A greeting in passing

[MissusHow]

Trouble in her ranks again. Ridley was skipping out, avoiding the thieves, and staying away from /her/ entirely. At first she had assumed that it was part of his mission, but rumors did reach her that he was avoiding her for other reasons. That was enough for her to know to steer clear from the thieves tavern, at least for awhile. It wasn\'t that she couldn\'t hold her own in there, but if she had nothing to say to them, or didn\'t feel like evesdropping much...there really was no point.

And right now she needed the glib farmers to keep her amused, talking about inane things (to her anyway) like crops, and the rumors about the farmhand stealing grain. Ara herself felt refreshed to be in this clean enviornment full of people who didn\'t give a horse\'s piss about taking her money (not that she had brought much, just to be safe). Honesty. Ara sipped her drink, her eyes surveying the room, a habit, but not a bad one. Not this time, anyway. A few tables away sat Bede Gallagher, stablemaster of Oberon, and a good man.

He was different than when she had last seen him, cleaner, more...sparkling. Ara smiled, he was speaking to another man, and laughing. To speak, or not to speak. Though it was in her habit to keep quiet, who could pass up the chance to speak with a man who looked like a nest of Honey lie on his head. "Gallagher, I had not expected to find you here, among such civilized company!" she called, keeping her black eyes on him, and holding her mug to her face, hiding the smile that had been painted there.

[Existentially Odd]

At the sound of his name, he looked around, his smile dimming somewhat.  When he caught sight of who had spoken, his eyebrows lifted in an obvious display of the surprise that she proclaimed to feel.  His lovely white teeth were soon bared again as he flashed her a grin and then turned back to speak quietly to his companion.

He excused himself from the conversation - he was only sitting with his cousin after all, the man he intended to go home with if he didn\'t make it all the way to his parents\' house that night (and it looked more likely than not, with his second ale nearly finished and the taste for a third stirring upon his tongue), and knew that his relative wouldn\'t mind being abandoned for the sake of a conversation with a pretty lady - and got to his feet.  He sauntered over to where she sat, his expression having settled into a curious half-grin as he looked at the empty seats around her.

"Might I join you for a drink, m\'lady?" he enquired politely, not yet ready to comment on her being surprised to find him in a tavern populated predominantly by farmers - stock from which he was bred... unlike her (supposedly?) noble self.  He had much to say about it, though; he was merely biding his time to be invited to sit, and then he would find the right moment.

[MissusHow]

"Or two, if you wish it." Ara told him merrily guesturing with her head towards the other chair at her table. "I\'m glad for the company tonight." she admitted, taking another sip of her cold drink, and letting it slide down her throught like a snake down a hole. "I\'m sorry if I interrupted any important conversations, I saw you and decided that my time would be well spent speaking about something other than the weather, and harvesting." she admitted, "Not that there\'s anythign wrong with that." she went on, turning halfway to the farmers behind her and winking, which they answered with a smile and a half toast. She nodded at them and went on, "But I feel that such talk comes better in small ammounts."

[Existentially Odd]

"\'S\'fine," he murmured as he took a seat at her left elbow, right arm holding his drink atop the wheel table while his left hand reached between his legs to drag the seat forward to meet his rear.  His long legs then moved to the left of the central stand and stretched out beneath the furniture so that he didn\'t inadvertently kick her.

He took a drink of his ale - finishing it off in a healthy swallow - and then thumped it down, flicking the mug flamboyantly away from him, expecting a serving girl to come by and ask if he wanted another any moment.  He rested his elbows on the wooden table top, hands curled around his arms so that they were folded before him, smiling vaguely at his newfound companion as he inspected her features.

She was lovely in this light but still a totally unexpected element in such a place and he couldn\'t move beyond that fact mentally.  "Tha\'s my cousin, Stewart, anyway.  He doesn\'t mind me coming over here to relieve your boredom with the local topics of conversation, for a while," he grinned, broadly enough to show his dimples.  He looked her over again, a slight frown marring his forehead beneath a few errant curls.  "What does bring you to such a place, Lady Elle?"

