Completed Pinched!(Brandon)

[Chari]

OOCAll right you have my permission for that one little bit of god modding just this once

The dog's movements were clumsy and uncertain at first but as she gained confidence she was able to leap across gaps with only the occasional stumble and clattering of nails on her landings. Chari had managed to get onto the same chain of rooftops that the robber was running over, gradually starting to gain on him. Her legs were beginning to scream out in protest and her breathing felt tight but she pushed herself, clattering onto the same rooftop as him and hoping that the chase would end soon or she'd collapse.

The Kelvic felt triumphant as she drew close enough to the man to stand a chance and better still he revealed his features. The canine tried to remember the glimpses that she caught of his face in the hopes that she'd be able to identify him later if he got away. When he got away was more to the point. She was so tired that she didn't think she could stay standing much longer, let alone keep running. 

He stopped and she skidded to a halt, flopping onto the ground as all will to stand left her. Her four legs splayed out in a way that the man would probably find comical but she was too exhausted to care, her breath coming in short, sharp pants. Even his taunting couldn't make her rise. 

The situation seemed hopeless. He was going to get away and there was nothing she could do about it. The girl was going to lose all her money and there was nothing she could do about it. Even her clothes might be gone if that woman hadn't taken care of them like she'd asked. The canine transformed back into a human and started sobbing pitifully.

"Please just give me back my purse! I'll give you money from it but please," she gasped, her breathing still not fully recovered and not helped by the lump in her throat. "I need that for rent and...and food. Please! It's bad enough that I have to live in this strange place because nobody wants me back home but I can't survive on nothing. I won't even report you to the Shinya and I was never going to either, otherwise I wouldn't have come after you myself." Chari hid her face as she continued to sob, certain that the man wouldn't take pity on her yet desperately hoping that he would.

x

[Brandon Blackwing]

Okay, another twist occurred. Once again things he was the least expecting happened. Also, the bat’s observation skills seemed to be quite lacking. He had failed to notice the hound was panting heavy and could hardly stand anymore. It saddened Brandon. He was pretty exhausted from the run too, but wanted to go on a bit longer. His hopes hit rock bottom when the dog collapsed. It simply didn’t have the strength to get up anymore. His taunts didn’t seem to help either. He’d have to work on that. Suddenly, the dog shifted to human form with a brilliant flash. Laying on the canopy, she started sobbing. That was not supposed to happen. He wanted to anger her, to see the fire burning in her eyes, not filling them with salty tears. Despair was one thing, grief another. His smile had faded by now. It was replaced by a sombre expression. The carefree attitude he had shown before was all gone. Vanished into thin air. He sighed when she started begging him. Pity bubbled into his mind. He took off the cape and wrapped it around the weeping girl’s shoulders. “Stop crying already, you’re making me feel bad.” He spoke the truth. He felt really guilty. He didn’t want to make women cry, he actually hated it when that happened. It made him feel pathetic, and low. He would be exaggerating if he was to say that he couldn’t stand to see or hear girls weep. No, as long as he wasn’t part of the reason the tears started flowing down their cheeks, he didn’t care. But if it was… Even if they were so annoying he had no choice but to make them shed the salty liquid, or if they deserved it, he’d still feel guilty. But this girl didn’t. This game of tag had escalated, and the thief wasn’t happy with the result. The red-head had even tried to catch him herself. He had a lot of fun because of that. He ought to do something to comfort her. “Don’t worry, I’ll give you some money. Just…wipe those tears from your face and stop shedding them. Seriously, you’re really making me feel like a villain here.” Actually, he didn’t like the idea of giving her some of his money. But, she earned a reward for entertaining him though. “What about I give you half the amount of Kina this thing holds? As a reward for letting me experience the feeling being alive again today.” He was holding the biggest of the wallets he’d stolen. It broke his heart to make that offer, but he would feel miserable if he hadn’t. Which is why I’ll go with break-ins from now. Or I just won’t steal from women capable of tracking me down anymore. Thinking of which… “You said you could track me down wherever I ran off to, was that a bluff or the truth?” He was getting uncomfortable with this whole situation. He also didn’t trust the girl. Although he was pretty sure she wasn’t faking her emotions, he did doubt the ‘I won’t report you to the Shinya’ line. That was also the reason he was still standing, prepared to run whenever he had to. He wasn’t stupid. The sole reason he was sticking around was because he wanted an answer to his question and his cape. He felt as if he looked only half as cool without it. If he even looked cool when wearing the thing. Well, even if he didn’t, his coolness had decreased with fifty percent anyway. Fortunately, his scarf was quite long, so at least there was one piece of clothing the wind could play with. He craned his neck to gaze at the sky. He hoped the girl had been speaking the truth. He would get into some serious trouble when she hadn’t. His right hand’s hold on the purse became tighter. He still had to give her the money he promised. There wasn’t any way he could reject his words now, was there? There was a way, but it would be a low thing to do. Sure, he was a thief and a scoundrel, but not a liar. Not really. Ofcourse he lied now and then, but not now. He’d keep true to his word.

