Jake nearly gets punched in the face, only avoiding it by using his shadow teleportation. As he reappears at the other end of the room.
"Come on, is that the best you got?" Jake couldn't help but tease his friend Shawn.
Shawn was human and short; he could almost be mistaken for a dwarf, even. Shawn's blonde hair was wet from sweat, and his blue eyes gleamed in determination and anger.
"Oi, you fucking cheat!" Shawn shouted at him, pointing a shaking finger at him from exhaustion and anger.
"No spells you god damn mutt!" Shawn snarled, his anger clear in his eyes, and Jake laughed, putting his hands in his pockets and taking on a relaxed pose.
"Training has ended, you half-wit." Jake retorted.
Shawn was one of Jake's very close friends, and they traded banter and insults on a regular basis. Jake was happy to have him as a friend because Shawn didn't care if he was heir to a crime family; no, he cared that he was his friend, and that's it.
"Fine, you mangy mutt, where are you going again?"Shawn asked.
He raised an eyebrow, his blue eyes gleaming in curiosity, knowing that around this time he usually disappeared, but never told him why. Jake slightly froze at the question. Then he thought of an excuse.
"Sometimes I just need some me time, alright, a time away from the business, you know, dwarf," Jake said.
Telling half-truths and half-lies, that's the way you simply talked in the underground city, either lie through your teeth or tell half-lies while hiding the truth to slip under the rug. Same with nobles.
"Well fuck off now and have yourself time, wait…" Shawn paused, thinking of something, and then smirking with a devilish grin. "Is your time you jacking off?"
Shawn was left knocked out on the ground, his nose broken, as Jake left the training room, shaking his head and his tail bristling.
"Fucking idiot," Jake muttered under his breath.
He sighed, knowing he had to go to one more place before he and Elena could meet. It was another man in debt, but this one actually put up a fight, as Jake dodged a surprisingly fast punch from the deer lycanthrope as he ducked under his antlers. Jake took out one of his knives from his many coat pockets and slashed the back of his knee, making the man cry out as he pulled his fist back before punching the lycanthrope in the jaw, making teeth clatter on the floor, and the man fell. A part of his antler broke off as they hit the floor.
"Damn idiot, you should have just given me the money." Jake muttered as he patted the man down and grabbed the coin bag, putting it in a pocket as he also slid his knife back in after cleaning it from the blood.
Jake finally could set off to meet with his friend. Jake went up to the city through 1 of the many shafts that lead up to the city of Altor, capital of Glatith.
He went to the Falmil compound already knowing the guards' movements 24/7 and other security measures, which he could only laugh at as he went into the woods. It was nearly noon, and he was almost late, but as he hid in the trees, he finally saw the mansion and Elena's window as he spotted a shadow he could teleport into near her window.
Elena waited on her bed, fiddling with a puzzle as Lily was knitting something. They passed the time in silence, Elena stealing glances at the window, seeing that Jake was almost late, and she sighed, wondering how much longer she had to wait for him.
Then a slight click rang out in the silence. Elena's eyes widened as they instantly locked onto the figure opening the door, his golden eyes locking on to hers, his tail, a black fluffy tail, wagging side to side in excitement. His smirk plastered onto his face as he jumped into the room.
"Hello, my lady," Jake said.
Jake's voice was calm and collected, with him putting on a fancy accent. He did a proper bow, his smirk turning into a grin as she laughed at his dramatic flair.
"So dramatic all the time, my shadow," Elena said, covering her mouth with her hand as she held herself up on the bed with one arm.
"Hello, to you too, Lily. It's a pleasure to see you again." Jake said as he turned and nodded to Lily as she chuckled, seeing her best friend happy with the man who just snuck into her friend's room.
"Honestly, Jake, how do you get by the guards so easily? I mean, we are in a compound of one of the seven," Lily asked, absolutely curious about how Jake always slipped by the guards of one of the 7 major Noble houses.
Jake smiled; only a few people knew his true element of shadow and how he could use teleportation. Elena was one of the few outside his own family who knew he had shadow teleportation, which was a rare and powerful spell.
"Sorry, Lily, even though you're a close friend, I have to keep my secrets."
Lily shook her head as she gathered up her knitting and sighed.
"Seems like I failed to pry the safe again, oh well." Lily sighed again.
All three of them chuckled, remembering their inside joke about a safe. Meaning dirty secrets and other things.
