Open An apple a day attracts the Emerald Rose

[Sarina]

Adrien as good as told Sarina he was a thief by the answer to her question. It really didn’t take much guessing by Sarina didn’t think he was trying to hide it at all, much the opposite. It seemed like he was trying to get her to guess his occupation. This didn’t exactly settle very well with Sarina. She didn’t like doing what people wanted her to do and most certainly wasn’t going to play into this boy’s hand. So in order to not give him the satisfaction of knowing he had gotten her to think anything she didn’t respond to his comment.

Now it was Adrien’s turn to try to get some information out of Sarina. Sarina would have chosen a broader question, not something as specific as he did, but then again, this question might be very telling if she didn’t answer it correctly.

Taking a moment to configure her answer she said, “Why would I plan to do something so pointless? If I had spent any time thinking about that little action I would be a fool.” Sarina paused for a second casting a meaningful glance at Adrien. “I prefer to lend my time to much more elaborate schemes, more elaborate than you could understand.” Mentally, she frowned at herself. She needed to be more careful not to stoop so low as to use petty insults like that one. Clearing her throat, she continued, “I suppose stealing those berries of yours wasn’t planned either then?”

Noticing that people were giving her and Adrien odd looks, probably guessing how much money they could take from them, she decided it would be best for them not to continue this discussion not in the middle of the street. It was true she did want recognition, but not this kind. “Shall we walk, then?” She indicated the path before them with her hand.

[Adrien Strade]

He chuckled as Sarina all but insulted him. He didn’t really care for insults or how people thought of him. How would that matter to him? It wasn’t like if people liked you, it guaranteed your survival. It made easier, probably but it wasn’t a guarantee for sure. “Oh, I assure you; I follow plans quite well—even elaborate schemes as you had said. I do enjoy those sorts of things.” He said, smiling. He grinned as she implied that he had stolen the berries even though he never said anything about taking them. She may have not commented on his “admittance” of being a thief but that comment told him that she got it, that she knew he was one. “Though, I have to admit. I’m more for doing things out of instinct and impulse. As you have implied, the berries were an impulse, a flight of fancy. It seems much more fun that way, more windows of opportunity.” Her invitation to walk had him realizing that they had been standing too long and was attracting some attention from the people in the street. “I’d love that,” he said, smiling as he walked with her. “So, Sarina, how long have you been in Sunberth?” He was straight to the point, no beating around the bush. He knew that she had probably been there for a long while, maybe even her whole life, but there really was no harm in asking if only to observe how she’ll take the question.

[Sarina]

Sarina fell in step next to Adrien as he gave his next question. He chose to ask how long she had been in Sunberth. Looking over at the human she started my guess what his answer would be. His appearance was rough with the scar proving he had gotten into his share of fights but that didn’t prove anything. With an attitude like his he could have lived here for one season and ended up like that. The next thing she went on was the earring. It wasn’t stolen yet which was surprising meaning he was either very able to defend it or he hadn’t been around long. The next thing Sarina though about was the dyed hair. Was it possible he moved to Sunberth and dyed his hair or maybe he just suddenly decided he like the color? His race didn’t help either. The vast majority of Sunberthians were humans but Sunberth wasn’t the only city with humans, far from it. Nothing about the man’s appearance gave away where he was from, at least to Sarina.

Next Sarina pondered his attitude. For a second the thought he might be a new comer because no one could survive that long in Sunberth with an attitude like that but then she had to remind herself that if you can fight you can survive in Sunberth, regardless of your attitude.

Nothing specifically gave away Adrien’s birth city and the gap between his question and Sarina’s answer was starting to get a bit too long so she decided to create an answer of her own.

“Syliras.” Sarina decided to lie and see how well her partner could detect a lie. “I moved here last season because the rules didn’t really suit me over there and the king irritated me.” She added some false information at the end to see how well Adrien knew his cities. The whole thing was a lie. Sarina had never lived in Syliras and, as far as she knew they didn’t have a king.