[MissusHow]

Ara watched him get comfortable mostly because there was nothing else worth watching. At last he was comfortable and told her about his cousin, to which she responded by a flick of the eyes towards the man, and back to Gallagher. He seemed...confused? The question he asked answered her ponderings and she nodded plesantly, "Change of pace." she asnwered, taking another sip, "I\'m rather tired finding myself around theives, liars, scoundrels, and those who believe they are better than I am, when really we are just the same." she told him, thinking he had guessed long ago that she was a thief, "We are all just people after all, are we not?"

The serving girl came by and inquired after Gallagher, "Anything else I can get you? Another drink, perhaps?" She picked up the cup he had and listened politely to his answer before heading off to the bar. "Some of these...people... refuse to act like people, and instead act like..." Ara waved her hand vaguely, searching for the word and finally uttering it with a sigh, "Nobles." She didn\'t realize how ironic this might sound to Gallagher, but it seemed the right word... Truly her thieves were acting like nobles, looking down on her like she was a naughty child who had been caught in the act of breaking something.

Her face gained somewhat of a shadow, but she soon banished it. Not tonight! She had worried every other night of the week, had grieved, had paced and exhausted herself to the point that she didn\'t even want to get up in the morning. This night was not a time for worrying! Even though those little suspisions entered her head like an infestation of little wiggling /worms/!

[Existentially Odd]

His confusion didn\'t abate by the time she finished speaking - though he did manage to order another ale in the meantime.  He couldn\'t understand why she spoke of being surrounded by thieves and scoundrels - thinking it a fair assessment of the character displayed by the general nobility, though a traitorous manner of saying it.

He\'d had his suspicions about her, of course... and those that had come to take Loki out on rides since Elle had purchased her often had the appearance of being far less than reputable... but referring to her companions\' behaviours as those of a noble in such an exasperated manner confirmed for him that this was not their true position in society.  That Lady Elle truly did not merely hang about with a uniqe crowd of nobility at all, but with people who were something else entirely - and annoying to her because they felt they should be nobles?

It was all very boggling and he knew he was best listening to find out more about what she was and what she did, so that he might understand.  "Talon forbid!" he grinned, sounding for all the world like he knew of what she spoke and was also agreeing heartily with her... Talon forbid her associates act like nobles, indeed!  Who could they be?

[MissusHow]

There was a sort of stress to his smile, which caused Ara to raise her eyebrows in good humor. "Well I suppose you /would/ find it treasonous to speak of nobles like that, being the stable master...even though I\'m sure even somebody such as yourself would have a hard time not thinking of that kind of thing. I\'m just the only one bold enough to say it." she said, and finished off her mug with a large swallow.

She pushed it to the edge of the table and shook her head at the servant who asked her if she wanted some more. It was that lack of fear that kept her in place. The knowledge that nobles were really just what she had said earlier, just people, kept her in her place. Perhaps it was foolish not to fear those with power, but she had power as well, she\'d had a taste of what it could bring, and she did not fear /them/. The only person she had any motivation to fear at all was the captain of a guard.

And because the minimal confrontations that she had ever actually had (perhaps there had been once or twice, Ara didn\'t remember) her fear was less than it maybe should have been. It didn\'t mean she was less weary of the captain, just that she didn\'t fear her as much. Oh no, Ara was a suspicious person by the very nature of what she did.

[Existentially Odd]

(I think you may have read Gallagher\'s thoughts, rather than what he said here, but I managed to rationalise it out )

He was confounded again by her words, feeling that he was trailing two steps behind her in a perfectly synchronised dance - well, one that was supposed to be thus - unable to ask for help on what the next move was.  He smiled and drank some more while he tried to hastily put things together.

She\'d said that her associates were acting like nobles... he\'d been diplomatic and agreed that that was a terrible thing... then she\'d talked about him thinking that was a treasonous thing to say, almost like she could read his mind!  It seemed they were in sync in some aspects but... he still didn\'t have a real clue about what she was saying, for it seemed she\'d switched tack back to talking about true nobles again.  Not her associates.

