Young Writers Society

Maahes had spent hours trying to pick the perfect world to take Molly. He wanted one where she could run free without scaring any of the world's inhabitants, and wanted one that would let her tap into her roots as a wild lion. She had never truly lived out in the wild - the Goa'uld he had found her with had seen to that. But it wasn't right to keep a quickly growing cub cooped up inside all of the time, and it was his responsibility as her main caretaker to make sure she got what she needed.

But things hadn't gotten as planned.

The two of them had fallen into an old set of ruins, the words too faded away for him to clearly make out what they were saying. Molly had gone running off down the seemingly endless tunnels, and one thing had led to another - before he knew it, Molly had touched an artifact that made her disappear, and he had done the same.

Now they were standing in what appeared to be a royal bedroom, and the bedroom was occupied.

Even before he realized they were about to make out, he knew he was in a lot of trouble.

Soren jerked away from him at the sudden appearance of a stranger and his pet...lion cub...in their room. Arryn pouted for a moment--he'd been so close to getting Soren to relax--and glanced towards the strange intruder. He yelped as the lion cub bounded into the room and up onto the bed with him. Arryn tugged the blankets up over his semi-nakedness and glowered at the cub. Soren, meanwhile, had calmly turned towards the stranger and started to straightened out his clothing--by re-buttoning his shirt.

"Who are you and how did you get inside my palace?" he demanded, shifting to put himself between Arryn and the intruder.

Arryn hugged the blankets to his chest and tried to nudge the little lion cub away from him with a foot. It just pounced on the blankets over where his foot was moving. He hissed and nudged the cub harder. "Get off, get off," he muttered, and then picked up a nearby pillow and tossed it towards the cub. The lion cub caught it and tumbled head over tail off the bed and landed with a soft thump on the floor.

"Speak," Soren hissed, "before I call for the guards."

"My name is Leo," he said, without missing a beat - he had to go with that name. He wasn’t using the Scarlet Lord's guise, and he couldn’t risk this man knowing of a goa'uld named Maahes. Then came the next part. The room was a lavish one; he was probably looking at someone well educated. He could try saying it was magic or technology, but one was likely to be more accepted than the other.

"I'm not really sure how I got here," he admitted, rubbing the back of his neck as Molly dragged her prey over to his feet. "I think it was an old artifact, but it happened in a blur."

Arryn winced at the feedback Soren was sending across their bond--anger, fear, worry, wariness--and shifted until he could slid a hand up beneath the back of his king's shirt. Soren didn't appear to immediately notice the movement. Arryn figured he was probably scowling at the 'Leo' guy with eyes in suspicion. He didn't blame him.

"Leo," Soren said slowly, and Arryn shifted to peek past his king to find the stranger rubbing at the back of his neck. The lion cub had dragged Arryn's pillow right up onto the man's feet. "And you don't know how you got here..." Soren heaved a sigh and twisted to glower down at Arryn. "Another one of your friends, hm?"

He blinked blankly back up at his king. "Uh, no?" Arryn hedged, somewhat nervously. "I don't know who this guy is, Sir. I've never seen him before..."

"Really?" his king drawled and turned back to the man. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't call for the guards, Leo. If that's even you're real name."

"Because this was a big mistake," Maahes hurriedly said, scooping Molly off of the floor. He tried to leave the pillow, but Molly was stubborn. She kept clinging onto it and biting it. "I'm sorry for interrupting you - I was just trying to spend some time with my pet, but then there were ruins and-"

He let out a sigh and gestured at the door.

"I'll...I'll just go now."

"I wouldn't--" Arryn began but the guards were already blocking the doorway and Soren was already moving towards one of the many places they hid daggers in--which just so happened to be beneath the pillow that was still on the bed. He sighed. "Yeah, that's not happening."

"Arryn."

"Yes, Sir?"

Soren snorted at him and flipped the remaining pillow over to reveal the dagger. He picked it up and turned to give Arryn a stern look. "Shut up."

"Yes, Sir."

With that, Soren turned and strode towards the intruder--Leo--who had half-turned towards the door. Arryn watched as his king ripped the pillow away from the cub and tossed it off in the general direction of the bed before he pressed the blade up against the man's throat.

"You are going to tell me who you are and why you're here right now or I will slit your pet's throat slowly and make you watch it die."

"Soren!" Arryn hissed but his king appeared to be ignoring him. He struggled with the blankets for a moment, getting tangled up in it as he rushed to get to his feet. One foot got caught up in the blankets, the blankets went taunt and Arryn tumbled face-first into the floor with a loud thump. From somewhere up above him, Arryn heard Soren swearing, but he was too busy groaning in pain--he'd probably just broken his nose again--to pay much attention.

His demeanor changed in an instant.

"I already told you," he said, the Scarlet Lord's coldness creeping into his voice. He never used that tone now - there was no need. The only time it ever appeared was even someone he cared about was threatened. It extended to others as well, but he grew especially still at the threat on Molly's life. "My name is Leo. It's short for Leonardo Cartwright. I never meant to come here. I was exploring an area with Molly when she touched an artifact in a ruin that brought her here, and I touched it to end up where she had."

He looked the man right in the eyes.

"If you kill Molly, you'll be making a serious mistake," he said. The only reason he was going along with this was because he was trying to seem human. But living among his new family and friends had made him more comfortable with himself, and he wouldn't hesitate to tap into his essence's potential if it meant protecting Molly.

Arryn struggled with the blankets for a moment, trying to get free. He managed, eventually, and climbed to his feet, moving to grab Soren's wrist with his least bloodied hand. "Soren," he hissed, staring up at his king's face. Soren's expression was thunderous. Apparently, he really hadn't appreciated the interruption and was still in the darker frame of mind. "Soren, please. Don't hurt the little cat."

