Cold Hearts

[Kotone]

Evening was approaching Cerulean town quickly, the low-hanging sun reflecting off of the slowly melting snow. Kotone was in her jacket, but it wasn't for warmth. She was wearing a short skirt, her usual button-up blouse, a loosely-tied tie with a cross on it, her black leather choker, and her long boots that went up almost to her knees. Kotone was walking through the port, enjoying the view of the sea as the water reflected the evening sun.

Kotone had left Magnolia, continuing her usual wandering until she made her way to Hargeon. It was a small town, but after being stuck in a town the size of Magnolia helping Fairy Tail, she was rather happy to be in a town that had less people. She wasn't a big fan of crowds.

Finally, she stopped, leaning against a crate on the harbor. She should probably figure out where the inn was in this town. Or rather... a different one than last time. She'd not parted on the friendliest of terms with the innkeeper last time. In retrospect, she probably shouldn't have started calling him names when he'd berated her for punching that jerk in the lobby. Oh well. She was making progress since then at least, right? It had to count for something.

[Ren Caverly]

Ren bit her lip as one of her guild mates directed his eyes toward her. She didn’t want the attention, and she could almost feel herself melting into the wood behind her as she shrunk. It was not warm outside, but it was much warmer than it had been. The boy in front of Ren was not bullying her, or saying anything untrue, but he still made her want to run and hide. At least with the gentle shadows swirling idly at her feet she could take some comfort.

He was informing her the oddness in her not taking on jobs. “You are a competent wizard, right? So why not earn some money and help people out?” She awkwardly mumbled something about not needing the money. He waved a hand to dismiss this and then took another route. He asked if she liked helping people. “Helping is fine…” she mumbled quietly, still wanting to shrink away. It wasn’t that he was scary, he was just being intimidating at the moment, and Ren was easily intimidated.

She sighed as her shadow walked in front of her. Normally she knew to let her shadow do what it naturally did, but today she was feeling awkward. She made it to the port after a long walk, managing to get lost a few times. She had agreed to get a package for the boy she had been talking to, and reluctant as she was to take on jobs, she supposed this wasn’t bad. All she had to do was get a delivery, and carry it back. When she found the man who had the crate for her she felt a sense of relief. This was short lived, because as she walked away with the crate, deciding to head back on her own despite the time, she managed to slip. A spare pebble under her shoes, of course. She let out a surprised squeak as she stumbled forward, dropping the crate but managing to fall just far enough away that she didn’t land on it as well.

[Kotone]

Kotone let out a sigh, the air from her breath clearly visible in the cold afternoon air. She had no idea where another place to stay was. She supposed she had better start looking. It wasn't a big town, but Cerulean was certainly still large enough to take time to search through properly.

Kotone was just about to stand up straight and start walking when out of the corner of her eye, a crate fell, and an accompanying thud was heard from the person who dropped it. Turning her head enough to look slightly, she saw it was a girl that was probably about her age, sprawled out like she'd tripped on something. Something Kotone couldn't even see offhand.

She approached the girl, standing over her and asking "What did you even trip on?" It sounded a bit accusatory and a bit curious, though Kotone wasn't actually accusing her of anything. Kotone just had a habit of sounding unfriendly unless you caught her in the right mood. She hadn't been since her talk with the Paladin with the four year old daughter.

She reached down, pulling the girl up. It wasn't the most gentle pull, but not hard enough it would actually be uncomfortable, though it might be a little surprising if she hadn't expected it. "Need help?" she asked, reinserting her hand in her long black jacket pocket. It was a little more friendly sounding than her last set of words. She kinda felt sorry for the clumsy girl.

[Ren Caverly]

It was not uncommon for Ren to trip, either on nothing, on herself, or even, if she was lucky, on actual things in her way. It was inconvenient and unpleasant, but Ren was so used to it she hardly thought about it when she was alone. She thought about it when other people were around, because they pointed it out more often than not. She hoped she was alone when she fell, but apparently her day just wasn’t that lucky.

The woman standing above Ren started speaking and Ren’s eyes widened. “I, uh, I d-don’t know. Just s-something, a rock maybe.” Or the air, I do that sometimes, but it definitely felt like a rock this time. Difference in balance when you just step wrong versus when you stop one something, she thought, biting her lip again, even more awkward because the woman seemed to be accusing her of something. Being a clumsy mess perhaps. This was true at least.

