Home from the Hunt

[Tabitha Wolfe]

The air was still crisp around Crocus. Often times Tabitha spent her entire day at or around the guild hall, but not this week. She had been on a job all week. It wasn’t that she job itself took so long, no, she prided herself on quick work. It just so happened the job was a ways of. Someone needed to stop breathing, and a few knives to the back of the skull had done the trick. It was getting there and getting back that was a nuisance.

It was nice to be back home. She hadn’t grown up in Crocus. She grew up far from this amusingly dishonest little town. The home of royalty until their lives were snuffed out. Now the home of the kind of people who snuffed out lives. She did appreciate the irony, not that most people knew Shadow Heart’s Guildhall was here. That was exactly how it needed to be. You couldn’t play cards if you just laid all your cards out on the table. It was just improper.

So Tabitha had on a pair of satin black shorts, a royal blue blouse, and a long black coat. The coat reached her mid-thigh, and her black leather thigh high boots just met it. She showed about an inch of skin between her boots and her shorts but she liked it that way. She wasn’t cold so she didn’t care what anyone else thought. Her lavender hair was braided on the two sides of her face, and then down in back, as per usual. She liked it that way. It was familiar, and there were times that familiar was good.

She hadn’t gone to her house, she went straight for the guild hall. She wanted to find a new job, perhaps. Perhaps she just wanted to check in from the last one. Yes, that did sound good. She could go buy some groceries, she had nothing to eat at home. Or maybe she would eat out. It had been a long trip and she wasn’t in the mood to do chores like cooking. She sauntered on into the guild hall, smirk on her face, looking for the appropriate person, or anyone really. She was in a social mood.

[Sharaku]

Sharaku stood in one of Shadow Heart's many hallways, being generally unsocial, but not antisocial. There were a lot of people in the guild hall today. Sure, a lot of them lived there, but the types Shadow Heart acquired were rarely content to sit around. Sharaku only was because he could do nothing about what he actually wanted to do just yet, and had no motivation to do anything else unless he was asked. For now, he was content to stay around the guild hall and train his abilities unless he was given the opportunity to do a job or something. No one seemed to especially care as long as he did what was acquired of him, and that suited him just fine.

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a young woman entering the guild hall. He’d seen her around before. She was very pretty, and more social than his new ‘friend’ Fayte. Not that that was hard. Sharaku wasn’t very social and tended to sit in corners away from the more social types, just watching and learning. Despite being criminals, assassins, and thieves, Sharaku rather enjoyed the company of a lot of the people here. Or at least being near them as they discussed things with one another. The man who also saw the knife-using woman was not one of the people he liked.

“Hey baby,” the man sneered, giving her a wink and showing off his bare muscles like a moron. “Welcome back. What say you and me go celebrate with some stiff drinks?” The man had stepped in the way of the woman so she would have to acknowledge him.

Sharaku had heard enough already. A lot of women didn’t appreciate morons like him. He didn’t wait to see if she was an expression. He walked up behind the man casually, kicking his leg out from behind him. He fell to the ground in a surprised heap from the attack. “No one invited you to ruin their evening,” the copy mage told the man as he groaned on the floor. “You should go.”

[Tabitha Wolfe]

Sure, somewhere along the way to becoming the stabby spider queen, Tabitha grew into the body of a woman. But really, Tabitha just didn’t care all that much. Oh, she loved to use any asset she could to her advantage, but as far as her personal life she wasn’t walking around in a bikini bending over for conveniently low placed objects. Maybe it was the fact that enough men around Tabitha actually would have appreciated that scenario that disgusted her into not liking men. Some of them were nice enough to look at, but for a woman who resisted personal connection like sleeping in the rain looks weren’t enough to draw her interest. She needed a very good reason to do either of the former things because both were just asking for trouble.

There were times when Tabitha did in fact allow herself the personal risk of attachment, but luckily today’s star leering enthusiast wasn’t even tempting. Yes, because a speed and stealth fighter really wants your nice manly arms to keep her safe at night… pathetic, she thought with a false smile. “I am just so interested in you and stiff things, I might actually faint in anticipation,” she mocked in a friendly tone, her left hand to her chest and the back of her right hand to her forehead to emphasis the possibility of fainting.

