly transfigured the little fabric clinging to her into swimming material, a pale golden color as dark colors would make her look paler than she already was, and looked around the hedge to spy his location.

Feeling playful, she slipped through a row of hedges until they met the trees lining the edge of the lake, a ways from Pantera, and stepped into the water, her muscles tensing and her mouth falling open in a silent shocked cry she barely managed to contain. Wincing, she slowly moved forward until she was up to her neck in water, arms braced around herself, shivering and breathing through gritted teeth as she waited for her body to adjust to the cold. Being mindful of how the water would reveal her movements, she moved agonizingly slow as she creep along the edge of the lake, a finger tapping the silver band three times as she thought, smirking… come and find me.

[Pantera Tsua]

Pantera wasn’t really sure about the addition to her ‘price’ but decided to let it go, though there were issues with removing the curse, nothing had gone wrong and already the male felt like he’d escaped the pressure of something. Perhaps he should have been more grateful, but there were still a lot of things about her help that complicated many things surrounding the issue of the curse. The only reason he wasn’t making a bigger deal of it was because he knew Cindra could handle herself, that and the fact he had a couple of new things to busy his mind with.

The connection between the Rourke and the Tsua for instance. He could only imagine what was going on there, but any connection was of great interest, to what means had a connection been made? Dealings? If so, why weren’t they archived and why in the whole of the Tsua history that Pantera had ever gotten his hands on, had there been no mention of the Rourke family. It wasn’t like they existed on separate cotenants and they certain ran along the same circuit, both had people within the Ministry, both were hoarders of all that was rare, dark and dangerous; though Cindra had said that was more of a private indulgence.

Well of course he didn’t need to pay her now.

Pantera would of scoffed, where his current form capable of making such a noise and arched his back slightly as the cold bleed into his fur and made it thick and heavy. The water protested him at first, but once most of his had been submerged, it stopped making as much noise and lapped lightly against his sides. His large feet slipped in a mixture of mud and water worn pebbled in the bottom and the male could have sworn he felt something slip past his back legs and let his ears twitch forward, tipping his head forward enough so that his chin dipped under the water. The cold felt like an oddly comfortable blanket against his sides and legs, hugging and pulling at his fur with the slightest movement, Pantera shook himself in the water and invited the cold through the thicker darkest black tresses and paused to shudder lightly as it finally brushed against the soft, rather sensitive skin of his scars. No matter how old they were, each one had been a wound troublesome enough to leave a mark, so there would always be some part that never healed properly, sometimes it was the muscle underneath that strained before it should have, or maybe there’d be a sharp pain, sometimes there wouldn’t be anything until it was touched and sometimes Pantera was just tired enough to feel ever mark marking his form.

He barely heard the sounds on the shore behind him, but thought little of it as one of his ears twitched back to pay it some needless attention. The male kept wading in until his large claws couldn’t even scrape the bottom and swam smoothly across the center, still leaving that ‘V’ shaped ripple in his wake as his large but lean form cut through the water at his neck.

The cold made his muscles stiff and Pantera parted his black jaws to let loose a testing breath and smirked mildly at the puff steam that slipped from his mouth and floated up someway before vanishing. The male’s ears twitched and he nearly stopped swimming entirely when he felt the three tabs reverberate through his mouth and then through his head, with no warning or expectation at all. The male let out a low grow and creased his snout slightly, turning in the water to perk his ears toward the shore, letting his large pupils retract a little as he focused through the dark.

He spread his paws and cupped the water expertly under his chest as he moved back to shallow waters, holding his head low and his body lazily now that it was weighed down with water. Pantera lifted his head quickly though, realising the female wasn’t there and looked around the lake before shaking himself free of the water dripping noisily into the shallows he stood in.

Now where had she gone?

Thinking back to the tap Pantera wondered and lowered his head, lifting it from the water with a shake of his large cranium and growled at the water now irritating his face. Well, sense of smell would be no use here, not that he shouldn’t of already known that and grumbled at the water he’d inhaled as he curled his large body and inspected the lake behind him, perking his ears before he stood perfectly still for a long moment.

A ripple gave her away but Pantera wasn’t close enough to hear above the other sounds in the night and stalked up onto the shore, safely lowering his head again, following her scent to where it faded and then vanished completely in the water quite a ways from where Pantera had entered. The male didn’t get in there though and prowled silently round the edge of the lake, keeping his primordial visionaries fixed on the female as he spotted what might’ve been her, swimming up to her neck in the water. He let her think she was alone for a couple of minutes and prowled along at the water’s edge, amused that she managed to keep so quiet even in the water.

The male stopped though, at a parting in some reeds and slipped into the water where the ripple would be disguised amongst the shrubbery and prowled as skilfully as he would have to with any prey, pulling back his ears against his handsome cranium before he dipped his head under the surface, pressing his pads into the soft sodden earth before pushing himself forward a little, enough so that he was close enough to one of her legs to part his jaws round her ankle. Tugging on it lightly a single time, enough to submerge her totally for a moment before he pushed against the floor was his back legs and returned to the surface with a couple of steamy breaths.

He’d done something similar fishing once, but as he’d discovered then, the idea was better in thought then in practice as the water smothered Pantera’s ears, eyes and nose for longer then was really safe.

I thought you were a vole.
Wrote itself jokingly across the band on her finger as Pantera got his baring back in the water and let out a low purr.
Playing games with a panther… you’ll never win, but at least I won’t have to find any food, you’re going to die of pneumonia if you stay in the water too long.

[Cindra Rourke]

The tail end of a scream escaped her before she drew a deep breath on instinct, her head going under before she could otherwise think. Not that having her ankle in the mouth of a panther intent on drenching the last bit of her had anything to do with it. Despite her wonder at him being able to do so without harming her, she still bobbed back up, gasping and sputtering as she shivered and shoved a splash of water at him. “Pantera!” Her voice shook a little but only due to her now feeling colder with wet hair making the slightest breeze all the more intense. Looking at her ring, she scowled. “You’re a poor liar,” she admonished, then grinned and splashed him again.

“Well, as I’ve not had any experience with panthers before, you could at least give me credit for trying.” With her good hand, she cast a warming charm over her as best she could one-handed, she wasn’t willing to try her left just yet though the water did make it feel better, and swam a little further out, turning after a bit to face the dark form she knew was him. “And who knows… I’ve been known to be very creative.”

Taking a deep breath, she dove under, opening her eyes once submerged and thankfully there was enough light to make out where he was. Moving quickly, she closed the distance between them, flipping to face upwards and several feet below him felt the green weeds growing along the bottom in that part of the lake brush against her back as she prepared to pass under him. Smirking, she grabbed one of the soft, whip-like strands, twisting it to snap it free and then trailed it along his underbelly as she drifted under him. Quickly she turned over and swam off as far as her lungs would allow her.

Having reached shallower waters not far from him, where the bottom was covered more in pebbles than foliage, Cindra was able to sit, her legs crossed under her, her shoulders submerged, her fingers twisting and coiling the long weed into a circle under the water line. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think that was your way of telling me you don’t want me catching cold.” Her tone was teasing and she could imagine the look he’d be casting her were he not a panther. Reaching up, the woven green circle in her left hand, she slid the hair stick out of her hair, letting the wet strands fall into the water and then flicked the piece of wood into the reeds on the opposite side. “If anyone needs to worry about the water, its you. I didn’t think panthers were suppose to submerge like that.”

Cindra laughed at herself as she went back to fiddling with the plant, undoing part of the circle to make an intricate knot in the ends of it. Who was the concerned one now? The day he would out right look worried for her she’d die of shock, not that she didn’t suspect he regarded her a little more than some, and even that she felt wasn’t much. She couldn’t be sure; they had only known each other a week, but relying on her instincts for so long had made them hard to ignore now when they wedged themselves between her thoughts.