The stranger jerked Ren up a bit and Ren awkwardly stepped back when she was on her fit, a bit too quickly. She managed to land on the heels of her feet, letting out another squeak as she fell backwards, but this time she was at least lucky enough to land sitting on the crate. She pushed her skirt down over her legs awkwardly, the sleeves of her hoodie long since falling over her hands. She even reached up to tug her hood over her hair, casting a slight shadow over her face as she cautiously looked up at the woman.

“H-help?” she asked, not sure what she should say to that. “D-do you mean with the crate? Oh, I mean, or in general,” she said, feeling stupid when she realized the girl might just be asking in general, and not about something that specific, “I just need to carry this home. I manage, I just, slipped, but I hope its okay…” she thought aloud. The man she knew might not like it if she broke his things.

[Kotone]

The dragon slayer raised an eyebrow, the only indication she didn't quite understand the blonde girl in front of her. Jeez she was clumsy. Poor girl. Kotone almost felt sorry for her. "I meant you tripped so I was being a halfway decent person and asking if you needed assistance." She clarified in a way that didn't actually answer her question all that well. Still, if she asked for help she would give it to her. She was unfriendly, not lazy.

Kotone appraised the girl properly this time, scrutinizing her mannerisms and her looks. She seemed like people would consider her rather pretty, though she didn't have much self-confidence from the look of things. That was pretty much the opposite of Kotone. She seemed to ooze self-confidence. And an attitude to match, even now. "You don't have to cower like that you know. I'm not going to bite your head off or anything." Kotone's voice was a bit softer when she spoke this time.

Which was true. Though her cowering did give her an odd mixture of feelings. Part of her was annoyed by the complete lack of backbone the girl was showing. Part of her found it to have a strange charm. At least enough that she didn't find it worth keeping up her attitude. She wouldn't even need it to push the blonde girl away if she desired. "I'm Kotone, by the way."

[Ren Caverly]

Ren was a special kind of clumsy. Both special in that it actually wasn’t just plain clumsiness, but also because she was just that clumsy by normal standards. When Ren was confused the woman clarified, in a way that didn’t help at all, and merely made her shoulders rise up a bit, letting her head seem to shrink slightly. She was anxious and naturally wanted to hide, in the face of someone who intimidated her the desire only rose.

She chose not to respond. Although Ren was a weak young woman, if she wanted she had a spell she could use to help carry the crate for her. She didn’t want to though, perhaps if she just kept the shadows against her arms people wouldn’t notice. Well, it was getting dark, so that would help.

The lady told Ren she didn’t have to cower, and Ren didn’t stop. Pointing it out did not help, that just made her feel scrutinized, and generally very awkward. She did seem to be getting gentler, and a woman like Ren noticed those things. The difference between projected hostility and perceived hostility.

The woman introduced herself as Kotone, Ren lifted her head just slightly, so her brown eyes were more visible, “Hello,” she said, lifting her hand and moving her fingers up and down in a small wave, which only proved to flap her excess sleeve of her hoodie up and down a bit, “I’m Ren…” Since the woman had been so nice as to introduce herself, Ren supposed she should possibly respond to her earlier comment, “If… you wanted to help, you can. I just need to carry the crate back home…”

[Kotone]

"Sure, no problem." Kotone shrugged, picking up the crate with surprising ease. She was a lot stronger than she looked - probably because she was the ice dragon slayer. She didn't really think about it, truth be told. "Why are you so intimidated by me anyway?" she asked, finally sounding properly pleasant as she prepared to follow Ren.

"It's usually harder to make people squirm. I don't dislike you, you know." Did Renata know who she was? Not likely... her name was famous, but her face was virtually unknown for some reason. She supposed when everyone told different stories about who she was it got the people a bit confused.

As they walked, her cat, Sid, finally poked his little black head out of her backpack. He was such a heavy sleeper when he climbed in there. She couldn't figure out why he even liked it. He let out a curious meow, as if asking who the new person was as he stared with his yellow kitty eyes. "She said her name was Ren. You should really pay attention when we have introductions. Ren, this is Sid. Watch your food if you have any when he's awake. He's a little thief."

[Ren Caverly]

When Ren relented and said that the new woman could help it seemed no time was wasted. She lifted the crate easily and Ren blinked. She had only just stood up to get off of it and now it was in the air. The woman definitely did look strong, but more strength of personality than anything physical. Still, Ren didn’t exactly look like she could do the things she could do, so she wasn’t nitpicking.