The surprising thing was that another member of the guild walked up and kicked him, knocking him down in a truly disappointing display of unimpressive defensive skills. Just sad… Now the other man suddenly seemed interesting, which Tabitha could appreciate. Nothing was less interesting than mediocrity, but sneaky attacks, those she liked. Shadow Heart wasn’t all full of the bloodthirsty and violent, but it did appeal to the less than scrupulous crowd. Kicking someone from behind for being stupid wasn’t everyone’s favorite activity, but Tabitha wasn’t complaining.

“Oh well, you’re not really my type anyway. Better luck next time,” Tabitha teased, still smiling. Male and pathetic weren’t here favorite things. On top of that “anyone” came to mind as not really her type. Still, she was feeling playful and a new option had just appeared. Cute enough, and he’d perked her interest, “Now you… I’m surprised, you know how to speak. Why not show off those skills a bit more?” she asked, directing all her attention to Sharaku now. She’d seen him around some, but really hadn’t gotten a chance to decide if she did or didn’t want to waste her time learning more. Now seemed a perfect time to find out.

[Sharaku]

Sharaku gladly saved the woman from the idiot mage who thought just because he could use fire he was ‘hot stuff.’ He even got a smug sense of satisfaction as the man scrambled off in embarrassment, probably to drink away the sorrows of yet another lost conquest. Especially since the girl had joined in on the teasing. In the mimic’s opinion, he deserved it. Idiots who tried to take advantage of people deserved more than that.  It was when she talked to him that Sharaku was given pause. He’d noticed she was cute too, of course. It was hard not to. Though he doubted in a guild like this that she was unaware of it. He was awkward around women. Not gullible.

“I uh… I… Yeah. I’m Sh-Sharaku,” he introduced himself embarrassingly, rubbing the back of his head. He wanted to slap  himself in the face. He knew it would happen. Why did he have to go help her? At least he would have saved his own dignity, and she probably would have stabbed the man or something anyway. “I uh…” he looked away, unable to hide his blush. He was somewhat socially awkward around outgoing women. He didn’t have this problem with Fayte. “I uh… don’t show off what I’m not so good at…” he managed. Magic and martial skills he was great at. He could be an effective enforcer and bounty hunter for Shadow Heart, as he’d discovered recently. What he couldn’t do was not look like an idiot. He’d looked so cool a moment before! She’d ruined it by talking to him…

[Tabitha Wolfe]

Even if Tabitha could easily handle herself, that didn’t mean she took aid as a slight. It wasn’t like someone was saying “oh, sweetheart, you can’t handle this, let me help.” No, that, that she would have gladly reacted badly to. Yet this cute little guy had done well. He earned at least a few minutes of Tabitha’s attention, not that she was hoarding it like food in the apocalypse. She actually wanted to socialize today, and he had some impeccable timing with morons.

All that social grace and confidence just flittered away. It was surprisingly adorable. Normally she could have found it annoying, but the contrast was just so amusing she didn’t even mind. One minute a confident surprise attacker, the next a stuttering teenage boy. She assumed he was a teenage boy, she didn’t actually know his personal information. That would have been weird. Besides, it seemed like if she was set on anything in particular, she could ask the awkward boy herself. It was proving better entertainment than cutting down muscle heads.

He glanced away and blushed, saying that he didn’t show off his social skills because they were lacking, in essence. “Well that suddenly becomes quite clear. The pieces all fit together,” she said with a prominent smirk. “Well however will I show my appreciation to my handsome rescuer without at least spending some time with him?” She asked, her well used and consequently graceful fingers tempted to reach out and turn his chin back in her direction. She didn’t though, allowing him slightly more physical space than social space, as she was still standing only a few feet away. Tabitha wasn’t especially interested in men, but since when did the honest truth take priority in what came out of her mouth?

