Robbery By Default

[Ren Caverly]

Ren was feeling almost comfortable. Unlike most days. Almost every single day was uncomfortable for Ren. She had taken a trip from her guild hall to visit her friend. Someone who she would call her friend. Even while Ren would actually still tell people she didn’t have friends, she would have called Kotone her friend. They were close, and had bonded a lot in the past several months. Kotone was an amazing and confident fighter, and Ren was someone who constantly seemed like a beaten puppy. So… they didn’t necessarily make sense.

The petite blonde woman walked into Magnolia, having had a nice trip. She had a very minor amount of jewels in a pouch in her hoodie. The warm hoodie was a nice contrast to her plaid skirt and tights. For a girl who had no confidence walking around, wearing a skirt as often as she did might not make sense. It was more habit than anything. She had plans to meet with Kotone later that day, so she was focusing on that. As was truly unsurprising, Ren clumsily bumped into someone. However she was sure it wasn’t her fault. She wasn’t going to say that someone bumped into her, but she knew it was true. She fell on the ground awkwardly, but scrambled to her feet, blushing.

She pulled her hood up over her short blond hair and multiple ear piercings. She wanted to hide. However she noticed her little jewel pouch on the ground. When she went to pick it up, someone else did. “Um… th-that is mine…” she mentioned, figuring he was going to wonder who owned it.

“No. Its mine,” he informed her.

“B-but…. No…. its… um….” she floundered a bit. She didn’t do good arguing. “N-no, I brought it from home…” she told him. Maybe she should just give it to him to stop the argument… but she didn’t want to be robbed.

[Xeno Redbringer]

Xeno grumbled for what seemed like the thousandth time as he readjusted his hood. His "grounding" as it where had just ended, so naturally he set out to do what he wanted to. This did however involve leaving Fairy tail for quite some time. Since he couldn't really train nearby due to how much sheer power he had, he would have to make a journey somewhere else. Maybe somewhere Shadow heart controlled to cause a bit of trouble? Whatever. The where didn't matter, it was the how. So how would he get stronger?

He had discovered that if he walked as far on the left as possible, people wouldn't notice his appearance and only see his clothes. This was rather handy for him, being able to walk without being heckled. He sighed, exiting Magnolia would be hard, probably even dangerous when he was involved. He could always hear Battle now, like he had gotten stronger after the incident with Nero.

This was why he was surprised to hear Battle growl at something that wasn't him. He would've asked what he was growling at, if he wasn't sure he wouldn't get an answer. So he just went for turning around on one spot, trying to find something out of place. Something like that was easy in Magnolia, weird stuff happened there all the time after all. At first he saw nothing out of place, just a couple of shopkeepers arguing about something he was sure was insignificant. So he turned again, scanning his surroundings intently, before spotting something.

He could see two figures: one definitely masculine was towering over another that looked feminine, but it was hard to tell. He could see the feminine looking figure seemed to be shaking, and struggling with something as the masculine figure held something in his hand. Why was Battle growling at this? Was Battle a bigger part of him then just Battle instincts. He looked at the two figures, desperately trying to will away his hero complex.

He didn't win. He found himself in front of the feminine figure very quickly, not turning to look at her/him, he still couldn't tell yet. The man seemed to recognize him too. "Oh great, the freak of Fairy tail is here too. What, you gonna help this poor girlie here?" He said, doing two things: confirming the gender of the other person and pissing Xeno off. He removed his hood for once, showcasing both black and gold eyes locked in a glare. He let his magic burst into life as tendrils of crimson rose up from his back and flared around in the air. "Return what you stole and leave now, before I get really pissed. Ya hear me?"

[Ren Caverly]

Oh dear. No, no, no, Ren did not want this. Suddenly someone was in front of her. That wasn’t all that surprising. Honestly, she wouldn’t have been shocked if someone just walked right past them, not noticing the disagreement at all. She wasn’t imposing, and the man was… well, she wasn’t being loud. What he was doing wasn’t rolling up her volume at all. She couldn’t remember… wait, had she ever yelled at anyone? Okay, so that was something she pushed from her mind quickly.

He was defending her? She bit her lip, her hood falling a bit farther down her face. She didn’t know this stranger hadn’t known she was a girl. She was in a skirt… how many men wore skirts? She probably didn’t want an answer to that. For some reason the guy who wanted Ren’s bag knew who this stranger was. Ren really didn’t keep track of the news, or gossip, or a lot of things. She kept in her shadows as much as possible when she wasn’t being pulled out of them by a few dragon slayers.

“Not a chance!” the man said. Ren was curious about the crazy power coming off this newcomer, but she wasn’t distracted. Apparently instead of waiting for a fight, the man was about to run. Fortunately his shadow just so happened to grab his foot at that exact moment and he just fell flat to the ground. Ren could handle herself, she just didn’t look like it. She also didn’t act like it. She also might have let the man steal from her to avoid conflict. Maybe. But Xeno had showed up, and so here they were.

Ren didn’t speak, waiting to see what the man or the newcomer would do.