“Oh, I, um, I j-just….” she started awkwardly when she was asked why she was intimidated by Kotone. She let her black hood fall back, uncovering her heavily pierced ears and blond hair, “I just… don’t talk to people much…” The woman continued on, saying that it was harder to make people squirm, usually. “…. Squirm? Why…. Would you want to do that?” she asked anxiously. It wasn’t that she was actually so much more nervous than usual, she just sounded that way.

Soon a little cat peaked out. Kotone spoke as if the cat was holding a conversation, and Ren just bit her lip some more, “Um….. no, I don’t carry food with me. You know, um… I could help you with that. I don’t have any trouble carrying it, I just tripped,” she explained. She also knew that the women didn’t know where they were headed, but if Ren walked a bit ahead, as was against her nature, she could at least guide the woman.

[Kotone]

Sid let out another meow "Yeah yeah. I know, Sid." She talked to the cat like he was her best friend. She was nicer and more familiar with him than Ren, that was for sure. Even if she wasn't actually being mean to her. "I think he's saying he'd love to rub fur all over your nice black hoodie," she chuckled, thinking of his habits.

"Anyway, I offered to help so I can carry it just fine," she shrugged, shifting her weight slightly. "Now, if you'll just lead the way." She almost used a nickname for her like she did for everyone else... but Renata didn't exactly stick out enough to immediately gain one.

There was Roejaster, who was a gunslinger. Hannah was whatever rude name she could come up with, and just about everyone had a nickname if she could give it to them. Ren... not so much. Not yet anyway. She felt a bit to sorry for the jittery girl who seemed much younger than she looked.

Kotone wasn't one for making random friendly conversation, so she was mostly silent as they walked for now. She kept eyeing Ren, trying to figure her out. "Have any pets?" she finally asked as Sid crawled onto the top of the box she was now carrying.

[Ren Caverly]

Sure Ren liked cats. She had known some when she was living in the streets, they were soft, and if you gave them some scraps of your meat they were very friendly. Not that Ren had a lot of meat. At best they usually watched her from a distance, but she had enough fond memories of them. However that did not mean she talked to them like that. Well, she didn’t talk a whole lot anyway, so maybe it didn’t matter. “Oh…. Well I can wash it…” she said quietly. She fell a lot, so her hoodie got dirty easily enough.

Kotone said that she was carrying it since she offered to help, so Ren didn’t argue. It seemed useless, and it was nice of her anyway. Ren didn’t exactly get nicknames, at least nothing distinguished. She got things like “hey you,” but that wasn’t a nickname. The fact that she didn’t stick out enough to get a nickname was fine by her, she didn’t want to stick out.

It was Ren’s job to lead the way, so she made her way walking down the roads in the direction of Lamia Scale. It was a few miles away, but it could be reached in about a half hour. Ren naturally walked through alley’s and dark areas. Since it was getting darker she didn’t actually need the alley’s, but it was just her way. “No, erm, no pets. I just keep to myself…” That was of course completely obvious, but Ren said it anyway. “Um, so where a-are you from?” she asked, trying to do her part to make conversation.

[Kotone]

Kotone grinned at Ren again, her dragon slayer fangs showing a little, because she was amused by the question. "A bit of everywhere," she said finally. "I travel a lot. I do have a home I can stay in in Hosenka, if you want to count that... but hey, I've got a lot of work to do as a dragon slayer. And it can't all be done in one spot."

She didn't keep her identity a secret like she was taught to. Mostly because her cover had been blown years ago as a child by accident. Her name and her nickname, the Spell Breaker, were legend, but accounts of who she was, what she was truly like, and just about every physical detail were varied enough no one know who she was until she said anything. Still, at least that way it was easier to play hero. And be intimidating when she wanted.

She let out a small sigh. This girl probably hadn't guessed it either. Which meant based on her timidness she would be even more intimidated for no real reason, which actually annoyed Kotone a bit. Here she was trying to be friendly for once because she felt so sorry for her lack of confidence...

Kotone recovered before she said or did anything mean. Ren was a pretty cool girl, all things considered. She didn't want to lash out without good reason with her.

Meanwhile, Sid hopped out of Kotone's pack, prancing up to Renata and demanding some attention. "You get too friendly with strangers, Sid, you know that?" she teased. He only mewed like he knew what he was doing.

