Magi of mischief

he was predictable up to a point, there were some tendencies and patterns judal followed, even if he believed otherwise. but it wasn’t always accurate. what sinbad was accustomed to settled mainly on the younger’s tendency to stir up trouble with a wave of his wand or the slip of a few words. 

fondness, why did he use that word? he supposed back then there was something of the like when he first met judal, the magi was just a kid back then and got along  with a grand total of one person as far as sinbad could tell. the king didn’t… hate him then nor now. but he was a form of irritation that he would face here and there when taking the other’s dungeons. 

what a dangerous mood, swaying from one end to another, a headache that keeps one on their guard. he watched him, judal’s every move with a silent gaze as he went about his intentions. what exactly were his intentions to begin with? they’ve changed; probably. they’ll change again and there might be that acquainted with tension of a battle.

“i figured that’s what keeps bringing you back to me over and over,” despite the blunt rejections on both sides. does he ever stop moving? maybe it was earlier exasperation, but the moment judal came close enough– sinbad reached out with the intention of pining him against the wall. 

being the taller of the two, he would have loomed over him a bit, “shouldn’t that be m y line? if i remember correctly you said something along the lines of ‘don’t worry i’ll make you mine’, back in balbadd?”

“ If it’s your goal to bring me back and back again, you’re not failing “, he commented. “ You know you can just tell me that you want me around. “ Judal grinned, excited and amused by the whole situation. The rukh were scattering around him in glee and it felt contagious.

What he didn’t really expect was the king actually crowding him. Breath was pressed out of his lungs, his back colliding with the nearest wall rather hard. The magi didn’t think of putting up a borg and so he was left staring into golden eyes from a small distance. Or at those sinfully curved lips...

Focus.

Judal hated losing his composure and he hated even more that he needed a few seconds to regain it. The fingers of the hand not holding his wand were curled into the fabric of Sinbad’s robe. Soft. Only the sound of his words brought him back - and he compensated the feeling of being out of his depth with yet another laugh full of glee and mischief.

„What are you doing here again?“, Ja’far asked grinding his teeth. „Are you waiting for people having bad dreams so you can come by and nag at them?“ With a deep sigh Ja’far sank on the edge of his bed. He slouched his shoulders while watching Judal during his observation. What exactly was he searching for?

Narrowing his eyes, Sin’s advisor needed a few moments before answering the magi’s question.

„What if you’d be right?“, he mumbled. „I’ve got a lot of nightmares and most of them relate to the downfall of our first home. I don’t think you should be the one trying to … what? Treating my traumas?“ He wasn’t even nearly as amused as it would have been necessary to let out a laugher. Disparaging he eyed Judal knowing it would have no effect if he tried to throw him out. Sad but true.

He really wasn’t inclined to tell him why he enjoyed strolling around in Sindria so much more than in the streets of Kou as of late. Maybe he would use it as leverage later, but right now it seemed that Ja’far was in a mood to actually talk to him without losing his composure and attack him. The thought made him smirk.

The content of the adivsor’s dreams though... made the smirk fade fast. There definitely had been a time when he was prouder of the things he had done. Now all of them left a bitter taste, knowing very well how much he had been used.

maybe he was being too soft, despite the things he wanted to achieve, some lines he didn’t want to cross. but apparently, judal knew and liked pushing them; repeatedly.

the king didn’t know how many times they’ll need to do this dance, neither one would relent. sinbad would not go down that path, being half fallen was enough, he’s sure the other must have noticed that by now. and he couldn’t understand why judal wanted to remain with…those people. 

a sigh leaves him at the laughter, “ that seems more like your thing, i do complain, but maybe i’ve grown use to these fights.” a shrug of his shoulders with the displeased look turning into a smirk, to challenge the other’s attitude.  “maybe i’ve grown almost fond of it, almost,” a hum but no further answer..

good person, sinbad supposed he did good things, he wanted to help, he had good intentions– but a g o o d person by definition? ah, a little grey area there. “why do you keep coming back? you can’t be my magi, and i can’t be your king, so i’m curious, judal~”

it’s a smile, it’s that perfect smile that will either be filled with true mirth, or empty but charming to push his way through his goal. 

He got used to it, huh? Judal sobered at the thought - he wasn’t someone people got used to. He was a magi, special, one of a kind! Well, latter not really, but he would never allow someone else to think of him as predictable, to get used to his antics. But Sinbad caught his attention with something else before he could decide on throwing a tantrum.

“ Fond~? “ The younger rolled the term around on his tongue, tasted it, examined it. It was hard to believe that Sinbad had the capacity of fondness.

But it didn’t matter - as long as the ghost of that sentiment was directed at him. He couldn’t deny that he liked having the king’s attention.

So he turned to him completely, crossing the distance between them light-footedly. “ Maybe I am intrigued, stupid king. Maybe I want to find out how adamant you really are about denying me over and over again...” He set to a slow prance around him, mood taking a serious swing in another direction altogether. Were they really talking about killing each other just minutes ago?