[Chari]

The girl continued to sob, expecting the man to leave her there at any second, penniless and alone. She let out a hiccup of surprise when he wrapped his cape around her. Startled, she gazed up at him with tear filled eyes, trying to understand what had caused such a change in his demeanour. He'd be set on running away and leaving her far behind a minute ago yet now that she was crying, he seemed unable to abandon her to her despair. It didn't make sense to her why such a pity should have any ounce of mercy towards her.

Chari sniffled and looked up at him uncertainly, expecting a trap. There didn't seem to be any sign of deceit in his gaze yet she wasn't certain that she could trust him, he had stolen from her after all and seemed to think that he could get away with it. He was actually feeling guilty for upsetting her! It seemed completely fantastical but true. But when he asked about her tracking of him, she wondered if he was only hanging around for fear she'd find him. She should have lied but she found that she couldn't be dishonest.

"I couldn't track you anywhere, no, not in Lhavit. If it was somewhere remote then I could manage it but not in a place with this many people. I'd have to walk around for hours as a dog until I found an uncorrupted trail. That'd be near impossible," she sniffed, wiping her eyes with her hair. She would have used his cloak but that seemed rude.

A laugh bubbled up in her throat and escaped her. She was worried about being rude after what he'd done to her! What was she like? The Kelvic found that she couldn't stop herself from giggling but was still sobbing too so that she had no idea how she felt aside from very confused.

The girl launched herself forward to hug his knees as he offered to give her back half of her money. It was more than she could have hoped for considering the circumstances. "Oh thank you, thank you, thank you!" she exclaimed, tears of joy mingling with her tears of sorrow on her cheeks. Despite the fact that she was getting half the money back, she was glad that not all her money was in her purse, that she hadn't been that stupid. She still had 150 Kina stashed in a box under her bed, so the thief would only get 225 Kina, leaving her with 375 including her stash at home. She could manage with that.

OOCHa ha ha, you don't get as much money as you thought you'd get still a fair amount though

x

[Brandon Blackwing]

OOCAnd there I thought I’d give it all back to you, since I already have the other three stolen purses. The situation turned even more uncomfortable for the bat when the girl hugged his legs. Okaaay. That would probably the first time ever a victim hugged her robber. Even if it was only his knees. It could be a trick to get all her money back, and it worked. Taken by surprise, his fingers loosened their grip on the wallet. The pouch hit the roof with a jingling sound when the coins were smashed into each other. The thief didn’t even notice. He was too occupied with trying to subdue the chaos of thoughts racing inside his skull. He wiggled his legs softly, trying to escape from the sudden sign of gratitude from the red-haired woman. He suddenly felt the need to keep some distance between the two of them. Physical contact wasn’t something he was used to. Intimate contact was strange to him, but considering this girl was in fact naked when hugging him, he deemed it to be intimate. Well, a low level of intimacies though. Trying to keep his expression as blank and business-like as possible, he slowly stroked his goatee. Pondering how to react on that gesture. He wondered why he was so flustered all of a sudden. Was it because a young woman he didn’t really knew gave him a (partial) hug? He shook his head violently, throwing all the confusing thought out. His dark grey locks swaying, acting like a cleaning device for his mind. “I’ll go get your clothes!” he stated promptly. He swiftly clambered down the building, translating his words into deeds. “If you’d decide to leave, please don’t take my cape with you.” He wondered what the heck he was doing. Something was wrong with him. Instead of just leaving he was now going to fetch her clothes? He wasn’t some kind of delivery boy! He was a thief! He should run now, with the money he promised to give her. Something inside his mind withheld him from doing so. You shouldn’t steal from friends. Wait a chime! What was that? Friends? Since when? A few chimes ago he just stole her money and would’ve framed the girl for pushing him from the building she was resting on right now! So, why in Yshul’s name did he think of the red-head as a friend? Because she played his game? Because she claimed she wouldn’t report him? Ha! Frustrated with himself, he folded his face in a nasty frown. Even if it was only a small fragment of the feeling called friendship, he didn’t like the thought of an ex-victim becoming his friend. Besides, she probably didn’t even want to befriend someone like him. He grumbled internally. He decided he wouldn’t think about the matter anymore. The quest for the clothes didn’t take long. He could still remember where he’d bumped into the woman and searched the immediate surroundings. It did help that the traders were wrapping up their goods, getting ready to call it a day. Among the merchants was a woman selling cloth. Behind her stand a glimpse of a dress caught Brandon’s eye. He walked up to the piece of clothing and snatched them, while bending his upper body to the ground, with a quick gesture from his arm. He half-heartedly hoped the woman would call out to him, calling him a thief, screaming for the guards to come. Much to his disappointment, that didn’t happen. The merchant simply didn’t seem to care, meaning the dress wasn’t hers. Conclusion: he’d found the right dress. He turned on his heel, now facing the building on which the girl –hopefully- was waiting for him to return.

