Where Avicia was to stab Kahdreg ended up being, understandably, the guest bathroom.

Like the rest of the apartment, it was relatively modest. Well, compared to what Avicia's imagination had been braced for. Done up in whites and pale blues, it was clean and a little roomier than her own facilities at home. With a sink and big mirror, ringed with bright lights. To the far side, a bathtub decked out with a rather fancy looking shower curtain and a plain toilet. No bidet or some fancy bit of dwarven plumbing or golden toilet seats, like her unforgiving mind had previously imagined.

It was strange to think such a placid place would be the setting for knives and blood. Consensually.

Well... one dagger. And hopefully not a lot of blood. Avicia gripped the dagger as she stepped back to observe her work. It took some effort to not let her eyes drift. To not graze over Kahdreg's muscles and scars with her gaze.

Sitting on the toilet lid - since Avicia had no hope of reaching their shoulder otherwise - Kahdreg craned their neck to see what she'd done. A squarish heart made of straight lines was scratched onto their right shoulder, to act as guidelines for Avicia's more permanent mark. She considered chickening out on actually doing the messy work, since Kahdreg had offered to do that bit before she had them sit.

Though, once Kahdreg glanced at her handiwork in the bathroom mirror, they shot her a wry look. She could almost hear the exasperated 'really?' in their thoughts. With their semi-derisive snort at her choice of design, coupled with that infuriating smirk, Avicia's consideration backtracked.

"Sit there," she demanded, shoving the shower curtain to the side and pointing to the lip of the tub. "I don't want this place looking like a crime scene."

"Yes, ma'am." That smirk only grew as they moved. From the sound of their words, they doubted - or knew - it wouldn't get that messy. But, they were humoring her.

Avicia glanced away from them, realizing how intently her eye followed the shift of their body and their muscles. Her brain kept feeding her altered thoughts. Like would they move this languidly in a dimly lit bedroom? She swallowed, readjusting her grip on the dagger. Once she heard them settle, she turned and took a step closer. Her eyes carefully remained trained on the design on their shoulder.

Slowly, she pressed the blade into their skin. Kahdreg didn't flinch. In fact, they seemed impossibly at ease. The tension in Avicia's shoulders knotted a little further, skimming the metal across their flesh, experimentally. It took more pressure, more force, than she thought it would to draw blood. Was that the same for humans? Or were orcs just thicker-skinned?

Though, even once she managed to scratch a line, a mere red droplet oozing from the cut, the orc chuckled, "You need to press deeper to leave a scar. You sure you don't want me to do this part?"

"I can do it," she snapped, glaring up at them with her lips bunched tight. They still watched her carefully, a lazy grin on their lips. Her cheeks burned, frustrated at her own uncertainty.

Returning her attention to the task at hand, Avicia's frown deepened. Readjusting her grip on the dagger's handle yet again, she hesitated bringing it back to the green skin. It was a little unsettling to press a knife to someone's body. Especially with intent to scar them. Things like that seemed violent and hateful to her human sensibilities.

But Kahdreg was an orc. Scars and wounds had a different kind of meaning in their culture, compared to her own. Repeating that eased her apprehension. With an inexplicable desire to prove her grit to them, Avicia leaned forward, blade raised to the design.

The coppery scent of blood soon filled her nose. Though Avicia did her best not to focus on the cuts and the oozing blood. Distracting herself as she worked, Avicia forced her tone to be light and conversational as she asked, "Do you have a first aid kit?"

"In the kitchen," Kahdreg grunted, like someone talking through a particularly bad cramp.

Relieved they didn't sound like they were in complete pain, while ignoring how her core flared at the strain in their voice, Avicia grinned weakly. "Oh, so you're a butterfinger with knives, huh?"

At that, they barked out a laugh, which forced her to pause in tracing the heart. Her gaze flickered to Kahdreg, eyebrows raised in curiosity. They leaned a little closer to her, amusement still peppering their voice though the tone dipped low, the words scraping along Avicia's lower tummy, "I'm very well-versed with blades, Avicia."

The way they said it made a sharp heat slice down her spine. Their proximity didn't help, either, as their body heat and scent grazed her senses. Pulling away, trying to ignore how her face warmed, Avicia snorted, "Why does that sound sexual coming from you?"