[Ren Caverly]

Ren was trying to watch where they were going, and not look at Kotone, so she didn’t question the fangs. When she heard Hosenka town she perked up slightly. “Oh-….. dragon slayer?” she stopped short. She did turn around then to look at the woman. Ren, effectively, lived under a rock. Sure she knew what dragon slayers were, but that didn’t mean she knew individual ones. If she did, she couldn’t identify any of them, and it was just the things she overheard when she happened to sit a bit too close to other people. An unfortunate side effect of living in a guildhall.

Ren’s turning around caused her to walk backwards, not thinking she should just stop. After all, what if Kotone didn’t stop? Then there would be a collision. She thought of this, but not that she couldn’t walk backwards in a dark alley. She started to lose her balance but instead of falling she flailed her arms a it. They pressed against the solid shadows she made and she kept from falling. It was a bit routine for her, if she was paying enough attention. She felt a bit more on guard, like this woman was going to dislike her more for her clumsiness, so she tried hard to hide it.

Kotone being a dragon slayer didn’t intimidate Ren any more than her being someone else. It wasn’t that being some dragon magician made Ren scared, or feel bad. She felt bad all the time, and she was afraid all the time. “Sorry, I fall a bunch,” she mumbled, not even paying too much attention to earlier, as her mind had briefly cleared.

As they got closer, from Ren slowing down to avoid her own legs getting the best of her, the cat seemed to take interest. Ren blinked at the cat quickly. She reached over tentatively, letting her sleeve fall back and getting her fingers close enough he could rub against them if he wanted. Somehow while she was completely distracted looking at the cat, she walked with no trouble at all.

[Kotone]

"Hey, everyone's got their talents," Kotone shrugged off Renata's apology for her tripping. It really only effected herself as far as Kotone was concerned. "Everyone has different talents. Some of us are born fighters... and some of us may be a bit clumsy but can catch themselves on almost nothing," she grinned slightly, and it was hard to tell what she meant by that.

"So, does that make you a guild wizard running an errand for someone, or a... freelancer like me?" she asked, shifting the weight of the crate in her arms. She almost didn't see how the girl could be part of a guild. Didn't that involve pretending each other were family and all that nonsense? Her experience with Fairy Tail said yes, though she wasn't nearly as acquainted with the other two guilds. They were probably pretty different.

Sid started demanding to be picked up, having taken a liking to Renata rather quickly. Sid was a good judge of people when food wasn't involved. Then he would probably betray her to her worst enemy for a bit of tuna. He was an odd cat. "Sid, buddy... You know you aren't supposed to be hitchhiking," she reminded him, at the same time not looking even slightly concerned about it.

[Ren Caverly]

Everyone’s got their talents, the woman said. Ren was already trying to think of her own talents. Did she have any? It was hard to consider her talents when the only ones she had were either hard to understand or ones she was ashamed of and thus hid. She didn’t have time to get far with that because Kotone’s last comment caught her off guard. catch themselves on almost nothing. Sometimes it seemed like Ren did that, or that she did things that didn’t make sense, when it came to her clumsiness, but seeing as she had just caught herself on shadows she was sure Kotone meant that. She remained quiet.

Luckily Ren really didn’t have to wait and wonder if she had understood Kotone correctly. She asked if she was a guild wizard or a freelancer. Well, at least that answered any questions Ren might have about where Kotone’s loyalties lay. Where did Ren’s loyalties lie? With her guild, probably, even if being close to them still made her fidget. “I just…. Er.” She had nearly said she was doing a favor for a friend, but Kade was not her friend. She didn’t actually have any friends, so she wasn’t sure what to say, “Someone just asked me to get it for him. It isn’t a job.”

The cat seemed to want to be held by Ren, so she reached over and picked up the cat. She held him gently against her chest, petting him from the top of his head down his back slowly as she walked. “How long have you been with Sid?” she asked tentatively.

[Kotone]

Ren explained to Kotone that it wasn't a job, she was just running an errand for someone. Kotone nodded slightly. Basically she was doing a job for free. Which was fine, she supposed. It wasn't like Kotone didn't do her own job for free quite often. Saving people was often both free and rather thankless.

Ren asked Kotone how long she'd been with Sid once she listened to the lazy cat and picked him up. Sid mewed happily in Ren's arms, perfectly happy to be carried everywhere. "A couple years," Kotone shrugged. "I found him as a kitten and we've been together since. He makes a much better traveling companion than any human."

Kotone didn't like people that much, so it wasn't hard to be a better companion than a human one. Still, Sid was surprisingly fun for a cat, and as long as she could keep an eye on her food, the pair got along quite well.