[Chari]

OOCAw going soft are you?

Chari was oblivious to the sound of her purse falling, too wrapped up in the awkwardness that suddenly seemed to emanate from the man. He was actually squirming in her grasp as if he wanted to get away from her. She found herself laughing again but this time there weren't any tears to accompany it as she'd managed to stop crying. Perhaps the fact that she was naked and hugging him was making him feel uncomfortable. Humans did have problems with nudity after all like it was something taboo.

She released her hold on him and scooted a little away from him to try to alleviate some of his discomfort. But he was clearly still too embarrassed because he ran off to get her clothes. It certainly was an unlikely turn of events. A thief was fetching her clothes for her! The Kelvic giggled again and then stopped in amazement as she spotted the purse just sitting on the rooftop. He'd left it there. The girl snatched it up and hugged it to her chest with delight. She couldn't believe it, she had all her money back. Whether he'd left it there on purpose or had dropped it by accident, she didn't know but she was grateful for its return nonetheless.

Peering over the edge of the roof, she spotted the thief (she couldn't really keep calling him that even in her head, she'd have to ask his name) moving around the stalls in the Azure. Curiously enough, he was doing exactly what he'd promised to do, he was retrieving her dress. He really was a strange robber but then she supposed that she was a strange victim. Not many thieves were pursued over the rooftops by their victims in canine form.

There was no point in her leaving seeing as he had her clothes so she supposed that she'd wait for him. Then when she was dressed and could work out how to get down from here, she'd go and buy that dress that she'd been looking at. Perhaps, Chari thought, she might even give that man some of her money. Sure he'd tried to rob her but she felt that he wouldn't have done it without good reason. Basically she felt sorry for him.

Wrapping his cape around her more tightly as it was actually quite chilly on the roof, the Kelvic waited patiently for him to return, her purse still clutched in her fingers.

x

[Brandon Blackwing]