[Sharaku]

The pieces all fit together? What pieces? Apparently there was something to figure out about him that he’d just revealed. Sharaku sighed, realizing full well that this woman was flirting to flatter him more than to actually flirt. That also had the side effect of him realizing that she was, in fact, intimidating to him – socially at least. “… Fair enough.” He answered reluctantly, still blushing slightly at her offer to spend time with him. Hopefully his lack of social grace with women would pass relatively quickly if they were going to spend much time together then. Why couldn’t she have been a robot like Fayte? It was a lot simpler.

He looked back directly at her, finally, managing proper eye contact and everything. Not that he actually had a problem with that overall… not like thugs like the man he’d chased off, anyway. He might be nervous but at least his eyes didn’t wander where they didn’t belong. “What did you have in mind?” he asked, shoving his hands deeper into his pockets. It hadn’t quite occurred to him yet to ask for the woman’s name, or any other details. Hopefully it would soon, but for now he was trying to figure out what he had gotten himself into. He didn’t trust anyone at Shadow Heart completely.

[Tabitha Wolfe]

Everyone had pieces, everyone was a puzzle. The more you showed the more you were handing out your pieces going “look, look, see how these fit together?” This was why Tabitha refrained from that foolish bonding thing, at least for the most part. She might allow just a bit for the sake of pleasantries or to relax, but was it worth it? It seemed so innocent to say that she could play the violin. It was so simple at first. What harm could come of it? Until someone inquired how long she had played, since she was very young. Why? Her mother liked it. Oh, tell me about your mother. No. By that point in the process she was showing her tells like they were her wardrobe, and none of it was smart.

She didn’t foresee having issues with Sharaku, who she hadn’t actually introduced herself to. That was a good sign that he wasn’t really a threat, except that everyone was a threat if you let them be. She probably ought to give him a name though. She let people call her what they liked. Black Widow was one that amused her, due to her use of string and her general disposition toward killing people. “I’m Tabitha by the way,” she offered when he somewhat reluctantly agreed to spend time with her.

Sharaku looked over at Tabitha and she smiled more. Her charming expression had turned to something a bit more neutral as she let him slightly recover. However now he was looking at her and it triggered two things. Her natural mask, and an actually pleased feeling. Talking was fun, and she’d wanted to be social, so she was pleased. “Well someone less interesting did talk about stiff drinks. That could be tolerable without his actual involvement. Specifically though, I’m on my way to turn something in, and then probably go get something to eat. If I’m not to terribly unpleasant,” she said, with an obligatory hand on his shoulder for a few seconds before pulling back casually, “then you should come.”

[Sharaku]

"A drink's fine," Sharaku shrugged, doing his best to go back into his neutral-sounding and acting self. "I don't get drunk though, so don't get your hopes up on that." he informed her. Not that he couldn't get drunk. He disliked it. He disliked the idea of compromising his constantly alert attitude, especially in a place like this. ‘This’ being Shadow Heart.  He wasn’t sure why she was wording things the way she was. Was she trying to guilt him into something? Maybe she manipulated people. That made her like several women around here. She was probably just better at it.

He decided to make a bit of conversation and hope he didn't sound too stupid. “My friends call me Shar. Or they would if I had friends around here. Apparently three syllables is hard.” Fayte probably wasn’t considered his friend. Maybe his co-worker or personal robot. He enjoyed her company though. Maybe he would enjoy Tabitha’s once he got to know her. He didn’t and probably wouldn’t trust her. But he would enjoy her company. “So, are we going for drinks in the guild hall then, or do you have some other preference?” he asked her. He knew that if he was actually going to have a drink, he would rather it not be here. He didn’t feel the camaraderie with his guildmates a lot of the others did.

[Tabitha Wolfe]

Guilt was easy…. For those susceptible to guilt. Luckily Tabitha did not consider herself among those unlucky people. Guilt was a weakness, either way. If you really wanted to have your morals and not feel guilt, don’t do things you ought feel guilty for. If someone else suffered and it wasn’t your fault, then it was simply stupid to feel guilty. She understood people, or so she thought, because it helped her to use them. As far as the man who apparently didn’t get drunk, she wasn’t trying to manipulate him, she was mostly testing him. He neither opted in nor opted out. A sidestep was fine and well she supposed.

