Douce Dépendouce

Chapter 21

Once we stood atop of the hill, I felt Ydris slowly let go of my grasp, my gaze turning back to him.

"Do enter my dove," he said, gesturing towards the waggon. "I shall be there once I check on something."

Seeming to know what he meant by that, I nodded, watching as he disappeared into another cloud of smoke before I even stepped foot on the waggon step, my hand gripping on the handle as I looked around, getting an uneasy feeling around me. I swallowed, trying to get the reminder of earlier out of my mind, entering and closing the door tightly behind me. Once I was inside, I sighed, feeling safer inside than out. I was becoming aware now that something was off whenever I was alone; I always had that feeling around me. Even though I had been at Nilmers and the Circus which were highly filled with other presences, it still made me wonder if this was a frequent thing. As I unzipped my jacket and a few layers had been taken off, I wandered over to the bed, laying down as I relaxed my shoulders, remembering that Xin had been missing for a few days. If he wasn't missing, then I had not simply seen him, but the grounds felt too quiet and uneasy for him not to be here. I continued to think about other possibilities before a sudden entrance of smoke appeared, catching my attention as Ydris stood by the door, walking towards me.

"Where has Xin been?" I asked, propping onto my elbow onto my side as he stopped, starting to take off his ringmaster gear.

"Somewhere he shouldn't be, which has left me wondering," he said, looking at me. "If he's not here, then things may get easier now if he has run off."

I smiled, imagining that in my head as he slid off his jacket, my mind thinking on how he can wear such simple clothing in such temperatures.

"Where could he have gone?" I asked, seeing him take off his gloves as he grinned.

"I wouldn't be surprised if he's gotten himself lost," he responded, placing them with his jacket. "If he doesn't return, then we'll be faced with many possibilities."

I watched as he walked over to me, climbing over me as he then laid next to me, prompting himself on his elbow as he laid against me, his eyes on mine as I turned to face him.

"Would it be easier without him?" I asked, holding a gaze with him.

"I suppose in some ways, not all," he responded.

I smiled. "In what ways would it be easier?"

His grin turned in a sly smirk as I felt myself smirk too, manoeuvring myself closer while still keeping our gaze as he reached for my hand, holding his with mine. His grasp was soft and gentle but still had a sense of securness and comfort as we laid there, my mind wondering to thoughts about where the jester could have gone. If anything, I suspected he had gotten himself tied up somewhere, or maybe even ran off. I tried to hide my laugh as I thought of him doing so in the middle of the night, a few other situations coming into play before I forced myself to stop, trying to hide my smirk as Ydris adjusted himself on his elbow, staring down at me.

"I do know what you're thinking ma cherie," he said, moving closer to me as I smiled, our faces inches away from each other as I saw his eyes flicker down, testing me. "If he does decide to show, I'm sure we'll both know when."
I let out a smirk, soon feeling him press his lips onto mine, holding a light consistent pattern with mine, soon slightly intensifying, teasing me. I followed his actions, suspecting where this was leading to as we kept going, my heart rate increasing as each second went by. At his touch, I felt my body pulsate and heat rise, every time seeming to get more and more intense, never fully getting used to that feeling that we always had.

Just as I was about to reach up and place my hands on my chest, he slowly broke intensively, once again testing me as he his touch got farther and farther each time until we were back to the small space between us, making my heart rate reluctantly go down as I could see the smirk on his face, the sense of him knowing where I thought this was going.

We continued to hold a gaze with each other before he lightly kissed me again, breaking away and resting back on his side, making me turn to face him.

"I do wonder what possibly could need such attention from the Druids awaits us," he spoke, sitting up as I smiled slyly, watching as he got off of the bed and walked over to the door, turning off what seemed to be the main light switch. Once he did so, there was only a small glow coming from above me which lit up the smaller area of the room, seeing Ydris shadow walk towards me and settle where he was before.

"No doubt it'll be something irrelevant," I replied, crossing my hands over my stomach as I slowly shut my eyes, knowing he was grinning at me as I started to drift off, trying to not let my mind think about what the Druids next missions would hold.

A/N: If I'm being honest, this chapter, for some reason, had me stuck. Without saying for spoilers, I was stuck between two scenes which left me blank for a few days, but, I am happy with the outcome. This was definitely a good filler to add not just for the plot, but for the next chapter which will tie to this in some ways <3