OOC*Snorts* No! I just don't want you to turn down any thread requests from me because you're afraid Bran would really steal your money. Fingers grappled the roof edge. The man standing on the ledge located somewhat lower than the top of the building swung his other arm upwards. His left hand joined the other on the border of the roof. Now that his position on the windowsill was secured, the thief allowed himself to let out a sigh of relief. This side wasn’t the easiest one to climb. There weren’t many things he could hold on to, and it had taken him quite some time to get on the small fulcrum he was standing on now. He should’ve chosen the left side of the house, not the backside. Things would’ve been easier that way. Well, in fact the left wall wasn’t the least hard one to climb, the front was. But picking that side would mean that every creature present on the market could see him. A suspicious looking fellow climbing the facade of a random building with a dress strapped under his belt. Which is why he wasn’t climbing that side right now. The reason for clambering up the backside and not one of the other ones was really Brandon-ish. It would be too easy, no fun, no challenge. He wanted to silence the raging thoughts tormenting his brain by feeding it adrenaline. It worked actually. To a certain extend. The feeling of being alive wouldn’t last forever. It would be gone when he arrived on the roof, not very long from now. Well, you can’t have it all, right? He stretched his fingers, trying to get a better hold of the roof. His breathing sped up. He could hear his heartbeat drumming in his head. Careful not to fall off, he retracted his right arm and grabbed the dress. The thing was in the way. He moved the arm back above his head and threw the robe on the roof. He hoped the girl would notice. He was a bit too busy to talk right now, so he hoped she’d get dressed while he struggled to get back on the rooftop. Now he had rid himself of the annoying piece of cloth that only got in his way, he could make an attempt to hoist himself up. For a moment he wondered if he really shouldn’t go back down and retry with another wall. Nah, he was almost there, it would be a waste of time to do so. He took a deep breath in, and got on his toes, slightly increasing his height and reach. Unfortunately, the roof didn’t have a low balustrade of some sort he could grab on to. Oh, this was going to be tough on his fingers. He clashed his teeth together in exertion, lifting his body up by only using his arms. Slowly, the top of his head appeared, and kept rising with the same nerve-racking speed. Then, when he couldn’t move his body any further upwards, he slid one arm forward over the roof, until the whole upper half was on the canopy. Right, almost there! Now he’d do the same with his other arm. He had to hurry though, the intense usage of his muscles was taking it’s toll. Eager to get things over with, he tried to do it quicker this time. Bad move, his elbow hit the tip of the wall pretty hard. Intense pain spread trough his arm. Retracting the painful thing by instinct, he’d given up it’s position. Only anchored by his left arm, the situation was getting worse by the tick. As if it wasn’t enough that he was only holding on with one arm, the surface of the roof started to scrub it, tearing tiny bits of skin off. It slid slowly to the edge of the rooftop. His elbow didn’t have something to support it, his upper arm neither. Only the fingers of his left hand prevented him from falling. He was back to square one. Even worse, his feet couldn’t find the ledge he’d been standing on a few ticks ago. His eyes became wide with fear, his jaw fell open. Mortal fear squeezed his heart. He started struggling, kicking his legs back and forth. It didn’t help, it just made the strain on his fingers increase. He had to calm down, stop making wild movements. He was going to die! He was going to fall! Calm down! Maybe he’d survive, but he’d be crippled for the rest of his life! Calm down! He could see himself smash onto the road, the location of his body marked by a pool of red. CALM DOWN!!!!!!!! BREATHE !!!!!! FOCUS!!!!! He took a few deep breaths in. Fall to death! He focussed on what he had to do. Crippled! Swing my left arm back up. A lifeless body, his lifeless body appeared in his mind’s eye. Grab…the..top of the…roof. He clamped his teeth together, resisting the doom images haunting him. Hoist…..myself….up. Streets dirtied with his blood… I can do it! The mayhem inside his mind died down, he came back to reality. Immediately he felt the pain in his fingers, desperately anchoring his body to the roof. He swung his right arm upwards. The fingers attached to his right hand found support next to the other ones. He started to pull himself up again, muscles trembling with effort. He managed to get both his elbows on the surface of the roof. Pushing himself upward, he slid on the rooftop. He struggled for air, his lungs pumped violently. The beating of his heart in his head vanished. The roughness of the cold stone against his cheek felt great. Maybe he really should take the easy side next time. He grinned and rolled on his back, gaze fixed on the heavens. Syna’s rays warmed his body and blinded his eyes. Heh, did it actually matter? He’d survived once, he could manage to do so a second time as well. Hopefully. OOC:embarrassed: I couldn't resist the temptation of doing an 'almost falling to death' scene.

[Chari]

She must have seemed a right sight, sitting there cross legged with a cloak clutched around her shoulders. She probably looked ridiculous. Chari giggled at the idea, leaning over to peek over the edge into the market again. The thief had vanished, nowhere to be seen. The Kelvic huffed at the idea that he'd abandoned her, having stolen her dress instead of her money. She snorted at that thought also remembering that he'd come back for his cloak, if nothing else as he seemed quite attached to it.

She flopped backwards onto the roof, lying down to stare at the sky while she waited for him to come back from wherever he was. It was in this position that a bundle of material landed on her face. She scrabbled at it, pulling off to discover that it was her dress. She had no idea how it had magically managed to appear there as there was no sign of the man but she just shrugged and threw the cloak to one side.

Standing up, the woman pulled the dress over her head, smoothing it out once it was on her thin frame. Satisfied she glanced around the rooftop and found the robber trying to claw his way onto the rood. Instead of helping, which would have been a sensible thing to do, she stared stupidly at the scene unfolding before her, too shocked to do anything other than bear witness to what was going on. Even though he was slipping, she still found herself rooted to the spot and only moved into action when he'd managed to clamber onto the rooftop to safety.