“Never said I expected you to get drunk,” she informed him casually. Then he asked where she planned to go get said drink, “Oh, certainly not here. Unless you want more fights with macho men. I mean, not that I actually usually attract them,” she said casually. It wasn’t all that clear if she meant that or not. She had no intention of sounding conceited, and she wasn’t delusional, she was just talking. Honestly, she simply didn’t feel like sitting around a bunch of people who thought they knew her, and could thus impinge upon her relaxation.

“Just as soon as I go get my reward. You can come if you like,” she said, “Unless you have something you need to acquire before heading out. Didn’t seem like you were busy,” she shrugged, based on his agreement to go with her in the first place.

[Sharaku]

Sharaku couldn’t help but feel like Tabitha was reading his mind. She suggested going somewhere else if he didn’t want to fight, and he wasn’t in the mood to curb stomp anyone else today. It was getting too easy with the ones dumb enough to pick fights with random guild members. “I’ll meet you by the entrance,” he decided, taking off in the opposite direction at a leisurely pace. He waited at the entrance, leaned up against the wall by the door once again with his hands shoved in his pockets. He maintained a neutral expression when Tabitha reappeared.

“Well then,” He started, managing to hold back the blush. Mostly. “I know a couple of places,” he offered, trying to be helpful. He didn’t know if they were any good as far as pubs went, since he rarely drank, but he knew some people who liked the places, which was about as good as he was going to get unless she showed him something better. He exited their secret entrance alongside her, entering the busy streets of Crocus as if they hadn’t just exited from a place that no one was allowed to know about. It was a sunny day, and everyone seemed to be out and about. Not that it mattered much to Sharaku.

[Tabitha Wolfe]

Tabitha was good with people, a simple fact. Okay, maybe there was a difference between being good with people and the manipulation that Tabitha specialized in. She still felt like she was good… at people. There we go, good at them. Not with them. Tabitha didn’t work with people. She worked them. Someone, someday, might say it was lonely, but Tabitha didn’t even let someone get close enough to say that. It was fun, or it was work. It was lonely until she got bored and replace lonely with someone, or with something.

“I’ll be there sweetheart,” Tabitha said casually. She didn’t pay attention to his reaction, at least not obviously. He was cute, and he was odd, and she wanted to watch him. Like the amount she might watch someone from a web somewhere. Yes, Tabitha could make a fake web from magical string. Spiders made magical string, right? She was the black widow for a reason, she could do as she pleased, and no one could judge her. At least… not before being maimed.

She got her money, a lovely little purse of jewels, and she found the blushing boy at the entrance. “Cute as the last time I saw you,” she told him casually. It was easier to compliment when she wasn’t personally invested. She liked that freedom. How did other people do it? “A couple of places? Well then let’s see them. I’m all for seeing what exactly a guy like you knows around town,” she said. Any amount it sounded insulting, it actually was curious.

[Sharaku]

Sharaku had tried to ignore Tabitha’s flirtation when she told him he should pick where they were going. He wasn’t out to impress her, so he chose a place he liked alright – it was dark and everyone left other people alone if they didn’t look like they wanted company. It also had halfway decent beer. Sharaku didn’t mind beer because it was weak and people wouldn’t complain that he wasn’t drinking with them. It was a win/win… except that he wasn’t a big fan of the taste of beer. It was alright though, he supposed. He’d certainly had worse.

Sharaku led her to the bar, though he fully intended to pick an out of the way location when he got them drinks. He wasn’t there to talk with the bartender, and though the bartender didn’t seem to mind him, he was aware of that, and didn’t try to make extra conversation. Sharaku tipped well to make up for it anyway. Once he had a couple of drinks (he’d picked a stiffer one than normal just so Tabitha wouldn’t complain), he found them a booth and sat down. “This alright?” he asked, feeling strangely like this was some sort of date even though it wasn’t. “I uh… picked the place I liked.”