Kahdreg hummed, noncommittally, as they straightened back up. Their words oozed with teasing, "Maybe it's your brain stuck on sex?"

She threw them a dirty look, before returning to etching into their flesh. Thankfully, Kahdreg remained silent for the rest of the endeavor, though their odd grunt would make Avicia's insides flip. New imaginations blossomed, thinking how else those sounds could be drawn from their throat. Kahdreg's quiet smirk, lingering on their lips, also kept a heat searing down her spine.

When she finally finished with the bloody task, she retreated from the bathroom to retrieve the first aid kit as Kahdreg washed up. The distance also helped her breathe again. At some point, with her boss staring at her as she worked, her lungs felt like they'd forgotten to function.

Or maybe it was just that every breath felt like it seared her throat. Now, outside of the bathroom and rooting around in the kitchen, the heat in her body drained. Her inhalations no longer made her throat ache with excitement and her heart no longer pounded.

She didn't know where the delight stemmed from. Was it some deep, dark desire to take a knife to someone's skin? Or her body reacting being so close to Kahdreg's? Probably the latter, since sharp edges were things she often avoided. It was the orc's natural heat and firmness and scent and-

With a quiet sound to herself, she shook the thoughts away.

Nope, no time to think of things like that. Especially once her gaze landed on the first aid kit, tucked away in an upper cabinet. Snatching it, Avicia padded back to the bathroom, preferring to deal with Kahdreg in reality than in her head.

Avicia set the kit on the sink's corner, announcing her arrival. The orc muttered a quick thanks as she retreated, settling onto the edge of the tub. She watched Kahdreg, as they riffled through the antiseptic and bandages, dressing their wounds. The temptation to help bobbed up in her head, but the eager twitch of her fingers gave Avicia pause. She shouldn't be so eager to touch them.

So, she let them dress the wound alone.

"Should I head home?" She asked, once Kahdreg seemed close to finished. "Or should I stay here to waylay any sirens that come knocking?"

"Kalli should be too busy with the charity gala," replied Kahdreg, as they put the tube of antiseptic away and gathered up the bandage wrappers, tossing them into a bin beneath the sink.

A grin tilted at her lips. "Oh, trying to be a big bad orc, afraid of nothing?"

Kahdreg's eyes shot to Avicia's face so quickly, the amusement leaked from her thoughts. With a bit more force than necessary, the orc slammed the kit's lid closed. "I'm not scared."

Tension hung heavy between the two. Avicia's eyebrows furrowed as she watched Kahdreg's face carefully. They weren't lazily smirking or teasing. In fact, Kahdreg seemed like their boss persona when on set. Stone-faced and serious, lips affixed in a firm line that was neither an outright frown but neither a smile.

"Let me rephrase," Avicia said, her tone softer than earlier. She pushed off the tub, taking a step closer to Kahdreg. They tensed, imperceptibly, as she raised a hand to their arm. Thinking better of the contact, Avicia's arm lowered as she went on, "Being alone, after dealing with unwanted attention, doesn't always feel the best."

"Big bad orcs can handle themselves," Kahdreg grunted softly, glancing away from her as bitterness snuck between the words. When Avicia tilted her head to the side, eyebrows raising, Kahdreg crossed their arms and glanced away.

It wasn't her business to push, but something beckoned. An unspoken sensation she, herself, didn't quite understand.

"Well, that doesn't sound like a 'get the hell out of my home, so I'm going to get out of this dress." Avicia took a step back, smiling up as Kahdreg's wide-eyed attention snapped to her face. Frustration and hidden relief mottled their expression, along with some expected heat given the implication of Avicia's soon-to-be nudity. She ignored all of it as she trotted back to the door, pausing to glance back at her boss. "Do you have anything I can borrow to sleep in?"

After the shock of her announcement passed, Kahdreg's crossed arms tightened against their chest. Their eyebrows dipped into a low 'v' as they muttered, "I didn't say you could stay."

That gave her pause. Was she reading their vibes wrong? Usually, she was good at sussing out what people genuinely wanted in a given situation. Though, Kahdreg certainly put her intuition on the fritz, she'd come to find. Heaving a sigh, Avicia leaned in the doorjamb and narrowed her eyes. Even if it meant actually leaving, she gave them a chance to clearly state what they wanted. "Do you want me to leave?"

