Hey, That's Mine [Romen]

[Gabrielle Seawind]

511 Winter 5th

The morning sky had just arrived, and Gabrielle was working around her small ship, which was currently anchored at the port of Syliras. There weren't many other anchored ships around at the moment, and the city itself was still quiet. Gabrielle much preferred this quiet aura for a change. Most people were probably still in their homes, sleeping snugly. Because it was winter, it was cold almost the whole day. The only few people present at the docks at the moment were the few fishermen who were heading out for the day.

Gabrielle contemplated on going out to try her hand at fishing at well. Just the day before, she had escorted a few men to a nearby fishing spot. Fishing was something Gabrielle wasn't good at but something she enjoyed. 'Perhaps I should get myself a rod? Or maybe a net, but I'm just a single person, I probably can't handle a fish net...'

She felt that foreign pouch in one of her pockets, a pouch which she had swiped from a man in a tavern a few days ago. Gabrielle had a vague remembrance of the man -- blonde hair and blue eyes, and he travelled with a dog. After the days had passed, she was sure he had realized his pouch was missing. The man didn't come after her, though. He probably thought he lost it somewhere -- he probably didn't even suspect the girl from the tavern. Gabrielle always felt slight euphoria when 'taking' what wasn't hers. She knew most races regarded it as a bad trait of the Svefra, but Gabrielle always thought it was just strong belief in one's confidence: if you can take something, nothing should stop you.

Amidst her thoughts, Gabrielle grabbed a pail of water and a mop and started to clean her deck. As she did, she daydreamed about fishing, and of her dolphin friend named Kairo. She missed having her dolphin and her family around -- basically, she missed having a friend. Absently, she started to softly sing her favorite lyrics about the dolphins of the sea. Lost in a reverie, Gabrielle didn't take much notice of anything else.

[Romen]

Romen walked along the pavement, the soft silence only broken by the clicking of his dog’s claws on the ground and a gentle voice singing a sweet song. His hair was messy and tousled from the wind. He turned a corner and sure enough he found the owner of the voice. He saw a young girl with blonde hair, cleaning the deck of a small casinor. He leaned against a large crate that rested just by the edge of the sea. ”Gabrielle, what a surprise seeing you here” he called out with a grin that said he was getting at something else.

Romen walked slowly towards where her ship was anchored with his hands in his coat pockets. Vida, his dog, followed behind him. Her tail was wagging and her face was happy as if she were completely ignoring Romen. He climbed aboard Gabrielle's ship before she could say anything to stop him. Romen did not take to being stolen from very well, and he had quite a bit in his pouch. Considering he bought her a drink and then she stole from him, he considered it his right to be here.

”We have a bit of catching up to do. See, I was wondering if you could help me” he gave a small smile. ”When we were together at the tavern, I must have misplaced my pouch after I paid for your drink” he continued, walking towards her. ”I was wondering if you saw it after I left” he said, blatantly hinting that he knew she took it.

Meanwhile, Vida was having a little bit of trouble following her master. She couldn’t seem to manage to get from the edge of the dock to the ship. She paced back and forth, but eventually went for the route she wasn’t particularly fond of. She went back a couple paces then ran towards the boat and leapt onto it. She just barely made it, but she made it all the same. She stood up and shook her furry coat out before trotting up to join Romen. She sat down beside his feet and panted happily, looking up at Gabrielle with large blue eyes. She was either ignorant to the tense atmosphere on the boat, or was just ignoring it.

[Gabrielle Seawind]

Gabrielle stopped singing and abruptly looked ahead of her. She had an expression of slight surprise, her eyes blinking in confusion. The blonde man she had stolen from, Romen, was right in front of her. 'It took a while, but I guess he figured out where his Mizas went.'

Unfortunately for him, Gabrielle wasn't ready to part ways with his pouch. Without it, she didn't have enough to get through a season. She needed his pouch. Gabrielle raised an eyebrow and watched Romen climb aboard her ship uninvited.

She put a hand on her hip and stared at him, her other hand still holding the mop. She had taken his money, fair and square; she owned it. However, she knew he wouldn't understand it that way, and hence, her only retreat was to lie. The girl gave him the sweetest smile she could muster -- however, there was irritation in her eyes as she said, "No, sorry, I left right after you did. Did you try asking the barmaid, or maybe the other people there? Taverns are a rough place; they could have taken it for themselves.”

Vida seemed joyful to be there, and Gabrielle gave her a smile which was much more genuine than the one she gave Romen. Gabrielle needed to be careful. There was roughly a hundred Mizas in the stolen pouch in her pocket, and she needed to play it right. His tone had heavily hinted that he knew she took it. Feeling accused, but rightly so, Gabrielle didn't want to admit to her mischief.

"It's nice to see you, Romen, but I'm actually on my way to sea," she beckoned towards the sea and made a scene of walking towards the rope which tied her vessel to the dock. She looked as if she was ready to climb down to the dock to untie the rope. It was a lie, the Svefra had no intention of sailing that day, but it was the only lie she could think of to get him of her casinor. "So, if you would so kindly step off, that would be great... I hope you find your pouch."