“You’re not from around here either, are you.” Sarina decided she would guess he was from elsewhere. She knew she would seem extraordinarily clever if she had it right if not she could just glaze it over as part of her previous lie. There was an extremely slim chance she would guess the city right so she decided to up her odds by giving multiple guesses. “What city is it then? Zeltiva? Ryka? Or maybe Syliras?” Sarina hoped she wasn’t too far off. She didn’t really know much about any of these cities. All she knew is they were some of the closest to Sunberth and thus the most likely places Adrien could have moved from.

[Adrien Strade]

“Syliras?” Adrian said, doubtfully with a raised eyebrow. He highly doubted she came from the city of Syliras. Adrien knew some things about Syliras due to the fact that his birthplace, Zeltiva, had the city as one of its trade partners. His parents had been merchants and they had taught him some things about the other cities. The moment she said that she had been irritated by the king, he knew she was lying. He may not know a lot about the city but he was pretty sure it wasn’t ruled by a king. He had heard tell of knights being the ones in charge there though he couldn’t really be sure. “There is no king in Syliras. I believe it was the knights who run that city,” he said, confidently although he was still combing through all the information in his mind. She might as well think that he knew a lot about the city. "Besides, your skills are hardly something you'll find in such an ordered city now, right?" Sarina went on to say that he wasn’t from Sunberth either. It was true, of course, though it seemed to just be a guess on her part as she continued by trying to guess which city he had been from. So, she really didn’t know what city he was from. Although, it was quite a curious coincidence that Zeltiva was one of the first place she mentioned. “Yes, you’re right. I’m not from here.” He agreed before deciding to follow it through with a lie. He had shown that he knew some things about Syliras already or well he had guessed some of it. Besides, he might be able to tell if she knew he was lying just as he knew she had been. “I’ve been moving from place to place. I was originally from Zeltiva, though.” Adrien knew the best lies were the ones peppered with the truth. It often made it hard for other people to distinguish between the authentic and the fake.

[Sarina]

“Very good.” Sarina smirked as Adrian exposed her bluff. So he did know a bit about his cities. She wasn’t too surprised, the fact Syliras wasn’t ruled by a king was fairly common knowledge. He had said Syliras was ruled by knight which Sarina wasn’t exactly sure of but from what she knew could guess was right.

Sarina had guess right about him not being from Sunberth. Now that she had given her lie she could almost be sure he would feed her one himself. That’s what most people do so when he confirmed her accusation she was a bit suspicious.

Her suspiciousness rose as he elaborated onto his story just as Sarina had. “I’ve been moving from place to place. I was originally from Zeltiva, though.” He stated with what Sarina thought was faked confidence. Sarina, guessing it was a lie decided to respond as if it was.

“Is that so?” She looked at him with her eyes in a way that let him know she was in on his bluff.

The pairs aimless walking forward had lead them to a spot in the road where it split. “Shall we head back towards your house at the Sunset Quarters then?” Sarina said indicating the path she knew would lead them there. Sarina didn’t know he lived at the Sunset quarters but she could guess. He didn’t exactly look rich and the majority of people who weren’t all that wealthy lived either in the Tent City or Sunset Quarters. More people lived in Sunset quarters so she could guess that was where he was from.

Sarina took a second to compose herself. The one thing she hated about unforeseen conversations was she didn’t really have time to think her responses through. Due to this she had spent the beginning of the conversation doing an unnerving amount of guessing. Now she was going to find out what she knew and didn’t know about Adrien so she could guide the conversation to her more knowledgeable topics.

She knew he enjoyed ridiculing people. She could find out that much by the fact he had come to her with the apple she had placed on the stand. She also knew he was fairly clever and quite observant. Not knowing anything about his history was in bit of a down set but she did know it was a tentative subject so he wasn’t likely to bring it up. She continued counting off what she knew and didn’t know until she was fairly sure she had all the information she had on him organized in her brain.