Sitting there, the shivers gone, as she was now warmer due to her charm and adjusting to the temperature, her gaze followed him, marveling at how easy he made it look. He was no small beast, yet he glided through the water like he belonged there. Her head tilted as she contemplated the human Pantera and this Pantera. He had been serious about his instincts; she knew it then but didn’t really grasp it as fully as she did now, just watching him.

“You stay like this… when you’re healing, don’t you?” she asked, scooting back slowly so her arms weren’t covered, pulling her legs up to hug her knees, the water lapping softly around her with her movements. “You’re… different when you’re a panther,” she lowered her chin to her knees. “Almost… more approachable, crazy as I must sound.” It struck her how comfortable she was around him like that.

Cindra chuckled softly and lifted the circle she had woven, a Celtic type knot tying the ends together and dangled it out in front of her, dragging the edge of it across the surface of the water in a lazy figure eight, her gaze falling to it a moment before looking up at him, her hand slowing but continuing the motion all the same. Her curiosity was getting the better of her and so when she spoke, the question was made softly, knowing he might chose not to answer it. “Why are you more at ease like this?”

[Pantera Tsua]

Ducking his head into the wave the female created by pushing her hands at him, Pantera would have laughed were he able and ducked his head into her short-lived scold then a second broken wave of water. No, Pantera was a fantastic liar and that made it all amusing, of course he didn’t bother telling Cindra that and shook his head which he managed to keep easily above the water, though his ears were pinned back in order to save themselves the brash smothering noise the water forced into his attention whenever he dipped a little too low. It made things easier to keep his pads taughtly spread as he clawed the water, with each leg making alternating movements just as if he were walking, of course, the panthers large paws and powerful muscles made things easier but even that feat didn’t seem quite enough considering his size.

You don’t get credit, because your no supposed to be playing with panthers in the first place, you did well… but you’re clearly a crazy lunatic.

Pantera followed the female as she swam out a little more then turned to make an addition to her sentence to which he would probably have scoffed at. Not because he didn’t think she could be creative, more because she seemed to think the wiles of the mind could fool the beast he shared his own wiles with. The male’s ears twitched toward the sound of her hitching her breath and he pinned them back as she dove under, now, it would have been a simply matter to look under the water to see what she was doing… but Pantera refused to boggle his senses with all that water again and instead stayed put, kicking out a large claw every now and then to keep his large sloping cranium above the water.

There was that feeling again and whatever it was had been stiff enough to push against the fur on his underbelly, a shiver moved down Pantera’s spine, limiting his movements for a moment and he turned in the water to try and see what it might’ve been. It was a perverse and utterly wrong feeling… to feel something move against you where you couldn’t see it and Pantera wanted to laugh, wondering if it had felt the same for Cindra. At that point, the male had his suspicions as to what it was, but that shiver lingered along his spine none the less, like a spectral reminder.

Hearing her breech, Pantera turned his head and moved toward the shallows, adjacent to where she was, but only by a little. The urge to scoff arose again at her words and despite the fact he knew she was teasing, the male didn’t really like what the sentence had implied and closed his large predatorial eyes as his claws dug into the shifting pebbled shallows and the need for attention fell away as the water exposed his back and the sharp cut of his shoulders. Pantera prowled even shallower, slipping a smoothly as he seemed to do everything in this form from the depths as the water rushed off his dark pelt and dribbled in streams back into the water.
Deciding against commenting on that, Pantera turned his attention to the sentence that followed and shook his head and shoulders free of water, almost as if to reiterate her point before he let out a low grumble.

Granted. It wasn’t my best idea…

Pantera kept his head almost broodingly low as he prowled forward, letting his sharp silver hues watch the water swirl passively around his legs as he eased them through the water, creating only mild sounds as he slowed a little in front of the female, casting his eyes out toward the body of the lake before he lowered his body back into the water and lay over a bed pebbles, turning his head toward Cindra as she spoke, though his ears twitched back to lavish attention on the lake.

Yes.

Moved across the ring in reply, but nothing more followed it, there was little else he could say about that, apart from that it was just easier that way. Healing came more naturally to him like this; he could relax and let his mind go off to wonder about petty things as he prowled the woods. Trying to heal as a human was stressful, everything piled up and the irritation with the wounds themselves just grew and grew and took more and more jobs to help with ignoring it. It all built up and with was best that Pantera wasn’t irritable, he barely liked human contact as it was, he didn’t need yet another reason to retreat into the wild.

It would sound less crazy if you rearranged it.

Pantera suggested, shifting in the water before he rose and looked back across the lake, he could hear and see things shift among the reeds and the scent of morning twitched in the air, ready to grow and expand until it could rouse even a sleeping bear.

He’d never been told that before. That this form was more approachable, but more often then not people only got to see it once. The initial shock of seeing a large, dangerous animal might’ve been a distracting factor, even so, Pantera rathered it might just have been Cindra herself, she seemed to differ in a lot of ways from people he knew. Rising to his feet, Pantera turned toward Cindra and looked at her for a moment, amused as his thoughts drifted to what she might see; just a dark looming ominous shape? Strangely, Pantera could never remember just how bad human senses were when he wasn’t on the receiving end of their uselessness.

In his eyes, her contrast with the water was sharp, she was pale almost ghostly as his eyes took a moment to put a little contrast in her figure, to set her apart from the background as his attention stuck with her question. When his attention would wane, her figure would darken to normality, instead of remaining as some celestial ghost. Her colours were a little off, but that was an unfounded thought, he could never quite remember why or how the colour of everything differed, all he knew was that it did, even if it felt natural.

Why was he more at ease?

He dropped his gaze from the female as he moved toward her watching the small object she held in her hand scar the water here and there in a repeated pattern. Cindra’s scent had waned and was smothered by that of the lake’s now that she’d been fully submerged and Pantera turned his head from her, stepping to her side before he turned and came up next to her again, this time facing the other way, easing his large scarred body back into the water.

Its simpler this way… All that really matters is the places I’m sitting in. I don’t have any connection to anyone like this; I have no name, no problems no restraints. The things beyond what I can see and feel here and now; don’t exist.

Pantera tipped his head toward Cindra and scrutinized her for a moment, he didn’t expect any understanding, but he wondered if he would see any longing there. To the ears of a human, it probably would have sounded nice, but Pantera didn’t expect many people could bridge and understanding to what it felt like.

I can remember how I got every scar on my body when I’m a human… I can remember every incident, what it felt like and how long it took to heal. Right now, I might as well have no scars at all.

A little perspective for her but it would always be a hard question to answer, mainly because she wouldn’t have any idea, no matter how imaginative or clever she was. It wasn’t a bad question though and currently Pantera felt very little about answering it but maybe that was only because he didn’t expect her to understand.

What about you? Why are you so at ease, when I’m like this?

[Cindra Rourke]

“A crazy lunatic? Are you speaking from experience?” she taunted, laughing as she lightly ran her thumb against the silver band that was as cool as the water. “Who’s to say I’m not suppose to play with panthers? Maybe I prefer you this way.” The smile that immediately followed Cindra’s words was a rare, wide, genuine one that revealed more of her white teeth than she liked. There was something about bantering with him in this form. It had none of the tense undertones she normally associated with the activity. Were it not for her intuition, she would have thought herself slipping by letting herself become open like this so quickly when she knew so little of him. It was as if her senses took leave of her and a part of her shook its head every time she did so.

Anyone else would have likely bolted having a panther drawing as close as Pantera did, his grumbling alone would have panicked many, and despite what should have been simple survival instincts, she didn’t even keep her gaze on him, letting herself lose sight of him as she continued with her ministrations, the patterns of ripples she caused being nearly hypnotic, his presence feeling somehow… right.

What have I gotten myself into, she thought with a light chuckle and shake of her head, lifting the woven weed circle and watching the circular rings expand from where the droplets of water dripped from it.

She casually drew her hand closer to inspect the ring and didn’t turn her gaze to him as he shook the water off him, her head ducking under her arm a little to dodge the spray. “Seems I’m not the only one prone to rash decisions in this downward spiral.” With an airy chuckle she turned her head just enough to spy him over her shoulder, a grin on her lips, before looking back to the item in her fingers.