[Romen]

Romen looked at the svefra with a hint of irritation in his eyes. He leaned against the side of the boat and looked at Gabrielle. He wasn’t planning on leaving the boat without his pouch. He had just under a hundred Gold Mizas in there and Romen was not going to just let her have them. However, Gabrielle seemed to have other plans. He knew she was obviously lying, but Romen was not sure how to get her to spit out the truth and give him his pouch. It would be a lot easier for both of them that way.

”Gabrielle, I’m insulted” he said with a sly smile. ”I honestly thought you wouldn’t lie to me like that.” he looked at her, deciding he’d be blunt about it or they wouldn’t get anywhere. She had to realize that he wouldn’t survive the winter without money and he did not particularly like the sound of that.

Romen was pretty used to getting his own way, as he was ruthless when it came to acting on threats. But now that he was in Syliras getting his own way with things like this was a hell of a lot harder, considering that he couldn’t take on the Syliran Knights and had no intention of trying to. Taking that into consideration, Romen was not setting out to make a lot of enemies here.

Romen turned to Vida, who seemed to have finally noticed the tension on the boat and had lay down on the floor. She liked Gabrielle and Romen was like family. Vida did not like being stuck in the middle and also felt slightly guilty, seen as her actions caused this.

[Gabrielle Seawind]

Gabrielle couldn't help but smile back at him. "Romen, if someone did take your money, then it should be a lesson to you to protect what you own. Otherwise, it doesn't deserve to be yours."

She could see that he wasn't going to give up soon, but neither was she. The Svefra could also see that his dog looked at uneasy at the current events. Romen's words were making her feel bad, but she had gone too far to simply take back her actions just because of this. In the past, she had been caught multiple times for 'stealing', and the only times she had given back what she had taken was if she could see that she was being overpowered, or if she was frightened of the consequences. Usually, it was by a group of stronger people, or even a woman who convinced her that the Gods would come after her for her bad deed.

Without a word, she undid her sails, causing them to fall down. Her casinor waved very slightly, the sails catching the wind, but didn't move because of its attachment to the docks. She hopped from her deck and to the wooden dock, her eyes transfixed on the blonde man. Her hand rested on the rope which tied it to the dock, and she had a foot planted on the side of her casinor, ready to kick it off to sea.

"Hey, please leave my casinor, unless you want to be stuck in the sea with me for days," she shot him her sweetest and fakest smile. Her lies were becoming farfetched, but this was a battle of stubbornness, neither willing to give in. "I'm travelling north to my family, and they don't take too well with outsiders." -- Another lie.

In the corner of her eye, she could see that some of the fishermen were starting to mutter to each other about what was going on between Gabrielle and Romen. For the past few weeks, Gabrielle had become a familiar sight in the docks, but this scene looked strange to them. Gabrielle ignored their stares; she knew they'd go back to their business soon enough.

"Vida, what do you say?" she nodded at the dog. "It's time to go, Vida."

[Romen]

Romen raised an eyebrow as she undid the sails. Vida let out a quiet whimper and looked up at Romen from where she was sitting. ”I do believe you’ve forgotten a thing or two about me. I can take care of my self” he said, letting his energy rush to his palm. A green wisp of mist started to rise from his palm. In a matter of seconds it formed a sphere and burst into flames. Roman played with the little ball of fire, letting it dance around his fingers before he caught it in a clenched fist. He threw the fireball into the waters, as it was not meant to harm anyone, yet. ”I believe I told you a couple days ago that I was learning reimancy.” he said, smiling sweetly.

He wasn’t one to provoke trouble, especially in front of witnesses. He looked over at the fishermen. They obviously knew that something was up but they would let it go pretty quickly. If they didn't, he could deal with them. He smiled. He could accidently drop his fire, after of course getting off the boat and making sure him and Vida would be safe. As long as he left no witnesses it’d turn out okay, but he hoped he could avoid that. He also wanted Gabrielle to believe that he didn’t care.

Vida sat up and whined again, pawing at Romen’s trousers. She could tell what he was planning and didn’t want any part in it. That said, having food and shelter did appeal to Vida and she knew that without getting Romen’s pouch back from Gabrielle that would not happen. Vida also knew that both Romen and Gabrielle were stupidly stubborn, or so it seemed at the moment.

She walked up to Gabrielle and sat down in front of her. She looked up at her pleadingly and gave a quiet bark. Romen watched as Vida did this, extremely confused. If Gabrielle wont give it back to me, she’s not going to give it back to a dog” he thought, rolling his eyes. He figured the svefra probably wouldn’t hurt Vida, so he’d let the dog do what it wanted.

[Gabrielle Seawind]

'Oh, geez, is he going to set my ship on fire?' she looked at the fishermen. Knowing the citizens of Syliras, someone would probably attempt to call a Knight as quick as possible. Romen was probably going to be apprehended if ever he did light her vessel on fire, but she would also be found guilty for taking what was supposedly someone else’s.