Next she guessed what he would say as an answer to her proposal. He would probably suggest they keep walking. He hadn’t bested her yet and he seemed to be enjoying their little conversation. She also doubted he had any where to be. If he had, he would have likely not come to talk to her in the first place.

[Adrien Strade]

He grinned and winked at her as she gave him a look that told him that she was well aware he had fed her a lie. He wasn’t quite sure, though, whether or not she believed the whole thing to be a lie or just parts of it. After all, there was truth in what he said just not all of it. He looked at her in disbelief as she suggested going to his house. It wasn’t the fact that she knew what part of the city his home was in. That was easy enough to guess. It was the fact that she was even suggesting something like that. Did she realize the implications of what she said? Willingly going to a potential enemy’s territory was rather careless unless you had a solid plan. “That’s quite a bold suggestion you’re making there…You do realize what people think when a woman and a man are alone together in a private setting. Well, you know, most people would take your invitation as something else…Aren’t you scared I would do that? Take advantage of you, I mean,” He said with a smirk. “I wouldn’t go that low but…you should really be more careful of what you imply with words.” He gave her a grin, “Despite all that, if you still want to head back with me to my house then you are welcome to do so if you wouldn’t mind the state it would be in. I’m quite the messy person, you see. I find order in chaos.” Adrien was well aware that most people would have gotten more guarded with the invitation she had given. Most people would think twice about letting another person know where they lived. It could lead to a potential danger in the future but as always, Adrien refused to be shackled by the norms of society. He thrived on danger. It didn’t matter if she knew where he lived. “Well, what do you think? Should we go?” He asked with a smirk, offering her his hand to take so he could lead them both to the right place.

[Sarina]

Adrien pulled a very different implication out of Sarina’s words than she had implied. Her question was forhim to go back to his house not both of them. He seemed to think she was implying a different idea. By the smirk that adorned his face Sarina could tell he knew she hadn’t meant it and was just trying to get to her. It was working. Sarina tried to calm her mind down but she still felt her cheeks growing a bit red. Turning her face away so the man wouldn’t see her blush he continued to talk.

He extended his offer for them to return to his home. At first Sarina thought he might be joking in order to continue to ridicule her but when he asked again she knew he meant it. Sarina wasn’t quite sure how to respond. It seemed like whatever she said would be admitting her mistake. Taking a steadied breath Sarina looked up at Adrien with a defiant look in her eyes.

“It’s safer to be inside then out and I wouldn’t think about letting you in my house so yes. Let’s go.” Sarina said. She didn’t exactly trust Adrien but she didn’t see how else she could have answered. He extended his arm and smirked at Sarina. Ignoring the mockingly courteous arm Sarina strutted past Adrien in the direction of the Sunset Quarters.

Trying to keep her embarrassment in check she bit the inside of her lip. Crossing her arms in front of her she returned her face to its normal, neutral expression.

[Adrien Strade]

Adrien didn’t fail to notice how she had made a point of ignoring his offered hand as she strutted past him. It was a bit amusing to say the least although she probably wouldn’t be pleased to know that he felt that way about the situation. He chuckled as he ran to catch up with her, easily falling into step beside her. Her arms were crossed on her chest and her she was careful to maintain a neutral expression which made it a bit harder on Adrien’s part to guess her next course of action. Though, he was pleased to know that he was affecting her in some way. The fact that she was now so guarded could have meant that he had hit a nerve. “I wasn’t trying to offend you,” He said as they walked to the location of his house. “I was just pointing my observations out.” Once they had reached the Sunset Quarters, Adrien took the lead so that they could both head to the direction of his home. They reached a small apartment. It wasn’t much, to be honest, but then again not that many people had anything to spare in their times. “Like I was saying a while ago, I do hope you don’t mind any sort of mess because I can assure you that my house isn’t in any sort of order,” He warned as he opened the door to reveal the room inside. The place wasn’t the best. It had his stuff—not that he had many—strewn about the place. He had forgotten to tidy up his bed that morning, it seemed. But, truth be told, he probably would have been more surprised if he had remembered to tidy it up. “Well, here it is!” He said with a grin as he gestured to the whole place. “Welcome to my humble home! What do you think?”