"Well, I suppose the right human might be just as fun. Haven't found that person yet," she decided. Or if she had they didn't like her. Which was understandable. Kotone knew she was a difficult person. She was difficult on purpose, after all. It kept people who didn't actually care that much away.

[Ren Caverly]

Ren didn’t really agree with Kotone’s perception of work, and although she didn’t know that was what Kotone thought, she had heard it before. Free jobs. She didn’t consider them jobs. She agreed to do things for people, favors were not jobs. And besides that, Ren preferred not to have to involve money in anything. It made her uncomfortable, and she just didn’t want to think about it.

Ren slowly relaxed as she stroked the cat in her arms. She didn’t spend a lot of time with animals, of course, but she did appreciate that they didn’t speak. Even if Kotone acted like Sid was speaking, to Ren he was just making noise, and that was much preferable. “Makes sense,” Ren said quietly as she rubbed her finger against Sid’s cheek. She thought that Sid would be a better travelling companion than anyone she had travelled with at least.

While the eighteen year old was almost fully distracted by the cat she didn’t have any missteps, though the moment she realized that she probably would have fallen on her face and had to drop that cat. That would be unfortunate, she liked holding Sid and wouldn’t want to hurt him at all. For some reason Ren felt more comfortable talking. Maybe it was that Kotone was talking about herself, or that they weren’t saying much, or even the cat, but it was just nicer than usual. “Its kind of late… and it will be about an hour to get there with me… and head back to town…. Are you sure you… I mean…” she sounded shy again, but was at least able to avoid stuttering horribly, “do you have somewhere you’ll sleep? I mean…” she sighed, “are you staying somewhere?”

[Kotone]

Kotone watched Ren pet Sid out of the corner of her eye. She was amused by the cat's show of affection, but she was doing her best to look nonchalant about the whole thing. Kotone didn't like to seem too interested, even if she and Sid both had a bit of a soft spot for such a timid girl as Ren. Not that Kotone would admit that even to herself, despite the fact that she hadn't been even a little bit mean since she picked Ren off the ground a bit roughly.

"Actually, I'd been trying to think of a place to stay," Kotone admitted after a moment. "The innkeeper I know in town... isn't my biggest fan at this point." she explained vaguely. "I can have a bit of a temper."

She wasn't sure why Ren cared where the dragon slayer was staying, but she might as well play ball. She had no idea if there even was another inn in town, really. Was she going to offer something? Kotone supposed it didn't matter. She would find a place regardless.

"I'm sure I'll find somewhere though," she decided finally, managing to shrug her shoulders despite carrying the heavy box.

[Ren Caverly]

It wasn’t important to Ren if Kotone seemed interested, really. As long as she wasn’t yelling or anything, Ren was pretty good. Were things to change, then it would matter again, but a bit of disinterest from strangers never hurt anyone, right? Surprisingly Ren was the one being a bit different from neutral, although her being a bit nicer wasn’t really surprising. She was a sweet girl, once she stopped stuttering and things.

The woman explained that she hadn’t yet found a place to stay and Ren felt guilty. She shouldn’t be taking this woman away from her need of a place to stay. It was getting dark, and Ren knew that some people stopped wanting to do business when it got dark enough. Well, some people preferred to, but Kotone probably didn’t want to stay with those people either.

“You seem nice to me…” Ren responded quietly when Kotone said she had a temper. It was hard to feel anything bad toward someone who was carrying a crate a half hour for her. The woman said she was sure she would find something, and Ren bit her lip. She kept stroking the cat gently, “Well, I…. I live at Lamia Scale, and if you… wanted to sleep there tonight, you could. I mean, w-we’ll be there anyway,” she said quietly, fidgeting a little. She did not open up her space to people, but it seemed only fair right now to offer.

[Kotone]

Kotone blinked when Ren said she seemed nice. Very few people got her nice side, and she wasn't used to the compliment. It wasn't that she was a bad person... at least not in her opinion... but people annoyed her, rather than intimidated. Most people. As she'd thought before when they started talking, Ren was someone who she found it hard to be annoyed by, especially now that she'd stopped stuttering and things. Kotone might have gotten impatient with that. Might.

"What, room with you for the night?" She wasn't sure if Lamia Scale had guest rooms or anything. She'd stayed at Fairy Tail before, and they had enough dorms for new members that she basically was given her own room at Rainor Taiga's insistence. She couldn't complain about free room and board, even if she didn't understand the man's insistence on being friendly with her. "Er, either way, Sure." Kotone was thankful, but thank yous were not something the teenager did.

