Open Fresh Start or Fresh Meat?

[Saidra]

Well that was certainly new. Usually when someone said they would buy you a drink it meant the full service; going into the bar, ordering whatever they felt like pretending was the best in the house, perhaps a bit of haphazard flirting, small talk if they weren't successful, and then everyone went on their merry. This holding out of a coin business was different and Saidra couldn't help but wonder if it was just Sunberth culture or if something else was going on.

She'd caught the slight glanced he kept giving her as they had been walking, noticed his other hand staying awful close to his side but she couldn't quite decide if that was only done in some posturing effort to discourage any wandering hands from snatching at pouch he had just pulled the miza from. He was armed then? That certainly changed things a bit.

"Vicious? I don't know if I would say that. I'd like to think of myself more as just experienced." Saidra smiled as the last word was chirped out in a language she assumed that Berend would have no business understanding.

Gods, was she really going to do this? Play the part of the silly exotic girl from far away lands who didn't know any better than to take silver mizas from strangers? He had said she didn't look stupid, nothing about naive, though. It was too late to turn back now, though. If she politely refused the offer it would seem odd. Or, at least, Saidra assumed it would.

Petching... Her right arm raised and a gloved hand deftly snatched the coin from his fingertips but she didn't immediately hide it away. Instead she turned it over in her fingers and thought of attempting the trick she had once seen someone do where they rolled a coin across the back of their knuckles, but thought better of it; the last thing she needed to be doing was chasing down the bloody thing after she dropped it. Her blue eyes lifted from the coin to the one who had offered it in the first place.

"So is this goodbye, then, or are you planning on seeing exactly what I spend your coin on?" Saidra forced a smirk as she glanced down the road to where she watched people disappear into a building she could only assume was the Pig's Foot.

Even with the attempt at pretending to be coy, Saidra could feel her muscles tensing, her own hand that wasn't busy fiddling with the coin lowering casually towards her own dagger. Gods, you better be faster that this boy if you are going to start anything. And hope no one catches on to your little trick, last thing you need is an angry mob going after you and calling you a petching mage.
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"Common" † "Nari" † "Fratava"

[Berend]

If she was paid his hand any attention, she’d see it tremble a little as he held it out, scarcely pinching the cold coin between his thumb and forefinger. Its’ silver rim glinted in the sun whenever it moved the slightest. Berend looked to it more often than he did to her, his jaw clenching tight occasionally while his eyes darted about. His cheeks were red, and he blinked a lot against a stray breeze. Then she spoke, again in that friendly voice of hers, which beset him with an urge to chew on his lip. Was he really going to do this? Berend couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow, that foreign word clearly out of place with what all she was saying. He spared a quick glance over his shoulder before snapping back to her, still worrying away at his lip, not paying any mind to how it might look to her. His heart was beating faster now, drumming away loudly as he spared a sidelong glance to make sure no one was coming out of the shadows. These were tight, narrow street they stopped in, with plenty of dark places to choose from. He might have chosen the place, but she had used a word that sounded an awful lot like a signal. Had they been followed? She took the coin and he released a sigh, bending his legs a little before straightening back up. It was almost time, and made him uncomfortably aware of himself. He stopped chewing on his lip, tried not standing so rigidly, and even not to blink so much but it all felt forced, as well as probably looked that way. That word was still bouncing around in his head, just noise for all he knew about it, and yet, what did it mean? “Ah, you know maybe a little of both?” Berend shrugged, and forced on a small, thin lipped smile. Heart roaring in his ears now, with wide pupils, he bent his legs again, his eyes never focusing on one place for too long. Her hands lowered to put the coin away, and hopefully just that. He couldn’t think on that anymore now though, now was the time to act. Lurching forwards, his hands went for her wrists as his body weight followed, hoping to use it to pin if she was stronger than him. It was spontaneous, it was rushed, and it felt right. To anyone watching though, it was awkward and worse than an amateur’s attempt, with whatever he was to get, deserved. Hope she doesn’t have anything sharp..