"Gods, are you okay? Are you hurt?" she asked, biting her lip anxiously as she knelt beside him. Up until quite recently she'd wanted to rip a chunk out of his leg and now she was worried about him. That made perfect sense. The woman examined his arm and found that he'd managed to scrape it from his elbow down to his wrist and that it was bleeding in places. "You idiot! What did you think you were doing? Look where thinking you're a daredevil has gotten you now."

The Kelvic fumbled in the pocket of her dress where she kept odds and ends. In it she found a clean handkerchief and proceeded to rip it into strips to tie around his arm.

x

[Brandon Blackwing]

Someone knelt beside him, long orange strands of hair reflected Syna’s light. He looked at her face. She was biting on her lip. Her eyes fixed on him, filled with…worry? That wasn’t possible, he must have imagined that. Continuing to stare into the woman’s liquid puppy eyes, he indeed read concern for his wellbeing in them. “Gods, are you okay? Are you hurt?" His mouth fell open, dumbfounded. This girl was unbelievable. Something was wrong with her head. Did she fall or something? Maybe someone dropped a boulder on her skull, and that messed up her mind. He stole her money, and she was concerned about him? Impossible, but he couldn’t detect any signs she was lying. “Yah, I’m fine I suppose. I’m still alive and I’m not cripple, so there’s nothing wrong with me.” She didn’t seem to listen, examining his left arm instead. Something the matter with it? He decided to have a look. Craning his back to a sitting position, he moved the arm to eye level. The skin had been scraped of from his elbow down to his wrist, it was bleeding. It was bleeding a lot actually. When did he injure his arm again? Oh, when he started to slip away! He had almost forgotten, and the adrenaline had pushed the slight pain the wound caused to the background. The roof was colored with some wide red swipes and dots where his arm had been. The arm itself was dyed a deep red as well. Some random lines of scarlet ran over his left hand, meandering around his fingers and thumb. It looked kinda cool. The ridiculous amount of sanguine liquid made the wound look worse than it actually was. "You idiot! What did you think you were doing?” The words pulled him back from the tranquil world that was his mind. The woman didn’t cease to amaze him. She was scolding him as if he were an old friend who just did something stupid. In truth he’d done something stupid, but the girl shouldn’t care about it. They’d only met chimes ago. This girl was the weirdest thing he’d seen. Apart from his mother having a change of mind about the usefulness of non-combat or –survival related abilities. “Look where thinking you're a daredevil has gotten you now." He didn’t think he was a daredevil, he was one. Which was exactly what he told her: “But I am a daredevil! I do stuff like this, it’s fun. You should try it sometime, it’s a great way to clear your mind.” The kelvic woman started fumbling in a pocket of her dress. Did dresses have pockets? He didn’t know that. Ah, good, she was clothed, now he could have his cloak back. Where was it anyway? Scanning the roof with his dark orbs, he found it immediately. It was laying not to far away from the location the girl had been sitting when he’d left to fetch her dress. He noticed the cape looked as if it was thrown heedlessly to the side. He furrowed his brow. She wouldn’t get away with it without proper punishment. Something that looked like a cloth of some sort was ripped apart. The girl started wrapping the newly created strips around his arm. Wait, now she’s even nursing me? The clean cloth stung when it touched the sensitive flesh where the skin had been torn off. “Ouch! That stings!” the thief whined mockingly. Seeing as she treated his injured arm, he briefly considered dropping the charges for throwing his beloved cape to the sidelines so inattentively. He decided not to. He fetched her robe, so that made them even for attending his wounds. He’d given her some money for entertaining him, so that was good too. Nope, she had to make up for it. “You’re a weird one, you know that? I’m aware I’m not entirely normal myself either, but that’s not the point. Then again, could one define ‘normal’? What is ‘normal’ actually? Are there rules for being ‘normal’?” He stopped his ranting when he noticed he was sprouting strange things again. “Sorry, I couldn’t help it. I get like that sometimes. I think of stuff I don’t really understand the meaning of and a lot of questions pop up. I believe they call this philiosoffy or something.” He paused a moment to take a breath. “By the way, you owe me a meal for the undeserved treatment you gave my cape.” He gave the girl an angry stare, but it dissolved quickly into his well-known grin. “Are you done yet?”