Sid looked rather content, at least. Kotone didn't usually hold him like that. He was probably taking advantage of the girl. Kotone loved sid, but felt like he would be such a bad person if he were human. Always taking advantage of people and mooching. But then, he was a cat.

"It's much better than sleeping outside." Not that she minded the cold in the slightest. She kind of had an affinity for ice. but beds... or even a floor with a blanket... was probably more comfortable than dirt. "Nice of you to offer a stranger something like that. Even if she is me."

[Ren Caverly]

People getting impatient with Ren’s stuttering was nothing new. It didn’t help anything. She wasn’t sure how to talk. She didn’t often talk to strangers, and she didn’t know what to say to them. It made her nervous, talking to people who automatically intimidated her, and that made her stutter. When people got irritated with her stuttering it only made her more nervous, and she stuttered more before clamming up. A good way to get a timid girl to calm down was not to express irritation with her attempts at being social.

Ren hadn’t really expected a thank-you. Had she thought about it, she might think it was appropriate, but the lack of it didn’t strike her as odd. When someone was nice to you, you were nice back to them. It wasn’t out of some expectation, it was what people were supposed to do. An impulse. Ren bit her lip a little when Kotone asked if she was supposed to room with Ren, “I… would think so. I can’t really offer up anyone else’s room…” she explained quietly.

Cats made horrible people, right? Probably. Not that it was a bad thing, Ren was awful with people. Kotone wasn’t really good with people, not that Ren knew it, but in the end, it was a fairly nice walk and so Ren didn’t care how anyone was with anyone else. She smiled slightly at Kotone when she said it was better than sleeping outside, and from her experiences she gave a slightly more confident, “Definitely better.” Ren didn’t like the cold, or sleeping in alleys, or not having anywhere to go home to, but she had gotten used to them all. She appreciated what she had, even if she still hid and kept to herself. “You’re a nice strangers, who helped me…. You didn’t have to…” she said, hoping she wouldn’t mess up with her explanation. She probably would mess it up if she talked too much. She decided to look back at Sid and keep petting him, trying not to say too much and sound even stupider than when she said almost nothing.

[Kotone]

So she'd be sharing a room with the nervous quiet girl. Alright, Kotone could live with that. She likely wouldn't wake her up or anything if she could help it. It'd be a lot like sleeping alone, except probably on the floor. Kotone nodded to her clarification, satisfied with it. She hardly expected every guild to give her her own room like Fairy Tail did. Especially when it was a member and not the guild master himself.

Ren told Kotone that she was a nice stranger who helped her when she didn't have to, to which Kotone only blinked a few times in response at first. Kotone wasn't usually considered a nice stranger. You could ask lots of people. Even people who liked her rarely called her 'nice.' Good perhaps. But not so much nice. "Yeah, well," Kotone shrugged off her compliment. "I've apparently been in an oddly charitable mood."

Kotone thought about the necklace hanging around her neck that was hidden by her shirt, given to her by a Council Paladin with a four year old daughter. He'd asked her to take care of the girl if something happened to him. She'd agreed because she had a weakness for children, but it angered her to think of the last words they'd shared. Kotone knew what it was to be abandoned by family, and she firmly believed that he was an idiot to put himself in danger when he had a little girl who depended on him. Yeah. Great. Now her being charitable meant he had an excuse to run off and get hurt.

"I honestly don't know what's gotten into me lately," Kotone mused aloud. First that man and now a more minor task with this girl. "Guess I have a weakness for cute kids." It was true that Ren was either the same age or a little older than Kotone, but it didn't stop her from seeming more childlike, she supposed. And Kotone couldn't help but act nicer to kids.

[Ren Caverly]

Sharing a room with a nervous quiet girl wasn’t that bad. At least she wouldn’t bother anyone. Ren only had the one bed, but she was sure she could get a cot. Maybe she would find some extra blankets and make a big bed on the floor. Kotone could have her bed, and Ren could sleep on the floor. Interestingly enough, it wasn’t that she needed a bed. It was the safety more than anything else. The lack of cold, the comfort, that was all good, but it was mental more than anything for Ren.