"I-" Kahdreg's phone pinged, interrupting them. They snatched it from the sink's counter, a little more dramatically than necessary. Their expression morphed from annoyed to stony as they stared at the display. The air around them becoming slightly chillier. Just as Avicia was about to ask about it, Kahdreg heaved a sigh. Pocketing their phone and maneuvering passed Avicia, they headed toward their bedroom. "Alright, fine. I'll get you something to wear."

She watched as they retreated, eyebrows raised with curiosity. In the vacuum of Kahdreg's presence, the ambient sounds of the apartment pressed in on her ears. The bathroom faucet dripping, the refrigerator distantly whirring, very faint sounds from the outer hall.

If Avicia had to guess, Miss Virlee had texted something. And that convinced Kahdreg to let her stay. Perhaps it was some snide 'hope I didn't cause problems' text. Her eyes narrowed at that thought, nose wrinkling. Could someone be that horrid? To not only out someone in front of a fledgling partner, but pretend that hadn't been her intention?

She didn't have time to wonder as Kahdreg reemerged, now sporting baggy shorts and a tank top. They tossed a super oversized tee-shirt and drawstring shorts at her. She nodded thanks, before ducking into the guest room to change. It took Avicia some time to wriggle out of the dress, breathing a sigh of relief once free from the stuffy gown. Once fully changed, she hung the dress up and put the accessories away, before making her way to the kitchen.

Well, it was more the sounds that drew her closer than the destination. Leaning in the entryway, she watched as Kahdreg moved back and forth in the kitchen, putting clean dishes away from the dishwasher. The clink of ceramic or glass punctuated their work. It took some time for them to notice the audience. When they did, they paused in their chores, but didn't say anything right away. Avicia waited patiently, watching as a look of contemplative consternation creased Kahdreg's features.

After a few breaths, they found their words. "You acted like you didn't want to be around me all day. Why do you want to stay?"

"It's not that I wanted to stay," Avicia started, though part of her knew she was lying. She was curious how this all would play out. She could afford to be curious, with what they were paying her, after all. And she could be bothered to put her all into this ploy. But those were complicated thoughts to convey to her companion, so she gave an easy-going shrug and added, "I just didn't want to leave you alone."

Kahdreg frowned and made a sound, as if not entirely convinced. They stared down at Avicia, a plethora of emotions in their yellow gaze. She couldn't even begin to disentangle them.

"If we're going to pretend to be a lovestruck couple, we should know some things about each other, right?" Avicia tacked on, finally entering the kitchen only to station herself against a counter opposite of Kahdreg.

"What kind of things?" They asked, eyes tracking her movement as the rest of their body remained strangely still.

"Oh, you know," sighed Avicia, waving a hand as if the answer was so obvious, it was flashing beside her. "Family, hobbies, interests, odd facts."

"Odd facts?"

"Like little quirks that come up when dating." She thought for a brief beat, considering an example. She settled on something that many past friends and lovers teased her about. Moving her hands as she spoke, Avicia demonstrated what she was saying. "For example, you know those Ghostess cupcakes? With the cream in the middle? I like to peel the frosting off, sucking the cream out, then eating the breaded part."

As expected, a mix of confusion and amusement crossed Kahdreg's face, the corner of their lips twitching into a smile despite themselves. "Why?"

"I don't know, I just do." Avicia laughed and gave a helpless shrug, though her lips also curled into a smile. Her minor confession seemed to ease something in Kahdreg's stiff shoulders. "How about you? Any little quirks?"

Kahdreg hummed thoughtfully, shifting to stand beside Avicia, leaning back against the counter. They crossed their arms, brows furrowed as they seemed to go through a mental rolodex of potential tidbits to share. Eventually, they gave a flippant shrug. "I dip my fries in milkshakes."

"That only counts if they're seasoned fries," scoffed Avicia, her lips puckering into a faux pout.

With a shake of their head, Kahdreg chuckled, "I'm not that adventurous."

"Coward." Forgetting herself, she elbowed the orc playfully in their side. Avicia had already fallen to treating the orc more like a friend than her boss.

"Oh?" Kahdreg narrowed their eyes, but the amused air still flitted about them. They moved to stand before Avicia. Her heart hitched as they boxed her in with their arms, hands gripping the counter behind her. She forced herself to breathe normally as they leaned over her, that smirk on their lips. "You know what happens to people that call orcs cowards?"