"I shall hold off anyone from coming here. You two can do whatever you want until…" Lily's mouth froze at Elena's glare, telling her not to ruin the surprise of their adventure she had planned and was gonna suggest to Jake.
"I shall leave now," Lily said, quickly leaving, Jake looking at her in confusion.
"What was that about?" Jake asked, looked at Elena with an eyebrow raised, trying to see through her plots and schemes.
"Uh, it was about our adventure I thought we would do tonight," Elena said, a slight blush covering her face, that the ball, in order to enter, needed a partner, someone who could be seen as a lover to most.
"What is the adventure, Elena? Why are you blushing?" Elena tried to look away, blush creeping up her cheeks more, thinking about the dress, thinking about how they would dance in the crowd, how they would be together for almost the entire night.
"Uh… I am suggesting we go to a ball tonight, a um… lover's ball, one that… needs a… partner," Elena muttered. Elena was almost pink as Jake looked at her in surprise.
Elena Falmil, known for avoiding planned marriages, one that seems to fall apart at every turn, each time damaging a noble house name. Being with someone?
Jake chuckled as he pinched his nose, thinking about plans he had if a chance like this ever popped up. Not one to seduce Elena, no, she was his friend and that's that. But one where he could use his knowledge of noble secrets that they kept hidden and expose them in front of others. He always wanted to do that; his dramatic flair stirred in his chest thinking about it.
"Sure, why not? I got a few ideas of what we can do during and after the ball." Jake said as he rolled his hand in a circular motion.
Elena, completely misunderstanding his words, turned red at that moment. As she tried to tell herself that they were just friends, friends for a long time, friends that were completely neutral… but did Jake have feelings for her? Then a snapping of fingers caught her attention.
"Elena, hello? You okay? Your bright red," Jake asked, little worry in his voice.
Jake looked at her in confusion, not really understanding why she was red or what he had said to make her blush so much. He could understand she was embarrassed that it was a lover's ball. But he hadn't seen this side of her.
"Yes! Yes, I am okay." Elena said, flustered, her mind snapping back to reality, and saw his golden eyes. They were like liquid gold, almost calming and soothing, yet she could feel the heat of the liquid gold in his gaze.
"I am sorry, I uh blanked out for a bit," Elena muttered as she calmed herself down.
"I could tell, I asked you something." He said flatly.
Elena quirked an eyebrow. She had been so deep in thought that she missed what he had asked her. She nodded to let him know she was paying attention to him.
"Won't this cause a lot of ruckus? I mean, Elena Falmil going out with someone? That's pretty big from what I understand." Jake asked, rubbing his stubble.
Elena had thought it over; she had had enough of the planned marriages and just wanted a break from it all. Having her friend come with her to a lover's ball would simply let her do her own things for a while.
"Yes, Jake, it will. But of course you will be in a disguise, and I trust you're skills of not being remembered easily, I mean what you did last time we went to a ball no one could remember your face even if I described it exactly." Elena chuckled, remembering the last time they went to another ball on one of their adventures. She was impressed at his stealth and his not being noticed or remembered, even if he directly talked to them, his face clear to their eyes.
"Alright, who do you think I should go by? Lamore? Daniel? Bob?"Jake chuckled at the last disguise he had done in the past, acting like a complete idiot.
At this point, both of them had sat down, and Jake had taken off his heavy leather coat. Lying on the couch, he sat while she sat in an armchair.
Elena thought for a moment, wondering which one he could do for this ball, but also a smirk on her face as she remembered the character of Bob.
"I was thinking of Lamore? He seems like an actual person, and he is known, although very little in the noble circles." She said, remembering all the times Jake played Lamore.
"His disguise should be in my closet, still in that hidden cabinet." Jake nodded, agreeing with her as he started to plan and scheme on what Lamore could do tonight, as he got up, Elena said.
"Oh, one more thing, I have another planned marriage." She sounded like she was annoyed at it.
Jake looked back and asked. "Oh yeah? Who is it this time?"
Elena couldn't remember the man's name, but said. "He is from the Young house, son of the current head?"
Jake froze the air around him, turning to ice as he stared at her, his gaze deadly. Elena noticed this and froze; she had rarely seen this side of him, but never directed at her or in such a closed-off space.
"Forrest Young?" Jake's voice was low, a hint of a growl in it. His ears were flattened, and his tail was bristling. Elena slowly nodded, watching her friend Jake. Absolutely confused about what was going on and why he seemed ready to kill.