When complimented, Kotone shrugged it off, literally and also verbally. It was unfortunate, but it couldn’t be helped. Ren almost wanted to argue. When someone was nice, when she started to feel positively toward them, she liked them to be happy. Thinking nice things about yourself made you happy, right? Unfortunately, Ren just couldn’t argue, she merely said, “I’m glad,” as far as Kotone being in an “oddly charitable mood.”

Ren did not have the luxury of family items, references to unconditional love. Nothing to look at when she needed comfort and know it will be alright. She didn’t even have mementoes from friends, or really friends. This was one of the nicest encounters she had experienced in a very long time, by a large margin, oddly enough. “What cute kids?” Ren asked, her tone slightly curious, venturing out from the timidity usually carried in her words. It wasn’t that people hadn’t viewed her as a child before, but overall, she didn’t think of it at first. She would have made a comment about other mages in her guild who were children, just to make conversation, but just making conversation was nothing Ren was comfortable doing. This was conversation, but not quite saying things just to have said them.

[Kotone]

"No one," Kotone shook her head, at first refusing to talk about it. But then, it wasn't often she was around someone she enjoyed the company of enough to not try and chase them off, she supposed. "Well, a little girl primarily. I uh... promised to take care of her if something happened to her father." Kotone sounded like she didn't enjoy the idea at all. She didn't. Scarlet was a very cute child, whom she would honestly like to see again, but the idea of that idiot getting himself hurt for a 'retirement plan' made her blood boil.

"And no offense, but you sort of remind me of a kid. I can't quite say why. That's about it." Well, not being able to say why was a lie. But Kotone had no desire to make Ren feel bad. She already seemed to lack self-confidence, something Kotone had in abundance.

She shifted the box slightly as Sid mewed again. He was positively soaking up the girl's attention. Probably another reason Kotone liked her. Sid was a good judge of character when food wasn't involved.

[Ren Caverly]

“Oh,” Ren said with a small nod. At first Kotone deflected. That wasn’t surprising. People did that when they didn’t want to talk about something. Ren did it, although she was far less convincing. When Kotone spoke she had a certain level of personal confidence. She seemed to at least believe the words coming out of her mouth, whether or not they were accurate. Ren sounded like she was second-guessing herself, even when she wasn’t…. quite. However in the end Kotone recanted her statement enough to mention a little girl. “That would be really sad…” Ren said quietly, adding to her earlier “oh.”

Next Kotone said that Ren reminded her of a child, and Ren blushed. “Um… okay…. I….” she took a deep breath, exhaled, and spoke again, trying to sound a bit more sure of herself, “I can understand.” She knew she acted a timid child. She was a timid child. Some people, when faced with all the terrors of the world, grew up quickly. Ren could take care of herself, when cornered, when crying, when alone on the street, she survived, it just didn’t translate into any sort of confidence or social maturity. It didn’t mean she was oblivious to how other people could view her.

“He’s very nice…” she said idly, thinking about how she must still seem like a little girl. Was that so bad? Kotone liked children anyway, right? Or maybe just cute ones. She blushed a bit more, any sort of positive qualifier for any judgment on Ren making her pleasantly embarrassed. “At least, um… you wouldn’t ever have to take care of me…” she said, her thoughts had clearly not left the earlier comment. Taking care of that girl if her father was gone. No worries there, for Ren anyway.

[Kotone]

Kotone only nodded to Ren's statement about taking care of Scarlet. She didn't really want to think about it. The man hadn't seemed completely confident that he would be okay, despite promising not to leave Scarlet alone. Especially since after saying so he'd requested what he had of her. Of course it would be sad. Kotone had had enough of orphaned children. Not the children themselves... but the fact that people had to go through it.

At least she understood what Kotone was more or less saying. She must have heard it before... which she supposed wasn't exactly surprising. "Don't worry, it's only sort of. You're adult enough." Not everyone should have to grow up quickly. Kotone had. She'd never been allowed the luxury of being a proper kid. Which might explain why she could be so immature sometimes. Especially when she was angry.

Kotone chuckled at her comment about Sid being nice. "He is nice, but he's a brat too. I recently lost a sandwich to him." Of course, Hannah had distracted her by being nosy and infuriating. She looked at Ren when she said she wouldn't ever have to take care of her. "Not like a child, no. But if you ever needed help and I was around you could count on me. It's what I do." Which was true. Even if she had little in the way of social grace, she very much embodied the ideals of your stereotypical superhero. Fighting the bad guys and protecting innocent people like Ren. Not to mention she was too stubborn to know when to quit.

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