When he confirmed her conclusion about the form he chose to take during his healing, she nodded silently, dipping the weed in and out of the water. “Rearranged it?” Her head turned again, a little more fully this time and stayed there with a questioning look in her eyes.

There was only so much she could read from him in this form. He didn’t move and fidget as much while a panther, giving her glimpses of his thoughts wondering, his hands didn’t cover his mouth or run along his lips as they did when he was human. While at times his thoughts were clear as rain, like when he was pleased with himself. His feline grin looked almost comical and his tail took on a life of its own. The rest of the time she had to focus more on his posture, the tension in the muscles beneath the beautiful black coat, his ears and eyes. Cindra was sure she’d learn all his little nuances, given time. Unfortunately, she hadn’t had much of that with him yet.

As he rose, she kept her gaze on him, studying his movements as if by watching him she’d suddenly read the panther better. In the back of her mind, she caught the notion that her words might have been running through his thoughts. Crazy was certainly a good term to describe anyone who felt a panther was more approachable than a young wizard, but then she doubted he’d focus on her. Pantera didn’t seem comfortable with the notion, or her for that matter. Cindra already knew she had the knack of throwing him off, and even if she didn’t mean to, he never voiced his thoughts but she saw his confusion in his eyes when it happened. Being open wasn’t easy for her, except when it came to Pantera. There were questions in his eyes she wondered if he’d ever ask her, questions she knew would help her understand him better than what sheer intuition was capable of, but he was far from an open book. She realized then that he knew far more about her than she did him, and it shouldn’t have sat well with her.

Shouldn’t.

His ability to drive right at the heart of the cruel truths of life was uncanny. Simpler, indeed. No connections, no name… Her hand fell wearily as the words etched themselves across the band. If only he knew how much she wanted that. How her exploits with Portia allowed her to be pulled into his web without a struggle because the freedom, the independence from her father was such a temptation, only to ensnare her in another connection just as suffocating. Everything she did followed the same vicious cycle, round and round, with no foreseeable end.

Feeling crestfallen, she tilted her head slightly and lifted the woven circlet, the water running it off it and down her arm. She felt his eyes on her and she didn’t want to meet his gaze then. Her mask had long been stowed away that evening and showing this side of her was the hardest to accept. When she spoke, it was to herself, the need for the words to be said outweighing her reserve with him so close, a note of longing in them. “Not exist.” Both hands fingered the circle, her thumbs rubbing along the knot. “Always pretending to not feel, not see… not understand. To break the cycle. You have no idea how lucky that is, having a simpler way.”

Her voice lowered to a whisper.

“We get tangled in it, and no matter how simple it may seem,” wrapping her fingers around opposite ends of the circle, she pulled the sides, the top and bottom flattening out before bouncing back as she stopped. “We can’t just grab a hold and snap our bonds.” Her fingers started working at the knot, movements that perfected as a child, left her mind free to continue its train of thought as she quietly rambled on. “But to find a way to free ourselves, to wiggle out of the grasp of those who see us as their puppets,” suddenly she held only a single, long, weed that she ran through a set of fingers gently as her other hand pulled it through. “What a feat that would be.”

Without warning she flung the weed far out into the lake where it disturbed the surface’s tranquility briefly and then blended in with water’s reflections and out of sight. Cindra lowered her gaze, her hands running down along her calves until she rested them amongst the pebbles, her voice so soft she had trouble hearing the words herself. “Were it possible.”

Long ago she had accepted the fact that she couldn’t escape the life she was born into. The best she could hope for was to beat those hoping to control her life at their own game and make decisions for herself when and where she could. And it took its toll on her. It always would.

Finally turning back to him, she cast him a weak smile, the life behind it from earlier gone, weighed down by the uncomfortable truths he brought up in response to her questions. She couldn’t be upset with him for it, not when she opened the door like she had. At least he was being honest with her, that much she could tell. Even as she read the words across her band, in her mind she could hear his voice and its tone was sincere.

“I’m glad then.” If his being out there made him have a brief moment where it felt like he might as well not have any scars, then she could be happy with that. The corner of her mouth hitched up a little. “We all have scars… some never heal quite right, some are worn like a badge, and others… no one else will never see.” Cindra lowered her gaze again, her fingers wrapping around a pebble. “It’s nice to find a way to forget them for a while, however brief.”

Slowly, she scooted back more, careful to not disturb him, summoning a large, flat rock before laying back, the rock like a pillow as the rest of her stretched out just below the water’s surface. His message finally drew a warmer smile out of her as she thought of how to explain it. “I barely understand it myself. Anyone in their right mind should be terrified, but I feel… the opposite.” She laughed lightly, imagining he would be as well if he could, and sighed as she looked up at the sky above. Her hands came up and clasped over her bare stomach.

“I’m forever on my toes, cautious about every word and deed, constantly shifting between the face I must wear and the one I have to see in the mirror. One move in the game after another, being pushed around the board by stronger players while I make the best of it as I can. I can’t be me around them, not truly me… if I even know what that is anymore. But you…” Tilting her head to the side, her eyes taking in the dark form beside her, his body heat radiating off him enough to give her a small measure of warmth. She brefily wondered what it’d be like to right next to him like that, perhaps an arm or her head against him, if he didn’t claw her for it eventually.

As the thought passed, she looked upwards again. “You’re freer like this. Just Pantera, not Pantera Tsua… not demanding or elusive like when you’re human.” Her smile widened. “You joke, you tease… you’re honest with me. There’s no pretenses…” slowly, she reached out and barely ran her finger tips along his coat, not keeping the contact long so as not to upset him. “And with you I can do the same… you help me forget for a time.” The ludicrousness of her next words caused a small laugh. “Despite what you are, I feel strangely safe with you.”

Cindra fell silent, clasping her hands together on her stomach again, her head tilting forward to gaze at him. “Am I thoroughly certifiable now?”

[Pantera Tsua]

Of course! Most people are out of their minds these days.

Pantera countered, flicking his long tail out of the water with some difficulty, as it had taken in enough water to become sluggish and heavy. The male let out a low growl toward the notion that anyone was supposed to play with panthers, letting the noise contort in his throat so it came out like a rich chuckle. It was an abstract sound, that strangely didn’t carry like it had been made by him and instead floated about the lake like some noise ushered by a curious water deity. Pantera preferred himself this way do, but he decided not to make a comment toward her own as he cast his gaze to the water lapping at his chin, watching the slight shadow he cast across the water contort and tense as his breath send shivering ripples across the surface.

If we’re going down, I might as well do it making as big an impression as I can, right?

There was nothing to say the downward spiral would ever end and the thought almost felt like it could age him on its own and the male shifted his attention from it, toward the reeds as a reflective pair of eyes peered through the dark at them both. It dared not move for a long moment, observing the perverse trespassers into it’s world with both fear, caution and irritation. Alas, an animals mind can’t stray far from what it was designed to do and the creature turned, the circular glimmer from its eyes shifting as it vanished with a rustle that could easily be mistaken for the wind.

Survival was an animal’s main beef.

But such was only troublesome depending on where you happened to sit on the scale, Pantera had been quite lucky with his nature but in a way, he felt it was cruel. On the one had he was untouchable; there was nothing he would ever come across that would rightly regard him as prey and then when he was settled in the same world in a different, supposedly superior form… he was chained, made sit under so many people, made to do what was instructed, rather then what was right for him. To feel that seat of power, then to have it ripped from you… well, it was probably better never to have the feeling at all.

It was a crippling notion, or it would have been if Pantera couldn’t seem to handle all these issues with an odd incomparable skill.

Cindra seemed to have stopped in time for a long moment, captured oddly by his words and the male kept his sharp silver eyes on her face, tipping his head back a little more as he waited for that look on her face. Some part of him wanted to feel some smug satisfaction toward the longing, but oddly it never came even as the expression on her face became so unguarded that Pantera tipped his heads back against his cranium and felt a mild touch of discomfort.