Gabrielle looked down at the dog, amazed at its intelligence. Gabrielle sighed and decided to give in, but it wasn't because of Vida, but because she was frightened to have no home -- which would happen if this man burned her vessel down. Exasperated, Gabrielle stepped back up on her ship with much ease and started to walk back to her sails. As she passed Vida, the Svefra gave her a friendly pat on the head.

"Here, just take it," said Gabrielle, her nose scrunched in irritation. She took the pouch from her pocket and tossed it at Romen before continuing to her sales and tying them back to place. Maybe she could bring them back down later and convince a fisherman to lend her a rod -- she probably needed a way to cool off, and maybe some fish to eat. In the back of her mind, she remembered that she had a few meals stacked away, and it wouldn't be enough for the season.

The fishermen had dispersed, seeing that the commotion had been settled. She knew they were thinking that this was her fault. Everyone always blamed the pirates.

She took a seat on a wooden crate that was nearby, crossing her legs and fixing her eyes on Romen. Her expression was still irritated, but she knew she could do nothing now. "You're welcome. You know, since you took my money, maybe you can tell me a little about that Reimancy you do? Can it be done with water?"

There was emphasis on the phrase that he had taken her money. For her kind, it was believed that what you took from others was yours to own. If only the other races could understand that. However, in all fairness, he had the power to take it from her as well, which meant he had just as much as a claim over the pouch. Gabrielle also had no reason to believe that Romen would talk about Reimancy, seeing as she did take his money. But he was already there and he had the knowledge, and she was curious about it. She was irritated, but it didn’t hurt to ask.

[Romen]

Romen grinned triumphantly as he caught his pouch. Quickly he made sure that everything was still there and sure enough it was. He went and sat down beside Gabrielle and Vida followed. He patted her gently on the head before turning to face Gabrielle. ”Your money?” he asked, raising his eyebrows. The statement was cocky but Romen let it go. He couldn’t really talk.

He was considering just leaving her here, but it was early and Romen didn’t have anything in particular he wanted to do so it couldn’t hurt to talk to her. Problem was, last time he talked to her he nearly lost just under one hundred mizas. But then, that was before he’d threatened to burn her ship down so she probably wouldn’t try that again.

”Yes, you can control water. Well, I can’t. Yet.” he answered her question. He wasn’t as trusting as he was the last time, seeing as last time she hadn’t given him a reason to distrust her. Or so he had thought. Then he figured she owed him some answers as well. ”The other day at the tavern, who was it that I reminded you of?” he asked.

Vida seemed glad that the two were making conversation that seemed a bit less foreboding. She relaxed herself, leaning against the crate that the two were sitting on. This way, she thought, both got what they needed. Romen got his money and well, Gabrielle got to keep her house.

Vida sighed. Her master seemed to be a bit melodramatic lately, but at least Gabrielle saw that Vida did not want a part in his, ah, persuasions.

[Gabrielle Seawind]

"Eh, you just resemble someone. He was about as tall as you, with the same hairstyle and annoyingly cocky grin. He didn't have blue eyes though," replied Gabrielle in a slow and careful tone, not wanting to say that the reason her brother left was because he felt like an outsider to the Svefra. She didn't even mention she was speaking about her brother. The memories made her sad, and while she forced herself not to show it, she was obviously upset with the topic. It wasn't usual that she spoke about her brother, but when asked, she had no reason not to answer.

Gabrielle wondered why this man was suddenly asking about her brother, or why he was still around. He had even taken a seat beside her. Thinking about it, Gabrielle welcomed his presence. She liked speaking to him, and she liked having Vida around as well. It was nice for a change. Perhaps, she could even strike up a good friendship with him -- she just had to remember that he didn't take well to his belongings being taken.

"Can I learn how to control water, then? It would be a really convenient skill. Where did you learn how to do that with fire? Is it difficult to learn?" she asked curiously, her expression mapped with inquiry. As the seconds passed, her irritation at the fact that the pouch was taken from her was easily becoming forgotten. This man was easy to talk to, though he didn't seem to trust her fully yet, but then again, she didn't trust him completely either.

[Romen]

Romen smirked. ”Annoyingly cocky, am I?” he murmured, laughing a little. He did know that she was holding back something, but he let it be. It was probably for the best. He raised his eyebrows as Gabrielle started asking about Reimancy. She seemed to have let her annoyance at their earlier disagreement go.

”You ask an awful lot of questions” he sighed, but chose to answer them anyway. He had no reason not to, really. ”You could probably learn how to control water, but it’s not a pleasant experience and certainly not a safe one. That and you’d have to find someone to teach it to you, which I can’t help you with. I learned from my father” he said.

Thinking back on it, his father had been a good teacher if not a kind one. ”Oh and yes, it’s very hard to learn. Well, very hard to start learning” he added, just making sure. He didn’t really want the girl running off trying to learn it, but he didn’t know why. He shouldn’t really care. It’s because she’s pretty” he told himself, looking at Gabrielle.

Romen wasn’t one for making real friends generally, but he did. They were few and far between, but he had them. He tried not to tie any emotions in with people as that made dealing with certain things a hell of a lot easier. Though, sentimental things aside, Romen still distrusted the girl.