Open An apple a day attracts the Emerald Rose

[Sarina]

Timestamp: 6th, Fall, 514 A.V.
Sabrina was bored. This was not a common state for her. She, having nothing better to do, was walking aimlessly down a crowded Sunberthian street, her cloak flowing around her ankles. Aimless, she mused over the topic. Aimlessness wasn’t something she wanted to make a habit of. It was, by definition, pointless.

Wrapped up in her thoughts, she nearly bumped into a tall man who was walking in the opposite direction. She needed a plan, something to do, a goal. Maybe stealing something would give her something to do. Glancing around her she noted the nearby stalls as she walked by them. Smuggled, stolen and illegal good flecked the stalls. She would be surprised if anything here was actually earned by its sellers. Of course, she wasn’t surprised by any of this. It was how all of Sunberth was. As she walked by a stall selling ‘fresh’ produce the stall owner, a short, stocky sort of man, shouted at her.

“Come and buy my fresh fruits and vegetable!” His shouts came right into Sarina’s ear. “Wouldn’t you like a fresh apple, honey?” He said holding an apple right in front of Sabrina’s face. There was little that irritated Sarina more than pushy salesmen but people who referred to her as ‘honey’ was certainly one thing.

“No, I do not.” She responded in a flat tone that she hoped didn’t display any of her irritation. She kept walking but once the salesman had ignored her and gone on to annoy the next person who walked past she doubled back, tossing up on the hood of her cloak with a flick of her wrists. Walking past the stall once more she stuck her hand out from under her cloak, snatched an apple then concealed both the apple and the hand behind her cloak. The salesman was too busy trying to convince the person in front of Sarina to buy his ‘amazing pears’ to notice a dark cloaked figure quickly walking past.

Walking into the first alleyway she saw she leaned against a stone wall and pulled out her Tamo Dagger. Pulling the daggers apart she unsheathed them from each other. Holding one of the daggers in her left hand with the apple, she took the other in her right and began carving into the apple.

After a short amount of work she looked down at her finished product. The shiny red apple now had the word Emerald Rose carved into them in the fanciest handwriting Sarina could get on an apple. The Emerald Rose was a name Sarina hoped would become a well known among the people of Sunberth representing her as a thief but for now all she could do was leave it around.

Sticking her daggers back together, Sarina slid the combined stick into the pocket on the inside of her cloak. Pulling the cloak around her she walked back toward the stall she had stolen the apple from. The man was still desperately trying to sell his wears to hapless passer bys. While he was occupied with talking to a man who wanted the produce for a cheaper price Sarina slipped the apple back into the bunch, with the engraved words facing back so they couldn’t be seen. Walking away with a satisfied swish of her cloak and a smirk across her face Sarina could only guess who might get the carved apple.

[Adrien Strade]

It had bothered him to no end when he had returned home the day before without anything to show for the effort. He had completely forgotten that he had goods to buy and/or steal. It didn’t really make much of a difference which one it was. So, Adrien found himself once again, strolling around between stalls. He kept an observant eye out for any possible targets. Sunberth was a place where you can either find easy targets or dangerous ones. Adrien had no preference, really. The danger just made things more appealing at times, much more exciting. Still, he had things to buy and no time to dance with death. He decided that he might as well get the things in his agenda done at the same time. He could get what he needed and maybe find a target. That was how he had ended up at a stall selling fresh fruits and vegetables. He doubted that it was really fresh but the fact was it was food. As he approached the stall, the shop keeper immediately gave his sales pitch about fresh apples, pears and berries. Adrien had a plan already in his mind as he surveyed the goods in display. He needed to distract the salesman to steal something then he’ll probably buy a cheaper item to throw the blame off himself. Once the man had turned to assist another customer, Adrien swiped some of the berries and a pear, and deposited them in his pockets. In that moment, he saw a passing cloaked figure do the same with an apple from the stall. He chuckled to himself, thinking of how unlucky the owner was today having his goods stolen twice now. “Mister!” Adrien called out, “I’d like to buy a handful of these cherries, please. Thank you!” That was another thing he once learned—people rarely suspected you when you acted that polite. As the Adrien and the stall keeper exchanged Mizas for goods, Adrien saw another cloaked person approaching the stall from the corner of his eye. At first, he believed that this was another customer or a thief to steal something. But, the person didn’t do either. In fact, rather than take something, the cloaked person seems to have left something. Adrien placed the cherries in his pocket and waited until the owner had turned his attention somewhere else before looking at the item that the cloaked person had left. It was an apple which made Adrien think that the two cloaked figures he saw were just one and the same person. This apple, though, now had a name carved on it. Emerald rose…well, this was interesting. Checking to see that the stall keeper wasn’t looking, Adrien grinned while he pocketed the apple. The young man left the stall, hoping that he wasn’t too late to catch up to the person who had left the apple. Based from the name carved on the apple, Adrien knew that it was most likely a girl. He spied the cloaked form in front of him and went and tapped the person twice on the shoulder. “Hello, I believed you dropped something…” Adrien said, smirking as he took the apple out from his pocket.