She spoke in a daze and Pantera shifted to accommodate this change, tipping his large form away from her as he turned his head, leaning comfortable on his opposite side so he could keep a better eye on her. She couldn’t seem to catch herself fast enough and was beyond the point of being able to draw herself back in. All Pantera could do was watch, keeping still and silent, even the water that lapped at him became still, as if answering his will as he focused on her features and let the environment surrounding them drain from his senses.

The female’s voice lowered to a whisper, but Pantera still heard it all just fine and twitched one of his ears toward her use of the word ‘we’. At this point he rathered she couldn’t stop what was spilling out of her and he lowered his gaze and his head to her hands as they fidgeted pointedly and she kept her gaze on the piece of weed in her hands as if maybe it was fuelling these incontrollable comments.

The world made its way back into his mind and Pantera gazed at the water in front of him, she seemed able to guess him pretty well if her use of the word ‘we’ was a point of some kind. It was true what she said and Pantera hadn’t expected otherwise, it was the brutal, cold truth and unfortunately none of it was as exaggerated as it would seem to someone more naïve. Cindra’s voice dropped another octave and Pantera half turned his large head toward her again as the last comment hit home and the male let his tail twitch in the water somewhere behind him in mild irritation.

He knew all that, he knew. And he also knew it wasn’t possible on a large scale then Pantera had achieved already; Temporary. That’s all this freedom would ever be, even if he turned his back on his humanity and delved so far into the primal mind that he would be forever lost… there would always be something, someone, some notion, some absence that would draw him back, or there would be that nagging that he didn’t really belong.

That’s what death is for; It’s a release, not a punishment

The male mused, closing his eyes in a distracting manner as turmoil bred through his chest and irritated for a long moment before subsiding as Cindra began talking again, on a lighter note, with more controlled words, rather then the hypnotic drawl of their unfortunate fate.

His question drew her out of mild desperation and Pantera flicked his tail in amusement as she admitted that it was quite abstract of her to prefer him as a wild animal, rather then a fellow wizard. Though, Pantera couldn’t say her reasoning wasn’t unfounded. He was a lot more uptight when he wasn’t in this form and everything was a strategic game where it was stupid to reveal more about himself then was necessary for some pre-designed reason. There was always some manner of exaggeration too and one couldn’t really be sure if his expression strategic, fictitious or honest.

Another itching flush of discomfort rushed through the male and he pulled his ears back a little in response, so he was set apart from the rest of those players, she’d made an exception in her mask for him. Again he didn’t think that was particularly wise of her, but currently he didn’t have any plans to misuse it and from what she’d said earlier they were quite alike… Of course, Pantera would always find it particularly hard to incorporate a person as anything more then a playing piece or an obstruction, any thoughts that pertained to more then that…

It wasn’t wise to let people in, or to be taken in.

And here this odd woman was, setting his apart from all the other people out there, after only about a week.

There’s a lot more to be careful of when I’m human. While I’m like this though, it doesn’t matter until it actually happens. Not to mention my expressions are harder to pick up, unless I make them obvious.

The male closed his eyes and let out a smooth content purr, tipping his head back just so in an almost smug manner as he made an effort to look pleased to that she would catch it. His ears twitched toward her hand as she moved it and the one closest to her followed the movement precisely, enough so that he could temper a reaction as her fingers moved very lightly, disturbing only a few hairs.

Safe? Pantera turned his head as the female fell silent and shifted in the water, letting the noises it made return as he twisted his from half toward the female and rested his large head on her stomach, letting his ears twitch back to the lake before swivelling on her as he pulled back his black lips into a primal grin, exposing the ends of a couple of dangerous fangs and let out a purr that reverberated straight from his throat and across her skin, disturbing the light pool his wet chin had created around where he rested his head on her.

Never.

Wrote itself jokingly against the band as Pantera closed his eyes lightly and relaxed his elegant and handsome feline features.

What should we play now?

[Cindra Rourke]

“A big impression on me or everyone else?”

His reaction to her notion of playing with panthers was what she expected. His growls and grumbles were becoming familiar to her, and when it changed into a warped sort of chuckle, there had been no doubt of his amusement. If he hoped to change her mind on that front he was doing a poor job of it. So far he had only really asserted himself on her once, and he had due cause to, and while she had no notions of trying to persuade him on any sort of regular basis, her confidence in where he’d lead her was unchanged.

It was then Cindra realized exactly how close her instincts meant to entangle her with Pantera. Almost as if the events of that night were the tip of the iceberg and the rest, hidden and waiting for them, would be infinitely more perilous, hastening their descent into hell. He was the most dangerous of the three men in her life for several reasons and still, she knew it would be better to embrace this relationship than allow herself to be pushed down the path Portia and her father likely planned for her.

The irony wasn’t lost on her. Better off with the devil than a demon.

She would have laughed if she hadn’t already become so damned comfortable in his presence, be he a wild beast capable of tearing her apart, or an equally poisonous young wizard only a few years her junior already more knowledgeable in things than he should be. Fate had a twisted sense of humor.

Pantera was right, death would be their release, but only Fate knew when it would come.

Cindra did laugh then, a light, amused laugh that shook her torso as he closed his eyes and purred, a richer sound than any dull housecat could hope to produce that sent a pleasant tingle down her spine. Tipping his head back, he looked much like a Pantera hiding in a panther suit, the motion being identical to his fit of laughter earlier. When she spoke, her words were a little garbled by the laughter still making its way out between them. “You needn’t be that obvious. I can tell when you’re pleased with yourself, though I suppose I should be glad you didn’t employ your tail this time… it’d be worse than a damp towel.” Being struck by a waterlogged tail of that size, even on accident, would leave a significant welt, or knock her head nearly off. He might be thin for a panther, but no less strong.

Her mention of feeling safe with him drew a reaction she didn’t anticipate. Pantera hadn’t given her any real indication of being the sort fond of physical contact. Although she received little, if any, from her father, and the type Portia imposed on her both reiterated his power over her and made her feel uncomfortable, she missed the type of contact she got from her mother and Mychal.

Before she passed, Cindra’s mother knew how to calm and comfort her with a hand on her shoulder, fingers lightly combing through her hair, or the clasp of a hand. Mychal discovered the same on his own while growing up friends, but it was later he found ways to snap her out of her tense state by running a hand down her back, lightly taking her chin in his hand, or standing behind her and grasping her upper arms. She missed that positive contact and the comfort it gave her. It seemed ages since she had felt any.

When Pantera turned towards her, the water lapping about him gently, she felt momentary confusion furrow her brow, her hands hitching a little higher, her thumbs along the bottom of her bra line as he lowered his head to her stomach. Only Portia had ever touched her there, usually on his way to wrapping his possessive arms around her, and though those experiences had her associating such contact with a tense apprehension, Cindra felt none of that with Pantera. It was so vastly different, the weight of his large feline head, as warm as the fur coat covering him, her confusion disappeared and was replaced with a sense of contentment she didn’t know was possible with someone else, let alone someone currently in the form of a black panther.

The sight of his fangs, peeking out from a grin that caused her to smile, didn’t even phase her as his purr sunk deep into her chest from the direct contact, the gentle vibrations from it relaxing her further. He had been teasing and toying with her to the point she expected another round of taunting with her question into her sanity, so his simple reply disarmed her completely. He truly didn’t think her out of her mind?

What could have possibly brought this side out of him, the one that seemed to be enjoying their closeness as much as she?

Feeling more relaxed and peaceful than she had in anyone’s presence in a long time, she watched as he closed his eyes and visibly relaxed. He was a beautiful creature, not nearly as terrifying as anyone else might see him as when he was relaxed, though the strength was still evident beneath the thick, coal colored fur. Dangerous and dark, things she knew drew her to him yet comforting and gentle, things he might not have meant to become to her though he was, her never fearing him harming her so long as she didn’t do something inanely stupid to trigger his animal instincts. His warm breath brushed across the little pool of water made by his chin and the tops of her clasped hands, his whiskers nearly close enough to tickle them.