[Tabitha Wolfe]

Ignoring Tabitha flirting was easy enough. Just pretend she wasn’t doing it. It wasn’t as if there were real negative side effects. He wasn’t out to cradle her feelings, and she really wasn’t trying to gain anything with him. It was about as serious as playful banter. In fact, it was a mix between playful banter and simply wanting to see if she could press his buttons. Mostly the former.

They arrived at his location of choice and he led them to the bar. He bought drinks, which she watched carefully. Since she was basically offering to take him out and pay for him, due to having money, him buying drinks was odd. Not odd in a bad way, really, but Tabitha took anything that was odd as questionable. Suspicious. If she didn’t understand the motives behind something, she was always suspicious of it. It didn’t matter if the motivation was simply having good manners, until she knew that, it put her ill at ease.

She sat down across from him at the booth he found, “Oh its fine. Why pick any other place? Unless you’re in an exploring mood,” she said casually, taking her drink and legitimately popping it open with a knife she seemed to materialize from nowhere. She then put her hand back at her side and the knife was easily back in her calf holster. She was so used to it she had once brought out and put back all four of her knives while drinking, without realizing she was doing it. “So do you actually come here often?” she inquired, still feeling social and not knowing almost anything about him.

[Sharaku]

“When I want to be left alone,” Sharaku answered her question. She was rather good with a knife, and it impressed Sharaku, truth be told. He was good with his fists, but not so much with weapons. He didn’t mind though, because short of some sort of horrible accident he couldn’t be separated from his fists. He couldn’t read the girl that well, but figured that was on purpose. A benefit of living in a den of thieves and murders was that you fully expected people to be calculating, manipulative, and at least a little bit sociopathic… or at least dumb and full of angry muscles. Tabitha didn’t fit the latter so well.

“You’d be surprised how few people pay attention to you in public,” he shrugged. “What about you? Do you visit bars often with strangers? I doubt you actually needed saved from that bozo earlier.” He guessed after seeing her knifeplay with the simple bottle. He took a drink of his disgusting beverage. He showed no sign of his dislike though, and shortly took another sip. The woman was rather intriguing, though mostly because she was so mysterious. He couldn’t tell how much he actually enjoyed her company yet. And he still felt awkward taking a girl to a bar. At least one that wasn’t Fayte. Emotions complicated things.

[Tabitha Wolfe]

Tabitha nodded thoughtfully when Sharaku said he came here when he wanted to be left alone. “Well I appreciate you sharing it with me,” she told him. Did she? She didn’t go around sharing her personal things with others. Did that mean she couldn’t appreciate it? She could appreciate art even if she couldn’t paint. She simply needed an appreciation for it, did she have that? Did she look up to people who sharing themselves? No, but she did still appreciate it. A luxury, perhaps. She was working in the death mines, and someone who painted for a living was absurd, but she could still appreciate that. Her life was an odd analogy.

As far as being good with a knife, Tabitha knew she was. However she didn’t think on it that often. She threw knives. She cut things, and people. If someone had gotten out a game of darts she would most likely win. In fact, she could play a perfect game ten times out of ten if she used her string magic. Some people didn’t appreciate that, but when she was playing shot per win with someone she needed information out of, cheating at darts was a mandatory security check. She could play on her own though. She was good with knives, as said before. She’d been close to knives for several years now, she ought to be good with it. She’d been playing the violin longer, and was also quite good at that. However when it came down to it, a violin didn’t keep you alive at night, but knives might.

Tabitha was smart enough, maybe she didn’t know all the right math, she couldn’t solve as many puzzles as someone else, she couldn’t memorize lines, and she couldn’t win a debate, but she could do what mattered. She could trick people. It took the skill to learn people though, and she both appreciated and had to distance herself from Sharaku. Unless she knew how to trick him if necessary, she couldn’t allow herself to relax completely. Well, “completely” as she ever did. She never relaxed completely.