[Sarina]

Sarina didn’t make it too far from the stand when a person tapped her on the shoulder. Her first reaction was to jump. Sunberth was a dangerous place; anyone who tapped you on the shoulder probably didn’t have good intentions. In an attempt to stay dignified she fought down the urge to jump and turned around calmly. Having tossed back her hood and shook her curly hair out as she turned around, she came face to face with a black haired man. He had a silver earring in his ear and a scar on his neck leading Sarina to believe he was accustom to life in Sunberth and to hope she could avoid a fight with him. Seeing the roots of his hair were the tiniest bit a light blond color she guessed he had dyed his hair. As she pondered what the reason could be, the blue eyed man made his first remark.

“Hello, I believe you dropped something …” The young man smirked as he pulled an apple- the apple Sarina had drawn on- out of his pocket.

“Yes, it would seem I have.” Returning the smirk for a split second before going back to a neutral face, she snatched the apple out his hands and concealed it under her cloak. Silently she cursed her luck. The young man must have seen her return the apple in order to have been able to take it to her. Mentally, she sighed, she had been so careful not to let anyone see her. Deep down she was also a bit embarrassed, this man was making fun of her. Willing her face not to turn red, she looked him right in his bright blue eyes and said, “So, what reason do you have to return it to me?”

While the comment was meant as a retort for the man, Sarina was a bit interested in the response. It wouldn’t have been unlikely for someone who saw her return and apple not to care and go one with their day. Most likely this man was just in the mood to gloat over how good he was at seeing who commits crimes, but if he was going to be a threat to Sarina she wanted to know about it before hand. She didn’t expect him to go out and say ‘Hey, I’m trying to kill you’ but the way he answered could give Sarina plenty of incite as to his intentions.

[Adrien Strade]

He had guessed correctly. The person who turned was a woman just as he had thought and an attractive one at that, it seemed. Her dark hair framed her face and contrasted quite well with her pale skin and eyes. He knew that if she wanted to, she may be able to use those looks to her advantage. With the way she looked him over as if she was already appraising and examining what kind of damage he could do, he knew that this was a girl who liked to think things through before acting on it. She was probably the kind who worked with a plan…probably. It was only a guess but it was better than nothing, better than not knowing your enemy…in case the girl turned to be that. He smiled as she snatched the apple from his hands before putting his hands in his pockets. He took a berry a popped it into his mouth as she asked for the reason behind his actions. “Well,” he said with a wide grin. “I was…curious, so to say. It’s not every day I see someone return what they had taken so easily." There was a bit of threat in that, a reminder that he knew what she did--that he saw her. "Besides, you and I…may have quite few things similar between us. I’ve always had a thing for the dangerous and interesting. I’d say you probably belong to either category maybe even both. What do you say?”

[Sarina]

The man’s face broke into a cocky grin as he explained he had not only seen Sarina return the apple but also seen her take the apple in the first place. Sarina grit her teeth slightly. Was he threatening her?