Tilting her hand at the familiar tingle, she read his question etched across her band. Eyes closing, she sighed and thought a few moments, wondering if he was doing the same, and enjoyed remaining in that position as long as possible. After a few minutes, she finally responded. “As much as I like this, I suppose we should get out soon, so water polo is probably out.” She smiled though her eyes remained unopened, the cut off sense of sight heightening all others.

“With your paws chess seems ludicrous. Though I think you’d fair better with the hedge maze, it’s black as pitch in there.” She chuckled lightly. “Hide and Seek would basically turn into Cat and Mouse, although… I do know every secret passage in and around the manor,” Still enjoying the heavy warmth resting on her, she smiled and licked her lips. “Pretty much anything I can imagine seems to turn to your advantage.” Tilting her head to her shoulder, she finally looked at him, a playful grin on her lips. “By chance, did you ask because you had an idea in mind?”

Then the most insane thing yet came to mind and she couldn’t resist. “Or if nothing else, we could wait about six more hours and play mind tricks with father.” If heading for hell…

[Pantera Tsua]

Either’s fine.

Though he emitted considerably more heat then she did, he still felt her warmth pushed through the fur of his jaw and throat, followed by the sweet tinge of her scent, in such close quarters even the lake couldn’t disguise it and Pantera let himself relax a little more. His claws in the water slowly unleashed the stone from his absently firm grip and the muscles in his haunches relaxed a little in moment of silence, shifted slightly under the skin, becoming less visibly predominant. The panther part of him had initially had a clashing of feelings toward the motion, but it calmed and took some comfort from the contact. Though the panther wasn’t a pack animal, Pantera had never really had much contact with anything in this form and more often then not, just used it as an escape route and hide away in some kind of inhuman darkness.

Some part of it was grateful for the company but she would take some getting used to, before that tug would stop him from flinching or being somewhat agitated if she was the one to initiate any contact without warning. Pantera was far from tame, after all and maybe that sort of tug wouldn’t ever go away. The male’s whiskers twitched slightly as motion pulled at his lips and a flicker of amusement moved around his smooth brow, enough so that he slowly and almost sleepily opened one of his eyes and let the expanse of stark contrasting silver move toward her hands, which he could feel under the attention of a couple of whiskers.

It’s too heavy to do anything with… Probably won’t dry for hours either, figures…

The water swirled around his paw as he shifted it in the water, moving his head slightly after accidentally twitching his head a little too sharply toward a noise across the lake. His ears stayed on it and he knew it was just an animal but it had roused him out of his comfortable stupor and part of the male keened for the loss, it wasn’t often…no, it had to be even less often then that, when he would feel as comfortable as he had just then. While one ear remained fixed elsewhere, Pantera let the other perk toward Cindra as she answered his question and a smooth purr tore up his throat and across her skin again.

I already told you, you can’t win against a Panther. Not without being devious anyway.

An idea? Well… there was that. Pantera still wasn’t particularly sure about that though and refused to let it slip, just because he’d been oddly comfortable a minute ago. Though it was particularly hard not to see possible placebos in the female’s company after that. The male’s gaze had relaxed again and he closed his eyes into a rippling chuckle, lifting his head slightly as the noise was hard to do when his throat was pressed in such close quarters to her stomach and side.

So you’re planning to drag others down with us, are you?

Thoroughly amused by the idea and slightly surprised that she’d suggested it, Pantera half hoped she was joking but was intrigued none the less.

I can’t imagine that would go well…

The male retained his amusement none the less and let his whiskers shift again as he pulled his jaw into as much of a smile as the panther could attempt, really all it amounted to was a twitch of his nose and there was no actually smile, but the motion was similar to how a persons’s face should pull into the expression.

Though it’s not tonight, the Tsua are hosting a party in the main house at the beginning of next week, that could be fun.

It seemed he was going to go as close to asking as his elusive nature would allow. In truth his ‘invitation’ was mandatory, not because of his father though, Pantera had been summoned by his equally elusive mother and that was something he couldn’t quite bring himself to ignore. The woman was barely ever seen and spent even less time in health, she was a suspiciously frail female, but none of her afflictions had been passed into Pantera, though the resemblance between her and him was quite clear on the few times he got to see her. He had no beef with her, and enjoyed seeing her more then he would ever outwardly admit, but he’d have to sit through the rest of ‘ball’ first before he could get straight down to it.

Pantera rathered his father forced his mother’s pleas into the invitation to trap him, to force him to meet, greet, bow and kiss at the feet of all his colleagues and current favourites. Oh, there weren’t enough words in world to express just how much he hated those sorts of bonds, but Cindra had said it herself; he couldn’t just rise and snap them, he was forced to play the game of the puppeteer until he could wriggle free of his ‘masters’ grip.

I’d like to find out more about that suspicious Itou book too… the connection between out families. That and it’s a party, I’m sure we can find some imaginative ways to annoy my father, too. Though, that could probably end worse then your idea.

Pantera could almost imagine the ominous form of his father, lunging after them in a form fantastically appropriate for such a bull-headed and cruel creature. It would be interesting to test Cindra’s reaction to Pantera’s changed temperament in front of different kinds of people, it was important for her to get a better grasp on the severity of what she seemed to be doing with her curious instincts, he wouldn’t ever concede to her comfort being a good idea and imagined there would be some satisfaction in it when she found that out too.

There was that nagging feeling she wouldn’t too, but Pantera wouldn’t address that, it involved a deeper look into this then he was capable of without unhinging something possible vital. He’d draw her in a little himself, to see if she’d back off.

If seeing me in a tux won’t do it for you.

Pantera purred lightly at that and closed his eyes in amusement. His father had some abstract hatred for dressrobes that and more often then not there were a couple of ill-informed humans present who funded certain deals in order to see something spectacular.

[/size]

[Cindra Rourke]

Cindra checked the silver band again and smiled. No matter how weighted down his tail was with water, it would be no match for the heavily charmed towels she knew they would find by her clothes. Somehow Pip always knew when she entered the lake and although it had been over a year since she had, she didn’t doubt he would still tend to her as he had when she was a child.

Beside her she could feel the water being disturbed as he shifted a little, and when it felt like he moved his head, almost like one might when a fly landed near your ear, she opened an eye to check on him, a ridiculous notion considering he was the higher on the food chain at that moment, but saw he looked no different then a moment before and let her eye drift closed again, figuring she was imagining things.

Devious enough, he said. Their forms of deviousness were clearly different, his animal instincts proving difficult to foil with mere cleverness. Making people see what they wanted, or she needed them to see, was more her cup of tea. Reading others served her well, and the ability to mold her mask to her needs even more so. Hiding behind a crafted face was a far cry from hiding oneself from sight. Still… she would have more aids at her disposal if they were in the manor. The water might have masked her scent from him, to a point, but in the manor it could be interesting to see how she could turn that against him. It was partly tempting just to see if she could pull it off for a time. Pantera would win in the end regardless.

She would have swore he was thinking the same thing the way he chuckled then, far more amused than previously as he had to lift his head a bit to release the hearty sound properly.

“I might surprise you one day,” she tried to say with an admonishing tone, though it came out more teasingly. The corners of her mouth twitched into an amused smile and she kept her eyes shut so she could avoid the amused look in his eyes that would make her laugh at herself. His next message forced her to open them however, and she pointedly made sure to look only at the band. For Pantera, he was becoming quite talkative.

With a light shrug, she closed her eyes again, the soft warmth of him against her far more comfortable, and desired, than it should have been. “Who better to bring along than the one’s using us a pawns? I always thought it’d end poorly when he would somehow find me out. As if much ends well for us already.” She spun the band around her finger slowly with her thumb, her voice suddenly taking a calculating tone.

“Why just leave it to chance and unknown risks when we could determine the circumstances?” Grinning, she tilted her head, seeking his gaze. “We’d have a measure of control if we chose when, how, and how much, we revealed. They wouldn’t have time to plan a course of action and their reaction could likely gain us more insight than they’d wish us to have.”