Okay, somehow it seemed that this younger Version of Judal barely knew anything. Great, really. Ja’far let out a sigh and scratched his head.

“I understand.” Looking around Ja’far hoped that nobody would talk to him now. It would be bad if anyone recognized the kid. “How old are you?”, he asked a bit more quiet and peaceable than before. “Can you tell me that at least?” 

Judal’s own question made him shrink back. Now it was Ja’far himself who tightened the grip around the child’s hand. “They’re not”, he answered with a cloudy expression.

“ Five “, he uttered quietly. It sounded like a question rather than a statement, but that was the last thing he remembered about his age. Why was that important anyways? He was special, he knew that much, but with special also came endangered.

And a massive headache.

“ Ugh. “ Trembling fingers combed through his bangs, as Judal tried to sit up. He was sitting on what felt like concrete and as soon as he lost his balance, there were bars digging into his side. What the -??

“ Where the bloody hell... “ Keeping his eyes open was hard and no matter how many times he blinked, it didn’t make a difference. Nausea was clawing at him and for a moment or two he suspected he’d throw up - but only bile was scorching his gullet. The magi was caught in a coughing fit soon after and could only weakly lean against the iron bars as soon as it was over.

He felt horrible.

“ Hello?” 

;;Walking away from the camp, early in the morning, Yona remembered that there was certain `waterfall a few feet away from the camp she was hungry and she was sure that the gang was as well, now was her chance to prove her worth to everyone.

It was bright in the morning, The sun was just barely over the mountains, the princess started waking up from her night slumber, and she had noticed all of the dragons, Yoon, and her guard was still asleep.

, So now would be the perfect time to sneak out of camp and practice her bow and arrow skills hopefully to catch a fish in the stream like Hak had shown her.

“Just you wait. Stupid hak, and teasing.. I can too be usefull.  I’ll prove myself t be useful one of these days.”

Quietly she tiptoed out of the tent and grabbed her arrows and bow that were leaned against the tree, and then with a small sigh Yona walked out of the campsite and found a quiet spot to fish around the waterfall, and shot an arrow. into the water *clunk*

One arrow was shot down in the middle of the ground missing a fish.*clunk * well, there went two she almost had it . “clunk.” Her aim was just plain off.

A few times she tried this but never was successful. “Why do fish have to be so fast..? Tilting her head up the female watched the birds that flew over the horizon, but as soon as she felt herself lost in thought, the girl quickly shook her head

“Focus Yona.” Looking back down she spoke up once more, “I need to stay focused, I need to ….Whoa!” 

SPLASH

There as she leaned forward to grab her arrows that she had shot previously. The girl found herself slipping on a rock, then collapsing in the water covering herself head to toe in the clear cold, water as she ended up soaked. “T-That d-didn’t g-go out w-well?”

Shivering The princess spoke up and walked out of the steam, After that she placed herself back on to the bank where she placed her bow down and her hand on the side of her arms then shivered. “C-Cold.”

Judal needed a couple of minutes to satisfy his thirst and decided to at least give his face and his arms a wash. It wasn’t exactly warm around here, so he heated up the air with a quick spell. Luckily he still had his wand.

A loud grumble caught his attention then and with a raised brow he looked at his middle with an accusatory glare. Of course his body would choose now of all times to get hungry. After floating through space for so long without food... That’s when a certain splash caught his attention and caused him to search for the source of the sound.

There was a girl in the spring, a good distance away from him. She didn’t look like she planned ending up in there, so the sardonic smile was back on his lips in a second. But still... She was the only human being around and she might know where to get some food. He needed to restore his energies to think of a way to get back home.

It took him a while to wander around the spring and finally reach her. She was a small thing, the magi thought. Not unlike Kouha, similarly fragile looking.

But Kouha wasn’t exactly fragile, so he was on guard.

@misbehavingmagi​: “Been there before… sort of. It’s not the best thing.”

Ja’far coughed, shaky hands running through his hair. A quiet curse came over his lips when noticing the voice near his bed. It was deep in the night and the white haired man gazed at the magi with a cold expression.

“Leave my room immediately!”, he hissed while jumping on his feet. Yeah, Judal really was all he needed now. The nightmare still sweeped through his mind and Ja’far had a hard time to bury it for the time being.

Oh, no, he won’t.

Judal’s feet padded closer to the bed while a smirk spread the magi’s lips. He wasn’t one for sentiment, but he was still intrigued about the conversation they’d once had - about having certain similarities... The thought had never really left him and now he was here again, standing in the exact same bedroom.

“ I will not “, he soberly informed Sindria’s advisor. He turned his back on him, convinced that his borg would cover any kind of attack. Judal examined a chest of drawers beside the bed, trailing his fingertips over the dark wood. This room was as impersonal as he’d ever seen one. No comparison to Kou where everything was full of pomp - or even Sinbad’s rooms which were no less ostentatious.