“Besides, you and I…may have quite a few a few things similar between us.” The Man followed up his arrogant first statement. Sarina didn’t get this guy. He started by taunting her then followed by an almost intrigued statement. “I’ve always had a thing for dangerous and interesting. I’d say you probably belong to either category maybe even both. What do you say?”

“Yes,” Sarina replied as the slightest of smirks played across her lips. “Most people would put me in both of those categories. And what about you?” Her eyes narrowed a bit and her face regained its composer. “How do people describe you? Maybe arrogant? A bit insecure? How about trying to hold onto something you’ve lost? A parent, maybe? Or Both?” Sarina hoped her statement would be enough to get that stupid grin off of his face.

The arrogant part was easy to guess. Having exchanged a few words with the human, Sarina could get that much. The insecurity came from the fact he had dyed his hair. Having brightly colored hair wasn’t exactly common in Sunberth and so he probably wanted to change it so as to blend in more.

Holding onto something he had lost was a bit more of a stretch but it came from the silver earring that he wore. Most people didn’t wear jewelry around Sunberth because it wouldn’t have been unlikely to have it lifted from them. Judging from that, the earring probably had sentimental value, possibly from a parent. If the parent- or parents- was still around there would be no reason for this man to wear their gift in a place that was likely to get it stolen. If his parent was dead he was probably wearing the earring to remember them and thus doesn’t take it off- no matter where he was going.

[Adrien Strade]

Adrien had to hand it to her; she was easily able to regain her composure. Most people would at least show much more panic than she had after the kind of warning that Adrien had handed to her. She was also very bold as to admit that she was both interesting and dangerous, and asking him about himself. He had to say he was quite impressed with the deductions she gave. Some were right though some were a little off their mark. “How would people describe me?” Adrien repeated the question. “Well, I’d say that you’re right with one. I’ve been called arrogant…and annoying.” He tilted his head and pursed his lips. “I’ve never been called insecure. Childish, reckless, or unpredictable, maybe, but not insecure. About the past…well, it’s something that’s not important at the moment, is it now?” Adrien took a berry from his pocket and popped it into his mouth giving the girl a lazy sort of grin. “What about you, love? You are interesting and I could see a bit of danger. Emerald Rose…you carved that name on the apple. Are you looking for attention? A bit of recognition, maybe? You’re a clever girl and you’d like everyone to know that, don’t you? It’s fascinating. A lot of people here in Sunberth rarely like attention. They try to blend to the shadows. A little boring now, don’t you think?” He kept the childish grin on his face as he waited for her reaction. What would you do now, he thought. It was her move now in this game and it was Adrien did see this as something like that…a game to alleviate boredom and to satisfy his curiosity about people, a game that would either give him a new friend or foe.

[Sarina]

Sarina wasn’t surprised when the man confirmed some of her guesses but told her some of them were wrong. Most of the guesses were a shot in the dark, anyway. He told her that the past wasn’t important meaning there was something there he didn’t want to talk about in his past. She stored this in her memory, sure if would be of some importance later.

An arrogant grin flooded his features as he popped another berry into his mouth. “What about you, love?”Sarina gritted her teeth once more at that. No one called her ‘love’. He continued without hesitation. “You are interesting and I could see a bit of danger. Emerald Rose…you carved that name on the apple. Are you looking for attention? A bit of recognition, maybe? You’re a clever girl and you’d like everyone to know that, don’t you? It’s fascinating. A lot of people here in Sunberth rarely like attention. They try to blend to the shadows. A little boring now, don’t you think?”

“Yes, it is quite boring, but you’d know wouldn’t you?” It was true, Sarina was looking for recognition. She did want people to see her cleverness. This boy, whoever he was, was strait on point. [b] “Running up to me with an apple I had just left at a stall isn’t exactly blending into the shadows. So you’d like a bit of attention too then? I would complement you on your cleverness as well, but no one likes a liar.” It was Sarina’s turn to grin and she did. Cocking her head slightly to the side she let her hair fall over her shoulder.

Sarina recognized that she and this man were in a battle of wills and, of course, she expected herself to be the victor.