Gods, she was sounding more Slytherin. This raven was clearly being corrupted beyond repair.

The effort he put into smiling was nearly comical and she felt her cheeks redden with the effort of holding back a chuckle. The twitch of his nose was rather cute, though telling him that would go over badly. Thankfully his ‘invitation’ drew her attention away before he could read anything into her reaction.

“Now who’s planning to drag others down with us?”

Staring up at the sky, her thumb again absently spinning the band on her finger as that hand rested lightly on her sternum, the other having remained lower, her mind milling over the scenario, as one thing tickled in the back of her thoughts. Was she to go as his professor, which honestly she couldn’t reconcile herself to the idea. Cindra couldn’t see him as a student, hell; she had completely forgotten he was even still at Hogwarts until just then. Pantera didn’t seem to belong there anymore, he seemed older, more her equal, if not superior in some aspects. There always had been that dangerous undercurrent about him that she knew set him above her.

She hoped he wouldn’t even consider that angle. It felt… wrong. Not wrong for them having made this connection, but wrong in that it wasn’t what defined them anymore.

Then how? Join him as a friend? Were they as similar as they sometimes appeared, he wasn’t likely to have many of those. Leaving only one last option, but she laughed at herself mentally for even thinking it. To walk in on his arm like that, it was a crazy notion. Yes, crazy for one currently perfectly at ease and content in her position, panther included. Things were so completely twisted around and complicated she wondered if she’d be better off not thinking into things anymore and just going were ever the bloody ride would take her.

Spinning the band became necessary when his next message was so long, the words winding around the ring nearly as fast as she could read them. It might be incomplete, but it was obvious he had a plan in mind. Meeting his father was a thought that had given her a little concern, not that she couldn’t handle it. Pantera wouldn’t have suggested it if he hadn’t given her some credit. And while either option, toying with her father, or annoying his, was fraught with risks, Cindra gathered Pantera’s dangerous nature came in part from the elder Tsua, indeed making his father the worst of the two.

A whisker tickled her left wrist and she scooted her hand over into a sort of one-armed hug across her chest.

“Do it for me?” The chuckle that followed was unavoidable. “Oh, I think we’ve already determined I like you in black.” Was the firewhiskey still in effect? Where had that come from?

“I’m in,” she quickly added, curious where this would lead them, risks be damned. Perhaps she was bound to run into him to start living a little while she could.

“I want to find out more too. I know Luan didn’t use his political ties in return for it,” it would be too much to explain how she knew, so she kept going. “And nothing valuable was traded. So unless your father would have taken monetary compensation, which I doubt...” They both knew men like them didn’t put much credence in Galleons. “It would have to be something else. Something valuable enough to cause your father to part with the book, but… what’s left?”

She looked over her shoulder at the gardens and manor beyond. Her father had political power, his collection, his books, and money. Never would he let anything beyond that out of the grasp of a Rourke. He had his damned pureblood pride, forcing his political connections on her, his vaulted views of their ancestry, everything normally thrust upon an heir short of involving her in any decisions since she was a witch, not the wizard needed to continue his name. She was the end of the line, yet everything still went with her…

Cindra tensed slightly, her smile fading a bit before she abruptly forced her thoughts away from where she was headed. The suspicion was laid but she refused to entertain it. Like other suspicions she’d chalk it up to her over active imagination.

Relaxing as her body again registered the warm, purring presence lying against her, she turned back to Pantera, the idea of the trouble they would be purposely walking into and hopefully causing bringing a smile back to her face.

“You positive seeing me dressed formally won’t do it for you either?” Cindra chuckled lightly. He had only seen her as Professor Rourke. But the professor didn’t play in this game… Cindra did, and she didn’t always play fair.

[Pantera Tsua]

One day? You surprise me quite enough already.
Pantera mused back, letting his eyes move to Cindra’s face, amused by how she closed her eyes in an attempt to shut him out for a moment while she tried to keep a good grasp on her composure. Whilst he could anticipate her thoughts to some degree and could gauge her expression and could follow her charming wit, there were a lot of things about Cindra Rourke that threw him off and quite often, he might add too. Though he didn’t feel her sentimentality was a particularly bad trait to have, the length that she went to follow her more future orientated instincts was quite staggering and the stunt she’d puller earlier with transferring his father’s curse. Pantera couldn’t even fathom the sort of thoughts that would compel her to do something, especially for the meagre price she asked for in return. Initially he would have expected some sort of brash slavery, a deal that pertained to using him in some cleverly yet dastardly manner.

He knew better then that now, but there was still an edge and… he didn’t like to think too much about it, Pantera had never been able to stomach any kind of ‘friend’ or something along those lines. He had acquaintances, but most were acquired through clever trickery or a bond was made under certain circumstances, he was an opportunist not someone who would ever sit down and discuss his day with someone. Not unless it had some strategic value anyway. Friends left an opening for weakness and more often then not, a personality no matter how hard, loyal or ‘loving’ were as disciplined as his own and would slip up… throwing him into turmoil as said person was used, a puppet on a string with enough knowledge pertaining to him that they might as well point their wand and drain the life from his body themselves, while his back was turned.

Paranoid? Perhaps… but it was necessary for someone who bit, snarled, tore, scratched and became crazed under the stress of tethers.

Pantera scoffed mentally in agreement, but didn’t move his head at all until her tone changed slightly and her words shifted into intellectual glamour, he tipped his large head toward her a little, letting his whiskers brush across her pale skin as he shifted and let a couple of long streaks of hot breath move up her body a little as he parted his jaws and let out a low grumble. It was hard to say what for, but he kept his eyes on Cindra as she continued relaying her plan.

It was a very ambitious and smooth plan and Pantera felt some familiarity in it, the plan could easily turn back on them though, but it was good and risky enough that they’d be allowed to improvise if the time came. The male flicked his tail and kept his eyes on the female for a minute longer.

It’s inspired, serpent looks pretty good on you Cindra.

Pulling his head back a little before tipping his short snout down against her skin, Pantera’s ear’s twitched toward the shore behind her for a moment, perking stiffly for a moment before they relaxed and swivelled back into place. The male remained in that position for a moment, with his nose and black lips pressed against the roll of her side, his eyes flickering across the scenery around them stiffly before he returned his attention back to Cindra, letting loose a hot breath and long drawn out purr, he closed his eyes and let his tail flick in the water somewhere behind him with apparent pleasure, or amusement before he responded and nudged her side lightly.

Is that a fact…?

Now what could have brought that on? Pantera couldn’t help looking almost inanely amused at the quip of her comment and let his ears flatten against his head as he parted his lips, tipped his head slightly. That had definitely been a rather flirtatious comment and the male shifted his feet under the water and tensed the rest of his muscles before he adjusted himself and rose from the water lapping at his jet sides. His fur was waterlogged and was settled flat and smooth against his skin as he came to his full height, dripping some water from his chest and onto her as he lowered his head, taking a step over her form before fixing his silver hues pointedly on her hues of blue-grey.

His heads tipped toward her as she accepted his ‘invitation’ and bristle travelled up the back of his neck, which had almost dried out completely seeing as he hadn’t submerged it since their game of cat and mouse earlier.

I don’t know, I can’t figure it out. The Itou book was certainly something special if it was marked for the Tsua and so I don’t see any reason why he would part with it. Especially considering the sorts of magics in it. It doesn’t make much sense.

Pantera let a pause settled across the silver band every time he reached the end of a sentence, watching her spin the little silver object on her finger.

They might’ve come to some sort of future agreement of some sort, but if our families haven’t had more contact then that one transaction… I’m lost. The good thing about the Tsua is though, because we’re a large family with plenty of goons, a lot of the time people aren’t sure what they shouldn’t talk about, we might be able to worm some information out of someone.