“I doubt I would,” she told him, as far as people not paying attention in public. She’d spent enough time swiping things on the streets. “Oh, needing help and appreciating it are different. I was more than capable of ignoring him,” she admitted, but said nothing of her combat abilities. “As for visitng bars with strangers, well I visit bars, and everyone in them is a stranger, what I do with or without said people is up to the night. Tonight I’m getting acquainted with a strangers whose nickname is on syllable, and who bought me a beer,” she said simply, curious how he was going to respond to that, without really adding anything or asking anything. She took another drink.

[Sharaku]

Needing and appreciating is different. Okay, that was fair enough. Sharaku shrugged in acknowledgement when Tabitha felt the need to explain how she appreciated his help whether he’d needed to or not. “Alright then,” he answered. She went on to say she was spending time with him, a man with a one syllable nickname and who had bought her a beer. Both were accurate statements. “Eh, I guess I needed to get out anyway,” he told her. He hadn’t left the guild hall in a few days, so she was a good excuse if nothing else. Still, she was decently fun, if a bit confusing. “I can’t be that fascinating though, despite how you talk.”

“So, where did you get that skill with knives?” he asked, trying to make conversation. The question was out of genuine interest. The way she had smoothly opened the bottle and sheathed it so easily was beautiful, as far as skills with weapons went. “It’s pretty impressive,” he decided to compliment her. His mind turned from her being a flirtatious young woman to her skill with knives and he relaxed a bit, taking a sip of the beer. Around them everyone was loudly having a good time like was normal for a bar. It was going to be a crowded night, it seemed.

[Tabitha Wolfe]

Tabitha had to be particular with her words. If she wasn’t then she left it up for other people it make decisions. If she paid close attention to just how she said things, she could control what they perceived. The truth might not be subjective, but the truth was overrated. Perception was malleable just like Tabitha’s strings. She also needed to know what she said, despite what people thought, so that she could defend whatever she wanted if asked about it later. “Oh, so you’re just using me to avoid the meatheads hm?” she asked him, smirking, “And here I thought I was special.”

“Oh, you’re more interesting than you think,” she said when he said he couldn’t be that fascinating. Another particular choice of words. Most people were more interesting than they thought. It didn’t mean she wasn’t playing it up, but she hadn’t said she wasn’t playing it up. She frowned when he asked about her knives. She’d simply opened a bottle. Was that knife skill now? He should see her when she was trying. Still, it was a question about her, which was knocking at the door to personal property. She generally bolted that shut, but maybe if she just opened the door with the chain on he’d be satisfied, “I carried one for protection for a while, helpless female and all, and I just practice a lot. Speaking of skills… what exactly is it that you do? Since we’re asking things it seems,” she said, steering away from her after that small answer.

[Sharaku]

Tabitha asked  Sharaku if he was just using her to get away from meatheads. If she had been someone else, he probably would have replied ‘I might be. Or maybe I thought this sounded fun.’ Instead, he replied a little less gracefully. “I uh.. no of course not,” he insisted, wondering why she would assume such a thing. Pretty women could make him falter at rather inopportune times. “I wanted to.” His body language suggested he’d panicked slightly when she said that, as if he were afraid of hurting her feelings.

Tabitha explained that she practiced with knives for protection, making it sound like she was some casual practitioner. He highly doubted that, but was in no position to disagree even if he normally would have since he’d been thrown off by her joke.  Then he was asked what he did. “I uh…” he started more awkwardly than he would have wanted to. “I’m a mimic,” he explained, holding up a hand with his palm facing him and idly flexing his fingers slightly “Whatever magic you have, I have with only a touch. At least for a little while.” He recovered again as he explained. His mind turned from accidentally insulting her to explaining one of the things he was most confident about.

[Tabitha Wolfe]

Tabitha giggled, not meaning any harm, when Sharaku fell over his words. It was still amusing, and cute in a childlike mistake kind of way. Maybe she should keep him around just for the humor of it. Oh, that would be delightful. I could ask you embarrassing things, and you could… stutter and make me laugh. Oh, can I keep you? I like you. “Well if you wanted to that badly, maybe I ought to just keep you… around,” she said. She had clearly paused after you but it wasn’t clear if she was saying she would keep him, or if she was being pointedly vague as to where she was going to keep him.