Soren's gaze flickered down to him and Arryn tried not to flinch at the anger he could see there. He knew it wasn't entirely his king's. It was partly Voice Soren, but that didn't help much at all. He tried for a pleading look, but wasn't sure if it worked.

After several, tense moments, Soren huffed out a breath and jerked the blade away from Leo's neck, accidentally nicking him in the process. But at least he wasn't threatening anyone anymore. "Fine," he grunted and crossed his arms, letting the dagger hang deceptively loosely from the fingers of one hand. "Fine. So you came here by accident, then?"

Arryn turned so he could put them both in his line of sight and glanced down when he felt something furry brush against his arm. The cub's tail was hanging down, flicking slightly. He glanced back up to find Soren and Leo staring each other down.

"He's not gonna hurt anyone," Arryn hurried to add, watching how Soren's gaze narrowed. "Right, Sir?"

"Not without permission," Soren muttered, shooting him a heated look. Arryn flushed and dropped his gaze to the floor. To Leo, he added; "In case you hadn't noticed, you interrupted something."

"I noticed," he said, reaching a hand up to wipe where the man had cut. He could feel a little bit of essence on his guise's neck - not enough for someone to realize that it wasn't blood, but enough for touch it. Then he realized he was still using the Scarlet Lord's tone, and he quickly dropped it.

"I did come here by accident," he said. "I promise."

Molly suddenly headbutted his arm, wiggling around in his grip.

The sensation made a smile dance across his lips. "I think the pillow's a very good reason for why I shouldn't put you down right now," Maahes said. Molly gave him a blank look as she looked up at him - lions, after all, didn't really know English.

"Then let's say I believe you," Soren muttered, his attention snapping back to Leo. There was a hard edge to his voice that made Arryn winch. "Reluctantly... I will let you stay."

Arryn glanced up, startled, to find Soren watching him now. There was an edge to his gaze, dark and predatory. Arryn shivered. "Sir?" he whispered, blinking slowly. Despite the fact that Leo was right there and the guards were also right outside the door, Arryn found himself wanting to kiss his king. H bit his lip and watched as Soren's gaze darkened slightly before he tore it off of Arryn and focused on the intruder again.

"Right," his king muttered and cleared his throat. "Accident..." He glanced down at the cub--Arryn couldn't help taking in his king's profile as he did so--and then at where the pillow had landed. Soren snorted. "She can have the pillow."

Arryn swallowed and turned towards the guards. He caught the eye of the taller one and gestured for them to withdraw and close the door. They exchanged glanced then stepped back into position, the shorter one kicking the door closed as he did so.

"There," he announced, and turned to go find the pillow. "Privacy."

"Not completely."

"Oh, do shut up, Sir," Arryn said, throwing Soren's words from earlier right back at him. He picked up the pillow and brought it back over to where Leo and Soren were still staring each other down. Albeit with far less hostility than before, but still... Arryn didn't like it. He offered Leo and the cub--Molly, was it?--the pillow. "You can set her down now."

Maahes got a hand free and grabbed onto the pillow, giving it to Molly without putting her down. Now that she had a new toy, she had no qualms about being held - she gleefully attacked the pillow as he continued to hold her in his arms.

"Thanks," Maahes said, giving the other man a smile. "I think she's alright with being held right now, but I appreciate the offer-"

He was cut off by a large purr erupting from Molly as she tore apart the pillow.

"Oh," Arryn said, watching the feathers burst up into the air and come tumbling back down in a floating cloud of fluff. "Oh, dear."

Soren smirked. "Well, well," he said, eyeing the little cub. "What a ferocious little beast you are."

Arryn laughed. "It's alright," he said, shifting from one foot to another. "There's plenty more pillows..."

Even though the pillow had been offered to him - and Molly, by extensions - he was still horrified at the sight of it being ripped to shreds. The shreds did provide Molly with another toy as they fell to the ground, but it didn't make up for the fact that he had shown up here without warning, interrupted two strangers, and then became indirectly responsible for the destruction of their property.

He plopped Molly down on the ground. There was no need to worry about her creating more chaos - the shreds and the feathers were enough to occupy her for now.

"I'm sorry," he apologized. "I didn't realize she'd do that. I think I have some money on me..."

Keeping one eye on Molly to make sure she wasn't about to cause even more havoc, he reached into his jacket's pocket and started grasping for the bag of coins he kept in it. His hand did bump up against his zat'nik'tel - old habits died hard - but he ignored it in lieu of grabbing the bag.

He pulled the little bag out of his pocket and placed it in his other hand, digging through the currency within with the first. Most of the money was gold coins, thankfully. He didn't know what money they used here, but gold tended to be something that most people could get something out of.

He pulled out a coin and extended it to the two.

"Would this make up for the pillow?" he asked. "I'm not sure what your currency is like, and I don't want to pay you less than the pillow was worth."

Soren and Arryn exchanged a glance and then Soren chuckled and Arryn starting laughing. He shook his head, bending over to hug himself in his fit of laughter. He vaguely heard Soren's chuckling die off and his king speaking to the man.

"You're offering a king more money?" his king asked, incredulously. Arryn glanced up in time to see Soren's grip on the dagger's hilt tighten--and then his king was pressing Leo up against the nearest wall with the dagger at the man's throat. "Are you trying to insult me?"

"SOREN!" Arryn yelled and darted forward only to stop short as Soren's magic descended on him, holding him still. He glared. "Goddess damn it, Soren! I thought you said you wouldn't hurt anyone--"

Soren snorted. "I said no such thing."