So her usual companions definitely weren\'t noble, though she understood that his were and was just about scoffing at the idea that he would remain loyal to such people, because he worked in and around them daily.  He worked for them, more like; the people he worked in and around most often were regular people who had no airs and understood what real work was.  The Lady also allowed that he was bound by that loyalty and that he might be thinking along her lines... but that he didn\'t have the balls to speak up about it.

That was most certainly not true.

He placed his mug back down on the table with a grin, wrapping his drinking hand back around his opposing elbow.  "Interesting... that you make assumptions on what I am bold enough to say, when we\'ve had but one other conversation before this night," he smirked, tilting his head and looking pointedly at her.  "Such a noble trait, m\'lady... to make presumptions about his character on meeting a man for only the second time."  His eyes were dancing as he jested with her, hoping that the jibe would cause her to bristle - or at least admit that she knew nothing of him, in reality, and that her words were extremely arrogant in their airs.

[MissusHow]

((Oh goshdarnit. THat\'s the second time I\'ve done that! Do forgive me. I don\'t think I read your last parragraph very well and sort of imaged he had a tight smile on his face when he said he agreed. DarndarnDARNitall...D:))

Ara glanced sharply at him when he called her a noble, and she grinned ruefully, "Caught me in my own trap, have you Gallagher?" she asked with good humour, her eyes twinkling. "Allright then. I know nothing of you, I\'ll admit that readily!" Her fingers moved along the edge of the cup and she leant forward, "So tell me about yourself, then. That way I can stop myself from making...ah..." she toyed with her cup some more and gave him a sidelong glance, "False...statements."

She really /had/ been sparked when he\'d called her a noble. So she made a play at his own ego. Perfectly within her rights! And even if it wasn\'t his anger was little price to pay for her amusement. And he didn\'t seem like much of an angyr person, he had teased her about her own statement after all. A thief, she may be, but a noble she was not!

[Existentially Odd]

He raised his eyebrows and lifted his nose as he responded, appearing to take on airs he didn\'t truly own. "Now, now, Lady Elle," he began, with enthusiastic pompousness, "surely you\'ve understood a great deal about me - and I\'ll concede you that - merely from observing me in my usual habitat. Perhaps not a lot about my character, but enough to say that more is known about me, than is known about you."
 
He grinned at her as he dropped her a wink, refusing to fall victim to her open-ended invitation to begin talking about himself. It seemed a fluid but obvious way of deferring attention back onto him, rather than having it on herself. The problem with that was that he really did wish to know more about her, therefore he didn\'t fall prey to the invitation to brag, as many men might have.
 
"So why don\'t we make this a fair game, eh? How about... for every fact about myself offered, you must return the favour and confess something of you - nothing too desperately dark or serious, I demand nothing you wouldn\'t happily give, but definitely a response in kind, what say you?" He took a small swallow of his ale, feeling the pleasant, tingling effects of the alcohol now and hoping he wasn\'t leering too loutishly at her (he was focussed on keeping his usually-toothy smile down to a closed-lipped one just to be sure).

[MissusHow]

Ara covered an amused smile, and pattered her fingers over her lips in an attempt to smooth it out. She managed well enough and moved her hand to toy with her hair, thinking to herself how well he played her own game. The fact that he knew of the game at all sparked her interest and diverted her greatly... well he was quite clever, she had to admit that to herself. She shouldn\'t be underestimating him!

"I\'m sure you\'ve guessed plenty about me as I\'ve guessed plenty about you...I\'ve my own secrets, as does everybody... but if your questions don\'t delve too deeply, I\'ll be glad to answer them." she finally told him, after concidering for a few moments. If the question was too revealing, she\'d find a way to twist his question to suit her, and then answer that... And if he saw through her tricks, all the more fun for her.

"Since it\'s your game, you start first." she told him, at loss for a good question to ask him, and what kind of thing he might ask her. At least with his question she might gain some sort of footing as to what kind of thing she was meant to be asking.