Pantera seemed to blanch a moment at her last comment before a low grumbled curled up his throat, a richer more powerful noise then the rest that felt like it might’ve made even this section of the lake shiver under its noise. The male flicked his wet tail behind him, still stood over the female, with his head low and close to hers, as if he was waiting for some slip of an expression.
What colour would you wear?

The male purred as the words wrote themselves across the silver band and he shifted his sharp shoulders, as the water finally waned from his fur after he’d, probably on purpose, soaked most of her again.
Why do you think I invited you? Pantera decided to conclude lightly, letting his head dip a little lower so that his jaws were close to her shoulder as he let his muzzle hover close to the side of her neck before he drew his head up and turned the front half of his body completely to look behind him.

Though I wouldn’t complain if you turned up dressed like you are now…
Another low purr left him as he turned his head back and looked down at her, flicking his tail again before stepping to her side, shaking himself free of all that water, which caused his short jet black fur to spike automatically now that the water wasn’t pressing it all together.

[Cindra Rourke]

Her smile was even harder to hide when he responded, but a deep breath to help swallow down the threatening chuckle helped her compose herself long enough to simply say, “Good.”

Pantera had been the catalyst for her surprising herself lately. This strange, oddly quick to trust and take risks never before attempted side of her was as new to her as it was to him. What in the world it could have been about him that had her intuition overriding her commonsense? If she didn’t know better she’d say she was cursed herself, but there was nothing she had ever come across that would explain the strong pull of her instincts as when she was with Pantera. At least she wasn’t the only one being thrown for a loop.

His attention was fixed on her when she spoke of turning their inevitable discovery around to any advantage in their favor, and Cindra kept from remarking on how miraculous it must have been for a still very wet and heavy tail to flick now compared to minutes before when it would have struck her. He might not even be aware of it, but she had the feeling it had been intentional, which lent itself to the question of whether he fabricated the reason he gave earlier or not.

Never did she doubt that Pantera was his sole concern. When it came to self-preservation, the animal in him would see him through, while she still had that damned weakness that would inevitably get in her way. The likelihood he was doing things with her in mind would be farfetched had she not seen Pantera so differently that night. Not only had he talked so openly with her, already something she never thought to experience, but he also seemed to take her own thoughts to mind. He wasn’t distancing himself, but drawing closer to her, his teasing and taunting increased, making her smile and laugh more than she recalled doing since the loss of her one friend.

Cindra gave an airy chuckle and lifted a wet strand of hair off the side of her neck that had begun to annoy her. “I’ll take that as a compliment.” Never one to miss a double meaning, she left it at that instead of replying with the equally heady response that danced on her tongue.

The feel of Pantera’s nose and lips pressed against her side drew her attention to him more fully and this time she noted the movement of his ears and the path of his gaze. It was quick, but it was enough to tell her something caught his attention. Before she could say anything, she was distracted by the hot breath against her side that once accompanied by a purr, made her skin break out in goose bumps and an entirely different tingle run through her. One that she’d never complain about feeling again. The only thing that broke it was his nudging her that, combined with his whiskers, tickled immensely, drawing a laugh from her.

At least he took her comment well. Perhaps a little too well.

Her laughter died as her breathing hitched, her eyes staying locked on his as he towered over her, dripping frigid water onto her. It wasn’t threatening, but it took her by surprise all the same. She shivered, but whether it was just the water nearly drenching her again, his coat having held more than she imagined, or if there hadn’t been more to it, she wasn’t sure. Her thoughts didn’t stay on it long, despite another small shiver passing through her, as she could then tear her eyes from his to lift her hand to where she could read the words appearing on the silver band.

She smirked and looked up at him, the water raining down on her chest forgotten. “Worm information out of people?” Her eyes glinted. “Right up my alley.” Seems he’d be learning some of her usefulness earlier than planned. Be it a witch or wizard, prude or pervert, she had ‘coaxing’ down to an art. Once you figured out the sort they responded to, most gave away more than was necessary, especially when alcohol was involved.

Could panthers… pale? She swore she must have thrown him completely off balance with her cheek, but if she had, it didn’t seem she was going to get more of an amusing reaction than that as he grumbled like never before. Cindra swore she felt it vibrate in the pebbles against her back as his gaze held hers. Had she gone too far? Pantera wasn’t upset, that much she knew, but this was certainly not a reaction she anticipated. She didn’t know what to make of it. The feeling wasn’t at all comforting. Though the sudden purr that followed and was joined by the telltale tingle of her finger was very much so.

Her heart rate had picked up, a fact she didn’t realize until she lifted her hand to read the ring, the motion allowing her to turn from the silvery eyes so close to hers, the sound of her pulse echoing lightly in her ears.

What color she would wear?

His words didn’t seem to match up with his action just then. She surprised him, granted, but that deep grumble, it almost seemed like… and now he wanted to know the color she planned to wear? Before she could look as confused as she felt, she made the mistake of looking back up into his eyes. Shivering again as she was covered by more of the water escaping his dark coat and she read his next words. His message read, she saw him lower his head in her peripheral vision in time to feel his muzzle dip down near her neck.

Her eyes closed involuntarily, her breathing hitched a second time and she shuddered. From head to toe, the sensation that trickled down her body from where his warm breath hit her left her feeling unable to move or think clearly, only feel. She should have been steeling herself, looking over her shoulder and distancing herself as she did with Portia, but… she wasn’t. If anything she was relishing it. Virtually pinned, she had reacted in a way her mind said was completely inappropriate, she had to hold back the urge to hex anyone else who did less than that her, and here she laid there and enjoyed it.

This downward spiral was taking more turns than she thought possible. Her head was spinning enough already.

“Bronze,” she whispered airly, as she let out the breath she didn’t realize she was holding, his head lifting away from her as her eyes slowly opened. Her thoughts had been anywhere but her closet, yet the color of her favorite, and most successful evening gown formed on her tongue without her knowledge. She was never a pink girl, nor would she be caught dead in white, she was pale enough as is. The deep, rusty, golden color complimented her, both her complexion, which took a warmer tone against it, and her hair, which had the bad habit of looking more orange than red with the wrong colors. No sooner than the word passed her lips, she registered his head turned the other way.

Now she was sure something was drawing his attention, and the fact he wasn’t cluing her in nagged at her. He wasn’t the noble type but he had a strange way of not showing it. Again.

Before she could remark on his distraction, he again managed to turn her thoughts around, if only for a moment. “Not bloody likely,” she remarked, almost shaking her head at his obvious approval of her under things-cum-bikini. Pleased with himself, she barely realized what he meant to do in time to turn on her side away from him, her head ducking under her arm as a shower of watery spray was flung from his coat.

“Pantera,” Cindra grumbled, shivering now from water alone, flicking her arm to shake some of the water off of it as pebbles dug into her side and other arm. “You couldn’t have done that a few yards away, could you?” She knew the look he was going to cast her and she preemptively chuckled lightly.

Sighing she sat up, grabbing her hair in her hands to wring as much of it out as possible before letting it fall against her back. “What’s been distracting you?” she asked suddenly, wrapping her arms around her as another shiver struck her. Only now did she feel the warming charm wearing off and the chill of the air and water seeping in. Her lips were probably blue and the time to get out and dressed had arrived.

Unfortunately, they were on the opposite side from where her things lie, and as her submerged legs didn’t feel nearly as cold as the part of her exposed, crossing through the water would be the least painful way to get there. Especially if she kept to the shallower, reed lined shore that ran straight away from them, where she’d be able to use the bottom of the lake to her advantage over taking bigger strokes paddling through deeper parts.

“I should get out.”

Cindra slid into the water a little further and prepared to swim past him towards the towels calling to her.

[Pantera Tsua]

Her scent was stronger close to her neck and Pantera familiarized the panther with it pointedly, his eyes were settled lazily on her skin, but he didn’t miss the shudder and paused lightly when it didn’t appear to be from cold. Oh, one could imagine the look that might have slipped across his face were it capable of obvious expression and Pantera tipped his slightly rounded ears back a little in abstract amusement. Now, he’d never really seen Cindra as ‘just another professor’, partially because she’d had never taught him and partially because she’d never treated him like ‘just another student’. At first she’d been an unfortunate authority, then she’d smoothed into an appealing game and then from that she’d transitioned into ‘Cindra’.