[Adrien Strade]

Adrien threw his head back and laughed as she called him out on seeking attention and being a liar. It was both true, of course but it was made life fun so he wasn’t going to be guilty about any of it. He placed his hands in his pockets with a grin still plastered on his face as he contemplated how to answer her. “You’ve called me arrogant and it’s true, I love the sense of danger that attention gives you in this city. It’s thrilling, sort of like a brand of drug, wouldn’t you agree? It’s far too boring to remain in the shadows though I will do it if it suits my needs.” “As for being a liar,” he drawled out. “Well, everyone is a liar. Lies are what make everything run. To save your skin, you would lie. You would lie to avoid having enemies, to make a friend feel better, and for many more agendas. People lie all the time. So, it’s a bit hypocrital of people who shun liars when they surely have done it as well. I’m sure you lie all the time as well.” “By the way, it’s quite rude of me not to introduce myself. Then again, no one’s ever polite in Sunberth.” He said smiling before offering a gloved hand to her. “Adrien. You are?” If they were going to continue playing this little game, this sort of battle of wits then they might as well get to know who they’re playing with.

[Sarina]

Sarina was starting to figure out more about the man she was talking to so she wasn’t surprised when he agreed with her calling him arrogant. Though Sarina would never admit it, she liked his attitude towards life. He knew his faults and really owned them.

In response to Sarina calling him a liar he gave her a long and extensive psychology lesson about how everyone lies, almost as if he was justifying it. In Sarina’s opinion it was the insecurity he didn’t acknowledge he had showing through. Being arrogant was one thing but when she had called him a liar she had really hit something. Something he needed to justify to himself. Sarina guessed it might have something to do with his mysterious past. At the end of his spiel he rebutted by calling Sarina a liar, which she most definitely was.

“Why yes, I most certainly do lie. All the time.” Sarina’s response, rather ironically, was completely truthful. She had never had any sort of moral confliction about lying. Maybe it was because her parents had never taught her not to lie, maybe just because she never had anything against lying. Either way, her life was full of lies. She couldn’t have a conversation with anyone without at least feeding them one lie. Suddenly, Sarina realized the man’s comment was making her think about, even question, her own lying habits. His statement had either been very well played or just really lucky. Sarina hoped, for her sake it wasn’t on purpose. She didn’t want to be against someone that clever.

Sarina’s thoughts were suddenly ripped back to the conversation as the man said, “By the way, it’s quite rude of me not to introduce myself. Then again, no one’s ever polite in Sunberth.” The man smiled lifting the serious tone the conversation had taken and he extended his gloved hand. “Adrien. You are?”

“Sarina,” She replied shaking Adrien’s outstretched hand. For a second Sarina thought about giving him a fake name but he was a worthy opponent in this game of wits and Sarina thought he deserved to know her real name, if he knew nothing else about her. “It is very nice to meet you.” Sarina’s voice was filled with sarcasm as she pulled her hand away.

Suddenly Adrien and Sarina were in the get to know you section of their conversation and while it was still very much a verbal chess match, Sarina decided to play along wondering what information she could find out. “So, why is it that you are in this part of town?” It was a very classic and innocent question you would find friends asking each other but Sarina asked it because from the answer she could find out huge amounts about a person.

[Adrien Strade]

“A pleasure,” Adrien replied with a smile, matching the sarcastic tone that the girl—Sarina had used as she called their meeting ‘very nice.’ “Hmm?” He rolled a berry in his palm, wondering whether or not he should lie to her about his goal in this part of town. Well, there really wasn’t much in that information that she could use against him so he just decided to tell her the truth or…part of it, at the very least. Besides, it would be good to see if she was really that good with her guesses and deduction “I’m here to acquire some things, do my job. I told you, remember? We are similar.” She can probably guess what he had been there for with that information. He gave her enough clues. “What about you?” He said, turning the subject to her. “The apple…a flight of fancy or something you’ve planned before stepping into the market?” He wanted to know whether this was a woman who planned things beforehand or someone who would also work on impulse. Adrien had his share of impulse driven actions.