[Xeno Redbringer]

Xeno stared at the man in confusion and exasperation. Had he really just tripped over nothing? How incompetent would people get? So the man was on the floor, now what? He wasn't out cold it seemed, he wasn't badly hurt. This was just fantastic. He growled as he sent the tendrils of energy at the man, wrapping around him and then stabbing into the floor, trapping him there. "You are an idiot." Xeno sighed out as the man squirmed, before walking over to him and snatching the jewel pouch as he did so, before finally turning to the one in the hoodie.

When he did so he felt like an idiot. She was wearing a skirt for gods sake, how had he missed that. Still, why had Battle alerted him to the robbery? Oh well. "You okay there?" He asked gently, knowing his appearance probably scared her by itself. He held out the jewel pouch just in front of her. "My name is Xeno, I'm a mage from Fairy tail as you can see." He said, jerking his other thumb to his guild mark on the right side of his face. "I don't remember seeing you anywhere, do you mind me asking for your name?" He inquired, still keeping his gentle tone and smile.

Battle had gone silent, but why? Was something wrong with Battle or himself? Was there something about this girl who he towered above that made Battle uneasy?

[Ren Caverly]

It was perfectly acceptable for Xeno to believe the man had just tripped. Ren didn’t like to use her magic in public, and she absolutely didn’t like people to notice her using her magic. People had this thing about shadow magic. They always had. As long as she’d had her magic, people decided that it was dark and bad. So she didn’t use it. She had used it in the tournament a few months ago, on Galuna Island, but only… almost everyone in all the guilds had seen that. She didn’t think about it. Okay, she pretended not to think about it.

This boy trapped the robber in some sort of magic, insulting him and then taking back Ren’s little pouch. She squirmed, shoving her hands deep into her hoodie pocket, cautiously watching from the safety of her hood. It cast shadows over her face, making it hard to see how awkward she looked. She wasn’t scared by this man’s appearance. She was scared by life. Him looking different didn’t really add to that. For better or for worse. She didn’t respond when he asked if she was alright. She pulled a hand from her hoodie pocket, the long sleeve still covering her hand completely, and even hanging off a bit at the end. She held it there for him to drop the pouch into her hand.

His name was Xeno, and he was from Fairy Tail. Yes, she could see that. Could he ask her name? Did she mind? Not exactly… “U-um…. Its…. R-ren….” she mumbled, very quietly. Her voice was quiet and shaking. It had been such a good day. And now this…

[Xeno Redbringer]

Hmm. This Ren person, seemed pretty terrified of him for some reason. Maybe it was how he dealt with the idiot behind him? Maybe it was his magic, crimson tendrils weren't exactly the most beautiful thing, unlike majestic fireballs and the like. He saw her arm extend, requesting that the pouch be returned. Something he was all too happy to do as he let it drop gingerly into the girls palm. Was it her palm though, he couldn't see it. She had introduced herself then and it almost broke Xeno's heart. She sounded so vulnerable, so hurt and so frightened. Well, she had nearly been mugged so she would certainly be shaky.

Not so shaky he could barely hear her however. Now he was confused. Why was she so scared? Perhaps his appearance was scaring her after all. He sighed inwardly, it couldn't be helped. So what now? "It's nice to meet you Ren." He said, while inwardly fuming. 'Yeah, smooth move douche-bag. Now she's definitely not scared of you at all.' What could he say? Maybe some small talk might help. "So, what're you doing here in Magnolia?" He asked, still annoyed with himself. That was almost as bad as before. What now. It seemed honesty was all he had left.

"look Ren. I'm sorry if the way I look is intimidating. I wish I didn't scare you like this." He clenched his eyes shut, blocking his tears, preventing their escape. He wouldn't cry in front of a stranger. "I just wish i could go somewhere and not terrify people." He had meant to think inwardly, but accidentally voiced out loud. He just stared wide-eyed at Ren, not knowing what to do afterwards. What could he say now?

[Ren Caverly]

While Xeno might think that everything was about him, it really wasn’t him that made Ren seem so pitiful. She was just pitiful by nature. Her entire life had been teaching her to feel worthless, so it couldn’t be helped that she acted pathetic. She wasn’t pathetic, and she was learning that if she really wanted to, she could stand up for herself, but she didn’t have to do so now.

The man, Xeno, sighed, and said it was nice to meet her. She didn’t believe him. While it was awkward for her to meet other people, it couldn’t possibly be enjoyable for other people to meet her. She didn’t doubt that she made them feel bad or uncomfortable. Nice to meet her? Unlikely. He asked what she was doing in Magnolia. Oh, was this a conversation now? She pulled her hand back into her hoodie pocket, keeping herself guarded and mostly shrugging into herself. “Visiting someone…” she said, maybe a small bit louder, so he didn’t have to strain himself to hear her.

He apologized for looking intimidating and she blinked at him. He wanted to go somewhere and not terrify people. She felt guilty that he thought she was afraid of him. It wasn’t him. It was everything. And… that guy was still trapped there. “M-maybe you should l-let him go… A-and I’m not… intimidated by you… I j-just don’t like talking…” Yeah, that might not have helped, but hopefully he wouldn’t feel so guilty.

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