[Chari]

"I don't think I will try it sometime. I don't want to end up splattered on the pavement, thanks. If you do, that's your own choice but don't drag me into it."


The Kelvic knotted her makeshift bandages around his arm, giving him a look when he whined. "Wimp! How can you be a daredevil if you can't even put up with a bit of pain? Proper daredevils break bones and stuff. Have you ever done that? If not, then you aren't a real one, no matter what you say," she explained, her voice taking on a teasing tone. She'd be interested in what he'd say in reply to that. 

The woman smiled wanly when he called her weird. She'd often been told that by her fellow Inartans, particularly the Yasi, but they'd always said it to be nasty. The thief wasn't saying it to her to try to cause offence or to upset her, he was merely saying that her ways were out of the ordinary, not that she was a freak.

Considering his rant, she cocked her head to one side and looked at him for a few minutes as she considered how to answer that. "Well... I don't really know what normal is or if it exists at all to be honest. I think I know what you're talking about, it's um...philosophy but I don't know what that is in Common though," Chari replied, slightly frustrated by her inability to translate a word from Nari to Common. She needed to read more or something to fill in the gaps in her knowledge.

She pretended mock horror when he told her she owed him dinner. It was a strange request for the man to make considering that he had wronged her but she didn't mind. "I suppose I'll give into your demand," she sighed. "It'll have to be in the Skyglass though. I have a staff discount. You didn't expect me to pay full price for you, do you?" she teased.

x

[Brandon Blackwing]

“Great! In the Skyglass it is then. I’ll be looking forward to it. I’ve never really been there before.” He replied, his smile growing wider with each thought about the fancy place. He didn’t think the girl would accept his request so easily. She wasn’t even complaining. He chuckled. She still wasn’t done with the bandages? How long had she been doing this now? Five chimes? Nah, it seemed long, but it was probably a lot less. Maybe two. He’d go with that. “You’re still not done yet? Geez, hurry it up, will you! I don’t have all…” Well, actually he had a lot of time to spare. He sighed. “Never mind.” He needed something that could distract him form the treatment he was given. It took too long, but he knew the girl was doing her best for him, so he shouldn’t complain. He was oblivious to the fact that he already had, however. He closed his eyes, pondering on what the red-head had said about bone fractures and such. He decided to list up every time he’d broken something. Proper daredevils break bones and stuff, huh? his shark-ish grin grew wider. He’d tease her a little. She shouldn’t have said ‘stuff’. He’d broken stuff, his bed in his former home in Kalinor for example. “Hm, I did break some stuff. My bed, for one.” A loud laughter rolled over his lips. His shoulders rocked up and down, eyes closed. “Seriously though, my ribs have been mauled once. You have no idea how much that hurt! And they weren’t even broken! I couldn’t breathe properly because of the pain it caused. Man, I never want to experience it again. So, I think I’ll pass on breaking bones, thank you very much. Call me whatever you want, but I don’t think proper daredevils are the ones who have their bones fractured.” He gave the girl a quick nod and got up. He didn’t have any more patience left. He wanted to get going right now and didn’t care if his arm was fully bandaged or not. Relaxing wasn’t something he could do at any rooftop. He had favourite spots for that activity. Well, if one could call relaxing an activity. Also, it was getting cold and he was tired. It ad been an exhausting day. The bat had been up since the early morning, so it was obvious he needed to catch some sleep. And dinner. He let out a short laugh. ‘Catch dinner.’ Heh, even though the words sounded really odd, it was true. He’d go hunting soon. Stretching both his arms above his head, a huge yawn left his mouth. He smacked his lips a couple of times and walked towards his cape. He snatched the thing from the floor with a elegant sweep of his arm. While tying the cloak around his neck, he faced the girl. “I suppose I’ll go now.” No, wait. He could still linger around for a short while. Given that a short while would indeed be a short while. Plus, he wanted to ask the woman something before he went. Something that could explain the sudden switch in behaviour around him. There was one problem however. There was a huge probability of misunderstanding, and he didn’t want to come over as a fool. Maybe if he gave the question a teasing undertone? “By the way, do you have feelings for me or anything?" His eyes were closed and he beamed the red-head with a wide and gentle smile. He tilted his head slightly to the left, faking an innocent expression. He hoped the girl was blushing. Hard. So that her face would be as red as her hair. He had trouble to keep up his expression, but managed anyway.