Which begged the question. Now what was she? She was still Cindra, but what did that signify? The water gave away the female’s shudder and Pantera drew his eyes up a moment to see her own had fluttered shut and let an inward chuckle shuffle through his mind. Perhaps her instincts were leading her astray, or maybe he’d warped to this point beyond repair, the world slipped away again as he trained each sense on her. Her scent clouded his senses and his ears twitched toward the breath she hitched and so he let his muzzle move close to her skin longer then was originally necessary as he let his silver hues move across the skin of her throat.

A shiver coursed down his spine and made the fur stand rigidly on the back of his neck and between his sharp shoulders. She was definitely a curious woman and she seemed to be shifting into someone he wouldn’t have pegged her to be from when they’d first met. Not that he was complaining, though the panther part of him focused more on her exposed neck then anything, as such symbolized a willing trust, submission… among other things.

Pantera’s mind rested on those more scandalous things and really, she wasn’t helping as he lowed his muzzle over her throat, letting a hot breath flutter across the skin before pulling himself back from the moment. The trick was to do it fast, like ripping off a Band-Aid. The male’s ears twitched slightly as breathed out an answer to his earlier question and the male used the colour as a distraction as he moved, tipping his head as he wondered about that particular colour.

He would have preferred to see her in red, but being somewhat vein and apt in the code of dress, he could see what the colour might do for her. She was a rather pale creature and the bronze would draw out more colour from her skin, but he kept his preference to a silken red, where the contrast of her skin could be considered quite complimenting, no matter the hue. Pantera let out a smooth purr as she dismissed his comment and shook her head slightly in disapproval, which pleased him all the more as he shook himself free of all that water, feeling the chill of the air for the first time in a while as it raced to chill the ends of his fur which his body was too preoccupied to produce heat for.

Pulling back his black lips into a comical grin, Pantera flicked his slightly lighter tail above the water, making a point to keep it hovering above the surface as much as he could.

Of course I could.

The male watched her sit up, shifting his claws in the water as the pebbles shifted under his weight and the padding of his large feet. Well, he supposed it was only natural she’d noticed, he hadn’t put much effort into disguising it and really, his ears were a big giveaway; it was surprising hard to hide one’s abrupt emotions in this form, his ears, tail and muscles shifted of their own accord and acted on automatic to certain trails of the mind. Pantera let the question hang, watching the cold cast her skin a little paler as her earlier charm waned and he let his right ear twitch as he watched the healthy flush being pulled from her skin.

A fox… at first, but I’m not sure anymore.

The scent of blood tinged the opposite side of the lake and his mind paid it perhaps too much attention, there was no worry for it, but empowering chills rushed up his spine, but he couldn’t think it was just hunger. It didn’t smell like just any blood either, but Pantera wasn’t sure he wanted to address it, or make it known to the female as he gazed across the lake, letting his pupil retract with focus as the wind blew the scent into his face again.

He barely heard her speak, but let an ear twitch toward her before turning his large head away from where he was looking, lowing his chin to the water for a moment before raising it to look at Cindra’s face. Doing as such strained his neck slightly, but it was one of his few human habits. It never failed to surprise him how many primal habits he picked up after being a panther for a while, when really… he should have plenty of human habits as a panther. It wasn’t true though, he made an effort at expressions when the urge struck him, or the comment needed it…but they didn’t come naturally.

What kind of creature’s do you have here? Magical, I mean.

The male asked out of curiosity, twisting what he’d originally wanted to ask a little so that it fit with the answer he’d given. Still, the scent tugged at him and the male’s muscles shifted restlessly under his skin as he prepared to move, letting his silver hues follow the female as she waded into the water a little deeper. At this point the water probably felt warmer then the outside and Pantera let his whiskers twitch as his head moved after her.

Why not a red dress?

The male asked suddenly, looking down into the water as he outstretched one of his strong legs to pick his way across the shallows steadily, Lowering his head to see through the reflective surface before he gave up and strode forward, feeling the density of the water strain him as the water swirled noisily between his feet. The shallows quickly drew up to his shoulders before the male prowled smoothly through the water, with that same ‘v’ shaped ripple widening behind him. A panther to rule nearly every environment and Pantera himself enjoyed that fact a lot and liked to think it pertained to him too.

Now, I’m curious. What do you use to worm information out of people? Feminine charm, maybe? Bribes? … there are so many, but I can’t be sure which you’d use anymore.

[Cindra Rourke]

“A fox?” Cindra could hear the slight shiver in her words as she continued to make her way across the lake. “It’s not unlikely.”

It was considerably warmer staying underwater, yet the little warmth it did provide was wearing off and it would be rather ridiculous to cast another charm on herself when she’d soon be wrapped in more heat than she needed. Doubling up was a bad thing, she had made the mistake before. It would be better to muscle through to the other end and lose herself in one of the sheet-sized towels without posing the risk of sweating to death.

Cindra wondered if he was asking about magical creatures because he thought he might have seen something else, it wouldn’t be unlike Pantera to divert his giving something way by answering with a question of his own. Not looking to press the matter she would simply answer, after all, there had been little risks on the grounds in the past, her father’s interest in a few creatures being limited by her mother’s insistence over Cindra’s safety reining him in as far as selection went. The odds Pantera saw anything to worry about other than a simple fox seemed slim.

“Well, father has had a small interest in a few magical creatures. He’s always tried to limit the number of doxies on the grounds and I don’t often see any… we got a jarvey a long time ago, but he doesn’t come out much anymore. I rather like him really.” Memories of being a young girl, giggling at the crude comments it made brought a faint smile to her face. “His crup died about four years ago. And although I always wanted one, we never had a kneazle,” she paused, turning to face him as she grinned. “I’m allergic to cats.” Shaking her head at the irony of the fact, she turned back to facing the direction she was heading, glad her antihistamine potion lasted a full day. Pantera would find that tidbit highly amusing, no doubt.

Chuckling lightly, even as she shivered, she continued forward, her movements growing slower and stiffer from the cold. There was one more thing Luan had mentioned several times, and although ludicrous, it would be funny to share nonetheless. “He did always have his hopes set on a kappa though. Mum said he was crazy, but he swore he’d get one one day.” Cindra laughed off the notion and slide her arms out in front of her as she prepared to swim over a particularly thick patch of weeds. As her hand swung out towards her side, pulling her form through the water, she felt the band on her finger receive a message.

Quickly, she read his question and it took her unawares. Pantera was that interested in her evening attire? It almost sounded like a request, especially when one considered whom it was coming from. Cindra chuckled mentally, wondering if he’d want her favorite bloom next, but the absurdity was too comical to entertain. He was certainly raising as many questions in her mind as he posed her that night.

Still making her way over the underwater thicket, Cindra thought more on the possibility, after all, her mind hadn’t been her wardrobe when he asked, so she had forgotten one gown she owned but had never worn yet.

Flipping over, so she was more floating on her back than swimming, she met his silvery gaze as he swam near her, the familiar ripples of water fanning out from his dark form as she smiled. “That’s a tricky color for me to pull off… but there is one shade… would garnet do?” This time she didn’t turn back, but remained floating backward, a shiver occasionally passing through her. The deep, nearly blood red hue of garnet was the only shade of red that truly complimented her. Unlike bronze, which brought a warm tone out of her skin, the passion associate color of the gemstone made her appear more porcelain, but in a way that suited her, unlike the deathly pallor white and pastel colors cast her in. The only color that made her even more ivory like was black, not that she hadn’t already planned on a way to bring that into the mix.

“A bit of both, though feminine charm takes on a different connotation when dealing with most witches. It depends on the person... Some respond better to one or the other, while some need a little of both.” Cindra grinned devilishly. “Though I’ll admit I find bribery isn’t nearly as necessary.”

With a wink she turned around.