Oh, right, act less strange, she reminded herself casually. To her, knife-play really was simpler to her. Besides, she didn’t want to play it up. Being underestimated wasn’t extremely fun, but it was an advantage in combat. Life was combative. When he said that a touch gave him her powers she sat back in her seat. Visibly moving away from him. She remembered touching his shoulder, but clearly they hadn’t made contact. How did a mimic work? Any stray contact? Did he have to channel it first? He was looking at his hands, did he have to touch with them? Her thoughts were rushing around and she didn’t like it. She took a sip to pause. Seriously, she didn’t like opening up. If someone suddenly had her powers, that meant they knew her powers. That meant they knew things about her she didn’t want them to. “Sounds like quite the sneaky power… you seem fond of it,” she observed. Sneaky was good. She was sneaky. Her power was sneaky, but she was still sitting back, drinking another bit of her beer because she was still mildly anxious.

[Sharaku]

“Keep me around? Come on I can’t be that entertaining.” Sharaku insisted as he got over his stuttering. He had no idea why she found him amusing. Maybe she just liked being around idiots. He certainly felt like one when women tripped him up. Maybe she liked to feel smart. He couldn’t exactly blame her. Feeling dumb like he did at the moment wasn’t exactly at the top of his list, after all. Sharaku watched her body language. The way she’d scooted back when he explained his magic had only been partially expected. He didn’t exactly explain what he did to most people. Most people didn’t exactly ask though.

“So you know,” he said, taking a sip of his beer and feeling like he was the one in control since she was obviously on the defensive. “You would know if I borrowed your abilities. It’s a rather interesting feeling.” Interesting was a generic word, but it didn’t hurt, nor did it feel good. So… interesting fit better than anything especially specific. “So no, I have no idea what you can do beyond stab people with knives. I can’t guarantee what I would do if our lives depended on it, but I wouldn’t just take your magic because I felt like it. Believe it or not, it’s rather draining to both absorb someone’s magic and then cast it.”

[Tabitha Wolfe]

Sharaku opted for the interpretation that Tabitha had meant to say she was keeping him around, instead of the idea of just keeping him. Probably for the best. Although it was intriguing to see what he might have done if she had simply said she would keep him. Would he read into it? Would he brush past it? He didn’t seem to have the social grace to brush past things. He was a curious man indeed. “We’ve hardly been around each other long and you’ve proven very entertaining, I want to see how this keeps up,” she told him simply.

Sharaku did not get to be in control. He could feel it all he wanted, because delusion was a good thing to hold over someone. That is what Tabitha told herself when he sunk into confidence at her distancing herself. It irritated her. She didn’t give anyone control. When he perfectly assessed her reason for discomfort it put her even more on edge. He didn’t know what she could do besides stab people. Wasn’t that kind of him. She finished her drink. If he was going to think he had some control over her, she wasn’t going to let him have it for nothing. It was a game to handicap herself and play along. Well, one beer down and she didn’t feel a thing. That was no fun, but she wasn’t going to walk off and get more. “Interesting,” she said, using his generic wording in her reply. “so is that how you usually chat up women? I could duplicate your magic, by the way, sounds very romantic,” she told him, teasing, but still sounding a bit more serious. She didn’t expect him to be chatting her up, and she didn’t expect him to be romantic. They were just talking, but she felt like it, and her beer was done, so she said it.

[Sharaku]

"Yeah I don't really think that is what I meant..." Sharaku told Tabitha with a slight frown. What kind of pickup line was that? He wasn't exactly good at them, but that one sounded like a guaranteed way to get himself slapped if they didn't know it was a joke. He shook his head, grinning a bit again. “If you really want to give me a reason to tag along then fine,” he told her with a shrug. He was usually bored in the guild hall anyway, and she seemed interesting, even if she had a habit of trying to knock him off balance. He was doing his best not to be flustered again at the moment.