[Sarina]

As Adrien tried to tell Sarina he hadn’t mean to offend Sarina she just mumble and mutter under her breath, “Some observations.” Adrien and her walked the rest of the way towards the Sunset Quarters in silence. Sarina took the time to continue to compose herself.

As the pair approached the Sunset Quarters Sarina allowed Adrien to take the lead and guide her in the direction of his house. As they reached the apartment Sarina assumed was his he told her not to mind the mess in his house. Of course Sarina didn’t mind at all. She couldn’t say her own house was in any order either.

“I wouldn’t worry about such pointless things.” Sarina said with an internal sign. It was true Sarina tried to worry herself with only important things and not unimportant things like how tidy someone’s house was. Pulling the door open Adrien let Sarina see inside. Honestly the room wasn’t quite as bad as he made it out to be.

His items were lain all over the room but, like mostly everyone in Sunberth , he didn’t have much so it wasn’t bad. His bed wasn’t made any the covers were all messed up.

“Well, here it is!” He said gesturing to the place like he was trying to sell it, which she hoped he wasn’t. “Welcome to my humble home! What do you think?”

“I don’t think I need to have an opinion of your home.” Sarina glanced at him as she stepped in. If people saw him taking a girl home they would definitely talk. Looking around Sarina tried to see what she could guess about him from his home. If the rest of the room wasn’t in such disorder Sarina would have guessed the mess up bed means he had been rushed that morning. Because the room was so messy she couldn’t be sure. The room was uncommonly not telling. Aside from the mess it was a fairly standard room.

Sarina suddenly realized she didn’t know why she was there. The only reason she had come was because of a misunderstanding. Now that she was at his house Sarina wasn’t quite sure what to do. .

Walking over to the hearth, Sarina sat down on the edge of it. Pulling out the apple that was still in her pocket from when Adrien had handed it to her she took a bite out of the side that didn’t have the word carved into it.

“So,” Sarina said when she had finished chewing the bite. “I’m assuming you don’t have any girls who come here for different reasons but in case you do I’ll make sure not to leave any evidence I was here. I’m sure she would be extremely upset to find you had invited another girl to your house.” Sarina looked up smirking a bit and hoping Adrien would be able to take the conversation in a different direction.

[Adrien Strade]

Adrien closed the door behind him as he stepped into the room after her. He made his way to the bed and sat on it. He looked at her and grinned as she stated that she didn’t need to have an opinion of his home. “I was just asking,” he said. “It just seemed like something you ask a guest, no?” He watched her as she glanced around, trying to see whether or not she found anything interesting in the place. He wasn’t that worried of her stealing anything since there was nothing much to steal in there. She looked like she wasn’t sure what to do in his house at the moment and it was actually pretty amusing to see. She made her way to the hearth and started eating the apple from before. Seeing the apple again reminded Adrien of why exactly he had decided to approach the woman before him. She was interesting and interesting always meant a break from the ordinary…something exciting perhaps and those were the things he reveled in. She suddenly made a comment about girls he might have or might be bringing into his own home and he had to snort in amusement at the connotation in her words. He didn’t really have a lover at the moment who would be angered at any evidence Sarina might leave behind. “I don’t think you have to worry about that,” he said with a shrug. “The room’s already a mess anyway and there’s no one to worry about.” Adrien leaned back on the bed, resting his weight on his hands. He looked at her and considered how exactly things turned out this way. Right, he invited her for fun. He did a lot of things for fun, it seemed. Though now that she made that comment about any girls he had relations with, he found himself examining her in a different light. She was pretty in her own right. She was exciting and interesting. She was different and the unusual had always attracted him so. “I’m not much for attachments,” he commented, offhandedly. “If I ever find myself someone, it should be someone who could keep up with me…someone who wouldn’t mind danger, I guess What about you, Sarina? Do you get attached easily?”