[Existentially Odd]

"Aye," he agreed smoothly, grinning happily at her, "but of course I\'ll go first - for I have no intention of asking questions.  As I said; for every fact about myself that I offer, you must simply return the favour."  He waggled his eyebrows at her, enjoying making this distinction.  He felt it left revelations completely up to her, too, saving him the trouble of having questions sidestepped or ignored completely - just because he offered one type of information didn\'t mean she was restricted to offering the same in kind.  He just hoped she would, so he began with this in mind.

"How about this; I was born on a dairy farm not far from here, twenty-four harvest seasons ago.  My parents are one of the rare farmers that hold the deed to a small portion of their land, having worked it for so long - I\'m sure they\'ll die there, but they\'re strong and have plenty of help for the time being; only the eldest two of us have moved away from the farm.  I have a twin brother named Baxter and eight other brothers and sisters after us - whose names and ages you\'ll only forget, due to the sheer amount of them, if I try to tell you them all - that still live at home with our parents," he chuckled, knowing it would be pointless to list off all his siblings without any point of reference - such as looking at them, for example - to help remember them all.

He doubted she would care in the slightest about the intricacies of his family but he felt it was an easy enough opening statement - to tell about his age, origins and the like - for her to respond to.  She had exotic looks and he was intrigued by where she might be from and what sort of family she might have tucked away somewhere.  He\'d considered the possibility that she might also just lie to him as a response and he would know no better, but he figured he\'d at least get a tale out of it, so he wasn\'t overly perturbed.

[MissusHow]

Aras eyes twinkled as he spoke about his family. "Well your parents were quite...prolific, were they not?" she said finally with a cheeky little smile. "So I guess it\'s my turn, then...the begining was a good choice, you\'ll find my...story...a little strange, and perhaps a bit unbelievable." The thief lord took a sip of her drink and set her mug down with a thunk. Her hand went to hair and she coiled it around her fingers.

"I am not originally from here...I\'m from a land of sun and sand, very far from here. Me and my family lived near a large river...it was a dangerous place, and if you didn\'t have your wits about you it wouldn\'t end well for you. Our village wasn\'t very careful, one of our town leaders insulted some pirates, and it became a big problem...They attacked our town, and killed most of the people in it. My sister and me were both taken as well as some of the other children by the pirates to be sold...Some time later I took a chance and escaped with my sister in tow. I ended up here."

After a brief silence Ara shrugged, "It sounds like more than it really is." she said finally with a grin. "It was more boring than I\'ve told it. I gave you the...condenced exciting version, for your benifit and mine." She had also left out a few details, and though she knew she had told more than she had to, it was nice to tell somebody about it... The only other person who knew was Harold, a man that was a little on the crooked side, and one of the only people she managed to trust.

[Existentially Odd]

He raised his eyebrows at her fantastic story - a gift already!  He felt it to be truthful due to its simplicity (though he\'d been fooled before) but exotic enough to capture his imagination immediately.  His expression reflected just how interested he was.

"How old were you when the pirates took you?  I gather they sailed you here to these shores - did you even speak the language?  And how is your sister faring?"  His questions weren\'t delivered rapidly but thoughtfully - though he didn\'t allow a gap between each that she might insert an answer into, rather he simply drawled out another query, his gaze travelling her features incessantly.  She didn\'t have a strong accent but he thought there was a difference in the way she spoke that prompted him to ask about languages - he could\'ve been wrong but felt it didn\'t hurt to ask.

All thought of offering more information about himself had flown out he window in the face of a background so very different and far more intriguing than his own.

[MissusHow]

The thief lord blinked a few times at the stream of questions that Gallagher had. It was the only sign of lost composure, and she regained it quickly enough. She rose her eyebrows at him, amused that he had forgetten the game so quickly, like a child might forget an injury with a spoonful of honey. "Are we playing a different game now, Master Gallagher?" she asked delicately, running her fingers around the rim of her cup.

"I\'ll answer some of the questions when it\'s my turn. But now it is yours, and you must tell me something about you. So for now you\'ll have to wait a bit longer, and tell me something about /you/, so that I may presume to know you better." she was saying, almost like a mother scolding her child mildly.

((...or whatever. >>))