“So what do you do when you aren’t inviting strangers to bars and staring at job boards?” he asked her, recalling that he had seen her earlier when she took the job she had just returned from. He figured he might as well see what he could learn. He wasn’t trying to pry, but he had no idea how defensive she was or wasn’t, and he couldn’t tell unless he asked. Some Shadow Heart members revealed nothing about themselves ever. Others were open books. They were usually the stupid ones, so he doubted she was that open.

[Tabitha Wolfe]

Tabitha could not stop herself from grinning when Sharaku frowned. She knew full well it wasn’t what he’d meant, but it was just so fun to poke him. Enough poking and she’d find those delightful buttons. Her favorites were the ones that made him blush and stutter. More so stuttering than blushing, it was amusing to her. Blushing was something you couldn’t quite control, but stuttering showed a complete lack of control. For a girl obsessed with control, this was a great game. “Oh, a real reason hm? Generally getting experience and getting paid are enough for a job, and enjoying the company is enough for spending time together. Does that mean I’ve been boring thus far?” He was actually surprisingly polite. He tended not to want to offend her, so she wasn’t sure what he would do with this comment.

“Oh, the usual, slumming around alley’s, kicking puppies, whatever it is people like me do,” she smirked and shrugged, looking at her empty beer, and then back to him, “I play darts sometimes, usually shot per bullseye. It can be a really slow game sometimes,” she said, but it was only slow when she wanted it to be slow. She could make that game go very quickly if she liked. “What do you do, oh-rescuer-of-women?” she just had to add some sass to everything. She really did. It probably said so in a contract somewhere.

[Sharaku]

Sharaku didn’t comment on Tabitha’s sarcastic remark on what it was she did during her free time. He assumed she had a reason for not answering and that was fine. Still, he couldn’t deny the image of her kicking puppies in an alleyway seemed out of place enough it was funny. She did answer for real,though. She played shots for darts or whatever. Sharaku raised an eyebrow at that one. She had enough skill with a knife he doubted she lost that game She was probably some sort of weapons expert or something. No, he shouldn’t assume. Assuming got you killed. But he was sure she was good at it for one reason or another if she played it. She liked teasing him too much to like being the drunken one.

Then she asked what he did. He actually chuckled at that one. Not because he did anything exciting but for the exact opposite reason. “I rescue more women than you’d think,” he told her cryptically. It was true. Half of the fights he got into were punching guys in the face who got drunk enough to think they were hot stuff around all of the ladies. “I guess I’m into saving damsels in distress.” It was an ironic claim considering he was in Shadow Heart, and they both knew Tabitha wasn’t one of those damsels. “And sometimes you,” he added, not counting her as a damsel in distress.

[Tabitha Wolfe]

Tabitha was sarcastic, all the time. Defensive or not, it was her. If someone said it was a defense mechanism, it wouldn’t break her. Telling her she was this, that, or the other thing, never cracked anything but a smile. It was funny to see someone care. If they didn’t care, a word, a sentence, a remark, and they were done. She could handle that. If they kept going, kept digging themselves a hole, she knew she had them. She knew it, and it was just funny. Power was intoxicating like that. Far more than any alcohol she could ever find.

She wasn’t the drunk one. It was a fun game to play, but even drunk she was careful. She got drunk enough, she calculated. Who could she get drunk with? She didn’t do too much with strangers. She’d rather kill a stranger than let him hurt her. It was cruel, it was cold, and it was Tabitha. Black Widow. Next? Sharaku was an interesting kid, now wasn’t he? He said he rescued more women than she thought, and she assumed it was generally similar to her situation. Maybe she should stick around the guild more often and watch him… for scientific reasons.

Tabitha laughed, with no restraint, “Oh, so I’m not a damsel in distress now? Aw, and what, pray tell, does that make me, Sharaku?” she asked, leaning toward him and grinning. He was fun, both as prey, and as company. That was rare indeed.

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